Mobile content and services takes a hit as consumers play safe in recession with talk and text services, says analyst firm Direc

The economic downturn will have a disruptive effect on the mobile content and services market in the UK as consumers limit their monthly spend to voice and messaging services, according to the latest research data released today by specialist mobile research and analyst house Direct2 Mobile.

In its monthly consumer survey, conducted by Lightspeed Research, Direct2 Mobile asked a representative sample of 1,000 UK consumers about their changing spending attitudes and habits on mobile. While 53% of respondents said that the worsening economic climate will have no affect on their mobile phone spending behaviour, over 7% of consumers have, or intend to, stop their spend on content and services until brighter economic conditions emerge. That represents 3.96 million users and almost 50% of the existing mobile content and service user base.

Additionally, around one-fifth of respondents (17.8% of men / 16.3% of women), accounting to almost 10 million users, said that they will not subscribe to mobile content and service subscriptions, such as mobile Internet access, mobile TV and mobile music services, until the economic environment changes. While 53% of respondents said that the worsening economic climate will have no affect on their mobile phone spending behaviour.

"The glass is half full for the mobile operators and half empty for the mobile content and service industry," said Nick Lane, chief researcher at Direct2 Mobile. "Over 50% of mobile users are unaffected by the recession and a sizable chunk of mobile data users reverting to talk-and-text only usage will protect mobile operator revenues during this period of financial hardship."

"As almost half the advanced data users are reverting to talk-and-text only usage, the mobile entertainment companies should remain vigilant for the foreseeable future," Lane continued. "And with 20% of the UK's mobile population unlikely to subscribe to mobile data subscription services during the recession, it threatens to seriously impact on growth in the mobile content and services sector."

The UK mobile entertainment market was worth approximately £505.8 million in 2008, according to Direct2 Mobile. The company had previously forecast that the UK mobile entertainment market would be worth £973 million by 2013, but this latest consumer research casts serious doubt over that growth.

The complete survey results and analysis are featured in the latest issue of mobileSQUARED, a new monthly analysis bulletin focussed specifically on the mobile content and services market, available for download from www.d2mobile.co.uk/mobile-squared.php.

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About Direct2 Mobile

Direct2 Mobile delivers research, analysis, consultancy and a range of editorial services, specifically for the mobile industry. Direct2 Mobile offers a unique rapid research and analysis service, providing bespoke reports and deep analysis in as little as 48 hours. Direct2 Mobile also publishes mobileSQUARED a new monthly analysis bulletin focussed specifically on the mobile content and services market. For more information, please visit www.d2mobile.co.uk

About Lightspeed Research

Lightspeed Research is a global interactive data solutions provider delivering market research results through global panels. Lightspeed Research provides access to household members across 34 countries in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Lightspeed Research's proprietary panels are recruited and maintained to ensure quality and representative sampling - supporting studies that range in scope and complexity across most industry sectors. Lightspeed Research is a member of Kantar and WPP (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world's leading communications services companies. For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com.