Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), one of the world's leading software innovators enabling revenue-generating personalized services which converge the mobile and broadband experience, today published a report [hyperlink to document that will be published on Openwave.com site] highlighting key mobile internet usage trends in North America, based on findings derived from its Openwave® Mobile Analytics product. Strong themes that Mobile Analytics uncovered included upticks in social networking site usage suggestive of a new preferred method of communication with the potential to unseat traditional forms of messaging such as email for a particular segment of subscribers; an analysis of mobile advertising click-through rates (CTR) that showed clear advantages of targeted promotions; and the growing trend in accessing mobile classifieds via the mobile device.
Openwave's findings were derived froman anonymous sample of actual customer logs from a Tier 1 North American operator that were processed through Openwave Mobile Analytics. Key mobile internet trends, as well as recommendations for new revenue generating opportunities are highlighted in the inaugural report.
Mobile Internet Usage Trends
Social Networking Usurping Traditional Messaging as Communications Tool
Social networking remains the number one area of interest to mobile internet users with Facebook and MySpace being the top two search terms on both Google and Yahoo! OneSearch. In terms of average hits per session, MySpace leads Facebook by nearly 46 percent, suggesting that MySpace could become the preferred choice of mobile communication for a particular segment of an operator subscriber base and displace some of the most frequently used email offerings. The social networking trend presents a unique opportunity for operators to partner with these leading social networking sites through co-branding efforts with a view to generating incremental revenues from messaging generated from the social networking sites.
Mobile Advertising - Targeting Improves Click-Through Rate
Regarding mobile advertising, Openwave found that while AdMob served the most ads (nearly 7 times more than the nearest competitor), it also had the lower click through rate in comparison to Buzzcity and Microsoft. AdMob's lower CTR could be the result of generic ads that are not targeted or relevant to the subscriber. Operators can play a vital role in the mobile advertising value chain by providing aggregated data on subscriber behaviour and preferences to ad networks, which could result in better targeting of subscribers that could lead to high eCPM rates and better results for publishers, advertisers, operators and ultimately the subscribers.
Mobile Access to Classified Advertising is a Key Growth Area
Openwave Mobile Analytics also uncovered that Craigslist ranked number 7 within the top 10 search terms on Google, suggesting a trend towards mobile classifieds for jobs, housing, bargain priced goods and services during the current economic downturn. Using information collected from Mobile Analytics, operators can provide similar classified services to registered users based on their unique subscriber profiles.
"Subscriber data has always been part of an operator's asset base, however extracting this information and transforming it to gain subscriber insight has been lacking," said Dan Nguyen, vice president of product management and product marketing, Openwave. "In the current economic climate, better subscriber information and deep subscriber insight may help operators retain and gain customers. Openwave Mobile Analytics can provide operators invaluable insight to better understand and confidently predict user behavior patterns, as well as position themselves as important players in the mobile value chain."
Openwave, traditionally known for scalable, reliable mobile and broadband infrastructure solutions, has been building its portfolio of solutions and services that help operators monitor, manage, and monetize the mobile internet. The company's Mobile Analytics product is one of these new solutions. Openwave provides mobile analytics to Tier 1 and Tier 2 mobile operators globally. By delivering comprehensive intelligence about their customers' usage patterns, Openwave Mobile Analytics helps operators drive adoption, minimize churn, improve usage and increase revenues. For information on the global growth of the mobile Web, dotMobi (http://dotmobimobi), the company behind .mobi - the only Internet address created specifically for locating content that works on all mobile phones - also announced highlights from a new study on growth trend for mobile website locations [hyperlink "announcement" to the press release].
About Openwave
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is one of the world's leading innovators of software applications and infrastructure designed to enable revenue-generating, personalized services, including mobile analytics, content adaptation, mobile and broadband advertising, and a suite of unified messaging solutions.
As the communications industry intersects with the Internet, Openwave software enables service providers to converge services, in an effort to increase the value of their networks by accelerating time to market and reducing the cost and complexity associated with new service deployment. Openwave's unique product portfolio provides a complete range of mobile internet service management, messaging, and location based solutions. Openwave is a global company with a blue chip customer base spanning North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Openwave is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information please visit www.openwave.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1943 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, including, but not limited to, the aforementioned focus on network-based offerings and the anticipated impact on Openwave's financial statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Notwithstanding changes that may occur with respect to matters relating to any forward looking statements, Openwave assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including, but not limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 2008, December 30, 2008, and any subsequently filed reports. All documents also are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.govor from Openwave's website at www.openwave.com.
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