Close to 40% of all mobile operators worldwide saw their revenues fall in the first quarter of 2009, compared to just 16% in the same period of 2008, according to a new report released by market research firm Strategy Analytics.
In addition, mobile service revenues increased just 3% in Q1 2009, compared to 8% a year earlier.
Strategy Analytics notes that shrinking revenue growth is not a problem limited to mature, saturated markets – 25% of operators in emerging markets also suffered declining revenue growth in Q1.
Mobile data revenues increased 17% in the first quarter and now represent 25.3% of total operator revenues, up 21.9% year-over-year and a 24% increase over Q4 2008.
Data ARPU grew 3.6% on a global basis and increased 23% in North America but fell 7% in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the limited number of operators reporting detail, Strategy Analytics reports that messaging services declined to 53% of data ARPUs in Q1, down from 57% in 2008.
Based on the limited number of operators reporting detail, Strategy Analytics notes that messaging revenues declined to 53% of data ARPUs, down from 57% in 2008.
Non-messaging data ARPUs increased by 11% annually.
For more on the Strategy Analytics report:
- read this release