Virgin Mobile USA and other mobile firms that specifically target the teen market may want to take note of this latest research from MultiMedia Intelligence that says that the U.S. teen market is hitting saturation point. MultiMedia reports that the number of teens subscribing to wireless service surpassed 16 million in 2007, an increase of 12 percent over 2006. By 2012 that number is expected to rise to only 17 million, which means that wireless penetration rates among teens are reaching saturation point and growth in this market is stagnating.
In addition, the firm says that while ARPU from this market niche is strong because teens use their phones to do more things such as text and purchase premium content, pricing pressures and saturation will soon bring an end to the "teen cellular gold rush."
MultiMedia Research says that over half of teens are cellular subscribers by age 13. Girls tend to mature earlier than boys, which means that female subscribers outnumber male subscribers--the gap narrows by age 17.
For more:
- see this press release