SMS on the Decline, Amid Rise of Internet-Based Messaging & Social Networking Services [SMS Messages Sent This 2011 Holiday Season Decreased, With the Increasing Popularity of Twitter, Facebook, iMessage, BBM & Other Internet-Based Messaging Platforms]

SMS is on the decline, at least in some parts of the world. This recent holiday season has marked a decrease in SMS messages sent, amid what is considered the busiest days in SMS. Should carriers be worried?

Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day for sending and receiving SMS messages, and most carriers around the world brace up with extra resources. Some have even experienced marked message lags and even difficulty in sending texts. But this year, text messaging has not been as popular as it was in the previous years. Carriers worldwide are experiencing a decline in SMS in the holidays, which some have credited to the rising popularity of social networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as internet-based messaging services like iMessage.

To illustrate, Finnish carrier Sonera processed 10.9 million SMS in December 24, 2010, but this fell to 8.5 million this Christmas Eve 2011. In Hong Kong, Christmas Day SMS messages have declined 14% compared to Christmas 2010. In Australia, the figure is down 9%. According to analysts cited by Forbes and?The New York Times, these are mostly due to text messaging alternatives, such as iMesssage, BlackBerry Messenger and even social networks Facebook and Twitter.

In the U.S., it?s not that bad, since SMS use is still growing. But growth is slowing down, and ?SMS erosion? is said to hit carriers like AT&T and Verizon in the coming two years. But with the rise of free or unlimted messaging services, will this matter to consumers? One of the main benefits of SMS is cross-platform and cross-network messaging, but if other services can do the job better (and cheaper), it?s likely that SMS will eventually take a backseat to Internet-based messaging soon. Carriers will need to take heed, because free services might soon eat into their revenues from text messaging, although they?re likely to recoup this by charging more for bandwidth?and other Internet-based resources. We earlier noted that free messaging services are likely to eat into carrier revenues, and it looks like this is already happening.

Personally, I didn?t send too many text messages this Christmas Eve and New Year?s Eve, opting instead to email my greetings (given that I have several colleagues and friends living in different countries). Could this be the same case for other smartphone and mobile users out there?

Source: http://nexus404.com/Blog/2012/01/01/sms-on-the-decline-amid-internet-based-messaging-social-networking-services-carriers-worried-that-sms-messaging-revenues-will-fall-with-the-rise-of-social-networking-free-internet-based-messagi/

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