Mobile dating services will be worth $1bn by 2012, according to new research
from analyst firm
Juniper
Research.
Nearly 40 million people around the world currently use mobile phone dating
services, and Juniper believes that this figure will rise to 260 million in five
years.
Advertisement
"Major brands such as
Match.com
and
Webdate
have recognised that customers are willing to pay a mobility premium for 24/7
access to these services," said report author Dr Windsor Holden.
"These firms are increasing the deployment of mobile applications to
complement and enhance their existing offerings.
"The increasing proliferation of 3G handsets means that companies are
increasingly confident of introducing converged services at the outset."
The research found that the majority of users are in Japan and India, the
latter having particularly strong growth potential given the lack of fixed
internet connections and the relative popularity of mobile internet use.
Juniper estimates that Indian users will make up a quarter of the online
dating population by 2012.
However, heavy pricing regimes are holding back services in many countries.
Pre-pay customers are being hit particularly hard, as data costs become a key
factor in service take-up.
Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article