Messaging and VOIP Apps are Popular Among Mobile Users, but the Global Market is Very Fragmented

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobidia Technology, Inc., a leading provider of mobile analytics, today released new insight into mobile usage of messaging and VOIP applications. Mobidia's data highlights the continued and growing importance of these applications to smartphone and tablet users and the opportunity for mobile operators and application vendors in the global, but very fragmented marketplace.

Over the past year, there has been a substantial increase in activity in the mobile messaging and VOIP space with upstarts such as WhatsApp making significant market share increases and disrupting the European texting business, and Facebook launching dedicated mobile messaging apps. Established apps and services such as China's Tencent and Microsoft's Skype continue to release new functionality and push into new markets.  And many mobile operators, including T-mobile, Vodafone, and Telefonica, announced, launched, or grew propriety and joyn-based solutions in the space. Options for subscribers will increase throughout 2013, yet the leading options will vary widely depending on country or geography.

With a set of data provided by millions of global smartphone users, Mobidia is able to provide a unique view into usage of more than 50 messaging and VOIP applications in 35 countries and can provide insight into penetration rates, average data consumed across different mobile and Wi-Fi networks, average time spent in apps, and top applications by country, network, OS, or device type. An analysis of Mobidia's data on these apps highlights the following trends:

• Mobile messaging applications and VOIP applications are popular among smartphone users in established and developed countries. In many locations, penetration rates of 60 to 95 percent are common.
• The market for mobile messaging and VOIP is highly fragmented with hundreds of applications available and often 10 to 20 applications showing significant usage for a given geography or country.
• WhatsApp continues to enjoy leadership in both penetration and usage in many countries.

Examples of data available by Mobidia below:

See Figure 1 Penetration Rates for Popular Messaging Apps, Selected Countries, Q4, 2012.

(Info: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130214/SF60293-INFO-b)

See Figure 2 Average Time Spent in WhatsApp vs. Facebook Messenger, Q4, 2012.

(Info: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130214/SF60293-INFO-a)

"The mobile messaging and VOIP app market is going to see a lot of activity in the next 12 to 24 months as upstarts, traditional app vendors, and operators battle to drive their growth and work to establish or maintain their leadership in the space," said Chris Hill, vice president of marketing at Mobidia. "Mobidia's data can provide unique and valuable insight to companies that are building, launching, or investing in these specific applications to make smarter strategic business, product, marketing, and investment decisions. No one in the industry is able to provide a sample set to help understand usage trends that is as large or global as Mobidia's."

With a global set of data provided by millions of wireless subscribers, Mobidia is able to provide mobile operators and the global mobile industry ecosystem with detailed insight into subscriber behavior surrounding messaging and VOIP application usage. Additionally, the company can also provide insight into hundreds of thousands of other applications and data- and application-specific usage on all the networks to which smartphones and tablets connect, including mobile cellular (and LTE), roaming and Wi-Fi. The data also includes both aggregate data amounts consumed by and time spent in specific applications and services. Both standard and customized reports and data sets are available.

For more information about Mobidia's mobile data, please visit Mobidia's website, where you will find detailed whitepapers, or Mobidia's Blog for periodic updates on data and analysis of mobile usage.

About  Mobidia Technology, Inc.

Mobidia develops and delivers intelligent, client-based solutions for enhancing wireless data with leading mobile operators around the world. Mobidia's popular My Data Manager application has been downloaded by millions of subscribers around the world looking to better manage their mobile data usage and data plans. Mobidia offers a white-labeled version of the application to mobile operators for customizing to increase subscriber satisfaction and decrease care costs, to increase the efficiency of up-selling and cross-selling promotions, and to develop a unique view of usage trends across cellular, roaming, and Wi-Fi networks. A cloud-based architecture allows for integration with back end billing and analytics systems. Today, more than 15 tier one operators and OEM's promote, feature, and use Mobidia technology and data (see our list on www.mobidia.com).

Mobidia is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with local presence in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.mobidia.com or call 604-304-8640.

SOURCE Mobidia Technology, Inc.