Texting Sees First-Ever Decline

Text messaging has posted its first-ever decline in the U.S. The data come from Chetan Sharma Consulting, a Washington-based technology consulting firm, which says in its third-quarter mobile market report that last quarter, the number of messages and messaging revenue both fell. The average number of texts per user also fell, from 696 per month to 678.

The U.S. is, in fact, behind the curve in this respect. Texting has already been on the decline in other countries for a variety of reasons, says firm president Chetan Sharma.

In the U.S., the decline is due in part to free messaging services like Apple's iMessage, Twitter, and Facebook, he says, which have provided users with alternatives to texting.

Even if messaging continues to decline, there are other ways for mobile companies to make money. Smartphones, after all, are designed for much more than texting. Mobile revenues from data—what you use when you stream a video or music on your smartphone—are expected to hit $80 billion in the U.S. this year, making up 42 percent of all industry revenues. Growth in data revenues are up 17 percent year-over-year.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/11/13/brb-texting-sees-first-ever-decline-in-us