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CAMPBELL, California, January 26, 2012—Market research firm Infonetics Research on Friday released Rich Communications Suite Services and Subscribers, an analysis and forecast report on the RCS market.
According to the report, the RCS space has splintered over the past year into 3 main camps of telecom operators pursuing rich communications initiatives:
- Service providers pushing forward with formal RCS services to provide fully interoperable enriched messaging, presence, and enhanced address book capabilities across multiple operators, an initiative supported primarily by North American operators building RCS into their future voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) launches
- Service providers that have changed course and now support RCS-e, which includes rich calling (such as live video sharing), instant messaging, and file transferring features, but without presence, and is supported by the largest operators in Western Europe
- Service providers aggressively pushing forward with sole-source RCS-like services to give them a competitive differentiation from other operators in Europe and Asia Pacific
"A year ago we declared that RCS had been relegated to niche status, and our viewpoint has not changed," notes Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research. "As of January 2012, there are still no commercially available formal RCS or RCS-e services. Spanish operators Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone have announced plans to launch RCS-e in the first half of 2012, and we expect activity in Germany shortly thereafter. However, we believe it will be too little too late to have a meaningful impact. It's been too long that operators on the fence have wavered over the financial commitment to IMS and inadequate support from handset manufacturers. Many have moved on to other strategic priorities, are working with third party over-the-top providers, and/or are waiting to launch RCS as part of an integrated piece of VoLTE. On the flip side, mobile operators such as China Mobile, SK Telecom, and MegaFon continue to find success with RCS-like services, offering a mix of features and packages that fit their individual markets. These examples show that, though RCS may not be for all operators or all countries at this point, there is a market for it in certain countries."
RCS MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
- Infonetics forecasts there will be 15 million RCS, RCS-e, and RCS-like service subscribers by 2013, with the majority in Asia and Western Europe
- Infonetics expects mobile operators around the world to take in a cumulative $1.6 billion over the 5 years from 2012 to 2016 from RCS service fees
- RCS will rise in popularity in North America as operators launch voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) services, with RCS tied to VoLTE as a core part of the service, but operators are not expected to charge directly for RCS capabilities in North America
- The initial target market for RCS is people in their 20s who actively engage in social networking -- those who drove Facebook and Twitter and are accustomed to being connected anytime anywhere, followed by always-connected business users and mobile-centric users, particularly with high Internet consumption
- Major handset manufacturers including HTC, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson are developing a limited suite of RCS-e compliant handsets
- Although Apple has shown no interest or commitment to RCS to date, there is a growing number of third-party vendors offering downloadable RCS clients for the iPhone, as well as for Android devices
RCS REPORT SYNOPSIS
Infonetics' Rich Communications Suite report provides worldwide and regional market size and forecasts through 2016 for RCS subscribers; RCS service provider revenue, average revenue per user (ARPU) of RCS services, RCS user clients, and RCS client ASPs (average selling prices). The report features in-depth market analysis by region, launch activity, market trials, market drivers, challenges, and planned services and applications.
CLIENT CONFERENCE CALL
Clients: Join analyst Diane Myers for her RCS market telebriefing on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 12:00 p.m. Eastern: https://www.infonetics.com/cgp/login.asp?id=544.
RELATED RESEARCH
UPCOMING RESEARCH
Download prospectuses, tables of contents, highlights, etc. at http://www.infonetics.com/login (see SERVICE PROVIDER VOIP AND IMS for 2011 and 2012 services).
SALES
- Larry Howard, VP (West NA, APAC, CALA): larry@infonetics.com, +1 408-583-3335
- Scott Coyne, Sr. Account Dir. (East NA, Texas, Midwest): scott@infonetics.com, +1 408-583-3395
- George Stojsavljevic, Sr. Account Dir. (EMEA): george@infonetics.com, +44 755-488-1623
- Takashi Kimura, TAK Analytics, Sales (Japan): takashi.kimura@takanalytics.com, +81 3-6408-5566
- Hinton Information Services, Taiwan: www.hintoninfo.com.tw, +886-2-2799-3110 x220
- Doug Moon, MBAP Sales, Korea: dougm@mbap.co.kr, +82-2-3453-9400
Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete more effectively.
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