Ever since SMS was first conceived, it has become an unstoppable force that has been taking over voice calling as the number one way to communicate with someone over mobile devices. However, for the first time ever, text messaging volume in the US has declined according to a new research report from Chetan Sharma Consulting.
During the third quarter this year, “there was a decline in both the total number of text messages as well as the total messaging revenue in the market” for the first time in the US. However, this doesn’t mean that people are sending less messages over mobile devices. IP messaging services like Apple’s iMessage and RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger are slowly taking over traditional SMS.
Numbers wise, in the third quarter of this year, mobile phone owners sent an average of 678 texts per month, which is down from 696 texts a month in the previous quarter. This isn’t a huge decline, but it’s the first ever decline that has been recorded. And it’s not a big concern for users, and it’s also not a big deal for carriers, since a bulk of their revenue comes from data plans.
The downward trend in text messaging is also apparent with businesses who offer mobile devices to employees. Tero Kuittinen, vice president of Alekstra, a company that helps people manage mobile phone costs, said that employees at ten of its locations were sending around 5 to 10% fewer text messages than a year ago. The adoption of smartphones has definitely led to a new era of messaging friends and family, where traditional SMS is no longer becoming the norm.
[via CNET]
Text messaging on decline for first time ever is written by SlashGear.
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