(Image Source: ReadWrite)
BY SCOTT MALONE
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
New information shows we’re tapping out fewer text messages than earlier this year - and the decline could be due to your smartphone.
A new report released Monday says texting for the third quarter of 2012 is down compared to the first half of the year - with the average cell phone user sending 678 texts per month...down from the previous mark of 696 per month. (Via KEZI)
A tech blogger with The New York Times points out while that may seem like a small dip, the change is noteworthy since text messaging had been steadily growing in the U.S. for several years, and the decline would become more pronounced as more people buy smartphones - even though more than 50 percent of cellphone owners in the U.S. have smartphones.
Is the decline in texting simply just a bump in the road, or a red flag for cell service carriers? A writer for ReadWrite says it’s not that people are any less connected or firing off fewer messages, but they’re doing it in different ways.
“One of the biggest culprits [associated with the decrease] is indeed iMessage, which operates exactly as text messages do, but bypasses the carrier entirely for Apple to Apple communications. Another culprit is Facebook’s Messenger app … [which also operates] without having to route messages through the mobile provider.”
A blogger for AppleInsider shows how this can happen, saying traditional texts come bundled with cellular service subscriptions, while apps like Apple’s iMessage allow smartphone users to basically do away with texting completely as long as the people they are messaging have compatible data-based apps.
So just how much are data-based messaging apps skimming from potential profits for carriers?
A blogger for Cult of Mac points out that “Texting was a $25 billion service in the U.S. and Canada during 2010. Every dollar consumers spend on texting equates to 80 cents of profit … that compares with just 35 cents of profit for every $1 spent on voice calls or a data plan.”
Will iMessage and similar apps send traditional texting plans the way of the horse and buggy? A blogger for GigaOM says smartphone users should hold their horses.
“Yes, there are more than 200 million iOS gadgets in use, but Apple’s mobile operating system accounts for a little less than one-fourth of the overall U.S. smartphone market … the vast majority of users will be highly unlikely to change their messaging plans … [and] carriers control the networks. So they could identify iMessage missives and count them as SMS if they choose to, or they could simply raise overall data charges.”
A writer for TechCrunch wrote about the potential impact of iMessage after its 2011 release, saying there’s a lot to like about iMessage invading traditional texting’s space.
“[iMessage is] sort of like SMS 2.0. And again, free … People will use this. A lot … As a person who has paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars in [unfavorable] SMS fees in my life, I happily say to the carriers: eat it.”
For now, both iMessage and regular texting remain unchanged, and rumors of Android creating its own data-based messenger are still swirling.
(Image Source: ReadWrite)
BY SCOTT MALONE
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
New information shows we’re tapping out fewer text messages than earlier this year - and the decline could be due to your smartphone.
A new report released Monday says texting for the third quarter of 2012 is down compared to the first half of the year - with the average cell phone user sending 678 texts per month...down from the previous mark of 696 per month. (Via KEZI)
A tech blogger with The New York Times points out while that may seem like a small dip, the change is noteworthy since text messaging had been steadily growing in the U.S. for several years, and the decline would become more pronounced as more people buy smartphones - even though more than 50 percent of cellphone owners in the U.S. have smartphones.
Is the decline in texting simply just a bump in the road, or a red flag for cell service carriers? A writer for ReadWrite says it’s not that people are any less connected or firing off fewer messages, but they’re doing it in different ways.
“One of the biggest culprits [associated with the decrease] is indeed iMessage, which operates exactly as text messages do, but bypasses the carrier entirely for Apple to Apple communications. Another culprit is Facebook’s Messenger app … [which also operates] without having to route messages through the mobile provider.”
A blogger for AppleInsider shows how this can happen, saying traditional texts come bundled with cellular service subscriptions, while apps like Apple’s iMessage allow smartphone users to basically do away with texting completely as long as the people they are messaging have compatible data-based apps.
So just how much are data-based messaging apps skimming from potential profits for carriers?
A blogger for Cult of Mac points out that “Texting was a $25 billion service in the U.S. and Canada during 2010. Every dollar consumers spend on texting equates to 80 cents of profit … that compares with just 35 cents of profit for every $1 spent on voice calls or a data plan.”
Will iMessage and similar apps send traditional texting plans the way of the horse and buggy? A blogger for GigaOM says smartphone users should hold their horses.
“Yes, there are more than 200 million iOS gadgets in use, but Apple’s mobile operating system accounts for a little less than one-fourth of the overall U.S. smartphone market … the vast majority of users will be highly unlikely to change their messaging plans … [and] carriers control the networks. So they could identify iMessage missives and count them as SMS if they choose to, or they could simply raise overall data charges.”
A writer for TechCrunch wrote about the potential impact of iMessage after its 2011 release, saying there’s a lot to like about iMessage invading traditional texting’s space.
“[iMessage is] sort of like SMS 2.0. And again, free … People will use this. A lot … As a person who has paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars in [unfavorable] SMS fees in my life, I happily say to the carriers: eat it.”
For now, both iMessage and regular texting remain unchanged, and rumors of Android creating its own data-based messenger are still swirling.
