Here are some random highlights on the premium sms industry for the first half of 2009:
- Limbo — definitely the top story of 2009, Limbo has risen to the top of the charts overnight. It is rumored that OpenMarket and Verisign carry their business. Lucky them..
- T-Mobile Policies — T-Mobile has gone quite draconian on the penalties side, applying a stiff $10 fine per customer care call. While this move is shaking up the industry, it is an intelligent policy which reduces T-Mobile’s need to police content providers, since “bad apple” programs will be naturally shaken out.
- AT&T OPPC and Buylink Reversal – There are rumors that AT&T will be significantly revising it’s OPPC and Buylink platforms. It seems the “one size fits all” approach of the platform might be it’s undoing. An improved version will likely surface soon.
- The Quiz Explosion — It’s now clear that Mobile Messenger and some of the other major ASP’s and content providers have moved fiercely into the Quiz space, with marketing done primarily on Facebook. For strategic reasons we have no interest in this space, however it is certainly on fire right now. We’re hearing that the premium SMS Quiz crowd is single-handedly cornering the market for Facebook in-app ad inventory.
- OpenMarket Fad — At CTIA once again OpenMarket had the most buzz amongst the aggregators. In the field, too, OpenMarket is all the rage. Some of their offerings are a bit outrageous…unlimited messaging? Here we go…
- New Faces at the Carriers — Craig Leonardi is now in charge at AT&T off-deck, and Cindi Sullivan at Sprint. We’ve enjoyed working with both Craig and Cindi, and wish them our most sincere congratulations.
- Andrew Dark & mBlox — mBlox has a new CEO who’s keen on modernizing the organization a bit. Despite being a young Silicon valley company, mBlox is the old geezer of American aggregators, with fairly dated client tools and reporting. Look for some fireworks out of mBlox over the next year.
- Legal Showdowns — If you’re in the Premium SMS business and doing volume, whether you are a content provider, ASP, or aggregator, you will with virtual certainty be included in one of the dozens of class action lawsuits circling around. This year the # of suits continues to escalate, and it has become a true feeding frenzy for class action attorneys, with all segments of the value chain getting sued. Quite the mess..
- The Death of the VC-Funded Mobile Startup — Nothing different here. In 2007, around 40% of our clients were venture capital funded mobiles startups. Many of whom were part of the mobile web 2.0 crazy/flop. In 2008 this number reduced significantly, and this year there is literally no such thing as a VC-funded mobile startup. But who cares…VC’s suck and should be excluded from most good business models.
