M:Metrics Benchmark Survey Shows 13.6 Percent of Mobile Subscribers Downloaded a Ringtone in April; Nearly Half of Downloaders Purchase Tones from the Web

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2005--M:Metrics, the industry authority on the measurement of subscriber consumption of mobile content and applications, today unveiled the findings of its monthly Benchmark Survey. The firm reports that 24.58 million U.S. mobile subscribers--13.6 percent--downloaded a ringtone in April.

"Although ringtone consumption still skews young--two-thirds of ringtone downloaders are under 34--our data shows subscribers across all age groups are downloading ringtones to personalize their phone," said Mark Donovan, senior analyst and vice president, products, M:Metrics. "Indeed, the idea of ringtones as a fashion statement is prompting many to buy multiple ringtones. More than 60 percent of subscribers who downloaded a ringtone downloaded two or more, and more than a third downloaded three or more ringtones in the month of April."

“In the ringtone market we're beginning to see uptake in direct-to-consumer business models and the merchandising benefit of common short codes”

This heavy consumption among ringtone downloaders is prompting mobile subscribers to purchase ringtones from multiple venues. While 61 percent downloaded their ringtone from a carrier portal, 49 percent downloaded tones from the Web and 5 percent purchased them via SMS short codes.

"In the ringtone market we're beginning to see uptake in direct-to-consumer business models and the merchandising benefit of common short codes," observed Donovan. "Over one-fifth of subscribers who downloaded ringtones said they received at least some of their tones from sources outside the carrier walled garden."

M:Metrics also found that overwhelmingly, consumers prefer musical ringtones to sound effects or voice ringtones. Ninety-three percent of respondents said they downloaded a musical ringtone in April, with twenty-three percent of these subscribers downloading more expensive mastertones, or actual recordings of songs.

M:Metrics' monthly Benchmark Survey provides the most detailed and accurate data on the consumption of mobile content, the demographics of mobile media users and benchmarks for the performance of mobile operators in the US market. It is available only to subscribers of the M:Metrics Syndicated Measurement Service. The following is a summary of the survey's key findings for April.

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 US Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
                M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: April 2005
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Activity                              Projected   Percent US  Change
                                      Monthly     Mobile      from
                                      Reach       Subscribers Previous
                                      (000s)                  Survey
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Downloaded Ringtone                     24,584        13.58%     +6.0%
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Sent Photo Message to Phone or Email    14,176         7.83%    +10.5%
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Sent or Received Text Message           65,362        36.11%     +2.1%
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Downloaded Mobile Game                   5,992         3.31%     +0.2%
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Used Mobile Instant Messenger           14,355         7.93%   (-2.6%)
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Accessed News and Information Via
Browser                                 22,109        12.22%     +2.7%
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Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright (C) 2005.  Survey of US mobile
subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period
ending April 31, 2005, n= 36,291

About M:Metrics

M:Metrics is the mobile industry authority on the measurement of the consumption, availability and feasibility of mobile content and applications. M:Metrics' monthly syndicated research services benchmark the performance of carriers, handset OEMs, platform vendors and content providers, empowering decision makers with highly granular, verifiable measures of subscriber consumption, content availability and pricing and handset capabilities. M:Metrics, Inc. is a private, venture-funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington with offices in San Francisco, California.

About M:Metrics Data

Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarize market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics.

The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month's sample of mobile phone subscribers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone subscribers.

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