MEF Confidence Index Reveals, er, Confidence

The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) has launched the first quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) for the global mobile entertainment industry, which it says is worth $32 billion (£22.6 billion). It reveals that the industry is confident it will continue to grow, despite the economic downturn. The respondents, MEF members, predicted an average revenue growth of 27% in 2009.The MEF BCI, compiled in collaboration with KPMG, is the first of its kind, and was undertaken to gauge the confidence of the mobile entertainment industry and to highlight specific trends over time. Every quarter, the MEF will survey its members across the globe. This first Index found that 88% of respondents anticipated that their company’s headcount will grow or remain stable in the next quarter.As well as being optimistic about the growth of the industry as a whole, the MEF BCI identified a number of areas within mobile entertainment which are set to grow throughout 2009. The top five areas of growth were social networking, music, video, games and infotainment When asked whether demand for mobile entertainment consumption would be impacted by the credit crunch, over half of respondents said they saw mobile entertainment as a ‘feelgood’ affordable purchase that would therefore be resilient to the effects of the downturn.The MEF BCI also reveals the spread of mobile entertainment revenues across the globe, with China and Central & South America being seen as hotspots over the next 12 months and respondents predicting growth in excess of 50% in both regions. ‘I believe that the BCI’s positive outlook reflects ROI that our industry expects to see in 2009 and beyond after almost a decade of investment in mobile media,” says MEF Executive Director, Rimma Perelmuter. “With growth anticipated across key segments of the industry, MEF will be working with our members to help them capitalise on new opportunities and address existing bottlenecks presented over the next 12 months.”MEF members were surveyed from across the mobile entertainment value chain, from operators to content owners, billing aggregators and service providers. They were asked a total of 15 questions relating to their confidence in the mobile entertainment value chain. Questions relating to investments plans, revenue, headcount and marketing decisions were asked alongside those about the confidence in different types of mobile content. A report on the findings of the first Business Confidence Index can be accessed by MEF members via the MEF website.

http://bluespotmedia.ning.com/