According to a new report from Forrester Research, Mobile IM will triple in Europe in the next 6 years. This is, by 2013. Growths will range from 8 percent (26.7 million subscribers) in 2007 to 24 percent (80 million subscribers) by 2013.
The study has been developed from a final user point of view, considering mobile IM as an alternative to SMS. Both technologies are expected to grow by 2013. In fact, Forrester advises operators to see mobile IM and SMS as complementary services and that should be integrated to build up a social network offering.
This mobile IM forecast is based on a survey of 22,000 consumers across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
For sure, the report will contain more interesting forecasts and ideas.
In my opinion, mobile IM should not only be considered as a product targetting final users, but as a platform for real-time communication for applications. A message oriented platform for connecting applications would solve the traditional problems of mobile applications: reachability and availability.
The adoption of this scenario, would vary dramatically Forrester’s forecasts.
