When Apple first rolled out their iMessage service, which provides a free alternative to SMS messaging between iOS devices, many wondered how it would affect text messaging at carriers. Mobile carriers were immediately surprised, as Apple apparently provided no warning to them before launching the service.
In January 2012, The New York Times reported that iMessage was indeed making a significant impact on SMS messaging, and now new data has emerged from Chetan Sharma Consulting, stating that text messaging is down significantly since the previous quarter, due to Apple’s iMessage, as well as services like Facebook.
The New York Times reports on the findings:
For the first time, the American wireless market saw a decline in the total number of messages sent by each customer each month, according to areport published Monday by Chetan Sharma, an independent mobile analyst who is a consultant for wireless carriers. In the third quarter of this year, cellphone owners sent an average of 678 texts a month, down from 696 texts a month in the previous quarter.
Though that’s a small dip, the change is noteworthy because for several years, text messaging had been steadily growing in the United States. Mr. Sharma said it was too early to tell whether the decline here would continue, but he noted that Internet-based messaging services, like Facebook messaging and Apple’s iMessage, had been chomping away at SMS usage. He said the decline would become more pronounced as more people buy smartphones. A bit more than 50 percent of cellphone owners here have smartphones.
AT&T’s Randall Stephenson infamously stated that Apple’s iMessage was the sort of thing that keeps him awake at night – and apparently he was right to be worried. In reality, however, SMS messaging accounts for only a small portion of carrier profits, even though (as we’ve stated) carriers do make nearly 100% profit from SMS messages.
Congrats to Apple for what has proven to be a slam dunk of a disruption to SMS messaging. Long live iMessage!
