Carriers and content providers around the world have gazed enviously at the mobile content markets in Japan and Korea and wondered if they could replicate the success…”a variety of factors, including cheaper American music downloads and more advanced Japanese cellular networks, means that the music-cellphone formula that has worked in Japan — where most of the music is sold by cellphone carriers — won’t necessarily play in the U.S.”
The article goes on to elucidate the differences between mobile networks and the cost of online music between the US and Japan.
It also referenced a survey arguing against music players:
“What’s more, in an online survey this year, Forrester Research Inc. found that among more than 5,000 adults, only 1% said a digital music player was a must-have feature for cellphones. More desirable, they said: longer battery life, a built-in camera and high-speed data access…The “phone as a music player isn’t bringing anything new to the table,” says Yankee Group’s Mr. Goodman. “Americans don’t view their cellphones as entertainment devices but more as communications devices.”
Before cameras were common in mobile handsets very few people thought they wanted one in a phone, and now it’s considered one of the most desirable characteristics…and that’s even less than a communications feature than a music player.
The Mobile Music section is sponsored by mobZilla
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