Posted by: 2manyfatcats
In reply to: None Date:6/3/2002 6:53:08 AM
Post #of 15671
'Mobile Video' Changing Industry Outlook
June 3, 2002 (TOKYO) -- A new type of video medium has arrived on the scene. "Mobile video" services -- those designed for mobile phones and other portable devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), and which allow users to both watch and record/distribute video data -- are set to change the face of the "video" industry.
Until now video data, in the form of TV programs and movies, for example, has always been restricted to particular places like viewers' homes or movie theaters.
Mobile video is beginning to turn the tables. It is the first video medium that is centered on the viewer rather than the producer/distributor. And it is likely to revolutionize the way the whole video industry works.
Mass Consumption, Mass Creation of Video Content to Occur
There are three changes, all well underway, that are necessary for mobile video to become widespread: (1) user behavior, (2) viewing devices and content, and (3) the business model for video data.
Change (1) is happening because more and more users are now creating their own content as well as just viewing it. A good example is the popular "Sha-Mail" service from J-Phone Co., Ltd., which allows users to use small digital cameras built into their phone handsets to take still pictures and then send them to other phone users via e-mail. Similar services employing video will follow (see graph).
The SV-AV10 portable video camera, launched in January by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., records data on SD memory cards. The camera weighs only 98g and is about the same size as a mobile phone, making it easy for users to create their own video content. The SV-AV10 is proving to be extremely popular with consumers, as it quickly sells out wherever it goes on sale.
As soon as users start using mobile video amongst themselves, it will not be at all long before masses and masses of video content is being created -- and consumed. There are three things necessary that will lead to greater consumption of video content. (see chart) The first is lightweight and easy-to-use portable devices, the second is data compression technology to make the content less bulky, and the third is network connectivity.
Matsushita's SV-AV10 satisfies the first two necessary conditions outlined above. If it were possible for this type of portable device to be connected to a network so that it could send/receive video data to/from other people, then it would spark mass production and mass consumption of video content.
Devices Starting to Appear
Manufacturers of electronic equipment and producers of content are increasingly starting to sense this change in users' desires and are now seriously setting about trying to develop the market for mobile video products and services. This is change (2).
Mobile phone service operators and handset manufacturers are beginning to give users the tools they want -- enabling them to watch, produce and distribute video data. NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s P2101V handset, launched in October 2001, and J-Phone's Movie Sha-Mail service, available from March 2003, are two good examples.
Whether the new mobile video market is to be dominated by mobile phones, or whether other types of portable devices will also play a significant role, is still unclear. For example, many PDAs now come equipped with functions for video playback as standard. In March, Sharp Corp. decided to launch a new type of portable video player that is best described as a mobile video device. Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. already has a prototype miniature TV that will allow users to watch terrestrial digital TV broadcasts, while Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has already exhibited a concept mobile phone that has a built-in receiver capable of picking up the same digital TV broadcasts.
Content Producers Also Active
Hand in hand with the new mobile video hardware, there is also increasing demand for content. Most of the currently available mobile video content was originally produced for TV or other media and has simply been reformatted. However, from now on new content created specifically for mobile video will start to appear. This new content will probably consist mostly of video clips that last for 5 minutes or less -- ideal for users who are on the go and who just want something to kill time. Creators capable of producing such content are now readying themselves. They include makers of short films and TV commercials.
Until now, most short films, which have been made and distributed in the United States or Europe, have been mostly treated as screening materials for up-and-coming producers and not as a commercially established content. If the short film market adapts itself for mobile video it is possible that growth will be very rapid.
Images from video cameras that are installed in fixed locations, so that parents can see what is going on at their child's kindergarten, for example, are also highly suited to mobile video. Other people may like to keep an eye on pets at home, or to see how crowded a particular restaurant is before setting out.
Searching for New Business Model
Although it has fantastic potential, the fledgling mobile video market is still in chaotic condition at present. This is because change in the traditional business model, change (3), is still up in the air. People hoping to think up a method of profiting from distributing mobile video content keep running into dead ends. One reason is the fear that if the conventional business model (i.e. that for TV and movies) is maintained for mobile video, then the viewing audience will be so disparate and fractured that the average number of people interested in a particular piece of content will not high enough for profits to be generated.
However, ideas for new ways of doing business have now started appearing. It is clear anyway that there will many mobile devices in circulation -- capable of being used anytime and anywhere -- so the potential audience is massive. And therefore, producers of mobile video content will have a lot of viewers even if they only attract a small fraction of the total number of mobile video users.
And the expected large number of mobile video users also gives opportunities for advertising. While users watch video content, a small part of the phone's or PDA's screen could be reserved for ads. The ads could be distributed by the telecoms operators, regardless of what content the user decides to watch.
There has also been a suggestion that the content itself should include advertising. This does not just mean inserting ads at the beginning and end of video clips, or having 'commercial breaks' in the middle. It would also mean using the advertised products as the main focus of the content, or at least allowing for lots of "product placement" opportunities.
Advertising is not the only option to help ensure profitable operations. Another is the possibility of selling the content itself. AtomShockwave KK, a firm that owns around 2,500 short films and animated features, has already begun offering licenses for its content.
(Masayuki Arai, Fumitada Takahashi, Staff Editors, Nikkei Electronics)
