Charged magazine talks about the growth of adult content as a significant source of revenue for the mobile industry. CARTT has a story this week that refers to TELUS offering adult content.
Traditionally, one of the least talked about drivers of new consumer technologies has been pornography: VCRs, pay-per-view, CD-ROMs, DVDs, internet commerce all whisper a begrudged acknowledgement toward the contribution of the adult entertainment industry.
It is no accident that the Consumer Electronics Show and the Adult Entertainment Expo are scheduled to coincide each year.
For some reason, the mobile industry has not exploited the power of porn within its walled garden of restricted access to applications. Until now.
The current issue of Charged speaks about the a global mobile adult content market to generate $1.4B this year, rising to $3.3B over 5 years. It is a slower growth rate than mobile music and games, but the article refers to this as
one of the most heavily regulated and constrained content genres.
Rather than constrained content, I’d blame the reduced growth rate on the constrained nature of the mobile platform itself. No longer limited by slow download speeds and monochrome screens, more because of carriers retaining control of the mobile devices’ desktop.
Adult content: wallpapers, graphics, ringtones, video clips and games. Just who is going to watch and play on a mobile phone, versus their computer? When does a client choose one device versus another?
And what happens if a colleague glances over at your display screen as you scroll a little too far on the menu into that special zone?
It will probably make them think twice about asking you to turn your phone to silent mode.