The Change Mariner

Multimedia Messaging (MMS) Booming In China

Taipei Times:

China's top dotcoms believe multimedia messaging services (MMS) will become a gold mine sustaining their profit growth, and have earmarked large sums for aggressive development, state Chinese media said yesterday.

Sohu.com Inc, one of China's three large NADAQ-listed portals, plans "huge investment" this year in a bid to outpace its two major rivals, Sina.com and Netease.com, in tapping the market, Xinhua news agency said.

"The peak season for short text messages is over," Sohu's CEO Charles Zhang said according to Xinhua. "MMS based on (2.5-generation) technology will herald explosive growth in 2004."

Unlike short messaging services (SMS), which allow transmissions of written text only, MMS enables users to send color pictures, animation, recorded sound and video.

At the end of last year, 8 million Chinese residents subscribed to MMS, and experts believe MMS for mobile subscribers will expand to an industry worth US$22 billion by 2008, according to Xinhua.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at March 9, 2004 06:59 PM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Area - Tech - Mobile Communications | Industry - Internet | Industry - Telecommunications | Quadrant - Technological | Theme - 'Digital Impact'

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