a US research firm just published results of a recent survey into adoption and usage of video handsets (see NY Times article).it seems that over 25% of users now have a mobile phone that supports video, but only 1% use it…

i think the 1% is actually high, considering the fact that:

- the video services are outrageously expensive
- the content sucks
- the network speed is not great
- you have to also pay for the traffic

the research also found that the video handsets and video services are not causing people to switch between carriers.the mobile carriers are getting it all wrong again. they need to lower the cost of the service, bundle in the traffic cost (so it’s not a separate charge), and focus on the right kind of content.the most natural video content, and the one the carriers focused on, is bringing in the TV broadcast and cable channels. sounds like the right thing to do. but i think it may be the wrong type of content for a mobile device.

the screen is small, the quality is low and most likely people will not tune-in at a certain hour (e.g. to trun it on at 9pm catch the Sopranos or Lost), so it’s more logical to focus on short videos, that can be accessed on demand. this is where i think the carriers will start seeing adoption going up, and some viral marketing scenarios (assuming they are going to charge reasonable prices).

will be interesting to see how long it will take them to figure it out.