Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion will come with a Messages feature that will likely erode more of SMS’ market share. Messages incorporates a number of different technologies in one feature, Gizmodo writes, positioning it to be an important communication channel. Its only drawback–SMS interactions are logged separately. "Every communication but SMS lands in one place."
With Messages, it concludes, communication with people who are still using features phones, "is going to be off on its own island."
Smartphone Users Say Web Access More Indispendable Than Texting
Another blow to this fundamental channel comes from a new report released by Prosper Mobile Insights, which finds that smartphone users said that internet access was more indispensable than calling (19.9%) and texting (18.2%).
After those three leading functions, there was a large dropoff to the next most indispensable functions, email (8.2%), GPS/maps (5.5%), Facebook (3.1%), and apps (general - 2.7%).
1.3% of respondents said that games, Google, and music were their single most important smartphone functions. However, texting remains the most common activity among mobile users overall: data from comScore indicates that during the three-month average ending December 2011, 74.3% US mobile subscribers sent texts, compared to 47.5% who used browsers.
Marketers Drop the Ball
Despite its popularity-albeit dwindling-texting is not being properly harnessed by marketers, other figures show. A November 2011 report from Bronto found that just 14% of marketers currently collect SMS opt-in from customers in all channels, while only 7% text to send out marketing messages, and 6% text to send out transactional support messages such as confirmations and order status. Between one-quarter and one-third of respondents plan to employ these capabilities in the next 12 months.
Another study released in November by Econsultancy in association with Foviance, just 9% of companies say that SMS/MMS touch points are very integrated into their overall customer experience.
Super Bowl Text-Message Ad Scores Big
Certainly, though, text-messaging is still considered fundamental to many marketers—and can generate huge response. More than 1.7 million viewers responded to a Super Bowl National Football League ad asking viewers to send a text message to find out more information about a fantasy football game on its website, the New York Times reported.
