14 DAY TRIAL // The Russian mobile market, probably one of the most rapidly growing in Europe, slowed down in 2005 after growing on average by 176% annually in 2001-2004. In 2003, the subscriber base of Russian cellular operators nearly tripled from 26 to 73 million, and it seems that by the end of 2005, it will exceed 104 million users.
The content service market has also grown from an estimated US $99 million in 2003, to almost $298 million by the end of 2004, and $210 million during the first three quarters of 2005. ?The market is expected to grow more dynamically in 2006, while in 2005 the market stagnated and in general showed moderate growth," said Oksana Pankratova, analyst at iKS-Consulting. According to the recently published Russian Mobile Content Market Report, the main reason for this stagnation is that ?personalized" service is no longer enough for users, who want to make their content experience more exciting.
It seems that this year diversification of the offered services like SMS and MMS, content services, such as logos and ring tones, mobile Internet and basic services, such as caller ID, will be the main trend on the market. Also, the ?market makers" on the Russian mobile market will probably start making important advertising investments for the promotion of these services.