Ringtones may become extinct by 2016

Bangalore: Due to the increasing usage of SMS and smartphones, mobile ringtones may become a thing of the past by the year 2016. According to the study by consumer analyst group IBIS World, though the ringtone market was worth $881 million in 2007, the yearly sales are predicted to fall to $750 million for this year and could vanish by 2016. 

According to the study, as more people start using SMS or internet based services like Twitter and Skype to communicate, the use of voice calls and ringtones have declined. Even the high pricing of ringtones that are usually between $2 and $3 per clip, may also support this gradual decrease in usage as it will deter users who are cost conscious.

"People used to talk on their cellphones," says Frank Dickson, Vice President of Research at technology analyst group In-Stat. "We've become a text-centric society, which takes away from talking, which takes away from ringtones. According to him, in the past two years the average number of text messages sent by each U.S. cellphone user has more than doubled, to 584 texts per month from 218 per month. In that same period the average number of calls has decreased almost 15 percent.

The lack of software locks on ringtones may also contribute to the decreasing adoption of ringtones. Today, with devices like iPhone and BlackBerry hitting the market, the users have more freedom to use any suitably formatted audio file as a ringtone where some phones were artificially limited to built-in ringtones or those purchased through the carrier.