Over the past 12 to 18 months, Instant Messaging (IM) and Presence have emerged as a new medium of communications over the Internet and it is expected that by 2007 there will be a total of 1,439 million IM accounts worldwide.

Over the past 12 to 18 months, Instant Messaging (IM) and Presence have emerged as a new medium of communications over the Internet. Instant messaging is a means for sending small, simple messages that are delivered immediately to online users. Presence is a means for finding, retrieving, and subscribing to changes in the presence information (e.g. "online" or "offline") of other users. We project that in 2003 there will be a total of 590 million active worldwide IM accounts. By 2007 we expect a total of 1,439 million IM accounts worldwide, of which 1,090 are for consumer use only, and 349 million are corporate accounts.

Research and Markets have announced the addition of the "Instant Messaging and Presence Market Trends, 2003-2007" report to their offering.

This study covers the Instant Messaging and Presence markets in 2003 and their expected evolution over the course of the next four years. Providing a detailed analysis of each market, the report examines market trends, drivers, barriers, as well as leading vendor products and strategies.

This study provides a worldwide focus on the Instant Messaging market. We divide this market into 4 segments:

1. Corporate Instant Messaging
2. Enterprise Development Tools
3. IM Management
4. Consumer Instant Messaging

We provide data for these segments on current worldwide installed base, vendor installed base and revenue market share, as well as worldwide forecasted market growth in terms of both installed base and revenue from 2003 to 2007.

All market numbers, such as market size, forecasts, installed base, revenue information, and any financial information presented in this study represent worldwide figures, and geographical breakouts are also provided. All revenue numbers are expressed in $USD.

The information and analysis in this report is based on primary research conducted throughout 2003. It consists of information collected from vendors, service providers and users via interviews and surveys.

Secondary research sources have also been used, where appropriate, to cross-check the information collected. These include company annual reports and market size information from various market segments of the computer industry.

Over the past 12 to 18 months, Instant Messaging (IM) and Presence have emerged as a new medium of communications over the Internet. Instant messaging is a means for sending small, simple messages that are delivered immediately to online users. Presence is a means for finding, retrieving, and subscribing to changes in the presence information (e.g. "online" or "offline") of other users.

We project that in 2003 there will be a total of 590 million active worldwide IM accounts. By 2007 we expect a total of 1,439 million IM accounts worldwide, of which 1,090 are for consumer use only, and 349 million are corporate accounts.

The market for Instant Messaging (IM) is poised for steady growth over the next four years as adoption continues to grow within both the consumer and business sectors. The number of daily IMs sent is increasing at a steady rate, growing from 582 billion IMs sent per day in 2003, to 1,380 billion IMs sent per day in 2007.

- IM is now slowly making its way into the corporate world. What used to be an effective tool for keeping in touch with buddies" on various buddy lists" is now finding its way into corporate communications for increased efficiency and aiding time-critical applications.

In the last 6 to 12 months, corporate IM has entered a number of different vertical industries such as the financial, healthcare, government, Web-based customer service, and field service sectors with distributed project teams.

Today, a growing number of IM users believe that following in the footsteps of phone and email, IM is fast approaching worldwide adoption, and will soon be an integral part of instantaneous inter-personal communications.

We are categorizing the market opportunity for Instant Messaging into the following market segments:

Corporate Instant Messaging: Corporate Instant Messaging is the use of IM within enterprises in order to instantly communicate with other members within the organization. This includes instant chat, file-sharing, Web-browsing and conferencing and more. It is addressed by:

- Corporate IM Vendors
- Enterprise Development Tools Vendors
- IM Management Vendors

Consumer Instant Messaging: Consumer IM is the use of IM for instant communications between friends and family at the consumer level. This includes instant chat, file-sharing, Web-cam capabilities, and more. It is addressed by:

- Public Network Providers
- Integration Solution Providers

By year-end 2003, we expect that revenue for total worldwide instant messaging will be $224 million, growing steadily to $566 million in 2007. Growth will be largely spurred on by the corporate IM vendor segment, as discussed further in the following sections. The following figure illustrates the worldwide instant messaging growth for the next 5 years.

The age group with the largest number of IM users in 2003 is age 12 -- 19 with 34% of the users. The second largest group in 2003 are the 20 -- 29 year olds, with 28% of users. This figure represents the high instance of IM usage among college students and young corporate employees, both having widespread access to the Internet and typically strong adopters of new and innovative technology.

Out of 50 corporate respondents interviewed for this study, 70% indicated that their organization is using IM; however, only 26% have standardized on a specific, company-wide IM solution.

The top concern companies have over instant messaging is security," followed by some skepticism of added value. Installation and administrative concerns were relatively low.

This report is a study of the market for Corporate and Consumer Instant Messaging and its potential growth over the next four years, including:

1. Results from an in-depth IM corporate user survey, of 50 companies worldwide.

2. Market Size, Market Share, and Forecasts for IM over a four-year period, including:

- User and IM Account Installed Base - Regional Breakouts
- Business vs. Consumer User - IM Traffic
- Age Demographics - And more

3. Analysis of key market players, including:

- Corporate IM: AOL Enterprise AIM & ICQ, Bantu, IBM Sametime, Jabber, Microsoft MSN& RTC, WiredRed, Yahoo! Messenger, and others.
- Enterprise Development Tools : Active Buddy, Vayusphere and others.
- IM Management Vendors: Facetime, IMlogic and others.

This report is intended for Wireless and Wireline Operators, Service Providers, Vendors, Corporate Organizations, and Investors who need to make informed decisions about the Instant Messaging market.

For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/35248

REPORT DATA SUMMARY:
Instant Messaging and Presence Market Trends, 2003-2007
Category: Computing & Technology, Telecommunications & Networks
Number of Pages: 190
URL: www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/35248

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