As is shown in statistics provided by relative departments, there are at present 270 million mobile phone users in China. An average of 300 millions of short messages are sent among mobile phones users every day.
Statistics of GSP Association says, in 2003, a total of 510 bln short messages were sent in the world. Chinese short messages amounted to 170 bln, accounting for one third of the total number. Aside from chatting and greeting, short message service provides a number of value added services including news subscription, weather forecast and games. The industry and market it created is therefore called "thumb economy".
Short message service is popular because user can send and receive message simultaneously; roaming can be enabled at any time; it is one way charging; the cost for short message is relatively low. For the 270 million mobile phone users in China, the short message is undoubtedly a huge market. While satisfying users, the short message service brings about thick margins for the mobile phone service providers and portal websites. It also creates a new economic growth point for the fixed line communication service operator and value added telecom operators.
(People's Daily April 9, 2004)
