This has translated into a marked increase in subscriptions to mobile adult paysites, with the number subscribing to such sites expected to exceed 35 million worldwide by 2015.
The Mobile Adult report found that the consumer smartphone boom had indirectly resulted in the adult industry generating substantial revenues in the U.S.
According to the report, the market had previously been constrained by carrier reluctance to offer adult content on-portal, but that direct-to-consumer adult sites were profiting as consumers were surfing the Internet using their mobile devices in ever-increasing numbers.
According to the report, the availability of a strong mobile revenue stream has come at a critical point for the adult industry.
"The opportunity offered by mobile couldn't be more timely, given that sales from DVDs have collapsed while online paysites have also lost customers and revenues as a result of the proliferation of tube sites," report author Dr. Windsor Holden said.
The report also said regulations prohibiting access to remote adult content in a number of Asian markets will adversely impact revenue growth within that region, while many European markets have also experienced a fall in sales as traffic to on-portal adult content has diminished.
The report cautioned that the widespread availability of free content on thumbnail gallery posts (TGPs) would mean that revenue generation from casual users would in the future be extremely limited and that providers should focus on catering for customers seeking high-value niche content.
The report also stressed the importance of customer retention, highlighting the fact that many mobile providers have focused almost exclusively on traffic generation.
The Mobile Adult Video Whitepaper is available to view from the Juniper website together with further details of the study Mobile Adult Strategies: Downloads, Video Chat, Apps & Messaging 2010-2015.
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.