BOSTON—In a head-to-head comparison, more customers preferred Sprint Nextel Corp.’s Music Store to Verizon Wireless’ Vcast service—but both were deemed too expensive, according to a new study by research firm Strategy Analytics.
Strategy Analytics said Sprint’s Mobile Music Store outscored Verizon’s Vcast service by 21 percent because of ease of use and perceived network performance. However, the report found very few users are willing to pay current premiums for downloading music to their mobile phones.
“Strategy Analytics has identified significant levels of consumer interest in mobile music services, and the current services—especially Sprint Music Store—meet or exceed user expectations in terms of performance and convenience,” according to Paul Brown, a wireless analyst at Strategy Analytics. “However, price remains a considerable barrier to acceptance.”
Kevin Nolan, director of Strategy Analytics’ Advanced Wireless Laboratory, said the firm’s research indicates users are willing to pay a premium of about 35 percent for downloading tracks to both their wireless devices and personal computers. He said the current 100- to 150-percent premiums make adoption of such services “highly unlikely.”
