A new survey from communications market research firm Infonetics Research has calculated that by the end of 2007 the worldwide mobile video phone market was worth nearly $99 billion.

And, says the research firm, these revenues will grow strongly over the next 5 years despite the challenge service providers face in making mobile video services profitable.

The Infonetics report, Mobile Video Phones, Services, and Subscribers, covered worldwide and regional market size and forecasts for mobile video service revenue, mobile video subscribers and mobile video phones. It looked at the use of mobile video systems over 3G/MBMS, DVB-H, FLO, ISDB-T, S/T-DMB, DAB and even the recently announced CMMB.

The analysis showed that that the number of mobile video subscribers topped 10 million worldwide in 2007. It expects this number to nearly triple by the end of 2008, with explosive growth continuing through at least 2011

"The amount of money it takes to manufacture mobile video phones with high quality screens and extended battery life will continue to drop considerably over the next few years, and as that happens, service providers will want to make sure they have the phones with the most revenue-generating potential in the hands of their subscribers. We expect the number of mobile video phones to quadruple between 2007 and 2011," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for IPTV at Infonetics.

The firm also expects that advertising will play a major short- and long-term role in ensuring the profitability of mobile video services, and mobile operators will be working throughout 2008 with advertisers and media buying agencies to sell their mobile video ad avails, which Infonetics believes will become more prevalent in mid- 2009.

In addition, Infonetics foresees a situation where as more mobile devices emulate the look and feel of the iPhone, much like Samsung's Instinct and LG's VU, and become more widely available, subscribers will be more likely to subscribe to, and stick with, a mobile video service.