Asia Pacific’s Mobile Ad Revenue To Hit $6.9 Billion by 2015

A new report from research firm Gartner says that global mobile ad revenue is projected to reach $20.6 billion by 2015. The Asia-Pacific region, the current leader in mobile advertising with $1.6 billion this year is expected to grow to $6.9 billion by 2015.

Powered by the staggering growth of mobile in China, as well as increasing smartphone adoption and mobile coupon usage, Asia looks poised to be the center of the mobile world well into this decade and beyond.

So far this year we have seen a number of examples of advertisers breaking with tradition and jumping onto mobile platforms. Last month we reported on how an upcoming Bollywood movie is being promoted primarily through mobile advertising. In China local businesses in the region are turning to location-based services (like Dianping) to reach new customers via mobile.

As for Japan, Softbank’s Ted Matsumoto said it remains to be seen if mobile advertising can be as lucrative as mobile social games or subscription-based services — although there are no shortage of mobile coupon services there either. According to a recent report released by Google, 45% of Japanese users have used their smartphone for purchases, and that’s a number that dwarfs other nations. Advertisers who push mobile purchases as opposed to in-store buying should have the upper-hand in Japan.

Courtesy of Google

Photo: Google Mobile Ad Research Report (pdf)