Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market by Communication Type (A2P, P2A and P2P); by Organization Size (SME’s and Large enterprises); by End-use Industry (BFSI, Telecom and IT, Media and Entertainment, Tourism and Logistics, Retail and eCommerce, Healthcare, Other); and by Region - Global Forecasts 2017 to 2027

The Global Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market was valued at USD 1,157 million in 2020, and is projected to reach at USD 12,276 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 34.5% from 2021 to 2027.

The rising penetration of smartphones all around the globe is one of the major factors driving the growth of rich communication services market. Owing to this, there is a rising need for more efficient and improved communication services by the customers. The rich communication services offer several functions to the users such as video and audio file sharing, location sharing, group chats and voice messages among many others.

In addition, rich communication services help in improving the functionality of messaging application that is pre-installed in mobile phones. It provides smartphone user the ability to read receipts, text over Wi-Fi, see when someone else is typing, and send higher-resolution video and pictures. These advantages have helped in overcoming the drawbacks faced in traditional SMS messaging, therefore improving the messaging standards in the smartphones. Thus, the adoption of smartphones for improving the communication process will fuel the demand for rich communication services globally.

Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market

Improved advertising brand campaigns is also acting as one of the major factors driving the growth of rich communication services market. Using rich communication services for advertising helps organizations to improve their offerings through automation of customer interactions as compared to lengthy calls of sales agents. These services not only help in improving customer experience, but also act as a cost-efficient alternative to the traditional marketing strategies.

In addition, these services facilitate the customers to get access to verified senders, thus improving brand consistency and security unlike traditional SMS. Therefore, due to such features many companies are rapidly adopting RCS to improve their brand awareness, and thereby improving the sales of an organization. For instance, Subway, a popular chain of sandwich restaurant, quickly attracted more than 5 million users through its RCS campaign, enjoyed the conversion rate was 140% higher than for SMS for the two-sandwich deal, and 51% higher for the $20 meal deal.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has put immense pressure on the economic scenario of several major countries including the U.S., India, China, and U.K. among others, pushing these countries into a severe recession. Numerous employment losses and incessant pay cuts have reduced the disposable income of consumers, and shifting their focus on essential products. Due to this, during lockdown, the demand for RCS solutions decreased significantly indicating that companies expressed little or no interest in using these channels during lockdown. However, in the post-lockdown scenario, organizations are investing more in the rich communication services to communicate more effectively with customers and recovering from losses faced due to pandemic.

The Global Rich Communication Services (RCS) Industry Segmentation:

By Communication Type

  • A2P
  • P2A
  • P2P

By Organization Size

  • SME’s
  • Large enterprises

By End-use Industry

  • BFSI
  • Telecom and IT
  • Media and Entertainment
  • Tourism and Logistics
  • Retail and eCommerce
  • Healthcare
  • Other

By Region

  • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Latin America
  • Middle East & Africa

Based on communication type, A2P segment held the largest market share in 2020 and is expected to show similar trends in the forecast period.

On the basis of Communication Type, the Global Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market can be segmented as A2P, P2A and P2P. Among these, the application-to-person (A2P) segment accounted the largest share in the global rich communications market in 2020 and is expected to show similar trends in the coming years. The rich communication services are used by various businesses for marketing their products and services, sending notifications and alerts. Various companies use application-to-person messages to send bulk messages for improving their customer reach. For instance, in September 2020, Infobip, a key telecommunication company, entered collaborated with Span, an Indian IT company. The collaboration has helped Span in building connected customer experiences by Infobip’s entire customer engagement and experience portfolio.

However, the Person-To-Application (P2A) communication type is also expected to exhibit a notable growth during the forecast period. P2A messaging provides opportunity to the customers to initiate interaction with the organizations. As, organizations are now opting for platforms that improves customer experience by solving their product related queries, P2A communication is bound to rise. This will thereby, positively drive the demand for rich communication services globally.

Based on End-Use industry, retail and e-commerce segment dominated the global rich communication market   and is expected to show the highest growth in the forecast period.

On the basis of End-Use industry, the Global Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market is segmented as Telecom and IT, Media and Entertainment, Tourism and Logistics, Retail and E-commerce, Healthcare and other. Among these, the retail and e-commerce segment dominated the global rich communication market and is expected to show the highest growth in the forecast period. The growth in this segment is prominently because of rising adoption of communication solution such as A2P and P2A by several retail and e-commerce companies to improve the customer shopping experience. Rich communication services offers retail and e-commerce companies opportunity to show its product images in various creative formats and helps in providing insightful data according to the preference of the customers.

The BFSI segment also held a significant share in the rich communication services market globally. This is due to the rising adoption of mobile banking services across the globe. Rich communication services platforms are designed to provide banks with features such as opening new accounts, mobile payments, request for debit/credit cards, customer support. and locating banks and ATMs. Moreover, the emergence of new age FinTech technology are further enabling banks to invest and upgrade their mobile banking applications to provide customized product offerings, enhanced customer experience, and convenience for their user.

Based on regions, Asia Pacific is expected to show the highest growth rate in the forecast period.

On the basis of region, the Global Rich Communication Services (RCS) Market can be segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa. Among these region, North America held the largest share in the rich communication services market in 2020. This is because of increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and high penetration of 5G network in the region. Moreover, presence of some key players in the region, such as D2 Technologies, Summit Technology Inc. and Mavenir, is also serving as major drivers for the growth in rich communication services market in the region. especially for digital marketing and messaging platform services.

However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to show the highest growth rate in the forecast period. This is due to growing population, increasing disposable income along with increasing smartphone users are the major factors that contribute to the market growth. Furthermore, it is estimated that India had 502.3 million Smartphone users as of December 2019. Moreover, shift to digitization among several developing economies such as China, India and South Korea among many others in the region is an important factor in the growth of rich communication services in the region. For instance, on 1 July, 2015, govt. of India launched Digital India program that aims to provide the people with such electronically and digitally advanced technologies so that the rural areas are connected to the urban areas through network devices and services. Owing to these factors, there has been a greater demand for rich communication services in this region.

Company Profiles and Competitive Intelligence

The key players operating in the market are:

  • AT&T Inc.
  • Vodafone Idea Limited
  • Google LLC/Alphabet Inc.
  • Verizon Communications Inc.
  • Deutsche Telekom AG
  • China Mobile
  • Ericsson
  • Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
  • ZTE Corporation
  • SK Telecom
  • Mavenir System
  • Acision, Orange S.A.,
  • Comverse Technology, Inc.,
  • SK Telecom Co., Ltd, Xura, Inc.
  • SAP America Inc

The report also provides in-depth analysis of Rich Communication Services (RCS) market dynamics such as drivers, and restraints.

Drivers

  • The rising penetration towards smartphones.
  • Improved advertising brand campaigns.

Restraints

  • Security and privacy concerns.
  • Rising adoption of OTT platforms.

The report also provides in-depth analysis of key trends in Rich Communication Services (RCS) market

  • Several nations have implemented strong compliance for limiting OTT messaging services for security reasons. For instance, the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has banned all Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, such as Skype, and WhatsApp calling as they don’t comply with the UAE’s regulatory framework. AS, RCS is supervised by GSMA’s universal profile, the adoption of RCS is expected to increase in the coming years.

The report also provides in-depth analysis of recent news developments and investments.

  • In April 2020, CM.Com, global leader in cloud software for conversational commerce announced to launch RCS in partnership with Vodafone across Germany. With this collaboration, the company plans to provide tools to leverage rich communication service channel through configuring rich features, chat bots along with customer contact tooling. Thus, this partnership will enable the two companies to provide next generation SMS messaging with features such as verified sender and rich media across Germany.
  • In January 2019, Google rolled Rich Communication Services Chat on the Google Fi network and devices, as well as upgraded international data speeds to LTE. This service supports all Pixel phones, along with the Android One Moto X4, Moto G6, LG V35, and LG G7.
  • March 2019 - HDFC Bank Limited, India's one of the leading private sector bank, collaborated with Route Mobile Limited to provide rich communication services (RCS) on Google's RCS Business Messaging platform at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), 2019.

The unique insight provided by this report also includes the following:

  • In-depth value chain analysis
  • Opportunity mapping
  • Sector snapshot
  • Key Players Positioning Matrix
  • Regulatory scenario
  • Strategies Adopted-Benchmarking Heat Map
  • Market trends
  • Covid-19 impact analysis
  • Product comparison
  • Pre & Post COVID 19 impacts on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) market
  • Competitive Landscape

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A few key players include, AT&T Inc., Vodafone Idea Limited, Google LLC/Alphabet Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Deutsche Telekom AG, China Mobile, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, ZTE Corporation, SK Telecom among many others.

In the base year 2020, North America accounted for the largest share in the Rich Communication Services (RCS) market.

The Rich Communication Services (RCS) market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.5 % during 2020-2027

The global Rich Communication Services (RCS) market was valued at USD 1,157 million in 2020, and is projected to reach at USD 12,276 million by 2027.

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  • Section 1: Introduction
    • Engagement Objective
    • Scope of the Study: Segmentation 
    • Timeframe, Currency and Limitations
  • Section 2: Research Methodology
    • 3P Research Approach
    • Market Sizing Approach
    • Data Sources
    • Primary Research Coverage
  • Section 3: Executive Summary
    • Global Rich Communication Services Market Summary
    • Market Snapshot
    • Country Snapshot
  • Section 4: Premium Insights
    • Key Trend Analysis
    • Major Investment Scenario
    • New revenue Pockets
    • Pain Point Analysis
    • Price Trend Analysis
    • Strategies Adopted-Benchmarking Heat Map
    • Business Recommendations
      • Opportunity Mapping
    • PESTEL Analysis
    • Market Positioning Matrix
  • Section 5: Market Overview & Competitive Landscape
    • Competitive Landscape
    • Investment Scenario by key Players
    • Key Player Overview
    • Product comparison
    • Competitive Benchmarking
    • Player Wise Geographic Presence
    • Player Wise Target Customer Segment
    • Recent News
      • Product Launches & upgrades
      • R&D / Innovation
      • Merger & Acquisition
      • JV & Partnership
      • Recognition and others
  • Section 6: Market Size and Share Analysis
    • Market Size & Historic Growth
    • Market Size by Player Category
    • Market Size by Communication type
      • A2P
      • P2A
      • P2P
    • Market Size by Organization Size
      • SME’s
      • Large enterprises
    • Market Size by End-Use Industry
      • BFSI
      • Telecom and IT
      • Media and Entertainment
      • Tourism and Logistics
      • Retail and eCommerce
      • Healthcare
      • Other
  • Section 7: Market Dynamics
    • DROC Impact Analysis
    • Market Drivers
    • Market Restraints
    • Market Opportunities
  • Section 8: Future Forecast & Impact of COVID-19
    • Key Drivers & Anticipated Revival Period
    • Key Trends Analysis
    • Impact on End user Industry
    • Opportunity Analysis
    • Pre & Post COVID 19 impact
    • End-Use Specific COVID-19 Impact
    • Key Factor Analysis
  • Section 9: Regional Market Size and Share Analysis
    • North America
      • Market Overview and Analysis
      • Key Country Analysis
        • US
        • Canada
    • Europe
      • Market Overview and Analysis
      • Key Country Analysis
        • Germany
        • UK
        • France
        • Italy
        • Spain
        • Rest of Europe
    • Asia Pacific
      • Market Overview and Analysis
      • Key Country Analysis
        • China
        • India
        • Japan
        • South Korea
        • Rest Of APAC
    • Latin America
      • Market Overview and Analysis
      • Key Country Analysis
        • Brazil
        • Argentina
        • Rest of LATAM
    • Middle East & Africa
      • Market Overview and Analysis
      • Key Country Analysis
        • GCC
        • Rest of MEA
  • Section 10: Company Profile
      1. AT&T Inc.
      2. Vodafone Idea Limited
      3. Google LLC/Alphabet Inc.
      4. Verizon Communications Inc.
      5. Deutsche Telekom AG
      6. China Mobile
      7. Ericsson
      8. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
      9. ZTE Corporation
      10. SK Telecom

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