Recent research by Orange has indicated that texting could soon become a thing of the past. Research by TNS of 17,000 people in 30 countries revealed that once users adopt mobile instant messaging services such as AIM and MSN Messenger on their mobile phones, they reduce their use of text messages.
Of every 100 messages - including texts, emails and picture messages - sent by users without mobile instant messaging from their mobile phone or computer, 38 are text messages. Once consumers start using mobile instant messaging, the number of texts falls to 23 per 100.
Matthew Kirk, who heads Orange's portals business, pointed out that older people tend to continue to use text messaging, and that currently the format is thriving, with Orange customers sending an average of more than 1.3bn text messages each month between November and January, up 21%.