InsideBayArea has a feature on FunMobility, now enjoying good times after a lean beginning, a trajectory that pretty closely mirrors that of the mobile content industry as a whole.
“From 2001 to 2003, they were very tough years, because nobody wanted to invest in mobile content,” Lavine said. “Basically, we were just barely squeaking by.” ... Then in about 2004, the industry became hot. As the technology in mobile devices improved, users became more interested in graphical content...And at the parties Lavine attended, cash bars became open bars, and cheese and crackers became caviar and oysters.”
FunMobility sells images and ringtones, the bread and butter of the industry. “To put it in perspective, FunMobility did more in revenue last month than it did in all of 2003. The company’s content is getting 1,500 hits a second. In 2003, it was lucky if it got 100 a minute.”