A growing number of start-ups are providing easy ways to share
videos taken from a smartphone, enabling people to add music and text
and to share the results on Facebook or another social network.
As Instagram has done, these services are swiftly drawing millions
of users, as well as big money from top venture capital firms, film
stars and angel investors such as Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of
Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs.
But the fervor in mobile video-sharing apps could be undermined by
what these services still don't have revenue and a concrete business
model. Some of the start-ups,Free Streaming Arabic TV stations online
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Viddy Inc., have started charging for extra features like tools that
add filters and effects to the videos, though the effort is nascent.
"The biggest issue in mobile is monetizing," said Dino Decespedes,
vice president of Mobli Media Inc., a mobile video app that has signed
up more than the three million users since last September and snagged
funding from actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. Mobile is "not
a sexy place to put ads."
Mobli is also experimenting with charging for certain features,
such as overlaying a video with a Disney World-themed frame. But the
company is still figuring out the business model.
That may not be an issue if Mobli can find instant riches instead
the way Instagram did when Facebook agreed to acquire it last month.
Instagram had no revenue but 35 million users after launching just 18
months earlier.
Such a deal is rare in Silicon Valley, however, and some investors
question whether video services can reach the same level of ubiquity as
photo-sharing,rs 232 iPad 2 Cables & Docks
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So far, the boom in video-sharing apps is being fueled by fast user
growth at start-ups such as Viddy. About 26 million people have
downloaded the Los Angeles company's app since it was launched a year
ago, and it is currently adding around a million users a day.
Viddy has recently been in talks about a new financing that would
value the young start-up at more than $200 million, according to people
familiar with the matter. A Viddy spokesman declined to comment.