via Idolator
Ah, ringtones. In a land (well, Britain, to be fair) where tracks like "Crazy Frog" have actually eclipsed proper single sales, who could blame record executives for rubbing their hands lustily, smiling at the money sure to come in from re-selling tracks for cellphone use? Well, despite the market projected to bring in about $9 billion this year, things are beginning to see a slowdown, partly due to slowing handset growth--and partly due to the novelty factor wearing off a bit.
As smartphones (and perhaps normal, music capable phones) become more prevalent, expect ringtone purchases to dip a bit more. The Blackjack, for instance, has functionality out of the box to assign MP3 or WAV files as a ringtone, not to mention the ability to assign contacts with their own custom ringtone. Once people learn they can do things for free, it tends to put a damper on their notions of paying $3 for a sound snippet they probably already own.