The RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging protocol will see exponential growth in the next five years, according to the latest report commissioned by Infobip, and carried out by the technology consulting firm Omdia. The study predicts that RCS traffic will quadruple by 2029, highlighting the continued rise of this standard. And, at the moment, RCS messages, both application-to-person (A2P) and person-to-person (P2P), amount to 1.5 billion, but are expected to exceed 6 billion in that period.
RCS represents the evolution of traditional SMS, allowing businesses and consumers to send rich messages using the standard SMS inbox, over mobile data or Wi-Fi. According to Omdia, this messaging system within the A2P market will generate revenues worth $4.2 billion in 2029.
By the end of 2024, RCS will have a cross-platform reach of approximately 2.5 billion monthly active users
Additionally, Apple’s adoption of Rich Communication Services in its iOS 18 update has fueled its cross-platform expansion, with Omdia forecasting it will reach approximately 2.5 billion monthly active users by the end of 2024.
The study also notes that regions such as America, Asia and Oceania will be the most important in terms of growth in both traffic and revenue related to RCS in the coming years.
| Geographic area | Revenue 2024 | Revenue 2029 | Traffic 2024 | Traffic 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia/Oceania | $169m | $2.2bn | 5.6bn | 64bn |
| Americas | $113m | $1.5bn | 4.7bn | 54bn |
| Europe | $22m | $324m | 800m | 11bn |
| Middle East/Africa | $13m | $220m | 545m | 8bn |
RCS traffic
According to Charlotte Palfrey, an analyst at Omdia, Rich Communication Services bring significant benefits to both businesses and mobile operators. Palfrey highlights that companies should take advantage of generative artificial intelligence to make their RCS campaigns more personalized and effective, thus improving conversion rates. In addition, operators can use RCS not only to attract customers, but also for internal marketing and customer service functions, showing the full potential of this system.
For his part, Ivan Ostojic, business director at Infobip, emphasizes that with Apple’s update, RCS is available globally, eliminating the need to download additional applications to share images or videos. This also opens up new opportunities for brands to accompany their customers throughout the entire purchasing cycle, from the first offer to after-sales support, using conversational and rich messages.
