Zingy Gets Zinged As Ringtone Sales Decline

For years, the ringtone was assumed to be the growth sector in the music biz, especially once CD sales started tanking and before digital downloads started pulling their own weight. But recently the rumors of the format’s demise, rumors which began a few years ago, have started to get louder. And there might be another death knell sounded in this article on the closure of ringtone distributor Zingy, as it “chang[es] its name to a brand it bought and killed two years ago,” Vindigo:

As a result of this reorg, the company is closing down its “personalization services” division, meaning it will do away with its ringtones, wallpapers and other content apps. What it will focus on is slightly confusing, from the statement: “Our new strategic direction leverages our strengths as market leader in network-aware applications and refocuses us on the high growth opportunities in mobile entertainment, which today are cross platform applications, mobile advertising, and casual games.” This says it more clearly: the company will develop more mobile applications similar to Vindigo’s MapQuest Mobile, MovieGoer, and Vindigo City Guide applications, in effect going back to Vindigo’s original charter.

Which may just be one unique instance of a company being given a new direction by its parent corporation–“Japanese mobile content company For-Side, which bought them three years ago”–after it has become unprofitable. Or it could be a sign of the times, the conquering digital hero of a few years ago forced into early retirement as new-school applications supplant old-school ringtones.

Zingy Changes Names To Vindigo; Closes Ringtone Division [mocoNews.net]