ABI Research predicts 7 trillion SMS messages will be sent in 2011

I'm not a huge text message myself, but my wife is. Before we had unlimited texting on our mobile devices she once racked up a $500 bill in texting expenses alone. She's not the only one that texts a lot either, all of her gal pals text tons too, all I hear is her phone beeping all day. This happens all around the world apparently and ABI Research has offered up its predictions on how many SMS messages will be sent in 2011.

According to the research firm, there will be 7 trillion SMS messages sent globally in 2011. I think my wife will make half of those. Those 7 trillion texts will be generated by a total of 4.2 billion mobile subscribers and include SMS, MMS, mobile email, and IM messaging according to ABI.

Part of the reason for the huge number of SMS messages in 2011 is the low penetration of PCs in some parts of the world leading the people there to use smartphones and other devices for sending and receiving emails. Despite the huge number of messages, ABI expect revenue for SMS and MMS messages to decline.