Peng Shan, a spirited 21-year-old Beijing design student, changes her cellphone's ringback tones as often as other people change clothes, part of a growing fad that's delivering piles of cash to China's mobile carriers.

"They reflect my feelings," she said cheerfully in a phone interview. "I choose a lively pop song when I'm delighted, and a soothing ballad when I'm frustrated."

Catering to Chinese subscribers' increasing desire for personal expression, ringback tones -- the sound a caller hears in the seconds they wait for another person to answer -- are turning a marketing gimmick into big business.

Revenues from ringback tones have given China's mobile carriers, China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Unicom Ltd., something to smile about at a time when subscriber growth has begun slowing; and when margins are shrinking with the duopoly seeking poorer customers away from saturated coastal markets.

"New" business

China Mobile, the world's biggest wireless operator by subscribers, said in March that "new" businesses, consisting of data and content, grew 59 percent and accounted for a fifth of revenue in 2005, versus 15.5 percent in 2004.

Within that total, ringback tone revenue was one of the fastest-growing segments, quadrupling to 3.42 billion yuan (US$427 million) in 2005 from just 848 million yuan the previous year.

The company's ringback tone service has become a national hit since its launch in 2003.

Customers downloaded tones more than 300 million times in 2005. One pop song -- "Who Do You Love?"-- was downloaded nearly 16 million times between April and December.

Unicom has experienced even bigger growth. Ringback tone users skyrocketed to 21.95 million at the end of 2005, compared with a mere 280,000 users at the end of 2004.

"Ringback tones are more popular in...China than in Western countries because, to a certain extent, they...provide a chance for people to express their personality freely," said Alina Zhang, an analyst with UOB-Kay Hian in Shanghai.

Analysts say the tones, which typically cost just 2 to 3 yuan apiece, with monthly subscription fees of about 5 yuan, are seen by many Chinese as a way to express their personalities.

The service, which targets the country's 400 million cellphone subscribers -- the largest of any single market worldwide -- has plenty of personality to draw on.

Fashion statement

In a country where a handphone is both a communication device and a fashion accessory, the tones are the latest form of personal expression.

Chinese cellphone stores now brim with hundreds of models of various handsets in all shapes and sizes, allowing buyers to choose from a huge array of colors, styles, forms and functions.

The trend has accelerated over the last few years, with many Chinese choosing phones that look masculine, feminine, sporty or delicate, and decorating them with various trinkets, including pictures of pop stars and soft toys.

Ringback tones are just the latest extension of that trend.

In the past year, 30-year-old accounting manager Jiang Fang in Xi'an has downloaded dozens of tones from chirpy pop tunes to soulful ballads. She once chose "Been a Bit Upset Lately."

"I change my ringback tones pretty often, once every few days," she said.

(Shenzhen Daily May 9, 2006)