Digital Lifescapes

According to the latest market study by Point Topic , the total number of broadband lines in the UK is now expected to be 25.1 million by the end of 2014 -- almost a million more than before. The increase is not huge but it will help to improve the business case for broadband, and particularly for investment in superfast broadband using next generation access. The short-term forecasts have also been increased. The actual total for the end of 2009 was 80,000 higher than forecast at 18,370,000 lines. The forecast for the end of 2010 has been increased to 19,790,000, up from 19,580,000 previously. Looking back, projections such as these made by Point Topic are also proving highly accurate. The forecast for end-2009 made in October 2007 was within 1 percent of the actual result. The current forecast for end-2010 is just 1.2 percent higher than the forecast published in 2007. A major feature of the longer-term forecasts is the dramatic growth projected for superfast broadband, ma

eMarketer reports that the Web and its meritocracy for content publishing has put more power into the hands of consumers and business buyers. They can easily conduct their own product research, get advice and read reviews from peers, and share their own perspective. According to a market study by marketing services company Alterian, this apparent transformation has led to increasing public skepticism and cynicism of many traditional marketing practices. Rather than simply trusting experts or putting faith in brands, Internet users expect to do their own research and comparison shopping using many different "more trustworthy" sources. Nearly every respondent to Alterian's survey did their own research and comparisons before a purchase at least sometimes, and 71 percent said they looked for as many information sources as possible to verify their findings. Friends and family were most likely to be trusted for advice, while advertisements and other carefully crafted

By and large, the traditional pay-TV user experience is very dependent upon the set-top box (STB) design and the capabilities of the associated electronic program guide (EPG). New STB designs tend to be significantly different -- smaller, more attractive -- than the typical legacy devices. Preliminary results from the IMS Research study of the market for set-top boxes and iDTVs has revealed that Pace plc has taken the number one ranking for worldwide digital STBs shipped to pay-TV customers for 2009, unseating Motorola. For 2009, the top five ranked set-top box manufacturers included Pace, Motorola, Technicolor (formerly Thomson), Cisco, and Humax. Apparently, Motorola's position is attributed to its leadership in the cable sector while Technicolor's focus and leadership continues to be in the satellite sector. According to Rebecca Kurlak, co-author of the IMS market study, STB shipments grew 15.2 percent year-over-year on a global basis from 2008 to 2009. Previously in

Still think that advetising via mobile phones is a passing fad? Think again. While it's true that in 2009 well under half a billion dollars were spent on mobile marketing and advertising, it's just the beginning of what's to come. Over the next five years -- leading up to the end of 2015 -- that expenditure will grow at a compound annual rate of more than 40 percent, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . This robust growth will be fostered by several factors. According to ABI's mobile marketing strategies practice director, Neil Strother , "Compared to campaigns in more traditional media, mobile marketing can be relatively inexpensive. Moreover, ads can be highly targeted and naturally paired with rich mobile content that growing numbers of consumers are accessing through smart mobile devices." Mobile applications are typically very engaging and offer a fast-track to potential customers. More than three billion apps have been downloaded

If you could imagine the video entertainment landscape in ten years, what would be significantly different from today's environment? The Diffusion Group (TDG) predicts that by 2020 the consumption of Internet video -- content stored and distributed over an IP architecture -- will overtake the consumption of broadcast TV programming. According to TDG market study data, while the amount of time consumers viewed TV has remained relatively stable, the amount of time consumers watched online video increased 84 percent between 2008 and 2009. That means, when extrapolated across the entire TV-viewing population, the average time spent viewing online video in 2009 was 52 percent more than in 2008. TDG expects that this rate of growth will actually increase during the next 5-7 years due primarily to the increased use of the television as the "platform of choice" for over-the-top (OTT) video viewing. According to Colin Dixon, senior partner at TDG, "The total amount o

Asia continues to dominate the worldwide Pay-TV services marketplace, accounting for slightly more than 50 percent of all subscribers in 2010, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . China alone will encompass 26.3 percent of the world total -- followed by the rest of Asia Pacific at 22.3 percent, Western Europe 15.6 percent and North America 15.3 percent. While IPTV grew faster than cable and satellite in 4Q 2009, consistent growth is expected for all Pay-TV platforms over the next five years -- with over-the-top IP video service growth being the wild card. "By 2012, there will be nearly three-quarter billion Pay-TV subscribers worldwide," says Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. "Asia will continue to represent over 50 percent of Pay-TV subscribers through 2014 when we expect total subscribers to reach 855 million." I believe that markets in Europe, such as France, are still leading the overall pay-TV "value-priced offering" field, while Hong

Five years ago, I recall when the incumbent Telcos in the U.S. were making plans to launch their IPTV services, and I remember being hopeful that this could be the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the pay-TV industry . The market opportunities for innovative video entertainment offerings were unlimited -- due to the lack of meaningful differentiation among the legacy cable and satellite pay-TV service providers. Unfortunately, the results thus far have been disappointing to me -- since most IPTV offerings merely mimic the legacy channel-centric tiered approach to video delivery, with little inventive design that utilizes the inherent capabilities of IP-based platforms. The introduction of Google TV last week -- a vision of an open platform that adds the power of the Web to the television viewing experience -- could be the turning-point, leveraging open standards and applying free-market principles that potentially lower the prior barriers to TV App market entry. The

Marketers everywhere seem to agree, it's important to have the full picture when evaluating digital marketing investments. That said, market studies indicate that marketers still consider the click-through their main form of measurement -- despite its flaws. eMarketer reports that a 2010 survey performed by Web analytics service Omniture showed that marketers were unable to measure marketing effectiveness across the typical purchase life-cycle. Asked which metrics would give them the most actionable insights, marketers said marketing cost, orders, average order size and conversion rate. However, they were only able to measure Web visits, page views, page views per visit and click-throughs. The same measurement problems existed in mobile Web, social and video channels -- only 30 percent could measure mobile app or post-video conversions, and 41 percent could measure social marketing conversion. Overall, 80 percent of respondents said it was important to measure ROI from on

comScore released an overview of the U.S. online display advertising market for Q1 2010, which showed strong gains when compared to the market decline in 2009. U.S. Internet users received a record 1.1 trillion display ads during the first quarter of 2010, marking a 15-percent increase versus a year ago. Total U.S. display ad spending in Q1 reached an estimated $2.7 billion, with the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) equal to $2.48. "Following a severe ad recession that began in late 2008 and continued through the first three quarters of 2009, we've been seeing a strong resurgence in the online display ad market," said Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president. The first quarter of 2010 posted strong volume in online display ads, coinciding with increasing expenditure from advertisers and higher CPMs for publishers. This pickup in activity should bode well for the online advertising industry as we move forward in 2010. Facebook.com led all online pub

The FCC's number one long-term goal: At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second. Meanwhile, what is happening with subscriber adoption in the short-term? Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found that the nineteen largest cable and telephone broadband service providers in the U.S. -- representing about 93 percent of the market -- acquired over 1.4 million net additional Internet subscribers in the first quarter of 2010. These top broadband providers now account for over 73 million subscribers -- with cable companies having 40.2 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having nearly 32.9 million subscribers. Other findings from the LRG market study include: - The top cable companies added over 915,000 subscribers, representing 65 percent of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies. - Ove

In February, 2009, ABI Research forecast that approximately 35 million netbook PCs would ship into world markets that year. Some viewed that estimate as unrealistically high. However, the final 2009 shipment total reached 36.3 million netbook devices. The upside potential for netbooks this year is equally positive. In 2010, netbook shipments are expected to reach 58 million while a new element has been added to the mobile consumer electronics market equation -- the media tablet, initially personified by the affordable Amazon Kindle and now the Apple iPad. How will mobile CE markets react to a new device, so soon after the start of the netbook phenomenon? "We expect the netbook market to fragment according to different regional value propositions," says principal analyst Jeff Orr. Functionality will be added to mainstream netbook products while at the same time an entry-level netbook solution will grow, with the aim of targeting some large emerging markets (including

Based on a survey of 1,007 U.S. households in which respondents watched full-length television shows or movies over-the-top (OTT) during the past month, the latest market study by One Touch Intelligence uncovered the following new insights. Viewing of full-length content from the Internet occupies 31 percent of the total time these viewers spend with various at-home television sources. That's more than twice the amount of time spent watching DVD or Blu-ray discs and 5 times the amount of time spent watching traditional On-Demand or pay-per-view content. Hulu is the most-watched ad-supported Internet video site, with 53 percent of Internet video households watching long-form content from Hulu at least once a month. The percentage of long-form Internet video households that watch Hulu is higher than the percentage watching YouTube. Viewers who watch Internet video on TV screens are significantly less likely to watch short-form content than those who watch over PCs, and are mor

Mobile phone software applications have helped to stimulate new user demand for smartphones. Today most mobile applications are downloaded from app stores. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , last year consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from such online stores. The download rate is forecast to accelerate over the next few years until in 2013 smartphone downloads are expected to peak -- at just below seven billion. Apple's app store will likely continue to lead the market. That will be the high point, however, and in the years that follow, smartphone download rates from app stores will start a slow decline -- although total downloads from all sources will probably continue to grow. According to ABI senior analyst Mark Beccue, "App stores aren't going away -- following the 2013 peak in demand, the number of downloads in 2015 will have decreased only seven or eight percent. But as our use of the mobile Internet evolves, demand will inc

Being a truly distinctive online business marketer in North America may actually be less difficult than you might imagine. Despite social media marketing's supposed popularity, many business-to-business (B2B) companies are apparently laggards. Moreover, eMarketer reports that according to a recent market study few marketers have mastered the required skills -- 73 percent of B2B respondents who utilize popular online tools have less than two years of social media marketing experience. March 2010 research from marketing automation firm Genius.com and BtoB magazine found that about one-half of business-oriented marketers are not using content marketing tools -- such as blogging and microblogging platforms. The consumer-focused Facebook social network site was more popular, with nearly three-fifths of survey participants -- and business-focused social network LinkedIn was used by three-quarters of B2B marketers. Researchers say social networks offer B2B companies a variety of

The mobile phone market grew 21.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, which is a rebound from the market contraction in Q1 2009. Growth was fueled by increased demand for converged mobile devices, more commonly known as smartphones, and the global economic recovery. According to the latest IDC global market study, vendors shipped 294.9 million units in the first quarter of 2010 -- compared to 242.4 million units in the first quarter of 2009. The smartphone device class -- and a recovering traditional mobile phone category -- helped the market avoid a repeat of 1Q09, when the market declined 16.6 percent in the midst of the global economic recession. Growing demand for smartphones also helped Research In Motion (RIM) move into the top 5 vendor rankings for the first time. RIM, which replaced Motorola in the top 5, tied with Sony Ericsson for the number 4 position in IDC's 1Q10 vendor rankings. RIM shipped 10.6 million units in the first quarter, while Motorola shipped 8.5

The price of a megabit of bandwidth has dropped across all delivery technologies in the first quarter of 2010, according to the latest global market study by Point Topic . "In the last 12 months the price of bandwidth over fiber has dropped by just over 7 percent. In the same period DSL bandwidth costs fell twice that, but the real movement has been in cable bandwidth which is almost 20 percent cheaper per megabit than 12 months ago on a worldwide basis," says Fiona Vanier, Senior Analyst at Point Topic. Cable subscription prices have changed slightly, but bandwidth has changed dramatically. From an average of 1.7Mb in 2005, passing 10Mb in early 2008 and now the average advertised bandwidth over a cable connection is just over 17Mb. In comparison DSL has increased from 5.5Mb offered on average in 2008 to 5.7Mb today. The increase in speed has been a major factor in the success of cable over the years. They've been able to offer customers much higher bandwidth for

As demand for Internet-connected devices expands, the connected TV forms a category poised for growth. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , the estimated 19 percent of flat panel TVs shipping with Ethernet in 2010 will grow to 46 percent in 2013. What will viewers see and interact with on these connected TV sets? According to ABI's industry analyst Michael Inouye, "New features will include media guides, Web browsing, and more tightly integrated social and information-based datasets." New opportunities for advertising and cross-marketing will flow from these developments too -- as well as new roles for the digital television manufacturers. TV makers no longer want to build dumb screens. Rather than simply selling boxes, TV makers themselves could try to secure part of the advertising revenue their devices present to consumers. TV makers won't be providing all that content themselves, of course. Netflix, for instance, has a video streaming ser

comScore released data about key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month period ending March 2010 -- compared to the preceding three-month period. Their report ranked the leading mobile manufacturers and mobile operators in the U.S. marketplace. The March report found Samsung, Motorola and LG separated by a mere fraction of a percentage point of market share among mobile handset manufacturers, while Verizon led among mobile service operators with 31.1 percent market share. 234 million Americans -- age 13 and older -- were mobile subscribers, with device manufacturer Samsung ranking as the top OEM at a 21.9 percent share of U.S. mobile subscribers, inching out Motorola by a fraction of a percent. LG (21.8 percent share) ranked closely behind them, with RIM (8.3 percent share) and Nokia (8.3 percent share) rounding out the top five. Verizon led the market with 31.1 percent of mobile subscribers. AT&T ranked second with 25.2 percent market share, up 0.2

The introduction of SuperSpeed USB devices in 2009 provided the seeds of dramatic change in the USB market, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . SuperSpeed USB, which offers a ten-fold bandwidth improvement over high-speed USB, will grow to just under 30 percent of the USB interface technology market by 2014, according to In-Stat forecasts. The success of SuperSpeed USB will be limited initially, however. "It will take time for SuperSpeed USB to be integrated into the core logic PC chipset," says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. USB achieved its immense success primarily due to core logic integration, which effectively allowed PC OEMs to offer it for free. Integration is essential before a new USB standard becomes prominent in PCs. In-Stat's latest market study found the following: - More than 3 billion USB-enabled devices shipped in 2009; over 4 billion will ship in 2012. - Nearly 160 million digital TV sets will ship with USB in 2014. -

eMarketer estimates that 66.7 percent of all U.S. Internet users -- approximately 147.5 million people -- watch video content online each month. By 2014, viewership will rise to 77 percent of Internet users, or 193.1 million people. During the same period, online video advertising spending will increase from $1.4 billion to $5.2 billion. Over the next five years, consumers will become more comfortable watching all forms of video content -- long and short, professional and amateur -- on their Internet-connected mobile phones, laptop PC, desktop PC, tablets and connected TV sets. But by 2014 the current "monthly viewership" rating will likely be outdated. Daily or weekly viewing will be the relevant metric, with usage perhaps measured in minutes and hours spent viewing video content each day. Already, 29 percent of Internet users under 25 say they watch all or most of their TV programs online. A closer look at viewership rates by age shows classic early-adopter patter

Driven by the increased adoption of products for digital video creation, there is an increased availability of enhanced, feature-rich, nonlinear editing solutions for digital media post production applications. According to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan , that market had revenues of over $630 million in 2009 and is forecast to exceed $1.0 billion by 2016. "Software-based nonlinear editing products are quickly making the leap from nice-to-have to need-to-have competitive professional products for both high-end and low-end video segments," says Vidya Subramanian Nath, Global Industry Manager for Digital Media at Frost & Sullivan. The availability of highly competitive, economical, off-the-shelf products has ensured an increase in millions of professional and prosumer users for nonlinear editing software. In addition, with increasing efficiencies of PC processors, capture cards, low-priced storage, and networked workflows, popular nonlinear editing

Wireless LAN access at home is becoming a must-have feature across a range of consumer devices as network connectivity migrates into the living room, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Digital televisions, Blu-ray players, and portable media players (PMPs) are among the leading consumer electronics (CE) categories -- in terms of total volume and growth. Shipments of digital televisions with Wi-Fi will grow more than ten-fold -- from under 5 million units in 2009, to more than 60 million units in 2014. Driving this shift is both unit growth of the digital TVs, as well as Wi-Fi attach rates that increase from just 4 percent in 2009 to 33 percent in 2014. Across all stationary consumer electronics, which includes set top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players, digital picture frames, among other devices, Wi-Fi-enabled devices will exceed 200 million units by 2014. "Wi-Fi swept through the computing market, driven by the need to access and share broadband connect

Mobile broadband offerings are receiving more attention, when compared to wireleine or fixed broadband services. Yet fixed broadband subscriber adoption is still growing robustly around the world. Fixed broadband subscribers totaled 430.7 million in 2009 globally, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . That growth represents approximately a 13 percent increase over 2008. "Fixed broadband is an attractive platform for the delivery of IPTV, gaming services with low latency, rapid access to web content, and secure access to non-building access points," says Jake Saunders, VP for forecasting. "Technologies such as fiber-to-the-home, VDSL and GPON are helping to keep fixed broadband relevant to end-users -- both in the home and office." At present, the lower-speed broadband DSL platform dominates the market with 65 percent market share -- cable and fiber represented 24 percent and 11 percent market share respectively in 2009. South Korea and Japan

Film industry analysts everywhere are still talking about the amazing success of Avatar at the cinema box-office. Some analysts believe the next frontier for 3D content is within the home. Around 22.5 million homes worldwide will be watching high-definition 3D TV content within five years, according to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media . Backed by video content owners, broadcasters and pay-TV platforms, 3D TV is expected to be in 1.6 percent of all homes globally by 2015. "However, the market will still be very immature by 2015, so significant growth opportunities exist beyond this date," said Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. North America is expected to continue leading the way in terms of 3D TV homes during the forecast period, with 9.2 million homes receiving 3D TV signals by 2015. Western Europe is expected to be the second-largest region for 3D TV reception, with 6.8 million homes receiving such services by

According to the latest market study by comScore , more than 180 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month. YouTube delivered video to more than 135 million viewers during the month -- reaching 3 out of every 4 online video viewers at an average of 96 videos per viewer. U.S. Internet users watched 31.2 billion videos in March, with Google Sites ranking as the top video property with 13.1 billion videos, representing 41.8 percent of all videos viewed online. YouTube accounted for the vast majority of videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with 1.1 billion videos, or 3.4 percent of all online videos viewed. Microsoft Sites ranked third with 655 million (2.1 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 478 million (1.5 percent) and CBS Interactive with 457 million (1.5 percent). More than 180 million viewers watched an average of 173 videos per viewer during the month of March. Google Sites attracted 136.0 million unique viewers during the month (96.0 v

  According to the latest BlogHer and iVillage market study, social sites are now a frequent destination for three-quarters of U.S. Internet users. eMarketer reports that the study found similar rates of usage among men and women, as weekly social media users reached 73 percent of the total online population. Survey respondent's top daily activities were watching television online, but Facebook was the next most common media destination visited every day. Among those respondents, social media games were as popular as reading print newspapers. Among BlogHer Network users only, usage was significantly higher. For example, 77 percent read blogs every day and 35 percent used Twitter daily. Online destinations become more important when social-savvy users are looking for information about a potential purchase. However, search engines are still the starting point for information about most products and services. Moreover, independent blogs, user-generated content and social net