Digital Lifescapes

The 10 Gigabit (10G) networking system market is already big and growing fast, on target to reach nearly $9.5 billion worldwide in 2008, according to the latest market study by Infonetics Research. Their report, which tracks 10G, 40G, 100G optical and Ethernet ports, plus revenue on various types of service provider and enterprise systems, shows that despite the economic downturn the 10G market is thriving and will continue to thrive for many years to come. Now 40G is increasing rapidly, and 100G should begin soon and take off by 2013. "A majority of service providers we've spoken to are expecting to invest in 40G until the 100G market is up and running; some providers are hoping to skip the 40G phase altogether, but we don't see that being a viable option, as growing traffic demands are outstripping current capacities and 100G won't reach reasonable price points until about 2012 or 2013, said principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics, Michael Howard. "When 1...

Embedded cellular modem sales are still limited to the early-adopters, but momentum is building for increased sales, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. One recent development is the "GSMA Mobile Broadband Service Mark" initiative which, backed by media spending of $1 billion, is hoped to create awareness of laptop PCs with embedded connectivity. However, it's not at all clear if improving awareness will have a substantive impact in the marketplace, when the price of wireless broadband service offerings remains the primary barrier to mainstream user adoption. Other potential drivers that are hoped to stimulate demand include Qualcomm's Gobi chipset that enables modem connectivity on both GSM and CDMA networks; the promise of lower mobile broadband pricing; and networks maintaining their current EV-DO Rev A and HSPA air interfaces for at least two more years. ABI Research forecasts that these and other market forces will hopefully increase embedded ce...

According to a Parks Associates market study, cable television could see a mass migration away from its services, if providers do not improve their consistently low satisfaction ratings among current subscribers. Their new report reveals that subscribers to satellite television and telco/IPTV are significantly more likely to be satisfied with their services than both basic and digital cable subscribers. These market conditions leave cable carriers vulnerable to subscriber churn, and the market analysis recommends they quickly enhance advanced services like video-on-demand (VoD) to reverse this trend. "Cable subscribers are generally less satisfied, which creates opportunities for satellite and telco/IPTV providers to grab customers," said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. Although cable operators have improved service efforts, cable operators will still hemorrhage subscribers unless they are perceived as offering leading-edge features at equal ...

Analog broadcast television will come to an end in the United States on February 17, 2009. Although many U.S. viewers subscribe to cable or satellite TV services, apparently 15 percent still use a traditional TV antenna. A recent ABI Research survey of U.S. terrestrial television viewers revealed that after analog broadcasting comes to an end, a majority (70 percent) will attach a digital converter box to their antennas. Ten percent will switch to cable or satellite services. A surprising 20 percent will do the unthinkable -- they'll let the TVs they used for analog reception "go dark" forever. According to principal analyst Steve Wilson, "Our survey data suggest that the net result of consumer's choices after analog switch-off will be a drop in overall terrestrial TV viewing. Terrestrial viewers tend to be more likely to use alternative video entertainment forms such as DVD rentals and broadband video and the transition may push them further in that direction....

Over the past six months, the popularity of online video services has grown significantly with women and older consumers, helping close the age and gender gap within the online video audience in the U.S. market. Recent data sourced from Ipsos illustrates the widespread appeal online video services have with the majority of today's Internet users, and how streaming video in particular has helped build an audience with women and those aged 35 and older. Since late 2007, the percentage of female Internet users ages 12 and older that have streamed a video online in the past 30 days has grown from 45 to 54 percent -- an all-time high for this demographic and nearly equal to the percentage of men (58 percent) whom have recently streamed video content online. Moreover, the percentage of adults aged 35-54 that have recently streamed video online has also shot up since December 2007, rising from 49 to 60 percent in that time span. Indeed, video streaming is no longer simply an online behavi...

The long-anticipated DVR boom is finally happening. Equipment prices have fallen rapidly. Operators want their subscribers to take DVRs as they register very highly in consumer satisfaction indexes -- and thus help to ensure loyalty. DVR competition between operators is intensifying, according to a market study from Informa Telecoms & Media. Who can offer the largest capacity, with HD compatibility and push VOD services too? Most U.S. platforms now provide HD DVRs as standard. Simon Murray, author of the report, stated "DVR take-up works best where there is intense digital TV competition. Platforms will not want to be left behind if a competitor is attracting new subscribers through DVR promotions." By end-2008, Informa forecasts 56.1 million installed DVRs around the world. The Global DVR Forecasts report states that this represents 5 percent of TV households and 18 percent of digital TV homes. The forecasts claim 20 million added DVR homes in 2008, and 25 million more i...

The boundary lines between the TV, PC, and mobile screens are blurring with increased broadband and 3G penetration, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Service providers are being challenged from all sides for influence over the consumer and the content they consume, the high-tech market research firm says. The challenge for network service providers is how to add value in the connected lifestyle. "One answer is the introduction of multi-screen video services," says Keith Nissen, the In-Stat analyst who worked on the study. For instance, consumers could view NBC's videos of the recent Olympic Games on TV, PC, or mobile devices using existing network services. Another alternative is converged multi-screen services that offer consumers the same capabilities, along with value-added, next-generation features and functions that make the service device independent. Their research covers consumer behavior and preferences regarding multi-screen video services. It ide...

Ipsos released research findings from a study examining the growing diversity, consumption patterns and social activity of videogamers. The results of this study -- which included a quantitative overview as well as focus groups and in-home interviews -- were released in New York at an event for IGN advertising clients. This study was conducted in two phases, a quantitative overview of gaming households among the U.S. online population, and a follow-up assessment among the key segments in the gaming market. The qualitative portion of the research included focus groups and in-home interviews. While videogaming has in the past been stereotyped as a solitary activity, statistics from the research study point to the fact that videogamers are now more likely than non-gamers to play sports, or attend a concert. In addition, the study's results point to videogame players evolving into a surprisingly diverse crowd, with the average age of gamers now topping 30 and more than half of gamers m...

In 2008, according to the latest study by In-Stat, the road to wireless 4G became less complex with ultra-mobile broadband (UMB) displaced, narrowing the path to the two remaining technologies -- LTE and WiMAX. Both 4G technologies, meaning those technologies that are expected to meet the requirements of IMT-Advanced, are far from being commercially deployed, the high-tech market research firm says. Both LTE Advanced and 802.16m WiMAX are being specially crafted to offer 100Mbps mobile throughput and 1Gbps stationary throughput; these extremely high throughput capabilities are expected to be a critical part of the ITU's IMT-Advanced requirements. "Mobile WiMAX effectively came on the scene in 2006 with South Korea's WiBro; the earliest commercial LTE deployment will be in 2009," says Gemma Tedesco, In-Stat analyst. "Overall, In-Stat expects that mobile WiMAX will ultimately outpace LTE over the next few years due to timing of network roll-outs." The In-stat ...

Gannett Company, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, posted a 33 percent decrease in third-quarter profit as print advertising spiraled lower, reflecting an industry-wide malaise that has persisted for three years -- and said it would suspend monthly revenue reports indefinitely due to the volatility of digital advertising trends. All of the legacy Big Media companies -- in television, radio and print -- have suffered from the continued fragmentation of their once captive mass-media audience. The old model relied on "restraint of trade" as the basis for protecting profit margins. With the advent of the Internet and the Web 2.0 phenomenon -- an enabler of low-cost multimedia distribution -- the disruption has neutered the "gatekeepers of access" to the marketplace. The bulls that fathered the concentration of media ownership ironically ensured that the flawless execution of their strategy would lead to the eventual extinction of the herd. The government's wi...

Mobile phone service providers can rejoice. The average mobile phone subscriber in the U.S. sent and received more SMS text messages than mobile telephone calls during Q2 2008, according to Nielsen. This was the second consecutive quarter in which the average number of text messages was significantly higher than the average number of voice phone calls. Finally, the U.S. market is beginning to catch-up with this truly global phenomenon. Although the research is an indicator of rising mobile data use, the two types of mobile communication are not directly comparable. Users typically convey far more information in a voice call than in a text, so text conversations can require multiple messages. The comparison is also one of synchronous and asynchronous communications: Phone calls are synchronous and e-mail, for example, is asynchronous. "The issue with text is that it occupies a middle ground," said John du Pre Gauntt, senior analyst at eMarketer. "It's as instantaneous...

Worldwide PC shipments struggled to meet expectations in the third quarter of 2008 (3Q08), according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Worldwide shipments were up 15.8 percent year over year, which was slightly less than projected. Strong results in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) helped offset slow growth in other emerging regions, while the U.S. and Japan held steady. Here's the regional market detail. U.S. -- As expected the third quarter was sluggish with performance further exacerbated by a flurry of bad economic news. Among the bright spots, however, were the emergence of low-cost notebooks and some marginal back-to-school activities that helped to keep the quarter in positive territory. EMEA -- Continued buoyancy in the consumer notebook market supported another strong quarter in EMEA, as expected. Demand for mainstream notebooks remained robust in the back-to-school season while the proliferation of low-cost ultra portables and deals through Telco operators cr...

In-Stat conducted a survey of their Technology Adoption Panel to determine what devices road warriors -- defined as those who travel five or more days in a typical month -- travel with, and what interface options they use. The results from 522 respondents show that these Digital Nomad travelers carry several devices, and stay connected through multiple interface options. The results show that 85 percent travel with a notebook PC, 66 percent with a mobile phone, 43 percent with a smart phone (defined as a combination mobile phone and computing device), 53 percent with a headset, 38 percent with a portable media player, 21 percent with an external storage drive, and 17 percent with a PDA. In terms of notebook connectivity, business travelers depend primarily on Wi-Fi, USB and Ethernet as their lifelines on the road. Wi-Fi was used by 93 percent of road warriors with notebooks, while USB was used by 84 percent and Ethernet by 72 percent. Those using Wi-Fi in their notebook employed it to ...

According to IDC, worldwide virtualization license shipments in the second quarter of 2008 (2Q08) increased 53 percent year-over-year, compared to a 72 percent year-over-year increase the previous quarter. The x86 server market led the way with 60 percent year-over-year growth followed by the EPIC server market with 18 percent growth. Worldwide CISC and RISC server virtualization licenses declined 15 percent and 7 percent year over year, respectively. "Quarterly totals of x86 server virtualization licenses continue to experience healthy growth, although the growth rates have slowed over the last four quarters. The modest decline in growth rates indicates that the market is showing early signs of maturation," said Brett Waldman, research analyst for System Software at IDC. Based on our conversations with end users, IDC believes that the high-volume consolidation opportunities -- the low hanging fruit in the x86 server virtualization market -- is starting to dry up. This is, in...

Regardless of the current economic environment, broadband services are still in high demand -- attracting millions of new subscribers worldwide each month, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Over the past 12 months, approximately 80 million new broadband subscribers signed up for high-speed access to the Internet, the high-tech market research firm says. In terms of broadband access technologies, digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies continue to serve the greatest number of broadband subscribers worldwide, accounting for 55 percent of total broadband connections. "The increasing popularity of online applications such as downloading music files, watching TV programming, and playing online video games, are driving demand for services that provide ever-increasing amounts of bandwidth," says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. Being able to use these applications, combined with the basic consumer desire to surf the net, is fueling global demand for broadband services...

According to a Virtual Worlds Management market study, venture capital and media firms have invested more than $148.5 million in twelve virtual worlds-related companies during the third quarter of 2008 -- with participation from many more VC firms and angel investors. The total investment in the virtual worlds space for 2008 is now over $493 million. The news was announced just prior to the upcoming Virtual Worlds London conference. The bulk of the investment is in the entertainment space, with all but $22.4 million going to developers of worlds with strong game-play elements, ties to media brands, or the youth sector. Youth worlds are constantly on the rise, and investors remain interested in backing them as long as they can find unique propositions. "Many smaller investments were made across a spectrum of youth-oriented virtual worlds," explained Joey Seiler, Editor of Virtual Worlds News. "$35.64 million was invested in seven virtual worlds aimed at kids through teen...

The market for ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) is already complex, and will become more complicated as it grows. The following forecast insight may serve to guide vendors and investors as they negotiate this multifaceted landscape. According to ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis, "Total revenues earned by vendors in the UMD market are expected to increase from $3.5 billion in 2008 to nearly $27 billion in 2013." This year, retail sales account for only 14 percent of shipments, while UMDs provided by mobile operators stand at nearly 30 percent -- the balance are sold directly by manufacturers. Over five years, however, that distribution mix will change significantly. Mobile operators currently subsidize UMDs for the sake of their potential services revenue, but they would prefer not to do so. By 2013, only 20 percent will be operator-provided, while retail sales are expected to account for 75 percent. In 2013 more than half of all UMDs will have x86 processors inside, wit...

During 2007 and into 2008, the market for pre-paid mobile services has continued to grow more than twice as fast as the post-paid contract market, according to the latest study from Informa Telecoms & Media. At the end of 2007, there were 2.33 billion prepaid subscriptions in the world, of which nearly 2 percent were accounted for by prepaid WCDMA accesses. Prepaid services generated $241.9 billion in revenues for mobile network operators in 2007. By far the largest prepaid market was Asia Pacific, with 43 percent of global subscriptions and almost 30 percent of revenues. The number of people owning multiple SIM cards continues to rise, and at the end of 2008 about 28.9 percent of reported subscriptions worldwide will be accounted for by secondary or tertiary SIM card ownership. Operators may be forced to consider whether issuing SIM cards is a sustainable way of increasing the lifetime value and profitability of individual customers. Ultimately, understanding prepaid customer'...

Marketers need to fully understand the Digital Native segment of the market. Why? They're the future technology savvy consumer of products and services. eMarketer estimates that this year 95.7 percent of college students -- 17.4 million strong -- will go online at least once a month. They're the Digital Natives. "College students are the most digitally connected demographic group in the U.S.," says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer. "They have grown up with technology and it is a seamless part of their lives." Marketers looking for the next big trend online can learn a lot from college students. "Students have played a prominent role in some of the biggest developments in the Internet and technology in recent years," says Ms. Williamson, "from social networking to the iPod." In fact, entering college freshmen have already lived through a series of Internet era milestones -- often themselves created by college students. ...

The entry of a broad range of new mobile multimedia devices -- able to display video -- will have a profound effect on the mobile video market, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. The reach of new device choices will provide more markets for mobile phone operators, mobile broadcasters, advertisers and other content owners, the high-tech market research firm says. "Even though cellphones and smartphones will remain the predominant method of viewing mobile video, over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones will be sold in the next five years," says David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst. The In-Stat research covers the worldwide market for devices that can support mobile video. It provides analysis of the market for various consumer electronic devices capable of receiving mobile video from a variety of sources. In-Stat's market study found the following: - Shipments of 3G video-capable cellphones will in...

Faced with more competition in their Pay-TV business, cable operators worldwide are distracted by the all-digital transition deadlines imposed upon them by governing bodies, the available options for upgrading their network, and the slow migration to an IP-based network for greater interactivity. Moving to 1 GHz networks is often the recommended alternative for network and bandwidth upgrading, but comes at a hefty first-year cost. Apparently, the other alternatives have yearly capital and operational costs that are prohibitive over time. "The cable sector has all these and other business transformation initiatives to contend with as they also juggle customer satisfaction, retention, and addressable advertising models that don't invade privacy," says ABI Research principal analyst Robert Clark. What is also occurring in Europe is a slow but steady consolidation of cable operators. Many predicted that would also hold true in the U.S., but that has not been the case. Cable o...

The continued explosion in creation and storage of unstructured data and the need to generate more copies of data for availability, analytics, and archiving will be primary drivers of new storage system developments over the next five years. The most significant new development in storage consumption, however, is the emergence of content depots as a major consumer of enterprise disk storage capacity. These content depots are primarily in the business of gathering, organizing, and providing access to large quantities of digital content. According to a new market study from IDC, these content depots will consume 17.4 percent of new enterprise disk storage capacity shipped in 2008, but only account for 5.1 percent of all spending, reflecting their focus on deploying storage solutions at very low costs. "By the end of 2008, content depots are poised to become major consumers of storage capacity, major influencers of new storage systems design, and major disruptors of existing storage ...

The advent of high speed broadband connections and changes in requirements have led to improved connectivity as informed consumers demand real -- globally competitive -- high-speed Internet access. Basic broadband modem devices currently account for more than half of the market, but they will soon become obsolete as full-fledged multimedia digital home gateways with high throughput take over the market. A new ABI Research market study focused on residential gateways forecasts that home networking consumer premises equipment (CPE) and aggregation devices will deliver at least $1.8 billion in annual revenues by the end of 2013. ABI Research industry analyst Serene Fong observes that, "Broadband households have a high propensity to adopt home networks and broadband subscribers will be the primary candidates for gateway products designed to distribute Internet bandwidth and multimedia applications." The only question that equipment vendors have is about the speed of the broadband...

Though still in its infancy, mobile gaming is already a billion dollar industry in the U.S., according to the a market study by In-Stat. With significant momentum already underway in the U.S. and worldwide, In-Stat believes that mobile gaming will continue to be a key contributor to wireless data usage and revenues, the high-tech market research firm says. Still, the industry has significant challenges. "The mobile gaming development industry is highly fragmented due to the wide variety of mobile operating systems, available handsets, and lack of industry standardization," says Jill Meyers, In-Stat analyst. "This fragmentation has resulted in mobile developers and publishers making the difficult decision of spending finite resources developing games on the platforms they believe will have the best chance of success." In-Stat's market study found the following: - Almost 20 percent of game-playing respondents to an In-Stat consumer survey report downloading games ...

Shipments of consumer electronics (CE) devices with Wi-Fi wireless LAN technology built-in will reach almost one billion by 2012. Because of its large installed base in mobile PCs and home networks, flexibility, and a mature ecosystem, Wi-Fi is a valued universal technology for the CE market -- according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Based on the assessment from the high-tech market research firm, "digital TV will be the second largest category of CE stationary devices shipping with Wi-Fi," says Victoria Fodale, In-Stat analyst. "The sheer volume of digital TV shipments will make it a strong market, despite a relatively low Wi-Fi attach rate." I believe that digital TVs equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity will add even more fuel to the amazing growth of over-the-top video distribution services. Over time, the fragmentation of the video entertainment market will surely destabilize the traditional pay-TV industry. In-Stat's market study found the following: ...

For several years now, I've reviewed the dozens of market research results that land in my email inbox each week, and then I post the ones that are most thought provoking to me -- here on my Digital Lifescapes blog. Sometimes I insert my own perspective into the mix. Other times I reflect upon an event I've attended, or write about my personal experiences. A new blog post is the end result, and most are focused -- in some shape or form -- on the Global Networked Economy. I continue to post content, and -- according to my Web site analytics and RSS feed stats -- more and more people apparently read the content. I never ask for feedback. That is, until now. Yes, these are unsettling times, given the global economic climate. I sense that we, the human race, are at a crossroads. What we, collectively, choose to do next will shape our shared future together on this planet. That's what I believe. Now is a good time to consider how far we've progressed, on the home front. Man...

According to a recent online survey conducted by ABI Research, nearly half (46 percent) of those who use social networks have also visited a social network through a mobile phone. Of these, nearly 70 percent have visited MySpace and another 67 percent had visited Facebook. No other social networking site reached 15 percent adoption mobile adoption, per the ABI market study results. "As in the online social networking space, there is clearly a large gap between the big two (MySpace and Facebook) social networks and the others," says research director Michael Wolf. "ABI Research believes this is because consumers do not want to recreate entirely new and separate social networks for mobile, but rather want to tap into their existing social network and have it go with them via the mobile phone. For most, this means MySpace, Facebook, or even both." So what are these consumers doing when they access their mobile social network? The biggest features consumers use when acc...

After a fantastic 2007 for worldwide mobile phone network base station shipments, results for this year look pretty weak, according to the latest market study from In-Stat. In 2007, many new 3G networks were rolled out around the world, and GSM subscriber growth was occurring at a fast clip -- driven by millions of new subscribers in India, Africa, and China, the high-tech market research firm says. However, those trends will not prevent total worldwide base station shipments from dropping sharply this year, compared to 2007. "New 3G networks are continuing to be deployed, and some operators like T-Mobile are deploying entirely new WCDMA-type networks," says Allen Nogee, In-Stat analyst. "However, the worldwide economy has been faltering, subscriber GSM growth -- even in fast-growing developing areas -- is starting to slow, and wireless broadband use, while growing, is not growing fast enough for operators to spawn continued base station growth." There's no doub...

After a very long wait, the first stage of what will become the new wireless home office is arriving, according to a market study by ABI Research. Some home office UWB (ultra-wideband) products are now reaching retailer shelves, and more are expected by the end of the year. These are mainly in the wireless USB category, the first major market application for UWB, utilizing wireless USB embedded in devices such as laptop computers, wireless docking stations for those computers, and wireless external hard drives. "The wireless USB docking station seems to be hitting a sweet spot," says ABI Research senior analyst Douglas McEuen. "A number of the more capable laptop models now include native wireless USB. This represents an important step towards creation of the true wireless home office." Apparently, Dell and Lenovo are leaders in UWB-enabled laptops; wireless USB docking stations are available from Kensington and Toshiba, and Imation is expected to release a wireless...

According to an Ipsos study, one year following its launch, Amazon.com Music has made a phenomenal first showing. Meanwhile, Rhapsody's increased focus on advertising and partnership appears to be paying off. But neither development has slowed iTunes, with the site continuing to gain dedicated users who perceive it as the best fee-based digital music destination. Awareness and use were steady among most dominant brands this year, but did increase for three top competitors while declining among many lesser-known players. - iTunes continued to grow in terms of awareness, usage, familiarity, and best brand mentions. - Amazon had a strong first year, with initial awareness, usage, favorability and best brand ratings comparable to any of the top brands after iTunes. Moreover, Amazon actually matched iTunes in user satisfaction. - In perhaps the most significant development this year, however, Rhapsody gained in both aided and unaided awareness, usage and favorability. Although some of t...

According to In-Stat, the high-point of the U.S. push-to-talk mobile phone market was the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the distinctive chirp of Nextel handsets could be heard on construction sites, and in repair vehicles from coast to coast. Nextel was the envy of the mobile industry, with its extraordinarily loyal customers and $71 monthly average revenue per user (ARPU), which was almost 50 percent higher than its competitors. The conventional (and incorrect) wisdom of the time was that push-to-talk (PTT) was the key to Nextel's success. As a result, Cingular, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint launched poorly-received push-to-talk (PTT) services of their own in 2003. Technological limitations of their new CDMA 3G networks caused unacceptable delays during PTT calls, and Cingular's circuit-switched PTT service from Kodiak Networks worked relatively well but failed to capture the public's imagination. Nextel appeared to be invulnerable until 2005, when a number of marketing ...

Despite turmoil in world financial markets over the last year the trillion dollar mobile communication industry continues to confound expectations with spectacular accelerating growth. A new market study by Portio Research reveals that over half the world now uses a mobile phone and predicts that 80 percent of the world's population will be doing so by the end of 2013 -- a staggering 5.8 billion people. Among the top 20 growth markets ranking list (2007-2013) there are few surprises. China wins the top spot, just ahead of India. These two countries are expected to contribute over 1 billion additional subscribers during this time. Brazil comes in a distant third with 132 million additional subscribers over the same period. Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, are also expected to experience high growth estimated at CAGR 13.3 percent, 10.7 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively. Meanwhile despite rising worldwide mobile voice and data revenues mobile ARPU continues to decline an...

According to 3G Americas, mobile wireless technology is on the move throughout the Western Hemisphere. Specifically, the GSM family of technologies is showing explosive growth. At the end of 2Q 2008, there were 472 million subscribers in North, Central and South America. In North America there is additional footprint coverage of high-speed broadband UMTS/HSPA by AT&T, Rogers Wireless, Telcel, T-Mobile USA and others. With the expansion of broadband coverage and UMTS/HSPA technology capabilities driving enhanced data applications, many cellular operators are reporting an average of about 20 percent of ARPU from wireless data service. The trend for mobile wireless broadband in the Americas is very positive. In July, the Pew Internet and American Project released a comprehensive study on internet usage in America. This Pew study showed DSL and cable continue to dominate home broadband products, and when you study the report closely, you'll see that wireless broadband has gone from...

More than six out of ten Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) and other senior marketing professionals surveyed in the U.S. said that digital tactics (including mobile) accounted for more than one-quarter of their agency marketing, according to a market study by Zoomerang for Sapient. Respondents also said digital marketing was growing in importance. Nearly one-half (45 percent) of those polled had either switched agencies or planned to switch during the next 12 months to gain access to more meaningful digital expertise. Almost eight out of ten said that agency interactive and digital aptitude was important or very important. But, the numbers just don't add up. Since the Sapient sample involved fewer than 100 respondents, the results are most useful in a "directional" sense, but the amount of digital marketing (generally over 25 percent) CMOs reported seems high. As a point of comparison, digital ad spending growth remains steep compared with other media, yet it still accounts...

The datacenter network market reached $8.7 billion in 2007, up 17 percent from $7.6 billion in 2006, according to one of three new "Place in the Network" market studies published by IDC. The IDC study shows that the datacenter network continues to support strategic initiatives, including customer migrations to new virtualized dense computing in the datacenter. As a result, IDC predicts this market will continue to grow at a healthy 6 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching $11.9 billion in 2012. "The datacenter is in the midst of unprecedented change driven by a combination of factors all converging to make the datacenter a real-time responsive resource for organizations," said Lucinda Borovick, research vice president, Datacenter Networks. "Our research shows that the datacenter network has an important and unprecedented role to play in the datacenter of the future as infrastructure changes, such as multicore processors and server virtualization c...

According to an ABI Research market study of online households in the U.S., the number of consumers watching online video streamed through a browser has doubled over the past year -- going from 32 percent a year ago to 63 percent today. ABI believes this is due to growth in the amount of rich content available in ad-supported format on portals and through social networks, as well as increasing demand from consumers for video in both short- and long-form online. "Consumers are changing their online habits quickly," says research director Michael Wolf. "Broadband speeds have continued to increase at the same time that Hollywood has decided online distribution is a legitimate revenue opportunity that will increase total return on their video assets, and expand audiences. At the same time, easy to use content creation tools are being put into the hands of consumers and this has effectively created new forms of communication and entertainment." All forms of content are c...

The U.S. managed security services market was valued at $1.3 billion in 2007, an increase of 19.6 percent over 2006. This figure is expected to increase to $2.8 billion by 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate of 17.2 percent, according to the latest study by IDC. Positive incremental growth is anticipated during the forecast period due to increased end-user demand. "Among the many dynamics shaping the U.S. managed security services market today, growing security complexity, the evolving pace of today's technology, and stringent compliance mandates are driving demand and spending for managed security services," said Irida Xheneti, IDC research analyst, Security Services. As organizations continue to add more employees, partners, suppliers, and customers, they are faced with the challenges of deploying, implementing, and integrating the appropriate technologies to increase the productivity of their employees and enable more efficient collaboration with partners...

There are two new approaches to home automation -- mainstream systems based on standardized technologies and packaged components, and home automation as a managed service offered through a broadband or wireless service provider. Both have the potential for such broad market appeal that new research from ABI Research forecasts shipments to grow more than 50-fold between 2007 and 2013. For 20 years, home automation systems were confined to two niche markets: luxury custom-designed and installed high-end systems that cover the whole home at a typical cost of $30,000-60,000 and up, and do-it-yourself X10 systems that tech-savvy customers typically bought online and were self-installed. Now, however, according to ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero, "Home automation systems are becoming more mainstream and managed services are growing. ABI Research believes that they will appeal to a much wider public. Our forecasts indicate that the overall market will grow from a modest 237,000 sy...