Digital Lifescapes

The next upside for advertising in America was supposed to be a new mass-market opportunity. Theoretically, mobile devices provide the most personal and direct ways for marketers to reach consumers with Ads. eMarketer estimates nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population has a mobile phone as of 2010. And yet, most U.S. marketers are slow to take advantage of the opportunity. According to an April 2010 survey by eROI, less than a third of U.S. marketers think optimizing the mobile marketing experience is important to their customers. Almost as many are unsure and nearly a quarter are "testing" the value of mobile optimization. Despite the number of marketers testing mobile, apparently they're not serious tests. In fact, 63 percent of marketers told eROI they were not measuring how many of their email subscribers were viewing messages on mobile devices. And, mobile-optimized messages were sent by only 25 percent of respondents. Usage of marketer websites via mobile

Wireless cellular network M2M (Machine-to-Machine) module shipments approached 28 million in 2009, and according to the latest market study by ABI Research , they will quadruple to exceed 114 million in 2015. The M2M category is a market showing strong growth for both mobile service providers and wireless systems vendors, but not all segments of it are benefiting equally. "Not so long ago, it appeared likely that M2M would be making liberal use of the EDGE cellular air interface standard," says ABI practice director Sam Lucero. "However, market data suggests that EDGE has not become the technology of choice for many M2M vendors." EDGE is in some ways a logical option for M2M applications. A 2.5G technology, it operates in the same frequency bands as the GSM/GPRS wireless standard, but with greater spectral efficiency and lower cost. Since many M2M use cases don't require 3G speeds and bandwidth and not all carriers have 3G spectrum licenses, EDGE would s

This year, almost 60 million netbook PCs are expected to ship worldwide. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , almost double that number will be reaching global markets in 2013. This forecast is the result of the rapid netbook market growth observed since the introduction of the new computer category in 2008, a trend which will only start to abate in 2014-2015. I recall back when the first netbook from ASUS was introduced in 2007, industry analysts wondered if there was demand for this new device category. Clearly, they're not questioning the market potential today. As the netbook market matures, market shares are beginning to shift among vendors. Half a dozen vendors commanded 78 percent of the market in 2009. Acer and ASUS held almost equal one-third shares of the market in 2008, but ASUS didn’t maintain that lead and lost half of its market share in 2009. "Instead of having a preeminent two," notes principal analyst Jeff Orr at ABI, "it l

Although slow progress best describes the scenario for wireless HD chip vendors in 2010, the five-year outlook is for a triple-digit growth rate of wireless HD video-enabled products through 2014, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . The number of shipments is projected to rise from the current levels of less than 1 million to nearly 13 million by 2014. "The long term projection is for significant growth in wireless HD video-enabled product shipments. However, these technologies are likely several years away from hitting the sweet spot of the consumer electronics (CE) and PC markets," says Brian O’Rourke, Principal Analyst for In-Stat. There are still significant price and performance issues that need to be overcome before device manufacturers fully adopt these technologies. In-Stat's market study insights include: - Alternative video transmission technologies, WHDI, WirelessHD, and WiGig Alliance, are vying for a dominant position. Among the differ

When ABI Research first examined the media tablet market, neither the Apple iPad nor any other major brand tablet had been released. Six months later, the firm has revisited its forecasts -- almost tripling the original estimate to reach about 11 million tablets expected to ship by the end of 2010. ABI's long-term estimates, however, has remained basically unchanged. "Our forecast of 11 million media tablet shipments in 2010 is based both on the broader availability of the iPad and on the delayed introduction of competing products," says ABI Research principal analyst Jeff Orr. Assuming that competing tablets from other vendors do arrive in the second half of the year as expected, ABI believes that the iPad will account for a significant portion -- but not all -- of the projected 11 million units. To capitalize on the usual fourth quarter sales boom, other tablets need to reach retailer shelves by early September. Orr suggests that the media tablet segment is s

Emerging markets will be the key driver in the growth of global mobile value-added service (VAS) revenues from $200 billion in 2009 to $340 billion in 2014, according to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media . China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Poland and the Ukraine are expected to account for 36 percent of the global mobile data revenues in 2014. “Compared to the developed world, there are very different economic, social, demographic and cultural challenges in the emerging markets. In many countries, 3G services are still not available, or are limited to mobile subscribers in larger cities," according to Shailendra Pandey, senior analyst at Informa. Therefore, operators have to depend on 2G services such as SMS, USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems, to be able to drive mass market adoption of their mobile VAS, and to

  eMarketer reports that Internet users have been sending mixed messages about targeted advertising. Sometimes say they appreciate the relevance; sometimes they would provide personal information to facilitate targeting; and yet they also report concerns about advertisers and publishers having too much data. While this suggests that consumers may be confused about online privacy and what behavioral targeting entails, research from online ad preference management provider PreferenceCentral calls into question whether consumer education is a solution for marketers. Asked if they would prefer to pay for content, view targeted advertisements in exchange for free content, or receive limited free content supported by untargeted ads, 58 percent of US internet users chose targeted ads. However, their willingness to receive those types of ads decreased after they became more educated about how behavioral targeting worked. Nearly half of internet users said awareness of behavioral targ

The AT&T recent decision to implement broadband data caps and charge extra fees for heavy data usage on wireless devices poses grave implications for over-the-top (OTT) video service providers, according to the latest market study by iSuppli Corp . By discontinuing its unlimited access plan, AT&T is now seeking to limit data usage of smart phones. The data caps will make it difficult for any high-quality video streaming application -- without the permission and support of wireless operators. "iSuppli believes that most of the emerging streaming Internet models are mistaken in postulating that they could displace, over time, traditional television and movie delivery mechanisms without paying for related network costs," said William Kidd, director and principal analyst for financial services at iSuppli. Meanwhile, new broadband subscribers worldwide are projected to rise in 2010 by 63.5 million -- up 8.4 percent compared to total net additional subscribers of 58.5

The latest market study by In-Stat identifies that the largest number of mobile TV subscribers and viewers will come from digital broadcast applications. This will be followed in numbers by analog broadcast viewers. However, while cellular mobile TV subscribers will be lower, they could generate the majority of potential new service revenue, with over $15 billion in subscription revenue by 2014. "Global 3G network development is driven by the popularity of data services such as social networking and texting," says Norm Bogen In-Stat analyst. "Mobile TV stands to leverage this demand." To date, the market development of mobile TV has not kept pace with the prior analyst forecasts. The question remains, with the exception of brief news, weather and sports updates -- do mobile service subscribers need or want mobile television offerings? Moreover, if most program offerings continue to mimic traditional TV formats and fail to adapt to the unique needs of mobil

Revenue from mobile video services is expected to top $2 billion worldwide in 2013, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . Video services included in this forecast are video telephony, video messaging, video sharing, video-on-demand, VoD downloads, and other related video services. "Video services revenue will only amount to about $121 million this year," says senior analyst Mark Beccue. "But the growth curve is very steep indeed, and will only continue to accelerate through the end of our forecast period in 2015." Video sharing will be a small portion of this revenue while video telephony, video messaging and video-on-demand applications will account for the majority of the market share. Consumer appetite for mobile infotainment, sparked by the availability of 3G networks, is one of the main drivers for this market. This demand will only increase as Mobile Network Operators (MNO) move to 4G. At the same time, the proliferation of connected m

Support for DLNA in Windows 7 will spark significant growth in Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) technology, which is used to make in-home media sharing easier, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Shipments of DLNA-enabled devices will surpass a billion units by 2014, up from several hundred million in 2009. Attached rates for UPnP are also growing and will slightly exceed those of DLNA. UPnP enables devices from multiple vendors to communicate with one another. DLNA builds upon UPnP to provide interoperability of media across devices. "While UPnP and DLNA are seeing increased adoption and unit shipments, it may take several years before large numbers of consumers use the technology" says Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. "The number of consumers who realize they have this functionality and understand its implications continues to be very low." Apparently, yet another example of how an effective market develo

The market for 4G technology deployments and subscriptions will begin to develop in 2010 but only in North America and Western Europe, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . The rest of the world won't likely begin to embrace 4G Technology, in any significant way, until 2012. "Among today's key trends is migration in 3G towards WCDMA and HSPA technology" says Chris Kissel, Industry Analyst at In-Stat. "Continued growth in data usage and competitive pressures will push operators toward the ultimate migration to 4G." Additional findings from the In-Stat study include: - WDCMA, HSPA/HSPA+ subscriptions will increase by 30 percent from 2010 to 2014. -  In-Stat has tracked 11 formal LTE contracts granted in 1Q10, but sees this as the beginning of a larger global adoption. - In 2010, CDMA-related technologies will account for 566 million global subscriptions. However, the expansion of CDMA is in doubt as many global operators, including Ver

According to the latest study by eMarketer , the online advertising market showed its resistance to the economic recession. While total media spending dropped, marketer's online ad spending increased by 2 percent to $55.2 billion. eMarketer forecasts that 2010 will bring a return to double-digit online ad growth -- with global spending set to reach $61.8 billion. Growth will continue at rates of over 10 percent each year through 2014. "By 2014 eMarketer forecasts that figure will leap to $96.8 billion, growing at an 11.9 percent compound annual rate, despite the slow, uneven and fragile global economic recovery," said eMarketer's Jared Jenks. "These rates will be unmatched by other media." North America and Western Europe accounted for nearly three-quarters of the world's online ad spending in 2009, but those mature online ad markets will post slower growth rates than developing areas in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America. In terms o

Infonetics Research released excerpts from its first quarter (1Q10) Broadband CPE and Subscribers market study, which tracks DSL and cable broadband customer-premise equipment (CPE) and subscribers, voice CPE, residential gateways, and voice terminal adapters. The first quarter of the year is usually one of the worst for the broadband customer premise equipment market, as net subscriber additions and new CPE sales slow after the much better third and fourth quarters. This quarter was also hurt by lingering economic difficulties worldwide, which are keeping many consumers from upgrading their existing broadband CPE to support new services. "In particular, we saw a big drop in ADSL CPE in 1Q10, as operators are focused on deploying FTTH and VDSL2 services and are spending less to market their basic broadband services. All in all, 2010 will be a difficult year for CPE vendors, as operators see fewer new subscribers and will do what they can to use their existing inventory rath

According to the latest market study by Multimedia Research Group (MRG), global annual growth of IPTV subscribers will reach 102 million in 2014, a 25 percent CAGR. Despite economic hardship in many countries, robust Telco broadband and IPTV investments have been driving growth as a means to meet and outperform the Cable and Satellite pay-TV competition. IPTV operators are using fiber access in high-competition markets and advanced DSL such as channel bonding and VDSL2 in other (less competitive) markets. As a result, Telcos have been discreetly improving their IPTV bandwidth capacity to sub-markets that need upgrades -- without overspending in markets that don't require immediate upgrading. The Eastern European IPTV market is moving quickly to early maturity, while ROW markets shows faster gains than other regions. "As late as 2007, Eastern Europe had only a few IPTV trials or start-ups. Now, there are 16 fully operating IPTV Operators and another 3-6 in trial," say

comScore reported key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending May 2010 compared to the preceding three-month average. For the 3 month average period ending in May, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 22.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up one percentage point from the preceding three month period. LG ranked second with 21.5 percent share, followed by Motorola (21.2 percent share), RIM (8.7 percent share, up 0.5 percentage point) and Nokia (8.1 percent share). 49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 8.1 percent from the corresponding February period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 41.7 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 percent share and Microsoft with 13.2 percent. Google saw significant growth during the period, up 4.0 percentag

Mobile advertising is a relatively small market today, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . However, over the next five years, spending on mobile display ads in the U.S. -- estimated at just under $313 million in 2010 -- will almost quadruple to exceed $1.2 billion in 2015. ABI practice director Neil Strother says, "A survey conducted by ABI Research in February found that 28 percent of the mobile subscribers queried accessed the mobile Internet daily. This is a huge increase over the number doing so just 14 months ago, and is a powerful driver for the mobile marketing and advertising market." Mobile display ads -- essentially similar to online banner ads -- are only one method available to aspiring mobile marketers. The others include text messaging, search advertising, Ads within applications (in-app), and video (streaming and on-demand). While smartphone usage is a primary driver of this new and still fragmented industry (smartphone penetration in t

Infonetics Research released excerpts from its Residential Voice, Data, and Video Services in North America market study.The residential services market is in rapid transition. The decline of traditional fixed-line voice service and the rise of broadband access, video, and mobile data is speeding up. PC-based mobile broadband subscribers will surpass all other types of Internet access subscribers by 2013. If telecom operators aren't able to provide competitive mobile services, they will be at a significant disadvantage. "Now that residential voice and Internet services are no longer tied to a physical household, operators can (and should) customize services for individual members of a household and compete on a nationwide basis versus a specific fixed territory," advises Diane Myers, Infonetics Research's directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS. Highlights of the Infonetics study include: - The residential services market in North America, which c

The ongoing shift to high-definition (HD) video content, from standard-definition (SD), has gained new momentum as the price of low-end HD camcorders continues to decline. The market development from HD video resolution professional-grade to advanced prosumer and then to mainstream consumer devices has been swift. There are several HD Video formats , which are used for video capture and for online video streaming applications. One thing that all HD formats seem to have in common, they create significantly larger file sizes than the prior SD formats. As you capture more video in HD or acquire stock video for your multimedia projects, you'll quickly discover the need for more hard drive capacity. As an example, it takes about 13GB of memory to store one hour of standard definition (DV) video and 40GB to store an hour of high definition (HD) video. File sizes can vary depending on the video codec and bit rate options. Also, whether you store and edit in native (uncompressed) forma

eMarketer reports that while most mainstream U.S. consumers may not care much about the broadband access speed that they have at home, they are very interested in continuing to gain access to the vast array of video content that's readily available to them via the public Internet. The number of online video viewers continues to grow, while the number of videos viewed skyrockets. Nearly 183 million U.S. internet users watched an average of 186 videos per viewer during the month of May, for a total of 34 billion videos, according to comScore. U.S. households are also becoming more networked, as consumers buy more and more internet-enabled consumer electronics (CE) devices. A joint report from In-Stat and Capgemini predicts that by 2013, nearly 57 million U.S. households will own these devices. All that multimedia traffic requires an adequate broadband speed -- an area where the U.S. lags behind many other countries. According to a 2009 report from the Saïd Business School at

IPTV network operators face a complex array of issues and challenges as they scale their networks to deliver services to a wider group of customers. Those challenges aren't limited solely to subscriber headcount, according to the latest market study by Heavy Reading . "IPTV is at an exciting stage in its development, with subscriber numbers growing at a fast pace around the world," notes Simon Sherrington, research analyst with Heavy Reading. "But even during this time of opportunity, the industry faces significant challenges related to what can broadly be described as scaling -- IPTV services and systems are scaling up in multiple ways, including not only more subscribers, but also more data, more devices, more interactivity and more content." Demand for HD content and multi-screen delivery, the overwhelming quantity of content that must be delivered efficiently and discovered by the user, and the need to respond to competition from OTT video content -- a

Wi-Fi connectivity deployments in airplanes have grown rapidly from a couple dozen in 2008 to an expected 2,000 planes by end of year 2010. While Internet access availability is progressing, paid usage generated from in-flight broadband service has been extremely low, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . In-Stat believes that in-flight broadband is now at the stage of market development where it must prove its sustainability through the ability to generate meaningful revenues. However, the current high price of services has limited the prospects of further adoption. That scenario may be subject to change. "Revenues from in-flight broadband will reach $95 million in 2010, up from just under $7 million in 2009," according to Frank Dickson, VP Research at In-Stat. "However, the fee per connect is expected to deteriorate as lower connect fees are negotiated for roaming and billing partner subscribers." Data points that impact revenue include: - Conn

ABI Research forecasts over five billion mobile subscriptions by the end of 2010, with an approximate 4.8 billion connections having already been reached by the end of the year's first quarter. Much of this growth will be registered in developing markets in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Africa remains the fastest growing mobile market with a YoY growth of over 22 percent. Mobile penetration in Asia-Pacific will rise significantly to 65 percent by the end of 2010. “This unprecedented growth is driven by India and Indonesia, which have together added over 150 million subscriptions in the past four quarters,” comments ABI Research analyst Bhavya Khanna. Falling monthly tariffs and ultra-low-cost mobile handsets have democratized the reach and use of the mobile phone, and aggressive roll-outs by mobile operators in these countries will see the current rate of subscriber addition maintained for some time to come. At the other end of the spectrum, developed countries in No

Innovative leaders in the over-the-top (OTT) video market are positioning themselves for what is anticipated to be a high-growth market with multi-billion dollar revenue streams, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . As an example, companies such as Netflix , Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, YouTube, and Hulu are all vying for market share growth in the U.S. marketplace. While these American companies may be leading the field today, it's clear that the ongoing transition in video entertainment distribution is a global phenomenon. "OTT video is happening now, with over 37 million broadband households in the U.S. downloading online video content," says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst. "The growing adoption of both OTT video consumption and web-enabled consumer electronics promises to further expand the opportunity content producers and OTT retailers." In-Stat says that they define "Over-the-top" as any video content delivered via a broadb

Wireless modem devices come in a variety of form factors -- including USB modems, PC cards, embedded modules, and wireless routers. Among the external devices, USB modems have become one of the most popular wireless communication products. So popular, in fact, that ABI Research forecasts shipments of nearly 81 million this year. Today, the majority of wireless broadband subscribers enjoying portable connectivity use USB ports. The alternative, the PC Card slot, has rapidly been displaced since the introduction of USB in 2006. "The main reason for USB modem popularity is versatility at a low price," says Jeff Orr, principal analyst, mobile devices at ABI Research. According to the latest ABI Research market study, more than 50 percent of the modem models now available in the market utilize the ubiquitous USB interface. Adds Orr, "USB dongles connect the subscriber to a specific network rapidly and without installing drivers. As new networks using the latest 3G

Who should lead our social media marketing activity? It's a question being asked frequently, but the answer can vary greatly from one organization to another. Initially, it's wise to focus on the skilled people within your qualified talent pool -- or, talent puddle, as the case may be -- rather than choosing a functional group. Meaning, the possession of proven experience should be a key deciding factor in leader selection. eMarketer reports that it's quickly becoming common wisdom among marketers that a meaningful strategy is required to apply social media tools effectively. That doesn't mean a majority of those involved in the space have created a well-thought-out approach. According to a May 2010 market study by Digital Brand Expressions, 52 percent of marketers using social media are operating "without a game plan" -- similar to the 50 percent found in April 2010 by R2integrated. Many marketers that do have a strategy find it doesn't address

Creating 3D video content is gaining momentum in Hollywood. The excitement over 3D has also found its way to the U.S. consumer electronics market. By 2013, one in five new televisions sold in America will be 3D, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Year-over-year shipment growth will be 231 percent between 2010 and 2011 -- resulting in a doubling of the U.S. installed base of units for 3D TVs from 2010 to 2011. "High definition (HD) did create a wave of activity in the U.S. market, not seen since the introduction of color," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. "3DTV promises to be the next significant innovation wave for living room entertainment." Despite many bright spots in the U.S. consumer electronics (CE) market, there will be losers in the market. Maturing segments like MP3 audio players, handheld video games and desktop PCs will show declining growth rates in 2012 and 2013. According to the In-Stat assessment, products with broader f

According to the latest study by comScore , 14 percent of mobile users in the U.S. accessed maps on their devices in April 2010 -- as the mobile map audience reached 33.5 million users, up 44 percent from the previous year. The market study also found that more mobile users now access maps via applications than via Web browser, demonstrating the success of applications in penetrating the mobile map market. "People are increasingly turning to their mobile phone for maps and directions when on the go," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. For the three month period ending April 2010, 26 percent of smartphone users accessed maps via applications, while 19 percent accessed maps via browser in a month. In comparison, just 2 percent of feature phone users accessed maps via applications, with 4 percent doing so via browser. Smartphone users drove growth in both application and browser map usage with app access nearly tripling to 12.7 million smartphon