Digital Lifescapes

The debate about the health of the U.S. pay-TV sector rages on, as key quarterly financial results and current business model analysis is published. While the market continues to fragment, more insight is being shared about the emergence of distinctive consumer market segments and the likely impact of this trend. eMarketer reports that as over-the-top (OTT) video viewing becomes a bigger part of the video news and entertainment ecosystem, some consumers are finding it easier to either reduce or terminate their traditional pay-TV subscriptions. In summary, Yankee Group found 11 percent of U.S. consumers had considered canceling their pay-TV service, though only 2 percent actually did. Wedbush Securities found 12 percent of consumers had cut premium services over the past year, while 7 percent had totally cut pay-TV. Meanwhile, Strategy Analytics predicted in September that 13 percent of Americans would terminate services next year. According to a survey by SAY Media, 13 percent ...

The arrival of innovative high-powered multimedia consumer devices -- such as the Apple iPad tablet -- is raising consumer UI expectations and driving cable network operators to demand more sophisticated set-top boxes (STBs) from equipment suppliers. This emerging trend will have a significant impact on the legacy STB sector over the next several years, according to the latest market study by Heavy Reading . "The STB, the primary cable component inside millions of U.S. homes, is morphing, expanding, and extending itself with new features and functionality," notes Craig Leddy, research analyst at Heavy Reading. "By utilizing the best capabilities of each device platform, a cable MSO can tailor its services to meet individual customer interests." The new range of options is stretching and redefining the traditional meaning of the set-top box, Leddy says. "Emerging devices are helping cable to serve multiple screens and add more interactive and on-demand fea...

Broadband service providers continue to evolve their customer premise equipment (CPE) requirements, as growing consumer demand and new multimedia applications expand the digital home market. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , residential gateway unit shipments were up 18.1 percent from the previous quarter and 37 percent from the same quarter last year. This growth surge was lead by Europe which posted more than a 30 percent increase in unit shipments. Technicolor was the global leader in both unit shipment and revenue market shares. "The overall Broadband CPE market grew in 2Q10 but this was predominately as a result of significant increases in Residential Gateway shipments," says Brad Shaffer, Industry Analyst at In-Stat. "This is a continuation of an on-going trend that began in 4Q09." Highlights from the In-Stat market study include: - Total broadband CPE revenues for 2Q10 were $1.52 billion. - D-Link saw the biggest revenue market sh...

There is mounting evidence that the market development of digital video entertainment distribution in America has reached a significant milestone. Previously, the primary barrier to the increased adoption of long-form video online streaming was the apparent difficulty of viewing that content on a TV monitor. Resolving the PC-to-TV connectivity and device configuration issues were considered the realm of the early-adopter and technology-savvy video entertainment consumer. While the perceived roadblocks are still a deterrent to a large segment of the total addressable market, the pragmatists in the early-majority seem to be guiding their peer-group to the practical solutions. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , there are now 30 million U.S. broadband households currently viewing some form of online video on their TV sets. In addition to downloading digital video, close to 90 percent of these households also stream online video to their primary television. Over the n...

Interest in connected TVs and Blu-ray players has been slow to develop, predominantly due to minimal consumer electronics (CE) industry promotion, and a glut of competing solutions which already provide swift and easy access to digital media. Pay-TV, PCs, smartphones and the Apple iPad are all enabling consumers to access information however, wherever and whenever they want it. "Despite the initial low level of interest in connected TVs, we are now reaching a point of critical mass," says David Watkins at Futuresource Consulting . "Our analysis shows consumer usage growing as connected TV devices become increasingly versatile and the range of content, applications and major web brands available on CE platforms increases." There is a current surge of industry interest in TV application development, closely following the mobile phone model, and in some instances this will also allow a micropayments business model to be put in place. In the mobile market, only...

Worldwide cellular wireless M2M (machine-to-machine) connections are growing steadily, and are expected to exceed 297 million in 2015. According to ABI Research , their prior forecast of about 225 million connections by 2014 has now been raised to 232.5 million. However, there are many regional differences in the growth pattern. Europe continues to account for the largest regional share with 110 million connections in 2015; North America will rank second with 79 million and the Asia-Pacific region third with almost 66 million. "The major world regions show different drivers for cellular M2M markets. The European market is the most diversified and has the most mature deployments. The EU benefits from regulatory mandates surrounding eCall and smart energy," said Sam Lucero, practice director at ABI. In North America the focus has traditionally been more on telematics, although M2M is now growing strongly in other areas including smart energy. Both telematics and energy ar...

Once again, analysts are predicting that advertising targeted to U.S. mobile phone service subscribers will be embraced by the mainstream American marketer, according to the latest market study by eMarketer . U.S. mobile ad spending will be up 79 percent in the U.S. market to reach $743 million, based upon the current eMarketer forecast. However, growth will slow somewhat as advertising spending reaches $1.1 billion in 2011 -- and potentially more than $2.5 billion by 2014. "The expansion of the smartphone market and the attractive usage and demographic profile of smartphone owners have forced more marketers to pay closer attention to mobile," said Noah Elkin, eMarketer senior analyst. Video, display and search ad spending on mobile media is predicted to more than double this year, while growth in messaging advertising will lag behind the other mobile formats. That said, SMS text messaging is the largest ad format, with spending of $327 million estimated for 2010. An...

Fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, book stores and other retail establishments continue to use Wi-Fi access to attract new customers -- and keep current customers coming back. It's been proven, the availability of free Wi-Fi broadband access does influence venue choice. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , nearly two-thirds of their survey respondents indicated that free Wi-Fi influences their choice of venue. An additional 31 percent indicated that free access may influence their choice, and just 5 percent said that it would have no influence over venue choice. "Our research shows that while revenue may not always be directly gleaned from the hotspot offering, free Wi-Fi has a significant value in bringing customers to a venue," says Amy Cravens, Market Analyst at In-Stat. In some local retail business communities, pervasive access to free Wi-Fi has been used as a way to help revive a downtown or main-street marketplace -- in the hope of stimulati...

Wireless network modem shipments in 2009 topped 72 million units, a significant growth over the 46.4 million units shipped during 2008. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , both volumes pale in comparison with the expected 93 million units expected to ship in 2010. The overwhelming majority of these modems are found in the USB dongle form factor rather than embedded in their host devices. "Many new mobile broadband networks are being deployed right now," says ABI Research principal analyst Jeff Orr. The HSPA and HSPA+ protocols, as well as 4G WiMAX and LTE, are luring new broadband service subscribers who want their existing computing and communications devices to be enabled for those networks. Orr adds, "We find that new computer sales with embedded modem modules are being adopted between 9 and 12 months after the new network services launch, while USB modems are an immediate upgrade opportunity." ABI practice director Kevin Burden says, ...

According to the latest market study by ABI Research , over 11 million media tablets and 43 million netbook PCs will ship worldwide this year. That is lower than analysts expected at the end of last year, based on the results during the period following their introduction. Regardless, says ABI Research principal analyst Jeff Orr, "43 million netbook shipments are good growth, just not the meteoric pace of the past couple of years." Part of the drop in demand for netbooks may be due to media tablet sales. However, tablets are still a long way from the 40-50 million annual shipments that ABI Research considers the threshold for a mass-market consumer electronics product. "Apple has sold a few million iPads in its first quarter, which is great for creating a new market," Orr says. "But early adoption of media tablets is not outpacing netbooks. The iPad average selling price above $650 isn't driving consumer adoption. Competition, especially on price, is ...

Cellular wireless network connectivity isn't just for mobile phones and notebook computers. More and more consumer electronics devices incorporate Wi-Fi connectivity, but some applications may require an Internet connection in places where Wi-Fi hotspots are typically not available. Based upon this growing demand, a number of portable entertainment devices (PEDs) now incorporate cellular connectivity. They provide a growing revenue opportunity for mobile service providers, multimedia content owners, and device manufacturers, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . There will be significant growth across all categories of 3G or 4G-enabled PEDs over the next five years. WCDMA will be the dominant enabling technology across the majority of shipments -- with the exception of digital photo frames, where GSM will be dominant. "Standalone e-readers represent the brightest spot in 3G/4G-enabled PEDs with unit shipments expected to grow significantly across all regions ...

According to the latest market study from comScore , 175 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in September 2010 for an average of 14.4 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in more than 5.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month. Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property with 144.2 million unique viewers. Yahoo! Sites captured the #2 spot with 54.4 million viewers, followed by Facebook.com with 52.2 million viewers. Microsoft Sites jumped 3 positions in September, securing fourth place with 45.5 million viewers. Google Sites had the highest number of overall viewing sessions with 1.9 billion and average time spent per viewer at 260 minutes, or 4.3 hours. Americans viewed more than 4.3 billion video ads in September, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 794 million. Tremor Media Video Network ranked second overall (and high...

If you really like banal auto dealership commercials, then you would enjoy the typical American broadcast radio station. However, eMarketer reports that a recent Edison Research study highlights the trends in media usage among U.S. teens and young adults -- the results aren't encouraging for legacy marketers. Waking up to the radio was a routine for this young demographic a decade ago, but usage has sharply declined. Also, as many young people have reduced their traditional media use, the Internet has replaced much of that activity. The trend is apparent in total time spent with various media. In 2000, teens and young adults were spending close to 2 hours and 45 minutes listening to broadcast radio each day. By 2010 it had fallen to an hour and a half. In contrast, time spent online had risen from an hour a day to almost 3 hours. Alternative music listening services have also emerged. In 2010, 36 percent of consumers surveyed by Bridge Ratings ages 12 and over had listene...

According to the latest market study by Portio Research , over the last 2 years the mobile app store revolution has exploded from zero to a $6.6 billion market in 2010, and this rapid revenue growth is forecast to continue over the next 5 years. With stakeholders making huge investments to improve the quality and utility of mobile apps, the worldwide mobile phone applications user base is expected to grow at a CAGR of 37 percent between 2009 and 2015 -- to reach nearly 256 million by 2015. Between 2009-2015, mobile application downloads are expected to increase at a CAGR of 53.2 percent, while global revenue from mobile applications -- including in-app payments -- will grow from $6.6 billion in 2010 to over $23 billion by 2015. Smartphones allow users to download, install and run advanced applications. The increased consumption of mobile applications has resulted from the growing worldwide smartphone user base, that enables more service subscribers to sample and adopt mobile apps...

comScore performed a recent market study of mobile phone usage behaviors in Japan, the United States and Europe that explores the key market segmentation opportunities. The study examined content consumption and demographic comparisons across markets to provide a comparative look at how consumers interact with mobile media. "Mobile media usage continues to accelerate across the globe, driven by advancing technologies and the growing number of content options available to consumers," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. A cross-market analysis revealed significant differences among consumers by geography. Mobile users in Japan were the "most connected" of the three markets, with more than 75 percent using connected media  -- browsed, accessed applications or downloaded content -- in June, compared to 43.7 percent in the U.S. and 38.5 percent in Europe. Japanese mobile users also displayed the strongest usage of both applications (Apps)...

The recent volatility in the global pay-TV industry is starting to impact vendor product shipments. In 2Q10, worldwide total set top box (STB) revenue declined by 6 percent from the previous quarter while shipments declined even more. One bright spot, shipments for HD-capable STBs and DVR-enabled STBs were up slightly over 1Q10, contributing to a slightly higher selling price. For the remainder of 2010, only Latin America and Europe are forecast to show any gains in revenue or unit shipments, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . The global market for STBs is highly fragmented with many vendors offering legacy pay-TV products. Moreover, as the market evolves to include more Hybrid STB and purpose-built low-cost online video players, the fragmentation will likely increase. In-Stat's market study uncovered the following: - Cisco, Motorola, and Pace were the market leaders in cable STB shipments. - Echostar, Humax, Pace, and Technicolor were market leaders in s...

comScore released data on key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending August 2010. Their report ranked the leading mobile OEM and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. market -- according to their share of current mobile subscribers. 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 23.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 1.2 percentage points from the preceding three month period. LG ranked second with 21.2 percent share, followed by Motorola (18.8 percent share), RIM (9.0 percent share, up 0.3 percentage points) and Nokia (7.6 percent share). 55.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in August, up 14 percent from the May period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 37.6 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.2 percent share. Google continues to gain...

The user population of mobile social networks in India is expected to reach 72 million by 2014, driven by the reduced cost of smartphones and the launch of 3G services, according to the latest market study by Analysys Mason . The number of all online social network users in India has grown by 43 percent to approximately 33 million unique users as of July 2010 -- with India emerging as the seventh largest market globally. According to the study results, the increased number of social network users is driving the number of mobile social network users (around 10 million in 2009), representing around 2.2 percent of the total number of mobile subscribers. "Innovative data tariff plans (daily, weekly and monthly plans) and the significant reduction in data charges are driving adoption of data-based services such as social networking," says Sourabh Kaushal, Principal Consultant at Analysys Mason. Mobile phone service providers and handset manufacturers have started taking s...

eMarketer reports that Americans are viewing movies online more frequently, increasingly adopting low-cost over-the-top (OTT) pay-TV subscription services, such as Netflix. Moreover, online viewing of full-length TV episodes is on the rise and accounting for a greater share of consumer attention. With these changes in video entertainment viewing habits, mainstream consumers will increasingly look to enjoy these new experiences on a big TV screen. Two recent forecasts project a dramatic growth in sales of internet-enabled television sets around the world. iSuppli Corporation estimated in July that 28 million web-enabled TVs would be sold worldwide this year -- more than double the sales in 2009. By 2014 they're forecasting a 428.6 percent increase to 148 million units sold. DisplaySearch has a higher estimate of connected TV sales for 2010, at 45 million units worldwide, and a more conservative projection for 2014 at 119 million units. However, that still translates to growt...

The video entertainment industry has slowly adapted to media distribution technology innovations over the years, including reluctantly acknowledging the invention of the home Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) and Digital Video Disc (DVD) recorder. Now, as internet-based video streaming services and on-demand viewing of TV and movies has a growing impact on traditional revenue streams, the legacy media industry must adapt once again, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . In-Stat believes that identifying the successful new services, licensing models, and associated business models will require continual trial and error by the big-media content producers and pay-TV distribution companies -- with no apparent certainty of success. "The decline of retail video disc sales, coupled with on-demand viewing of TV content and the threat of video cord cutting, points to enormous changes ahead for the video entertainment industry," says Keith Nissen, Industry Analyst at In-...

Infonetics Research released the results of their latest market study which provides market size, analysis and forecasts for machine-to-machine (M2M) connections and equipment by technology, region and vertical. "From a well-established base over GSM built up over the last decade, the embedded mobile M2M market is now poised for rapid acceleration, driven by new mobile devices, applications, services and providers, combined with the availability of higher speed networks," says Richard Webb at Infonetics Research. Demand is rising for mobile M2M applications, such as smart energy monitoring and intelligent traffic, backed by government policy and funding, which is helping to create a virtuous growth cycle for the embedded mobile market. Highlights from the Infonetics market study include: - Worldwide revenue for embedded mobile modems for M2M applications is forecast to more than triple in 2010 over 2009, and to continue growing strongly through at least 2014, at a 66...

Sales of Blu-ray disc (BD) players, excluding PS3, are expected to total nearly 24 million units this year across the three key growth regions -- USA, Europe and Japan -- according to the latest market study by Futuresource Consulting . "Last year's crucial Q4 period accounted for nearly half of all BD players that were sold globally in 2009, and the upward trend is continuing, with our projections showing in excess of 80 percent unit growth across this year," says Jack Wetherill, Research Consultant at Futuresource. This view is based on inputs from a wide range of companies operating in the global Blu-ray hardware business, including vendors, retailers and component suppliers, and forms part of their ongoing research in this area. All attention will once again be on the holiday season, with Futuresource predicting sales in excess of 11 million units in that quarter alone, a healthy year-on-year growth that will continue to drive BD adoption into the mass market. ...

According to the latest market study by Leichtman Research Group (LRG), the nineteen largest cable and telephone providers in the U.S. -- representing about 93 percent of the total market -- acquired 330,000 net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2010. Net broadband additions in the quarter were the fewest of any quarter in the nine years LRG has been tracking the industry. That said, it's not clear what is responsible for the significant decline. Is it still the economic environment, is the market fully saturated at the current price points, are limited-time price incentives not attractive to the prospective customers? Other key findings from the market study include: - The top phone companies had a net loss of about 7,500 subscribers -- compared to a gain of 385,000 subscribers in 2Q 2009. - AT&T had a net loss of 92,000 subscribers in the quarter -- this is the first time that any of the top ten broadband providers reported a quarter...

The sensor-driven user interface (UI) will be an emergent theme in the next wave of mobile device innovation -- turning objects, locations, and people into networked, interactive elements. By 2013, according to the latest market study by ABI Research , 85 percent of smartphones will ship with GPS, over 50 percent will ship with accelerometers, and almost 50 percent will have gyroscopes. "The growth of sensors in smartphones will be driven by applications such as gaming, location awareness, and augmented reality, as well as the expansion of motion-based commands," says senior analyst Victoria Fodale at ABI. The high-level operating system of a smartphone, which provides open application programming interfaces (APIs), has facilitated the use of data from cameras, sensors, and GPS receivers. When an accelerometer is combined with a gyroscope, developers are able to create applications that can sense motion on six axes: up and down, left and right, forward and backwards, ...

eMarketer reports that according to a market study performed by Network Solutions and the University of Maryland, small-business social media marketing use has apparently plateaued in the U.S. at 24 percent adoption. The study of American small to medium businesses (SMB) found that most primarily use Facebook (82 percent), and that common activities are maintaining a "company page" on a social network and posting status updates or links to interesting content. About half of those businesses that used social media also monitored social networks for mentions of their company and/or product names. As small business gains experience with social media, some have realized their expectations are not in tune with reality. As most begin to look at social media as a channel more for customer loyalty than for prospect acquisition, they're also finding that hopes for increased brand awareness and attracting new customers have not been fully met. However, while fewer small b...

comScore reports that 178 million U.S. Internet users watched over-the-top (OTT) video content in August for an average of 14.3 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in more than 5.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month. Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property with 146.3 million unique viewers. Facebook.com jumped one position to capture the #2 spot with 58.6 million viewers, for a total of 243 million viewing sessions. Yahoo! Sites ranked third with 53.9 million viewers, followed by VEVO with 45.4 million. Google Sites had the highest number of overall viewing sessions with 1.9 billion and average time spent per viewer at 270 minutes, or 4.5 hours. Americans viewed more than 3.8 billion video ads in August, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 790 million. BrightRoll Video Network ranked second overall (and highest among video ad networks...