Digital Lifescapes

Mobile phone short messaging service (SMS) has been a huge windfall for most telcos. That said, here in the U.S. the inter-carrier deployment was late to market and SMS benefits were rarely promoted effectively by service providers. Regardless, SMS was a success due mostly to the eager early-adopter subscribers -- typically young girls who used word-of-mouth to increase adoption among their friends and family. Meanwhile, the revenue generated was a cash cow -- even for the most inept telcos. But in the absence of any meaningful service enhancement, and with pricing that was high relative to the perceived value, it was just a matter of time before this party was over. New estimates from Ovum indicate that increasing use of alternative IP-based social messaging services on their smartphones has cost mobile network service providers $8.7 billion in lost SMS revenues in 2010, and $13.9 billion in 2011. According to Ovum's latest market study, they expect the SMS decline -- rep...

comScore released data from their latest market study showing that 181 million U.S. Internet users watched nearly 40 billion videos of online video content in January. Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in January with 152 million unique viewers, followed by VEVO with 51.5 million, Yahoo! Sites with 49.2 million, Viacom Digital with 48.1 million and Facebook.com with 45.1 million. Nearly 40 billion videos views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 18.6 billion, followed by Hulu with 877 million and VEVO with 717 million. The average viewer watched 22.6 hours of online video content, with Google Sites (7.5 hours) and Hulu (3.2 hours) demonstrating the highest average engagement among the top ten properties. Americans viewed 5.6 billion video ads in January, with Hulu delivering the highest number of video ad impressions at 1.4 billion. Adap.tv ranked second over...

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, mobile application revenues from in-app purchases will pass pay-per-download revenues in 2012. But unless app developers get creative and Google gets in gear, the in-app purchase upside potential could be short-lived. "As a revenue model, in-app purchase is very limited today," says Mark Beccue, senior analyst, mobile services at ABI Research . The vast majority of current in-app revenue is being generated by a tiny percentage of people who are highly-committed mobile game players. ABI doesn't believe the percentage of mobile game players making in-app purchases will grow significantly, so for in-app purchase revenues to grow, mobile developers other than game developers must adopt it. To date, in-app purchase revenue growth has been hampered by Google. The company did not introduce in-app purchase to Android Market until July 2011 -- and only recently added 17 mostly-European countries in December of last ye...

Mobile network service providers in developed nations who plan to grow their smartphone subscriber base should invest the time and effort to better understand the customer segments in their markets -- and do it soon, as media tablets and ereaders start to compete for consumer attention and available cash. Smartphone adoption requires of a recurring monthly data service fee in order to use the device. In contrast, media tablets and ereaders can function with only a Wi-Fi connection. Granted, each device serves a different main purpose, but consumers with limited income may conclude that they must choose one device over the other. Focusing on the Value Proposition The spectrum of possibilities for consumer electronic (CE) devices that power our digital lives have undergone disruptive changes over the past several years. Now, more than ever, people have a plethora of entertainment options. Smartphones have evolved from basic text-based communication tools to multimedia hubs. Erea...

According to the latest market study by Ovum, emerging market mobile network service providers will continue to experience strong connections growth in 2012. Mobile broadband will be the main driver of this growth, but it will also act as a strategic disruptor. The independent telecoms analyst firm states that emerging market operators will continue to see double digit mobile connections growth in 2012. Large markets with relatively low mobile penetration -- such as China, India and Indonesia -- will be the key drivers of this growth. Angel Dobardziev, Ovum Telecoms Emerging Markets practice leader said, "Many emerging market operators went through a transitional period in 2011. Operators had to continue adjusting to slower mobile connections growth, tougher competition, more regulation and lower prices and margins." While many emerging markets are still expected to experience double-digit connections growth in 2012, few will report double-digit revenue growth. Reven...

The Google Android operating system (OS) has taken the smartphone world by storm. In just two years, Android has become the preferred smartphone OS worldwide. In the U.S. market, Android reached number one in smartphone OS sales because wireless operators that did not carry the Apple iPhone -- for whatever reasosn -- chose Android as their smartphone solution. Yet, the Android handsets that are selling well in the U.S. and Europe are not the exact same low-cost Android handsets selling elsewhere in the world. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that low-cost Android handsets will reach a penetration rate of 80 percent of total smartphones in Africa, India, and China by 2015. In the developed world a mobile phone isn't merely a communication device, it's a tool for much-needed socioeconomic advancement. The low-cost Android smartphone segment is comprised primarily of smartphones released with Android 2.2 or 2.3 -- since these version...

Truly, a media tablet has been one of the most eagerly adopted new devices in the consumer electronics market since the Apple iPad launch in 2010. Moreover, during the past year, tablet use has begun to crossover from the consumer world into the workplace. Business use of tablets is expected to rise in 2012, as more people learn about the introduction of new BYOD workplace policies by their employer. According to the latest U.S. market study by NPD In-Stat, the most common business uses of tablets are email or calendar management, note taking, and presentations -- with 77 percent of survey respondents reporting that email as a common workplace use. "Email is by far the most dominant tablet application for business users," says Frank Dickson, VP Mobile Research at NPD In-Stat . However, when you dig into the data, you find a plethora of strong niche uses arising. When business tablet users are asked to list ALL the applications they use, note taking, for example, is li...

Like the closely-related market for home energy management systems (HEMS), the smart appliances market has failed to develop as many in the industry had anticipated. Most internet connected appliance product applications are still in the early pilot project stage and have failed to reach retail outlets in any large number. However, according to the latest market study by ABI Research, shipments will soon begin to accelerate and eventually exceed 24 million units by 2017. With smart meter deployment growing apace, energy costs following a seemingly upward trajectory, and progress made on improving interoperability of all aspects of the smart grid, it is only a matter of time before shipments gather momentum. That being said, it is likely that it will take a couple of years for ultra-premium price tags to erode, and for dynamic pricing structures to become more widely implemented in order to stimulate consumer demand. The number of major appliance manufacturers that have used r...

comScore released their "2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus" report. This annual report examines how the prevailing trends are defining the current marketplace and what these trends mean for the year ahead. "2012 promises to be an exciting year for the digital media industry as the explosion of available content and proliferation of web-enabled devices drive the evolution of the digital consumer, creating new opportunities and challenges for the entire digital ecosystem," said Linda Abraham, comScore CMO and EVP of Global Product Development. In order to be successful in this new paradigm, digital marketers must understand the key trends shaping the current marketplace and what that means for the future of their businesses. Key insights from the comScore report include: A Networking-Led Social Media Market Social Networking accounted for 16.6 percent of all online minutes at the end of 2011 and is on track to surpass Portals as the most engaging online acti...

There's much to be learned by observing the evolution of mobile device adoption and digital media consumption in the U.S. marketplace. About forty percent of all mobile service subscribers already own a smartphone and about twenty percent of all internet users own a media tablet. That being said, this marketplace will likely move slowly past the early-adopter stage of market development. The reason being: these new devices are still being marketed -- more often than not -- by vendors and mobile network service providers that fail to acknowledge the apparent consumer market segmentation. The problem of communicating the application value and benefits of these products is compounded by tech media journalists and gadget pundits who write product reviews that focus on esoteric feature/function and tech spec comparisons that are meaningless to most mainstream consumers. It's unfortunate, because digital media publishers and most savvy brand advertisers really want to reach th...

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 6.1 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11). According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ), vendors shipped 427.4 million units in 4Q11 -- that's compared to 402.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010. The 6.1 percent year-over-year growth was higher than IDC's earlier forecast of 4.4 percent for the quarter, but weaker than the 9.3 percent growth in 3Q11. "The mobile phone market exhibited unusually low growth last quarter, which shows it is not immune to weaker macroeconomic conditions worldwide," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC. The introduction of high-growth products such as the Apple iPhone 4S, which shipped in the fourth quarter, helped to bolster smartphone growth. Yet overall market growth fell to its lowest point since 3Q09 when the global economic recession was in full bloom. While smartphones continue to grow in popularity, feature-...

comScore released data reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending December 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile phone service subscribers. Once again, Samsung is the top handset manufacturer overall -- with 25.3 percent market share. Moreover, Google Android strengthened its lead in the smartphone market to reach 47.3 percent market share. For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share. 97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, repre...

Infonetics Research recently surveyed broadband service providers who are deploying either home automation or home control solutions, about the types of services they plan to offer now and in the future. They asked about delivery methods, technologies and protocols, home monitoring equipment suppliers they buy from now and are evaluating for future purchases, and who they perceive of as the top suppliers in the field. The results are published in a Infonetics report which offers an in-depth look into the latest trends in home automation (services offered via a broadband or mobile IP connection to the home). "While the home automation market is still young, major operators, including Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and China Telecom, have already made public announcements regarding home automation services and some have begun initial rollouts, and many more will jump into the game this year," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and vid...

The consumer electronics (CE) market was once driven by the ability of devices to provide single functions -- like music playback, video viewing, or basic voice communications. Today, multifaceted intelligent CE devices are increasingly providing several functions and Internet-protocol (IP) network connectivity for online access to information, communications, and multimedia entertainment. This is resulting in the overlap of features and functions between product categories -- not only in the mobile segment, but also in other CE devices like digital HDTVs and set-top boxes. As a result, this entire group is morphing into a larger product category -- often referred to as "smart" devices. These evolved devices are increasingly sharing the same silicon components, operating systems, and application software. There are three leading platforms in the mobile segment -- smartphones, tablets, and notebooks PCs -- and according to the latest study by NPD In-Stat, they now fore...

We're going to see a dramatic increase in non-traditional Wi-Fi applications in 2012, as a multitude of fixed and mobile devices use it as the primary means to communicate across short distances. This will positively impact the whole Wi-Fi ecosystem. In fact, the Wi-Fi chipset market continues to develop at an accelerated pace as a growing number of consumer electronics (CE) devices integrate Wi-Fi capabilities. As the demand for devices with Wi-Fi connectivity grows, and as prices for chip-sets decrease, new markets for Wi-Fi are opening in areas traditionally dominated by other wireless connectivity standards. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, new markets such as smart meters, wireless mice, automobiles, and home automation will help drive sales of Wi-Fi chipsets to $6.1 billion in 2015. "As Wi-Fi appears in more and more devices the demand for additional bandwidth will grow along with it," says Greg Potter, analyst at NPD In-Stat . Granted,...

This is the first in a series of reports that I will share about SXSWi 2012 related events. Once again, I'll be attending the Interactive conference and trade show in Austin, Texas. Forty British digital companies were selected to participate in the UK Trade and Investment ( UKTI ) Mission to South by Southwest 2012. Each of the companies joining the mission are listed below, in alphabetical order: Acknowledgement Ltd Acunu AMEE Analytics SEO Anywhere.me Codegent CultureLabel Ltd DAD Technology Ltd DeadSoci.al Eventless Ltd Foodsplore Fortune Cookie Gravity Thinking Hailo Happiest Ltd Harvest Digital Milky Tea MOFILM Ltd Musicmetric Net Communities Ltd Numiko Oil Productions Palringo PlayMob Portal Entertainment Psonar Ltd Realeyes Recite ShareMyPlaylists Shopcade Sign-Up.to Sohnar SoJoLife StickyWorld Ltd The Unit Thrive Software TWAds (Addiply) Ltd ustwo Yazino I look forward to the opportunity to connect with the UK Digital Mission del...

I've been behind in my reading and have just finished the Deloitte " Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions " for 2012. Their annual assessment is one of the most comprehensive market studies, and a good source of industry insight and analysis. Granted, not everyone can invest the time to read all 56 pages in their report. The following are excerpts that I’ve selected from the “bottom line” summaries. “Network operators should expect a steady rise in tablet ownership, and evaluate the impact this will have on connectivity. Tablet utility will depend on connectivity: the more useful and used a tablet, the more bandwidth it is likely to consume. End-users will of course hope for faster bandwidth and bigger monthly data allocations, all at a lower price. The demands for faster bandwidth and more data are not necessarily impossible to accomplish if users shape their data consumption to align demand with network availability, rather than expecting on-...

The video communications market can be divided into three sub-markets depending on the consumer electronics (CE) device which is being used to make the call: PCs, Mobile, and living room (digital home) devices. That being said, the living room video calling is a nascent market and currently has a relatively small user base. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat , they now forecast that total users will increase from 1.5 million in 2011 to 16.4 million in 2015. Asia Pacific will be the largest market for living room video calling by a significant margin as this is the region with the highest video calling enabled device shipments. Video communications originated on the PC and these services are significantly more mature than on other device types -- Skype, Google Talk and G+ Hangouts are examples of the popular free consumer-oriented video chat services. While PC video calling solutions have been available for several years, these services continue to evolve in fun...

Has Apple dropped the price of some of its smartphone inventory, purely in an attempt to win back market share lost to other vendors during 2011? According to the latest market study by Juniper Researc h, Apple has overtaken Samsung during the last quarter of 2011 -- but it's not clear if it can maintain that lead. Almost 25 percent of the 149 million smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4 were Apple iPhones. While Apple overtook Samsung to reach the number one position, the Korean giant has increased its market share four-fold since Q1 2010 -- that's from 4.7 to 21.7 percent. According to Juniper's assessment, we know that the increase in Samsung smartphone popularity is forcing Apple to continue offering older models to mobile network service providers -- in an attempt to keep ahead. But for how long? While Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4Ss within three days of launch, the company's return to top spot was partly driven by continuing to offer the iPhone 3GS -- first l...

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ), success with mobile applications (apps) begins with targeting the right audience. Moreover, if you want to reach the overall largest group of early-adopters, then you'll focus on the South Korean market. IDC has identified six distinct consumer market segments: Tech Evangelists, Impulse Buyers, Experimental Adopters, Pragmatic Purchasers, Green Buyers, and Disengaged Functionalists. One market segment in particular -- Tech Evangelists -- was found to be particularly influential when it comes to mobile apps. "Tech evangelists not only own the most devices and utilize the most advanced functions, features, and apps, they are also the group that drives adoption of device ownership and usage by other market segments," said Michael DeHart, director at IDC. Tech Evangelists are not only deeply involved in app usage, but also the most educated consumers about apps and technology in general, l...

A couple of firsts in the smartphone market developed during the fourth quarter of 2011, now that most of the major handset manufacturers have reported their results. Apple iOS topped the smartphone market, and Google Android suffered its first decline in share. But for how long, who knows? According the the latest market study by ABI Research , the 4th quarter totaled 150 million smartphones shipped, representing a record high penetration of 36 percent of the 409 million total handsets shipped worldwide. Apple was the leader this quarter with 37 million iPhones shipped for a sequential growth rate of 117 percent (128% QoQ). The Apple results made it the number one smartphone OEM in the quarter and for the year. For the first time since Android was introduced, its market share declined from its 3Q high of 52.5 percent to 47.0 percent in Q4. Despite Samsung’s 33 million shipments as the head Android OEM, Apple’s iPhone 4S displaced Samsung and its highly coveted 280 percent YoY sm...

The developed Asian markets -- such as Japan and South Korea -- have always led the way forward in mobile network technology deployments and advanced applications. Now other markets in the region are actively investing in new infrastructure -- as the developing markets in the region catch up. ​"A number of Asian operators are bracing themselves for a quickening in 3G and 4G subscriber adoption in 2012," says Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting at ABI Research. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, Asian capital expenditure in 2012 is forecast to increase 5.7 percent year-on-year to $58.8 billion. Across the region, over 63 percent of the CAPEX budget for 2012 will focus on the construction of radio access network infrastructure, 8 percent on upgrades and capacity expansions to the core network, and 29 percent on development of new technologies and new businesses, construction of backhaul transmission facilities, etc. Several Japanese operators...

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) practices have evolved over the last few years, but the demand from small, medium and very large brand advertisers has been consistent. The upside market potential is impressive and one company stands to gain significantly from this phenomenon -- Google. According to the latest market assessment by eMarketer , U.S. search engine advertiser spending will maintain strong growth this year -- in part, boosted by major national government elections and the London 2012 Olympic Games. eMarketer estimates that U.S. search spending this year will rise 27 percent to $19.51 billion. By 2016, search ad spending will approach $30 billion, following slower but consistent growth between now and then. Among the top four search sites, Google revenues will grow most quickly in 2012, although the growth rates at Microsoft will surpass Google in 2013 and 2014. Regardless, by that point in time, Google will have nearly 10 times the search ad revenue of Microsoft -- th...

The role of a typical Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a technology, media or telecommunications company is very challenging -- especially if they're skilled in the practices from the bygone era of legacy mass-media marketing. Many struggle to adapt to the needs of today's forward-thinking interactive online marketing environment. According to the latest global CMO survey by Heidrick & Struggles and Forrester Research , CMOs need to contribute to substantive business strategy, but many need to raise their marketing technology IQ first -- so that they can become more credible as leaders in their organization, and clearly demonstrate that they're not obsolete. Based on a survey of nearly 200 global marketing leaders, the market study attempted to measure CMOs' influence within their organization, their business objectives, and their skills and competencies necessary to survive in a rapidly changing realm of digital marketing. Unskilled in Meaningful Business Str...

In 2011, the global market for household consumer electronics (CE) continued its rapid shift toward connected devices. These are devices that are enabled with digital communications and have the ability to connect directly to the Internet -- or to a home network. Some of these devices are optimized for the delivery of IP-based streaming video content. This device category is being driven primarily by the success and adoption of low-cost streaming media players, digital TVs, satellite STBs, video game consoles, and Blu-ray disc players or recorders. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that the connected device installed base will grow from 256.8 million units in 2011 to 1.34 billion units in 2016. "CE is no longer about dumb devices that exist at the edge of the network to provide specific functions, but rather about intelligent devices at the edge of the network that can connect consumers to new stores of content and engage them in new di...

comScore released a report highlighting the results from a recent market study that identifies the unique characteristics of the Millennial generation -- defined as persons born between 1981 and 2000. The study examined the Millennial response to different types of advertising, including TV and digital -- compared to older generations -- and how marketers can most effectively target this large and important segment of the marketplace. "The 79 million Millennials in the U.S. have an estimated purchasing power of $170 billion per year, making them a highly attractive segment for brands to target," said comScore vice president Bert Miklosi. Their comfort-level with the Internet and new technology in general makes the digital medium an ideal platform for reaching these individuals. But Millennials are much more difficult to persuade with advertising -- especially the poorly conceived ads that you typically find on broadcast radio and TV channels. Key findings from the co...