Digital Lifescapes

Smartphones are increasingly viewed by savvy marketers as a critical enabler -- not merely of ubiquitous connectivity and interactivity, but as a means to engage in a meaningful way with their customers and prospects. From a marketer's perspective, the fact that smartphones are personal and ever-present with their owner -- and that those owners are interacting with their device constantly -- presents them with an opportunity. To the informed marketer, mobile is no longer merely a channel through which to sell goods remotely, but a series of related channels through which their relationship with the customer can be nurtured and developed over time. This is a basic principle of multi-platform marketing communication. The approach can transform legacy marketing practices -- such as the process of offering a discount coupon for redemption -- via the creative application of mobile devices. According the the latest global market study by Juniper Research, they now forecast that t...

While the broad concept of the Internet of Things may be difficult for people to grasp, one basic concept is already familiar within the mainstream population -- that being the practical benefits of GPS and location-aware technologies. Healthcare, enterprise, mobile wearables and indoor beacon applications will help to revive the global positioning system (GPS) tracking device market, with ABI Research forecasting the market to reach over $3.5 billion in 2019. The GPS personal tracking market has always had huge potential yet it has faced significant barriers around awareness, expensive devices, cellular subscriptions, indoor location and market fragmentation. As a result, market development has never been able to scale sufficiently to lower costs and create the revenue to support much needed marketing and advertising campaigns. But that's about to change. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the upside will now be driven by the adoption of GPS applications...

As new technologies continue to evolve, open network virtualization strategies are reshaping the telecom carrier ecosystem. The ongoing shift to cloud services and mobile internet technologies is driving service providers and their suppliers to improve their efficiency and agility. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), network virtualization is set to revolutionize the telecom sector -- transforming the operational culture, as well as the fabric of legacy proprietary infrastructures that have, until now, dominated this industry. Communication service providers (CSPs) and their vendors are embracing the demand for progressive network virtualization platforms -- such as open-source software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). "Despite budget concerns and questions about the ability to execute on the network virtualization vision, CSPs, telecom vendors, and partners are all embracing potential opportunit...

The apparent softening of the media tablet market may concern some vendors. Clearly, there are signs of saturation in a few of the developed markets. However, the worldwide tablet market grew 11 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14) with shipments reaching 49.3 million units, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although shipments declined sequentially from 1Q14 by -- by an estimated 1.5 percent -- IDC believes the market will experience positive, but slower, growth in 2014 compared to the previous year. "As we indicated last quarter, the market is still being impacted by the rise of large-screen smartphones and longer than anticipated ownership cycles," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director at IDC . IDC attributes the market deceleration to slow business user adoption of media tablets. Although, the previously reported BYOD to work phenomenon seems to somewhat contradict this assessment. Despite ...

Demand for access to the mobile internet creates opportunities for new wireless technologies. Femtocells are small cellular base stations used to provide wireless connectivity for mobile devices such as smartphones and media tablets. According to the latest market study by Allied Market Research , the global femtocell device market was valued at $220 million in 2012 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 42.9 percent during 2013-2020. A significant increase in the applications of smartphone for and media tablets availing value-added services has fueled the growth of femtocell market. Reductions in cost of electronic devices -- such as mobile phones, laptops -- have increased the demand for femtocells. The growth of femtocell market in developing economies is hampered due to the higher cost. High initial investment required for the setup and the limited usage in home based applications of femtocell does not justify the investment made by consumers in the Asian countries. Flexibili...

Given the continued trend of a shift to online digital media, color printing technology may not be in vogue -- but it's still evolving. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the worldwide digital production color print market continued its unabated growth of top-line shipment value in 2013. The industry achieved record shipment values of $4.4 billion in 2013, fueled by growth in a range of technologies, from mid-production cut sheet to ultra-high volume inkjet printing systems. The cumulative value of shipments is expected to approach $25 billion over the 2014-2018 forecast period, climbing from $4.6 billion to $5.4 billion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2 percent. "Between 2014 and 2018, IDC expects to see the sum of all production color shipments to surpass 353,000," said Amy Machado, senior research analyst at IDC . "The high end of the market, albeit smaller from a unit perspective, is where the gold r...

Competition among the different video game platforms is increasingly fierce due to a couple of key reasons. First, new console hardware providers enter the market with their generally cheaper devices, while on the other hand gamers are offered a new means of playing via mobile phones. According to findings from the latest market study by Juniper Research , global revenues from PC and console video games will decline from $46.5 billion this year to $41 billion by 2019. The Juniper study reveals that despite the decreasing sales of console hardware and increasing significance of mobile platforms, PC and console video games will still account for over 50 percent of industry revenues over the next 5 years. Global revenues from software sales on both the PC and console platforms will remain relatively healthy, with PC video games software sales exceeding sales on the console platform. Juniper also found that the new generation of consoles will create a short-term uplift in video gam...

An estimated 5.1 million Ultraportable PCs shipped in Q1 2014, experiencing approximately 65 percent growth in total shipments year-over-year, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Moreover, ultraportable shipments are forecast to continue expanding globally. This growth demonstrates that there is still a need for these devices, even within an otherwise dreary PC market. By 2019, Ultraportables will experience a CAGR increase of 26 percent to 109.4 million units. "Ultraportables continue to be a strong force in the PC market and ABI Research expects shipments to continue growing through 2019," said Stephanie Van Vactor, research analyst at ABI Research . Beyond Ultraportables, ABI still sees the broader portable PC market continuing its struggle to regain high market growth, but due to the overcrowding of the market may never relive those high growth numbers. Chromebooks, however, are the main low-cost device growth story. Initial Chromebook adopti...

Following a relatively flat three-year period, the global pay-TV set-top box (STB) market managed to achieve the highest annual revenue total in its history during 2013, setting the stage for continued growth through 2015, according to the latest market study by IHS. Worldwide digital STB shipment revenue last year totaled $20.3 billion -- that's up 3 percent from $19.6 billion in 2012. Revenue will set new highs during the next two years and will peak at $22.8 billion in 2015. This follows the period from 2010 through 2012 when revenue remained in the $19.5 billion range. "Set-top boxes proved to be critical to the strategies of pay-TV operators in 2013," said Daniel Simmons, director for research at IHS . Growth in 2013 was mainly driven by multimedia home gateways (MHG) reaching large scale in North America. MHGs are being used by service providers to transition from a legacy broadcast-based pay-TV experience to one that is Internet-centric and better positio...

LTE is a fourth-generation (4G) global standard which is the natural development route for GSM/HSPA network operators -- it's also the next generation mobile broadband system for many CDMA network operators. Juniper Research forecasts a rapid uptake of 4G LTE mobile technology in the next five years, with active connections crossing the 1 billion mark in 2017 -- and reaching 1.8 billion by 2019. This will represent 22 percent of the global active mobile subscriber identity module (SIM) connections by this time. Their latest global market study finds that, with the rate of LTE network commitments and roll-outs at an all-time high, network and device vendors have significantly improved their position to offer products and solutions to network operators. The GSA (Global Mobile Suppliers Association) confirmed that 168 manufacturers have announced 1,889 LTE-enabled user devices, including operator and frequency variants, along with 300 commercial network launches. TD-LTE t...

​Worldwide traffic on 3G and 4G mobile communication networks continues to reach new highs as operators strive to satisfy the insatiable craving for broadband access to the Mobile Internet. Around the globe, satisfying this demand -- by expanding network capacity -- will push mobile packet core spending to over $18 billion through 2019. Though much of the telecom market experienced a 1Q 2014 seasonal dip, mobile packet core expansion continues with just-in-time infrastructure deployment. First mover developed markets continue to lead, and now the Rest of the World demands additional capacity as network operators scale-up with the demand. Mobile network operators must make their network investment choices to meet this never-before experienced growth -- and have a good grasp of the growing demand in the foreseeable future. "Operators closely manage their CapEx and OpEx with a sharp eye on the top line," says Joe Hoffman, practice director at ABI Research . But while...

Most CIOs would prefer to be freed from the ongoing burden and rising cost of managing software license compliance. It's one of the primary reasons why open source software subscriptions -- that don't require traditional licenses -- are so appealing. It's also a key driver of pay-as-you-go cloud service adoption. Forward-looking software vendor executives also acknowledge the apparent shortcomings of the legacy licensing model. Some are choosing to change. Others are stubborn and continue to seek ways to extend the life of an obsolete approach to revenue attainment. Demand for Short-Sighted Software Monetization The three software license management (SLM) functions include defining software versions and licensing rules (development), automating license issuance and invoicing (deployment) and ensuring software is used in accordance with terms of a purchased license (enforcement). The latest global market study by Frost and Sullivan discovered that market participants...

Truly, few (if any) analysts expected the PC market to show signs of a recovery in America, but that's what happened. The U.S. market showed strong 6.9 percent year-on-year growth in the second quarter of 2014. Continuing upgrades of Windows XP systems boosted shipments in commercial portables and desktops, helping the commercial segment of the market. At the same time, retail acceptance of emerging product categories helped the consumer segment to somewhat stabilize. Global Quarterly Results and Industry Outlook  Worldwide PC shipments totaled 74.4 million units in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14), a year-on-year decline of -1.7 percent, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). The results reflect the smallest decline in global PC shipments since the second quarter of 2012 when declining shipments of mini notebooks combined with a surge in media tablet sales to disrupt the PC market. Buoyed by both continued business PC replacements and returning consumer in...

​The nascent enterprise mobility space will see tremendous growth in new cloud-based solutions as organizations seek to mobilize quickly and easily, according to findings from the latest market study by ABI Research. No longer focused on mobile device management solutions, companies are seeking mobile application platforms deployed on-premise or in the cloud for the development and management of enterprise applications. The shift towards applications is based on necessity and scalability as enterprises are forced to deal with a growing number of devices and device platforms accessing enterprise content and systems. This is a perfect environment for open-source software projects to flourish. "Mobile applications allow for greater flexibility when mobilizing content and employees. However, the cost in terms of time and resources is fairly expensive to generate a single app for multiple platforms like iOS, Android and Windows Phone," said Jason McNicol, senior analyst at A...

Mobile digital banking is defined as the provision of financial services to customers on their mobile devices -- such as smartphones and media tablets. This usage includes transactions such as funds deposits, withdrawals, account transfers and current balance inquiry. However, the scope of mobile digital banking is extending rapidly to further types of financial products and services, especially the introduction of secure wallets on mobile devices. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, a mobile banking service is currently available in most regions of the world, driven by exceptional consumer demand -- especially within the developed regions. Juniper Research study findings uncovered that over 1.75 billion mobile phone users will have used their device for banking purposes by the end of 2019 -- that's compared to 800 million this in 2014. Providers such as the Bank of America have already announced, back in 2013, that more of their customers are now logg...

More than half of the organizations surveyed in the United States and Europe view mobile software applications (Apps), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and mobile device management (MDM) solutions as highly effective technologies. Of these three mobile solution categories, mobile software applications are currently deployed by the highest percentage of businesses. However, MDM and M2M solutions are projected to experience the strongest near-term growth within the next two years. Frost & Sullivan released these and other findings from their survey of 1,028 decision-makers for IT-related purchases in the U.S. and Europe. Five key vertical industries were targeted for sampling -- healthcare, government, banking/finance/insurance, manufacturing and retail/wholesale. "Industry-specific preferences have clearly emerged around mobility, with the manufacturing and finance sectors leading in all three mobile solution categories in percent of companies deploying," sai...

As the American market for smartphones is reaching full saturation, the focus continues to shift from device adoption to software application usage. comScore , Inc. released the latest market data -- reporting the key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for May 2014. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 41.9 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the number one smartphone platform with 52.1 percent platform market share. Facebook, once again, ranked as the top individual smartphone software application. However, Google has six mobile media apps ranked within the top 15 positions. Smartphone OEM Market Share 169 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (70 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in May -- that's up by just 4 percent since February. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 41.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 0.6 percentage points from February). Samsung ranked second with 27.8 percent mar...

Automobile telematics can be defined as the use of wireless technologies and in-vehicle IT to relay information to and from vehicles -- with the aim of improving the driver experience or providing additional information and analysis to the driver. Telematics can be applied to a number of different situations, involving communication with external infrastructure, communication within the vehicle itself, or to digital media content, connected devices and associated mobile cloud services. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research , the telematics sector has found that the number of in-vehicle apps in use is expected to reach 269 million by 2018, representing a more than five-fold increase on 2013. Study findings indicate that growth will be fueled by solutions such as Apple CarPlay, which will promote in-vehicle apps to the mainstream. Moreover, app integration will be facilitated as standardized approaches like MirrorLink are adopted this year by OEMs, content provid...

The use of smartphones and notebook PCs is widespread among enterprises, with nearly three out of every four organizations issuing corporate-owned laptops (74 percent) and smartphones (71 percent) to their workforce, according to the latest global market study by Frost & Sullivan. Media tablets, on the other hand, are issued by only half (47 percent) the surveyed enterprises. However, these devices are expected to bridge this gap over the next three years, as many of the more data-intensive mobile applications migrate over to a tablet platform. Their study found that by 2016, the use of smartphones is expected to decrease slightly from the current levels of 66 percent to 58 percent, while tablets are expected to increase from 49 percent to 56 percent. While almost 60 percent of organizations allow personal devices to be connected to the corporate network, only four out of ten IT decision makers report that their company has a formal bring your own device (BYOD) to work policy...

Mobile internet application developer ecosystems are an enabler of new business models. They are the essential catalyst for growth, as subscriber traffic for mobile broadband services and associated internet access reaches a 36 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the near future. This growth is good news for telecom network operators and over-the-top (OTT) application providers which are continuously looking to keep subscribers happy and provide a better user performance -- in spite of network congestion. All of which has the potential to increase revenue for network operators and OTT providers within the $1 trillion global mobile services marketplace. In order to prosper in this rapidly evolving market, ABI Research believes telecom service providers must focus their attention on securely exposing services internally and to external partners and their applications. Turning network services into resources that are easily accessed via the application programming interf...

Media tablets, especially for younger people, are an extension of the television program viewing experience. The implications to advertisers on TV could be very significant, because much of the use occurs during commercial breaks. According to the latest market study by NPD Group, 56 percent of U.S. tablet owners age 18-34 use their tablet for activities related to the TV program they are watching, or for other online related activities.  In contrast, this compares to just 41 percent among all tablet owners age 18 and older. The top three TV-related tablet activities among Millennials are: Searching for TV programs to watch (34 percent). Social media engagement related to a TV program (31 percent). And, learning more about the program they are viewing (30 percent). Even more tablet owners age 18-34 say they want to use their device in conjunction with TV viewing in the future, and apparently social media is a driving factor. Among Millennial tablet owners, 44 percent ...

Over the past decade, eRetail transactions have accelerated to the point whereby, in 2013, more than $1 trillion in physical goods were sold online. At the same time, contactless payments have emerged as a means by which both retailers and transport operators can see tangible benefits. A global market study by Juniper Research has found that the annual combined transaction value of online, mobile and contactless payments will reach $4.7 trillion by 2019 -- that's up from just over $2.5 trillion this year. The study findings uncovered that the largest net increase in spending would occur through remote physical goods purchases. It also highlighted the dramatic surge in activity in emerging markets such as China, with the online retailer Alibaba accounting for 20 percent of all global B2C (business to consumer) and C2C (consumer to consumer) eRetail worldwide in 2013. However, while there was organic growth in the overall transaction levels due to increased purchasing on tabl...

The Internet of Things revolves around emerging use cases. If you want to see meaningful applications, then look to healthcare.  According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, around 3.0 million patients worldwide were already using connected home medical monitoring devices at the end of 2013. This current installed base comprises all patients that were remotely monitored by a professional caregiver in the healthcare industry. Note, patients that use connected medical devices for personal health and fitness tracking are not included in this figure. By 2018, Berg Insight estimates that the number of patients using connected home medical monitoring devices will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44.4 percent to 19.1 million. The main application is monitoring of patients with implantable cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices, which with 2.0 million connections accounted for nearly two thirds of all connected home medical monitoring devices in 2013. Sleep...