Digital Lifescapes

​As the mobile service provider's traditional sources of communications revenues decrease, the move towards 4G LTE enables new potential streams of revenues -- including in-store retail applications, big data analytics, customer experience management (CEM) and personalized advertising. Location-based technologies are at the center of these market developments. According to their latest global market study, ABI Research has considered the applications, industry verticals and technologies that will drive new location-based revenue growth for mobile carriers worldwide. "Location for carriers is no longer about navigation applications. Location will become an essential tool in network optimization and CEM, as we move to LTE, HetNets, and personalized subscriber packages," said  Patrick Connolly, senior analyst at ABI Research . While these advances gives a clear return on investment, ABI says that there is also significant upside on new areas -- such as retail/indoor

The growth of the over-the-top (OTT) video entertainment industry was previously a primary concern of the American pay-TV sector, as more and more consumers chose to abandon the traditional high-cost cable and satellite TV services. Now this transition has become a worldwide phenomena. Global online video entertainment revenues -- over fixed broadband networks within 51 reported countries -- will reach $42.34 billion in 2020. That's up significantly from $3.96 billion recorded in 2010 and the $19.03 billion expected in 2014, according to the latest market study by Digital TV Research . Following the prior trend, the U.S. market will remain the dominant OTT territory for online TV and streaming video revenues. However, its share of total revenues will drop from 59 percent in 2010 (when the U.S. recorded revenues of $2,326 million) to 37 percent in 2020 ($15,527 million) as the international markets catch up. China's online television and video revenues will soar from jus

Demand for affordable devices used to connect to the mobile internet, mostly from emerging markets, is continuing to drive strong sales of what Gartner calls "white-box" smartphones and media tablets in 2014. Gartner expects the white-box smartphone market to grow 50 percent, while the white-box tablet market will experience growth of 15.6 percent. A typical low-cost white-box device is created by a device manufacturer using a turnkey solution based on application processors and reference designs. The device is targeted at affordable price points in segments across the globe, within the evolving mobile phone and media tablet markets. According to the latest market study by Gartner, established and emerging Chinese vendors will lead the growth of white-box devices as they refocus to meet the demand for low-priced devices. In addition, the move to 4G in China and beyond will create new opportunities for Chinese smartphone vendors, starting in late 2014. "Selling sm

The growing applications for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) solutions are already benefiting from the adoption of new broadband technologies. The worldwide Wi-Fi customer premises equipment (CPE) market is expected to grow 11 percent in 2014. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, total shipments of Wi-Fi access points, routers, and residential gateways are set to surpass 176 million units by the end of 2014. "Growth is expected in all regions, driven by increased broadband penetration and more connected devices in homes," said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . Since its WLAN market inception in 2013, shipments of the 802.11ac standard have accelerated. In the consumer Wi-Fi equipment market, D-Link and NETGEAR lead 802.11ac access point shipments. The combined shipments of the two companies represented more than 20 percent of worldwide 802.11ac shipments in 1Q 2014. ABI Research expects that nearly 32 million 802

As smartphone use grows around the globe, the demand for creative new mobile software application innovation will explode. Mobile Internet access is crucial in modern app functionality. Naturally, with faster broadband connection speeds, a richer mobile experience is available, with the possibility to leverage a cloud-based software app backend system. Juniper Research predicts that increasing contextual awareness in mobile apps -- as seen in digital assistants such as "Google Now" -- will transform the process of app discovery and thereby limit future use of the cluttered app tray. In addition, Google recently opened its deep linking API to allow apps to be indexed in a similar way to web pages, further accelerating the movement towards the Android platform. According to the latest market study findings by Juniper Research, they now forecast that the number of smartphone and tablet apps in use, that leverage contextual or location data on devices, will near 7.5 billion

Structural electronics (SE) is one of the most important technological developments of this century. It forms a key part of the dream -- formulated decades ago -- of computing disappearing into the fabric of society. It will become a component of the evolving Internet of Everything phenomenon. It also addresses a dream of Thomas Edison in 1880 -- that electricity should be made where it is needed. SE is often biomimetic -- it usefully imitates nature in ways not previously feasible. And, it's a rapidly growing multi-billion dollar business. Structural electronics involves electronic and/or electrical components and circuits that act as load-bearing, protective structures, replacing dumb structures such as vehicle bodies. According to the latest market study by IDTechEx , in the near future aircraft -- and later automobiles -- will have a nervous system like a human being, instantly alerting to touch and damage. Aircraft will have no passenger windows, instead displaying a m

Investment in big data technologies continues to expand, according to a recent market study by Gartner, which found that 73 percent of survey respondents have invested or plan to invest in big data in the next 24 months -- that's up from 64 percent in 2013. Organizations are starting to move on their big data investment strategy. Moreover, the number stating they had no plans for big data investment fell from 31 percent in 2013 to 24 percent in 2014. "Big data investment continues to be led by North America, with 47 percent of organizations reporting investment, which is up from 37.8 percent in 2013," said Nick Heudecker, research director at Gartner . "All other regions experienced increases in investment over the last year." However, this increased investment has not led to an associated increase in organizations reporting deployed big data projects. Like 2013, much of the work today revolves around strategy development and the creation of pilots and exp

There's no doubt, 4G LTE has turbocharged the Mobile Internet experience, which has reflected in rapid adoption of new smartphones along with other mobile devices. Besides, it has also reinvigorated the broadband wireless marketplace. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, 1.26 billion households do not have DSL, cable, or fiber-optic broadband. Fixed and mobile service providers are looking to LTE to make the connection. "By the end of 2014, we anticipate there will be 14.5 million residential and commercial premises with fixed LTE broadband access. By 2019, that figure should grow to 123 million," said Jake Saunders, VP and 4G practice director at ABI Research . Chipset and CPE technology vendors are stepping up efforts to prime the market by manufacturing lower cost devices for both the consumer and enterprise mobility segments. Chinese vendors -- such as Huawei and ZTE -- along with American brands such as NETGEAR and Novatel Wireless have partn

The smartphone is now a mainstream mobile communication device in the majority of regions across the globe. For some people, access to the mobile internet enabled their first encounter with the Global Networked Economy. According to findings from their latest market study, Juniper Research now estimates that the number of smartphone shipments will approach 1.2 billion in 2014 -- that's an increase of 19 percent from the 985 million in 2013. The global market is expected to be driven by growth in emerging markets, due to a continued surge in sales and adoption of low-cost Economy ($75-$150) and Ultra-Economy (sub-$75) smartphones. Juniper believes that the emerging markets are now vital to success in the smartphone sector, with the gap between the growing emerging markets and the stagnating mature markets closing. Emergence of the Low-Cost Smartphones While Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the Ultra-Premium end of the market, these vendors are facing significant comp

The total over-the-top (OTT) video revenue in Europe was up 51 percent in 2013 reaching $3.2 billion and is expected to grow a further 43 percent this year, according to the latest market study by Strategy Analytics. They predict that the majority of this new growth will occur within the online subscription VOD (SVOD) and ad-supported video business models, lifting the market above $9.45 billion by year-end 2018. The growth of OTT video suggests that the audience is shifting towards accessibility and availability over actual ownership of home videos on DVD or Blu-ray discs. "Over time, consumers will shift from content ownership to lower cost means of consuming media. As long as OTT services providers continue to offer attractive video catalogs at a reasonable price, accessibility and availability will trump ownership," said Leika Kawasaki, digital media analyst at Strategy Analytics . The success or failure of OTT video services is heavily dependent upon the quality

According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, shipments of OEM embedded telematics systems worldwide are forecast to grow from 8.4 million units in 2013 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6 percent to reach 54.5 million units in 2020. Moreover, the number of cars sold worldwide equipped with head-units featuring handset-based telematics capabilities will grow from 7.0 million in 2013 to 68.5 million in 2020. Telematics is a broad term that may be applied to a wide range of connected services in the automotive industry. The basic definition of automobile telematics is an automatic system designed for passenger cars that incorporates some form of cellular communication. Automotive manufacturers can choose between several connectivity options when creating connected car services, which are not mutually exclusive. The main options today are embedded telematics devices, tethered handsets and integrated smartphones. Car manufacturers often use a combination of thes

Since its emergence four years ago, OpenStack has garnered a great deal of industry attention. This open source cloud computing project has seen increased momentum as more developers, vendors and end users have collaboratively built out the OpenStack architecture. Today, the OpenStack series of projects has evolved into a top priority for many IT professionals and suppliers. This rapidly evolving software technology is the essential foundation for the Open Hybrid Cloud phenomenon. The OpenStack standard will provide similar benefits for large-scale cloud computing in the data center that the Linux standard has previously provided within the computer server. The OpenStack technology market, which is still in the early-adopter stage of market development, will grow from an estimated $883 million in revenue during 2014 to reach $3.3 billion by 2018, as vendors increasingly adopt the open-source platform for developing their applications and enterprises deploy the infrastructure for hy

As the Mobile Internet becomes a greater part of most people's daily online lives, telecom regulators are monitoring service provider attempts to increase revenue by manipulating data service plan pricing. Why would mobile network operators risk creating the environment for additional regulatory oversight? They're following the usage trends of the experienced smartphone subscriber, and they know the future mobile data traffic predictions. The aggressive deployment of LTE networks has encouraged higher data consumption, providing an opportunity for mobile operators to focus on introducing mobile plans with a higher data quota. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, countries that have a monthly data quota in the range of 8 to 10 GB have increased from 21 percent in 1Q 2014 to 83 percent of the total in 2Q 2014. Facing a downward trend in ARPU, mobile network operators are in search of solutions to boost their profitability. The introduction of multi-tier,

The idea of wearable technology as a mass market category is relatively new and still quite volatile -- where the expectations of change are very high. Moreover, some analysts say that user demand in the wearables market has already arrived, despite the relatively low adoption rates. Research has also shown that retention rates for certain wearable devices are much lower than originally anticipated. However, this has not dampened the consumer electronics industry enthusiasm for wearable devices -- a case in point being the introduction of the Apple Watch this week. The latest market study findings from Juniper Research  has revealed that the global retail revenue from smart wearable devices are now forecast to treble by 2016, before reaching $53.2 billion in 2019. The smart wearables market will be driven by an increase in sales of premium (very expensive) smart watches and smart glasses over the next five years. This new market study assessment asserts that the recent entry of

The low-cost set-top boxes used with over-the-top video entertainment services, such as Netflix and Hulu, were instrumental in early market development -- prior to the availability of internet-enabled Smart TV sets. Market demand is still strong. Streaming media players were added to 6 million American homes over the past year, increasing ownership penetration to 17 percent of U.S. Internet households in the second quarter (Q2) of 2014, according to the latest market study by The NPD Group. Moreover, streaming media player ownership is expected to increase to 39 percent of U.S. Internet households by the beginning of 2017. The current, and future, penetration increases are being driven by three main factors; more brands in the market, more software apps, and lower device prices. "In its infancy, the streaming media player market had two major players driving growth; Apple and Roku – now we have four relevant hardware manufacturers with the addition of Amazon Fire TV and Go

Improving the quality of indoor voice communication for smartphone users is a high-priority for mobile service providers. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the femtocell market will see a steady growth as revenues reach $4.2 billion in 2019, owing to a rise in enterprise unit shipments. The vendors focusing on the enterprise market are Alcatel-Lucent, Airvana, and Cisco. Interestingly, while enterprise shipments are on the rise, residential shipments are slowing down. ABI Research predicts slow steady growth at best for residential products for the foreseeable future. With femtocell deployments mainly focusing on coverage, 3G units dominated shipments. However, with global roll-outs of LTE there is a growing demand for multi-mode products, especially in advanced markets such as the United States which is characterized by a CAGR of 130 percent in the next 5 years. Wi-Fi integration continues to advance with major vendors supplying integrated solutions -- eith

Perhaps Apple will introduce a new and better value iPhone this week that will help them regain lost market share in the U.S., as more people continue to choose a lower-cost Google Android-based device. Meanwhile, comScore has released data from their latest market study, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for July 2014. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 42.4 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the number one smartphone platform with 51.5 percent platform market share. Once again, Facebook ranked as the top individual smartphone software application. And, Google has claimed four of top five most popular smartphone apps in America. Smartphone OEM Market Share 173 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (71.8 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in July -- that's up by 3 percent since April. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 42.4 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1 percentage

Phablets are smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches in diameter. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), phablet shipments will reach 175 million units worldwide in 2014, passing the 170 million portable PCs expected to ship during the same period. Next year, total phablet shipment volumes will top 318 million units -- surpassing the 233 million tablets forecast to ship in 2015. While phablets are a relatively new category of device, first picking up volume in 2012, the pressure that the category has placed on the media tablet market has already been clearly observed as the growth of smaller, 7 inch tablets has begun to slow. IDC expects more consumers to shift back toward larger-sized tablets with their next purchase. However, that trend hasn't made up for the decreased shipments of smaller sizes, which has resulted in lower overall expectations for the tablet market in 2014 and beyond. IDC predicts that phablet

With the advent of mobile couponing, eCoupons are being delivered to and accessed via multiple devices -- such as PCs, smartphones and media tablets. Moreover, eCoupons are offered through a variety of distribution channels -- including email, apps and websites. Juniper Research has found that the number of eCoupons redeemed will nearly double over the next three years, rising from 16 billion this year to more than 31 billion in 2019. The findings from the latest Juniper market study uncovered that redemptions would primarily be driven by mobile coupons. Juniper argues that while there would be some growth in the PAH (print at home) space across fixed and mobile, the increase would primarily be driven through in-store, barcode based redemptions and online redemptions. At the same time, the market study observed that that consumer behavior was evolving to incorporate online or mobile coupon search prior to either remote or in-store purchases. It cited the sharp rise in visits

While few people may remember the anticlimax that followed the huge marketing campaign for the launch of Intel-based high-cost Ultrabook PCs, industry analysts can't help but reflect upon that event as they review the impact of low-cost notebooks on the personal computing market today. Following a second consecutive quarter of softer than expected demand, International Data Corporation (IDC) has once again lowered its worldwide media tablet plus 2-in-1 forecast for 2014 to 233.1 million units. Based upon their latest market study, they now forecast a 6.5 percent year-over-year growth rate -- which is well below the 12.1 percent growth rate previously forecast. "When we look at the global picture, it would be easy to say that the tablet market is slowing down," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director at IDC . "But, when we start digging into the regional dynamics, we realize that there is still a good appetite for this product category." While matu

When you think about sources of business or technology innovation, does the current telecom or cable TV industry players come to mind? Yes, it's a rhetorical question, we already know the answer. Most broadband service providers are not recognized for new business ideas or product leadership. That's why they typically rely upon outside vendors to create the concepts for new original sources of revenue. That's particularly true for software-based innovations. The telecom network Application Programming Interface (API) is the conduit for that creativity. Telecom APIs are not a revenue item in and of themselves, but rather table stakes needed to continue growth of the $1 trillion telecom services market. Network operators in this huge market will benefit when opening up their networks to others through Telecom APIs, as they are delivering revenues of well over $100 billion per year. Telecom service provider monetization comes through increased usage of the service, an

The world markets have embraced the notion that open-source enables products that cost less than the proprietary vendor equivalent. Granted, some markets are more price sensitive than others. The smartphone market is a case in point. The perception that an Apple iPhone design is worth the premium price simply doesn't translate to the majority of emerging markets, where "value" is more likely to drive market share growth for the leading vendors. According to the latest mobile phone forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC), more than 1.25 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide in 2014, representing a 23.8 percent increase from the 1.01 billion units shipped in 2013. Looking ahead, total volumes are forecast to reach 1.8 billion units in 2018, resulting in a 12.7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2013 – 2018 forecast period. Emerging markets have accounted for more than 50 percent annual smartphone shipments dating back to 2011,