Digital Lifescapes

Most industry analysts would agree that media tablets have had a significant impact on the personal computing industry. But these devices also aided in the disruption of the legacy news and entertainment sector. That trend will likely continue into 2014, as still more people buy a new tablet. Tablets have been on the top of many wish lists since 2010 when Apple launched its first iPad device. The installed base of big brand (Apple, Samsung, etc.) media tablets is expected to surpass 285 million units at the close of 2013, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. The United States, which has been the largest single tablet market since inception, represents more than 70 million tablets alone -- or about one device for every four persons in the nation. "Apple’s early tablet lead is not as evident three years into the market’s boom," says Jeff Orr, senior practice director at ABI Research . The initial Apple iPad shipments are aging out with the first wave of...

The overall global mobile phone market grew by just 1 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2012 (2Q12), as Samsung and Apple shipped almost half of the world's smartphones. According to the latest market study International Data Corporation ( IDC ), mobile device vendors shipped 406.0 million units in 2Q12 compared to 401.8 million units in the second quarter of 2011. So, what happened that caused the slowdown in growth rate? It's complicated. Samsung and Apple have more than doubled their combined market share over the past two years, which has created more distance between the companies and the competition. "Samsung and Apple have quickly become the global smartphone heavyweights though both employ somewhat different approaches to the market," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC. According to IDC's assessment, Samsung employs a broad-based strategy wherein many phone types are created that cover a wide range of global market s...

How quickly will online media and entertainment spending grow between 2011 and 2016? What percentage of Facebook advertising impressions are generated by entertainment-related companies? What are the most common goals of entertainment-related mobile advertising campaigns? Those were the questions that eMarketer attempted to answer during their latest market study of the U.S. media and entertainment industries. Overall, the market outlook is very promising, with a few caveats. Online ad spending by the U.S. media and entertainment industries will rise from $2.77 billion in 2012 to $4.34 billion by 2016, according to a new eMarketer report. As more consumers turn to the internet for news and entertainment, advertisers are using digital campaigns to raise awareness, generate buzz and encourage online sales. eMarketer’s ad spending forecast combines media and entertainment because they say that the line between media companies and entertainment companies is becoming increasingl...

comScore released data about key trends in the Canadian mobile phone industry for September 2011. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in Canada. In September, 20.1 million Canadians ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.2 percent of mobile subscribers in Canada, followed by LG with 20.0 percent share and RIM with 14.3 percent share. Apple ranked fourth with 12.0 percent share of subscribers, while Nokia rounded out the top five at 10.1 percent. 8 million people in Canada owned smartphones in September 2011, representing 40 percent of the mobile market in Canada -- a gain of 7 percentage points in the past six months. RIM ranked as the top platform with 35.8 percent of the smartphone market, followed by Apple at 30.1 percent. Google Android gained ground among the competition by doubling its market share to 25.0 over the past six mon...

comScore released the results of a new market study that analyzes how cross-platform consumption has created a vastly different landscape -- as people utilize a growing number of devices to consume digital content. They analyzed the impact that these shifting consumption habits are having on media site visitation and engagement across the Internet. “The popularization of smartphones and the introduction of tablets and other web-enabled devices have contributed to an explosion in digital media consumption. As these devices gain adoption, we have also seen the rise of the ‘digital omnivores’ -- consumers who access content through several touch-points during the course of their daily digital lives.” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. In order to meet the needs of these hyper-active digital media consumers, advertisers and publishers must learn to navigate this new landscape so they develop cross-platform strategies to effectively engage their audiences. K...

Almost three quarters (73 percent) of mobile phone service subscribers -- using both smartphones and other types of devices -- in the United States use them to visit social networking sites daily, sometimes more than once each day. This latest finding comes from a recent online survey of 2,000 people, conducted in March 2011 by ABI Research . The survey respondents were asked a wide range of questions about how they use their mobile devices and associated applications. All respondents owned at least one mobile phone, smartphone or media tablet. ABI practice director Neil Strother says, "Operators and brands, take note: your customers are here in droves. Users like multiple modes of social interaction." Survey respondents say the mobile phone (or smartphone) provides sufficient access to the activities they like doing with social networks: viewing content, sending media, and updating profiles. In fact, the phone is a preferred device for doing a number of activities ...

A recent Pew Research Center telephone survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,967 American adults. The latest "Social & Demographic Trends" survey findings were very insightful. Indeed, the shift in consumer behavior would help to explain why some leading companies are preparing to challenge the conventional wisdom that has guided their industry for decades. According to the Pew poll results, interest in two legacy consumer electronics (CE) devices are fading fast -- the television set and the landline telephone. They're both apparently suffering from a sharp decline in public perception that these devices are "necessities" of life. In fact, just 42 percent of Americans say they consider the television set to be a necessity, according to this latest nationwide survey. By comparison, last year this figure was 52 percent. And, in 2006 it was 64 percent. However, the decline has been less severe for the landline telephone. Som...

Several factors hindered the widespread global deployment and adoption of mobile cellular and broadcast TV services. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , the market inhibitors are finally being addressed. Worldwide mobile TV service adoption will accelerate starting in 2012 through 2015, when total market revenues are forecast to exceed $20 billion. The three most important market barriers have been: - The lack of free and simulcast local and national TV programs as a primer for fee-based premium content in most countries -- outside of Japan and South Korea. - Limited analog-to-digital TV transitions in most regions that would allow broadcasters to simulcast mobile and terrestrial TV services. Most developed countries will complete that transition by 2012. - 3G cellular service throughput and latency performance are inadequate for mobile TV. The deployment of 4G networks over the next few years will enable a significantly improved mobile TV experience. Acc...

News and entertainment smartphone applications (apps) are downloaded the most, but productivity apps apparently generate the most revenues, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Productivity applications -- such as mapping, business and enterprise applications and phone tools or utilities -- generate 59 percent of all smartphone application revenue. According to In-Stat assessment, the competition in the smartphone app market will intensify over the next few years as developer ecosystems become more competitive with the Apple iPhone app store. There are more than eight common smartphone Operating Systems (OS), and the number is likely to grow rather than shrink. Google will exploit its Internet dominance, and Apple will leverage its development community and stable platform. Microsoft is placing its market recovery bet on Windows Mobile 7. In-Stat's market study found the following: - Games and Music & Radio are the top 2 news and entertainment smartphone...

The Amazon Kindle e-reader and online e-bookstore has spawned a paid e-publishing content marketplace that has grown in the past two years. But, is this truly the profitability salvation that print publishers had hoped for? Competition from other device makers -- such as Apple -- promises to further stimulate what is already one of the most dynamic areas of the digital content ecosystem. Sales of e-books have grown steadily since the format first appeared in the early 2000 time frame. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) estimated that U.S. net sales to its 85 member publishers totaled $169.5 million in 2009 -- up 176.5 percent from the 2008 figure of $61.3 million. In fact, revenue for 2009 was the highest ever, and the percentage gain was the greatest since e-books started producing a profit. "Currently, most e-book volume comes from Amazon.com's  Kindle Wireless Reading Device sales," said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst. "But it is unlikel...

eMarketer reported that more than 70 million U.S. consumers visited newspaper Websites in June 2009, giving the category an active reach of 35.89 percent, according to the latest market study by Nielsen Netview. "The newspaper audience continues to expand as publishers aggressively capitalize on their investments in digital properties, adding robust features and launching new products to attract a highly valuable consumer audience,” said John F. Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). Because of changes in methodology, Nielsen's figures for June 2009 may not be directly comparable to data from previous years. All the same, Editor & Publisher reported some dramatic gains and losses in time spent at particular newspaper Websites. Time spent at The New York Times site, for example, fell by nearly 50 percent from June 2008 to June 2009. People spent more time at the sites of the Chicago Tribune and USA TODAY and at Boston.com, by comparison. The...

According to ComScore, the number of people using a mobile device to access news and information on the Internet has reached a groundswell. Among the U.S. user base of 63.2 million people who accessed news and information on their mobile devices in January 2009, 22.4 million (35 percent) did so daily -- more than double the size of the market last year. Does this mean that the U.S. market has caught up to the advanced mobile market leaders in Asia-Pacific and Europe? Hardly. It's all relative progress. But a good sign, regardless. "Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people's lives," observed Mark Donovan, senior vice president, mobile, comScore. This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium as consumers become more reliant on their mobile devices to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information. "Social networking and blogging have emerged as very pop...

Hispanics in the U.S. are not only online in overwhelming numbers, but they are taking advantage of all that the Internet has to offer. Previous notions of Hispanics not having access to the internet, or being unaware of its possibilities, have been dispelled. Not only are U.S. Hispanics online, but they turn to the internet for a variety of reasons. According to a recent Ipsos U.S. market study, sixty-three percent of Hispanics say that they access the Internet at least once a month. These wired Hispanics state that they are turning to the internet for both information and entertainment. From following the days breaking news, downloading the latest musical hit, uploading photographs of family and friends, or even researching products before they make the final purchase decision -- Hispanics show that the internet is an important tool in their everyday life. We live in an ever changing world -- and U.S. Hispanics are keeping up with these events and are turning to the internet to do so...

The Center for the Digital Future announced results from the latest Visual Networking Index (VNI) Pulse Survey, designed to assess worldwide consumer video behaviors and attitudes. The study highlights consumer video "consumption" and attitudes about video in the United States, urban China, Germany, and Sweden. Survey respondents answered questions about their level of access to media technology, the devices they used for "viewing" video, the amount of time they spent watching video on different devices, and the reasons they watch video content. "Our research identifies the innovative ways people are choosing to communicate, discover entertainment content, and access video information in different locations on multiple devices," said Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future. "Video is being added to more and more applications and showing up in more and more locations. We see a common thread that people are using video to remove glob...

According to Nielsen Online, all four U.S. television networks enjoyed month-over-month growth in online video viewers in September -- coinciding with the season premieres of many new television shows. NBC.com had the largest increase in video viewers, growing 312 percent month-over-month, followed by FOX Broadcasting and ABC.com, with 165 percent and 105 percent growth, respectively. "A combination of series and season premiers, political news and parodies, and coverage of the financial crisis all contributed to increased online video viewing for the television networks in September," said Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online. Consumers are increasingly relying on the Web to catch up on programs they missed when it aired on broadcast TV, and the networks are beginning to capitalize on this trend. Moreover, the television network Web properties were not the only ones to see significant growth in online video viewing in September. The depressing global ec...

According to an ABI Research market study of online households in the U.S., the number of consumers watching online video streamed through a browser has doubled over the past year -- going from 32 percent a year ago to 63 percent today. ABI believes this is due to growth in the amount of rich content available in ad-supported format on portals and through social networks, as well as increasing demand from consumers for video in both short- and long-form online. "Consumers are changing their online habits quickly," says research director Michael Wolf. "Broadband speeds have continued to increase at the same time that Hollywood has decided online distribution is a legitimate revenue opportunity that will increase total return on their video assets, and expand audiences. At the same time, easy to use content creation tools are being put into the hands of consumers and this has effectively created new forms of communication and entertainment." All forms of content are c...

ComScore released the results of a study of the differences in online behavior among heavy, medium, light and non-newspaper readers. The results showed that non-newspaper readers are likely to be younger, and they are actually heavier than average online news consumers. Meanwhile, heavy newspaper readers are more likely than average to engage with traditional print news brands online. "That current generations are growing up getting their news online for free is an indicator that print circulations are likely to continue their decline," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore. "But the Internet represents a significant opportunity to extend -- and even improve upon -- existing news brands and reach out to new consumers with living, breathing real-time content. Just because print circulations are declining does not mean there are fewer news consumers. In fact, just the opposite is true." Heavy print newspaper readers show a strong skew towards older...

Since the beginning of time, storytelling was considered a core human trait for conveying events by combining gestures, expressions, sounds, images and words. Sharing stories was an essential part of culture and a means of instilling tribal knowledge. In fact, prehistoric cave drawings demonstrate the early use of symbolic figures representing the elements of simple storylines. As language skills evolved, oral stories were passed from generation to generation primarily by human memory. Later, with the development of writing, stories were recorded, then transcribed and shared more broadly. In the classical cultures of the world, the act of storytelling was believed to be inclusive -- everyone has stories to tell. Moreover, while some people were recognized for telling stories in a more engaging way than their peer group, the basic ability is innate to all humans. However, as civilizations progressed, communication of a narrative evolved into an art and science. Chronicled events...