Digital Lifescapes

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...

A new group of publishers are rapidly taking over the mobile display advertising market in the United States. Where in past years, advertising networks -- such as Google, Millennial Media, and Apple -- received most of the spending on mobile display ads, now individual publishers control the segment. Facebook, Pandora, Twitter, and The Weather Channel all registered strong sales in 2012 -- most of them started from zero sales in 2011. Publishers controlled 52 percent of U.S. mobile display ad spending in 2012 -- that's compared to the 39 percent they received in 2011, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "Mobile ad networks are losing market share to publishers, and we expect them to lose even more going forward," said Karsten Weide, Vice President of Media & Entertainment at IDC . Networks, especially independent ones, are entering a difficult phase, in which, with an ever smaller share of revenue, they'll have to ...

The ongoing transition to digital publishing and online content distribution has created a potentially significant upside opportunity for forward-thinking publishers. But what are the key trends in this rapidly evolving marketplace? How are electronic newspapers and magazines being monetized? What role do digital newsstands and aggregators play in marketing eNewspapers and eMagazines? And, how are publishers, advertisers and merchants addressing consumer demand for ecommerce capabilities on tablet editions? These are the questions that eMarketer considered for their latest market study of the American ePublishing sector. Theoretically, the rising adoption of tablets, smartphones and ereaders point to a favorable business climate for publishers of digital newspapers and magazines -- as well as for other stakeholders in the publishing industry. Despite this momentum though, the traditional publishing industry faces numerous hurdles in the quest to fully monetize its digital con...

Media tablet adoption is already having an effect on other mobile reading devices. Eleven million eReaders are projected to be shipped globally in 2012. That's down from a peak volume of 15 million devices in 2011. Moreover, the growing popularity of media tablets -- along with declining U.S. baby boomer population and lack of organized digital bookstores outside of the America and Western Europe -- will reduce the eReader opportunity over the next five years. “Regardless of the tremendous historical eReader success, the market tides have already begun to turn,” says Joshua Flood, senior mobile devices analyst at ABI Research . Despite the average tablet selling for more than $465 as a result of Apple’s dominant market position, tablets are expected to outsell eReaders by a factor of nine to one this year. Nevertheless, the eReader market will not be totally cannibalized by media tablets. We believe there will always be a niche market for the dedicated reading device for v...

According to the findings of several related market studies, the next big global disruption will occur in the traditional publishing sector. In the same way that the music recording industry lost control of their marketplace, the large legacy print media companies are equally vulnerable. As an example, according to the latest market study by eMarketer , they predict that sales of ebooks and the devices on which people read them -- i.e. ereaders, tablets and smartphones -- are on a steady upward trajectory. Much of the new digital publication revenue growth could come at the expense of print publications. The U.S. ereader user base is poised to grow at double-digit percentages this year and next, but by 2014 and 2015 the expansion will likely slow to about 5 percent. eMarketer believes that this reflects market cannibalization from media tablets, not necessarily a loss of interest in consuming ebooks. People are using these devices -- both ereaders and media tablets -- to read ...

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ), the market for ereaders in the EMEA region more than doubled in 2011 compared to the previous year, reaching total shipments of nearly 4.8 million units. There's growing mainstream adoption of these devices, which is creating the potential for incremental digital multimedia revenue. Although EMEA still accounts for just over 17 percent of the worldwide market, IDC forecasts sales in this region to exceed 24 million units by 2016, generating a 37 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the forecast period. The fall in prices greatly contributed to the sales momentum in 2011. The average price for ereaders continued to slide as Amazon aggressively brought the price of its WiFi Kindle device down to €99 in eurozone countries. In 2011, the company experienced strong acceleration in sales thanks to the the rapid uptake of Amazon Kindle devices in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. In these coun...

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, 80 percent of all media tablet application downloads will be from a short list of very popular categories by 2016. They anticipate that Apple ​iPad and Google Android media tablet owners will remain avid app users over the next five years, averaging more than 31 downloads per year per media tablet. Their market study of emerging tablet applications found that 11 of the 13.7 billion app downloads forecast for Apple iPad and Google Android media tablets in 2016 will be focused on four primary categories: games, digital publishing, social networking, and e-commerce. "Media tablet app consumption will mimic smartphone app use in some ways, but in many ways, it will be very different," says Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI Research . Digital publishing of books, magazines, and newspapers will flourish on media tablets in a way never seen on smartphones." Increasingly, consumers will opt for the more versatile medi...

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels grew by 56.1 percent on a sequential basis in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 (4Q11) to 28.2 million units. That represents an increase of 155 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. The market experienced stronger-than-expected growth across many regions and at many price points, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units. Based upon the strong 2011 results, and the clear demand expected in 2012, IDC has increased its 2012 forecast to 106.1 million units -- that's up from its previous forecast of 87.7 million units. Despite an impressive debut by Amazon, which shipped 4.7 million Kindle Fires into the market, Apple continued to see strong growth in the quarter, shipping 15.4 million units in 4Q11, up from 11.1 million units in 3Q11. That represents a 54.7 percent worldwide market share (down from 61.5 percent in 3Q11). Amazon...

According to the latest market study by Juniper Research , they found that continued strong growth in the eReader market, combined with an upsurge in usage across media tablets, will push annual revenues from eBooks delivered to portable devices to $9.7 billion by 2016 -- that's up from $3.2 billion this year. The study found that the increasing demand for media tablets means that these devices will account for nearly 30 percent of all eBook downloads by 2016. In addition to the higher rate of tablet penetration, eBook access on these devices has already been boosted by the launch of leading brand bookstore applications, such as Apple's iBookStore and Amazon's Kindle. While mobile handsets currently account for the largest share of eBook downloads, the majority of these are comprised by the Japanese manga market. Elsewhere, smartphones are not -- and are unlikely to become -- a primary reading device. However, bookstores are increasingly seeking to enable synchronis...

I'm eagerly awaiting my review copy of a new book entitled "Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide to Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand" by Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi. This book builds on the foundation of "Get Content, Get Customers" that Joe Pulizzi co-wrote with Newt Barrett at the outset of the content marketing phenomenon, back in early 2008. Today, I'm sensing that savvy marketers everywhere are ready to move their budgets away from under-performing advertising, to something that's potentially more appealing to their customers. Yes, it's about time. eMarketer reports that with the average cost-per-lead increasing -- and too many marketers competing for the same buyer's attention -- traditional tactics are no longer enough to influence the sale. Business-to-business (B2B) companies are looking to content marketing as a way to proactively boost their return on investment. “Informative, nonpromotional content i...

According to the latest market study by Juniper Research , annual revenues derived from eNewspapers that are delivered to portable digital devices will exceed $1.1 billion by 2016 -- with publishers increasingly adopting subscription-based applications to counteract their falling print publication sales. The Juniper market study noted the surge in Apple iPad adoption led a number of newspaper publishers to move beyond standalone smartphone apps towards more integrated digital media strategies. Companies such as News International have begun offering a single subscription price enabling access to The Times across all digital platforms. It observed that transitioning to a paywall-based model would almost certainly result in a substantial decline in the digital media user base. Despite this, for many publishers the revenues that accrued from a moderate user base paying a modest subscription charge would outweigh the initial loss of CPM (cost per mille)-based advertising rev...

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...

comScore released the results of their latest market study on mobile phone user adoption of QR code scanning. Quick Response (QR) codes are a specific matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by a mobile smartphone. The study found that in June 2011, 14 million mobile users in the U.S. market -- representing 6.2 percent of the total mobile phone user population -- scanned a QR code on their mobile device. The study uncovered that a mobile user who scanned a QR code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5 percent of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100k or above (36.1 percent). "QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns to help reach desired consumer segments," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. For marketers, understanding which consumer segments scan QR ...

To date, the traditional publishing industry has been negatively impacted by the shift from print to online distribution -- it's a disruptive market transition that has been very challenging for the majority of legacy print media companies. Moreover, consumers have resisted paying for most content on the web, and the soft economy has taken a toll on the online advertising-based models that many publishers embraced -- in the hope that it would become a replacement for their declining print revenue. The arrival of eReaders and media tablets comes at an opportune time for publishers. But there's a key question, yet to be answered. Are they fully prepared to embrace the apparent trends in the marketplace and adapt their business models? An accelerated plan of action is essential, not optional. The Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad clearly established new device categories and the customers for these products have responded by buying more digital content. eMarketer estimates th...

Some people believe that multifaceted media tablets are a more desirable choice than single-purpose e-readers. That said, the U.S. installed base of e-reader devices has more than quadrupled since 2009 and demand remains strong. eMarketer now estimates more than 20 million e-readers will be in use by the end of 2011 -- reaching 8.7 percent of the U.S. adult population. By 2012, 12 percent of adults will have a Kindle , Sony Reader, NOOK or similar portable e-reader device. "Two recent developments illustrate the broad reach of e-readers," said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna. First, the Amazon announcement that its lowest-priced Kindle is its best-selling product supports the view that their customers are eager for affordable, no-frills mobile devices that easily enable e-book purchase and consumption. Second, Liberty Media's $1 billion offer for Barnes & Noble was predicated largely on the book retailer's success with the NOOK Color -- whose list pr...

eMarketer reports that affluent American's relationship with traditional media is in a state of transition, according to data released by The Affluence Collaborative. Moreover, among the younger members of the population, the current status is more negative than positive. On the one hand, affluent internet users are still using print media. More than 20 percent of those with incomes of at least $500,000 spent 11 or more hours per week reading newspapers. This compared with just 6 percent of the general population. Affluents with incomes between $200,000 to $500,000 landed in between, at 9.1 percent. Affluent's consumption of magazines also outstrips that of the general population. According to the same survey, 22 percent of affluent internet users earning $500,000 or more read magazines for 11 or more hours per week, contrasted with 4.5 percent of the general population. Only 11.5 percent of those affluents rarely or never read magazines, while more than 30 percent of th...

According to the latest market study by IDC , more than 1.9 million eReader units were shipped in the EMEA region during 2010, with most of these distributed in Western European markets. Although EMEA accounts for just over 15 percent of the worldwide market, IDC forecasts sales to reach 9.6 million units by 2015 -- generating a 37.9 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Since their first appearance in 2007, eReaders have experienced much higher growth in North America than in EMEA, mainly as a result of the rapid uptake of Amazon Kindle devices by consumers in the U.S. market. However, as many European markets experience double-digit growth rates, the EMEA region is now set to expand, roughly matching the size of the North American market by 2015. Many factors are contributing to this growing trend. Firstly, e-ink technology and long-lasting battery charge have proven to offer an appealing reading experience for avid readers in EMEA -- which justifies the purchase of a sp...

Faster communication networks, improved smartphone designs, combined with an avalanche of new apps, games and entertainment have resulted in a steady and increasingly rapid growth in mobile content consumption. But mobile content markets vary in their characteristics and maturity, just as the companies considering mobile content marketing vary in their goals and readiness. The conclusion from a recent ABI Research market study: some companies should push ahead with monetizing mobile content as soon as possible, while others should wait a little before entering the market. "Digital game publishers, music companies, video producers, news outlets, and app developers should move ahead, if they haven't already," says ABI Research practice director Neil Strother. They have the expertise, they have the content, and mobile consumers are already enthusiastic. On the other hand, non-media companies -- especially those without suitable content at hand -- should take a breat...

  eMarketer reports that Internet users have been sending mixed messages about targeted advertising. Sometimes say they appreciate the relevance; sometimes they would provide personal information to facilitate targeting; and yet they also report concerns about advertisers and publishers having too much data. While this suggests that consumers may be confused about online privacy and what behavioral targeting entails, research from online ad preference management provider PreferenceCentral calls into question whether consumer education is a solution for marketers. Asked if they would prefer to pay for content, view targeted advertisements in exchange for free content, or receive limited free content supported by untargeted ads, 58 percent of US internet users chose targeted ads. However, their willingness to receive those types of ads decreased after they became more educated about how behavioral targeting worked. Nearly half of internet users said awareness of behavioral ...

UK consumers are spending less on traditional and digital media, compared with six months ago, but are consuming more -- according to the latest KPMG market study of over 1000 UK survey respondents. Average spend per UK consumer on traditional media fell from £9.19 in September 2009 to £7.46 in March 2010 and spend on digital media also fell -- from £1.99 to £0.98. However, time spent consuming media has increased. The average monthly consumption of traditional media rose marginally from 11 hrs 40 minutes in September 2009, to 12 hours 13 minutes. Hours spent consuming digital media increased even more, from 6 hours 14 minutes to 7 hours 28 minutes. Spend reduced across the UK media industry as follows: - 21 percent of newspaper readers paid nothing for these over the past month, compared with 15 percent six months ago. - In London this almost doubled -- 23 percent to 41 percent -- highlighting the impact of the Evening Standard move to a 'free' model. - The situ...