Digital Lifescapes

The competition for market share in the mobile cloud arena will escalate during 2015. The cloud content and services markets -- enabled by the ubiquity of smartphones and media tablets -- are now the battleground between major content providers, device manufacturers and internet service providers. ABI Research recently conducted a worldwide market study of several key growth segments of cloud content and services -- including gaming, music, social networking and search. Overall, revenues in these important digital content ecosystems are expected to grow 122 percent from 2014 to 2020 and approach $320 billion, according to the ABI Research assessment. Search and Social are each led by dominant international companies, with Google capturing 60 percent of 2013 search revenue while Facebook has 55 percent of 2013 social networking revenue. ABI believes that while some regional differences exist, these positions should remain relatively defensible for the foreseeable future. The g...

A new global market study by ABI Research finds that integration with social networks will add significant value to enterprise machine-to-machine (M2M) strategies in the coming years, as more savvy company leaders discover the innovation enabling potential of the Internet of Everything. Initially, this trend will concern internal social channels -- such as Salesforce.com’s Chatter -- which is forecast to be actively used by 60,000 enterprises at end-2013. Going forward, the emphasis will shift towards Facebook and other consumer-facing networks, which ABI Research forecasts to cover 2.9 billion users by end-2018. "There’s an intriguing intersection developing around social networks and M2M services. At this stage the activity is nascent, but over the next five years we expect the relationship between the two to become increasingly synergistic," said Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst at ABI Research . The innovations it results in will add a strong social ingredient to th...

Brazil is still one of the most promising high-growth digital media markets in Latin America. comScore released data from their latest market study of the nation. They examined how the prevailing trends in web usage, social media, online video, digital advertising, mobile and search are defining the current marketplace and how they are likely to shape the coming year. “The Brazilian digital landscape saw significant change in 2012 led by the strong emergence of Social Networking, in addition to increasing media consumption in terms of online video and display advertising,” said Alex Banks, comScore managing director for Brazil and VP Latin America. As these media vehicles continue to grow, they are providing new and exciting opportunities for publishers hoping to attract audiences and marketers seeking to reach consumers. Key insights from the latest market study include: Consumers in Brazil spent more than 27 hours per month online on their desktop computers, representing ...

While the North American market for mobile network subscription is considered saturated, there's still significant handset upgrade activity. comScore released data that reported the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone marketplace during the three month average period ending November 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 26.9 percent market share. Google Android continued to lead among smartphone platforms, accounting for 53.7 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple iOS secured 35 percent of the market. For the three-month average period ending in November, device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 26.9 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 1.2 percentage points). Apple ranked second with 18.5 percent market share (up 1.4 percentage points), followed by LG with 17.5 percent share, Motorola with 10.4 percent and HTC with 5.9 percent. 123.3 million people in th...

Today, what's the primary purpose of the website for a major brand? Should content from social media drive traffic to the brand's website? Or should brand sites drive traffic to social sites? If a brand’s social media activity gets more traffic than its website, is it necessary to maintain both? These are the key questions that eMarketer attempted to answer during their latest market study. Perhaps 2013 is the time to rethink the inherent goal and objectives for maintaining a corporate branded website. Regardless, when potential customers search for online information during their buying cycle, they eventually arrive at a company's primary site. That being said, eMarketer believes that product marketers are typically spending more effort to engage with customers outside of their company website -- on Facebook and numerous other social media channels. Brand web pages are still a primary resource for people seeking information about products and the companies that m...

The time has come to think seriously about enterprise social networking and consider its role within the commercial online collaboration strategy development process, according to the latest market study by Ovum. In a new report, they say that the enterprise social networking market is starting to mature and is now moving from the introduction phase into the growth phase. Strategic acquisitions have already been made by start-ups and establish vendors alike. That being said, I'm still left wondering -- are there examples of substantive applications that make the resource investment worthwhile? "Ovum's current assessment of the enterprise social networking market indicates that Jive and Yammer are the two vendors that organizations are most eager to compare and contrast, but other vendors are generating significant business and revenues from their offerings," said Richard Edwards, analyst at Ovum . A recent vendor recap suggests that IBM Connections produced $1...

comScore reported on the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending July 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to lead among smartphone platforms, accounting for 52.2 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple secured just 33.4 percent. For the three-month average period ending in July, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 18.4 percent share. Apple continued to gain share in the OEM market, ranking third with 16.3 percent of mobile subscribers (up 1.9 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 11.2 percent and HTC with 6.4 percent (up 0.4 percentage points). More than 114 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the...

eMarketer estimates the number of social network users around the world will rise this year to 1.4 billion -- that's up from 1.18 billion in 2011. The reported 20 percent increase is a slight drop from the growth rate in 2011. In fact, the global upside potential will continue to shrink as the market matures. That being said, if you want to connect with the most engaged online consumers in Latin American, then consider reaching out to Argentinians -- apparently, they're the most active social media participants. According to the latest market study by eMarketer , their global assessment of growth in social network usage highlighted that it's now driven primarily by the emerging markets. However, in Latin America growth will be slightly below the worldwide average, but it will still represent a 18.5 percent increase in social networking users this year. With relatively low penetration among the total population, social networks still have room to grow in the regio...

The American mobile communications ecosystem continues to evolve and expand, partly at the expense of the legacy wireline telecom segment -- as more attention is being directed towards this growth-oriented marketplace. comScore released the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending June 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, accounting for 51.6 percent of smartphone subscribers, meanwhile Apple captured just 32.4 percent. For the three-month average period ending in June, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 18.8 percent share. Apple ranking third with 15.4 percent of mobile subscribers (that's...

Television broadcasters around the world are apparently deeply divided over their strategy for Social TV applications. Regardless, most seem to agree on one significant point -- they desperately need a meaningful game plan now, while the window of opportunity is still open. According to the findings from the latest market study by Futurescape , a key trend in the first half of 2012 is that some broadcasters are moving quickly to counteract the perceived influence and power that Facebook and Twitter are having over their TV audiences. The savvy broadcasters are now investing in Social TV companies and launching their own Social TV platforms. Meanwhile, others are following a diametrically opposed strategy of partnering with the dominant social networks -- in an attempt to facilitate viewer interaction. This is most evident for the kinds of major news and sports programming that viewers discuss on second screen devices -- such as smartphones and tablets -- during the live TV broadc...

comScore reported the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending May 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung is still the top handset manufacturer overall with slightly increased market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, accounting for 50.9 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple captured 31.9 percent. Moreover, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.7 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.1 percentage points), followed by LG with 19.1 percent share. Apple continued to grow its share in the OEM market, ranking third with 15.0 percent (up 1.5 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 12.0 percent and HTC with 6.1 percent. Nearly 110 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 5 percent versu...

Perhaps you've noticed the latest trend -- tech market researchers and pollsters are now asking consumers questions about their attachment to various devices and gadgets. Is this insight really useful or actionable? I'll let you decide... A majority (65%) of global citizens in 25 countries would choose to give up their mobile phone over one third (35%) who would give up their computer -- if forced to choose between the two -- according to the latest market study by Ipsos for Reuters News. Between television and social networking, most (58%) would give up social networking while four in ten (42%) would give up TV. Between mobile phones and sex, global citizens choose intimacy: eight in ten (78%) would give up their phones while two in ten (22%) would give up sex if they had to choose between it or their mobiles. In the battle between phones and computers, women in 25 countries would rather give up their computers (39%) more than men (31%) and those under the age of 35 ...

comScore released data on the key trends within the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending April 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile network service subscribers. They confirmed, once again, that Samsung continues to be the top handset manufacturer overall -- with 25.9 percent market share. Google Android also continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, accounting for 50.8 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple captured 31.4 percent. For the three-month average period ending in April, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.9 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.5 percentage points), followed by LG with 19.2 percent share. Apple continued to grow its share in the OEM market, ranking third with 14.4 percent (up 1.6 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 12.5 percent and HTC with 6.0 percent. More th...

As you may recall, I've reported in the past about the amazing broadband internet service offering competition in France, which has helped to drive down subscriber costs and increase the adoption of enhanced information and communication technology (ICT) applications. That being said, eMarketer reported that France has trailed the rest of the EU-5 (Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) in microblog usage during 2012, but growth recently accelerated as French politicians sought out voters on social media during a very close presidential election. The presidential race is over, but eMarketer estimates that the popularity of social networking -- especially via mobile devices, such as smartphones -- will continue to increase throughout the country. eMarketer expects social networks to attract 21.9 million users in France in 2012, increasing to 23.6 million in 2013. While the total number of social network users in the country is impressive, the number of social network users acces...

comScore released data about key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending March 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, accounting for 51 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple iOS captured more than 30 percent. For the three-month average period ending in March, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 26.0 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.7 percentage points), followed by LG with 19.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain share in the OEM market, ranking third with 14.0 percent of mobile subscribers (up 1.6 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 12.8 percent and HTC with 6.0 percent. More than 106 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three...

comScore reported key trends in Japan's mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending February 2012. The market study surveyed more than 4,000 Japanese mobile phone service subscribers and found Sharp to be the top mobile handset manufacturer overall -- with 23.5 percent market share. Google's Android platform accounted for the vast majority of Japan's smartphone market at 61.4 percent, followed by Apple with 34.2 percent of the market. "Smartphones surpassed feature phones as the most acquired device type in February 2012, signaling an important shift in Japan's mobile market," said Daizo Nishitani, vice president of comScore Japan KK. The rise in smartphone adoption opens the door to tremendous opportunity for content publishers and advertisers to expand their reach and increase engagement with key consumer segments through this channel. Japanese mobile phone users were already highly engaged with their devices, but with the add...

comScore released data that outlines the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone service industry, during the three month average period ending February 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile phone service subscribers. They found Samsung to be the top mobile handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market -- crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history. For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent. HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (u...

American online retail sales -- including digital downloads and event tickets but excluding travel -- will rise 15.4 percent to $224.2 billion this year, according to the latest market assessment by eMarketer . Fast-growing categories like apparel and accessories will help boost online retail sales figures, but underlying the trend is a deeper shift in the mindset of many consumers -- which has apparently transformed them into what eMarketer calls omni-channel shoppers. “In the past, cross-channel shopping amounted to using a retailer’s different channels one at a time for separate transactions,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst. “But today, consumers are moving between a retailer’s channels -- websites, stores, mobile devices, social media -- in a fluid way.” A February 2012 survey by price comparison service PriceGrabber found most U.S. online consumer shoppers plan to combine their online, brick-and-mortar and mobile retail channel purchase experiences this y...

In America, we live in an age of abundant media -- where new content options add to the spectrum of traditional content from which people can choose. Online video, social networking and other digital media options are occupying increasing amounts of time. Mobile network broadband connectivity further extends our access to digital content throughout the day. Meanwhile, legacy broadcast TV is still popular, but there's a constant distraction (especially during commercials) -- and it's called multitasking. "For marketers, the age of multitasking means consumers are available to receive multiple streams of messages at the same time," said Mark Dolliver, media analyst at eMarketer . "But multitasking also yields an audience whose attention is divided." eMarketer estimates that U.S. adults fit more than 11 hours of media content consumption into an average day in 2011, that's double-counting for simultaneous media usage. For marketers, the downside of...

comScore reported on key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending January 2012. Their latest market study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile phone service subscribers. 234 million Americans age 13 and older now use mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.7 percent share and Motorola with 13.2 percent share. Apple continued to capture share in the OEM market with 12.8 percent of total mobile subscribers (up 2.0 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.6 percent. The number of U.S. smartphone subscribers surpassed the 100-million mark in January -- that's up 13 percent since October to 101.3 million subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 48.6 percent market share (up 2.3 percentage points) followed by Apple with 29.5 percent market share (up 1.4 percentage points). RIM ranked third...