Digital Lifescapes

According to the Synergy Research Group, in the first quarter of 2008 worldwide total managed WAN CPE and network-based services sales posted a 4.9 percent increase of $1.4 billion and are projected to continuing growing throughout the year. The growth in the managed services market is fueled by businesses worldwide turning to service providers for managed metro Ethernet, IP VPNs, managed IP voice and IP security requirements. Enterprises are revamping their business models to increase their revenue, recognizing that their IT and networks are a critical component of their business profits. Additionally, they recognize that outsourcing their network management to service providers is one way to improve their business success and bottom line. Companies such as Cisco, Juniper and Alcatel-Lucent are working to educate service providers about the huge market in managed services and of the importance of providing end-to-end services for these businesses. Ray Mota, Chief Research Officer at S...

Demand for software as a service (SaaS) business applications in the U.S. commercial sector is growing at a steady pace across all sizes of business and vertical markets, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Based upon their current assessment, steadily increasing U.S. hosted application revenues -- from $8 billion in 2008 to $16 billion by 2012 -- are expected, the high-tech market research firm says. "The main benefits of hosted applications that resonate across vertical markets are scalability, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and remote accessibility," says Jeff Jernigan, In-Stat analyst. "Also, the need for IT support for business applications is greatly minimized if not eliminated due to the centralized, vendor-supported management of the application." Their research covers the U.S. market for SaaS. It explores the drivers and inhibitors for adoption, as well as whom respondents would turn to for more information about these applications. Survey data...

Parks Associates explored the implications of high-speed connections and the exponential growth of digital devices within U.S. homes, at the kickoff to their Connections conference. Their session on this topic featured analysis of the digital living industry and focused on trends in broadband and access services, video delivery, online content services, advertising, digital health, and in-home systems. "The percentage of U.S. households with broadband exceeded 50 percent in 2007," according to Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst. "By 2012, over 33 million U.S. households will have connections of 10 Mbps or more. As households add bandwidth, there is greater capacity for more devices and services, adding to the rich but complicated equation for digital living." Consumer habits in entertainment are changing in accordance with this surfeit of new devices and services. As of 2007, 50 percent of U.S. Internet households were watching short video clips onlin...

According to Portio Research, in 2007 wireless operators worldwide generated more than $800 billion in mobile revenues. This is expected to reach $1,094.9 billion by year-end 2012, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.4 percent. The $1-trillion mark is expected to be reached by year-end 2011. Although a rapidly growing subscriber base has led to growth in revenue for the mobile phone services industry, operator margins have shrunk over the years. Operators worldwide, faced with declining average revenue per user (ARPU) due to falling voice tariffs, are now looking at ways to counter smaller margins by building alternative revenue streams through mobile data services. Voice services still make up the lion's share of mobile services revenues -- in 2007, voice services accounted for approximately 81 percent of operator's total mobile service revenues worldwide. However, with an ever increasing focus on non-voice mobile services, this figure is fore...

The latest market study from Informa Telecoms & Media shows that more than a third of TV homes in the Asia-Pacific region will receive digital signals in 2013, up from just 13 percent at the end of 2007. The 12th edition of Informa's Asia Pacific TV report shows that China overtook Japan as the biggest digital market during 2007 and will continue to increase in importance by accounting for more than half of the region's digital total by 2013. Adam Thomas, author of the report, said: "China's sheer size makes it the region's most eye-catching market, but there has been progress pretty much everywhere. At the end of last year the region had 75 million homes receiving digital signals." This is more than ten-times the 2001 figure and paves the way for even greater expansion over the next five years. Informa expects the number of digital homes to be approaching 250 million by 2013. Informa's report forecasts that the Asia-Pacific region will boast 676 milli...

Infonetics Research reports that cable modem termination system (CMTS) revenue jumped 36 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2008 -- to $279 million -- making 1Q08 the largest single quarter on record. The Infonetics reports demonstrates that downstream and upstream CMTS port shipments also hit an all-time quarterly high. Universal edge QAM (UEQ) revenue and channel shipments are also up in 1Q08. 2008 is on track to be a banner year for the cable broadband aggregation hardware market, as cable TV operators look to DOCSIS 3.0 to fend off residential FTTx offerings from telco incumbents and competitive providers, and as they launch new services targeting the small and medium business (SMB) accounts of incumbent local exchange carriers. "The first quarter was driven by strong performance by Cisco, whose CMTS port shipments jumped 64 percent sequentially," said Mark Showalter, directing analyst for broadband networks at Infonetics Research. Highlights from the Infonetics...

The benefits of seamless roaming between wireline and wireless networks is gaining some momentum, but many challenges remain before Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) is widely deployed, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Chief among these challenges is finding a compelling business case for most wireless carriers, who view FMC as a contra-revenue threat, the high-tech market research firm says. "This is clearly the case in the U.S., with the exception of T-Mobile, which has primarily been focused on the consumer market," says David Lemelin, In-Stat analyst. "In-Stat believes communications industry leaders will not be dissuaded by lagging felt need for FMC solutions by businesses, and will aim to develop compelling solutions that, once experienced, will lead to viral adoption over the next several years." The research analyzes current and planned adoption of various FMC solutions and discusses how industry market leaders will not be dissuaded by lagging f...

Wireless technologies are deployed everywhere. We've got wireless phones, wireless Internet and wireless home networks. Next, coming to a living room or commercial facility near you, is wireless high-definition television (HDTV). However, the market is still in its incubation stage, with fewer than 100,000 devices expected to ship this year. According to a market study by ABI Research, optimistic forecasts point to 2012 as the earliest year for the milestone of one million wireless HDTV installations worldwide. Meanwhile, a battle of technologies is being fought. There are three contending wireless systems, loosely characterized as 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra wideband (UWB). "5 GHz technology is better understood and more proven," says ABI principal analyst Steve Wilson, "but achieving the required data rates requires new approaches and more complex solutions. UWB technology has bandwidth advantages at in-room distances but drops rapidly at greater ranges. 60 GHz allows...

Global revenue from digital asset management (DAM) solutions is expected to triple by 2013, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. The research, which also covers conditional access and broadband video markets, indicates marked differences in adoption rates and market growth between the major industrialized regions, North America, Europe and Asia. "Certain common factors affect the growth of conditional access, digital asset management, and broadband video across all regions," says industry analyst Zippy Aima. "There is the recent proliferation of digital media content, especially video, and the rise of portable devices for viewing it. We can add the widespread availability of broadband data services to distribute it, and the need for systems that can store and deliver that content to the right people at the right time." Beyond those common drivers, however, differences emerge. In North America, the conditional access market is quite mature, and reven...

The current economy has not affected U. S. Internet advertising spending -- total revenue increased by 23.9 percent to $7.1 billion in the first quarter (1Q08) compared to $5.7 billion in 1Q07. IDC expects Internet advertising to continue to expand rapidly during 2008 even though advertising spending across all media will most likely be cut back. Google continued to extend its leadership position in the U. S. Internet advertising market in the first quarter. Its domestic net revenue continued to grow faster year over year than most other players, even as its growth rate continued to decline as the company's major market, search advertising, continues to mature. Gogle's estimated net U. S. advertising market share was 24.8 percent in 1Q08, up from 23.1 percent in 1Q07. "What happens is that the current economic crisis puts pressure on advertisers to save money and find more effective marketing channels," said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Marketplace and New...

Your local Auto Dealership radio adverts could be making their way to your mobile phone, mixed with a little music. A report from the National Association of Broadcasters outlines this result, from an anticipated increase in the penetration of FM radio receivers in American cell phones. Their market study concludes that cell phone service providers, radio broadcasters, and handset manufacturers all stand to benefit from the expansion of FM-capable cell phones, a platform that could reach 257 million American subscribers. "Radio is a service that already reaches 235 million American listeners every week,"said NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr. "With 257 million cell phones currently in service, we're confident that implementation of a new FM-radio feature would result in rapid penetration, benefiting not only the radio business and American consumers, but the cell phone, electronics manufacturing, and music industries as well." The report, commissioned by the N...

According to an Ipsos market study, the percentage of video consumed on a TV -- among online video downloaders and streamers -- declined from 75 percent in February 2007 to 70 percent in February 2008. A significant drop in overall share of "screen time" with the growing contingent of digital video consumers. In addition, the percentage of total screen time captured by movie theaters also declined significantly in the past year, mirroring an overall trend Ipsos has witnessed in traditional video consumption. Ipsos believes that streaming video online has become an activity many Americans aren't just experimenting with, but enjoy on a regular basis. Today, about half of all Internet users aged 12 and up have streamed a video file online in the past 30 days. Furthermore, it's caused many to adopt the PC as a primary channel they rely on for video entertainment. Overall screen time for the PC has nearly doubled its overall share with digital video consumers since early i...

A recent survey of U.S. organizations with over 50 employees and multiple locations, shows that legacy services remain a dominant component of the WAN telecom landscape, with 62 percent of the organizations surveyed currently having legacy networks, according to an In-Stat study. But closer analysis reveals that this segment is in the process of a significant transition, the high-tech market research firm says. A majority of respondents to the survey who currently use legacy services are migrating or planning to migrate, some or all of their legacy networks to other WAN services. "It is important to note that this does not represent an overnight, wholesale migration away from legacy services," says Steve Hansen, In-Stat analyst. "Further analysis of survey results indicates that, as a rough average, respondents are planning to migrate approximately one quarter of their legacy sites to other services over the next 12 months." The In-Stat research covers the U.S. mark...

Infonetics Research reported that the worldwide broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) market -- which includes DSL and cable modems, residential gateways, voice terminal adapters, and voice CPE -- sequentially dropped 9 percent in 1Q08, to $1.1 billion. The Infonetics market study report indicates the quarterly drop is in line with normal first quarter softness, and that revenue for some emerging segments in the market, such as cable broadband gateways and very high speed DSL (VDSL) broadband gateways, grew sequentially in double and triple percents. "Softness in 1Q08 broadband CPE was in line with expectations except that standard cable modems had a larger decline in the quarter than usual," said Mark Showalter, directing analyst for broadband networks at Infonetics Research. "Service providers continue to use bundled CPE with advanced functionality to entice subscribers into long term contracts for broadband access." Infonetics' broadband CPE report prov...

Worldwide PC shipments are projected to grow by 15.2 percent in 2008 to reach 310 million units, according to IDC. Growth will remain in double-digits through 2010, followed by high single-digit growth through 2012, boosting annual shipments to over 472 million in 2012. Overall volume growth, combined with a steady transition to Portable PCs, which generally cost more than Desktops, will help offset falling average prices. The total value of PC shipments is projected to grow by 9.6 percent in 2008 to more than $286 billion. Shipment value will continue to grow by 5-6 percent annually from 2009 through 2012, reaching nearly $354 billion by 2012. Following years of strong growth, Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) surpassed the United States as the region with the largest PC market in total annual shipments at the end of 2007. At the same time, Rest Of World (ROW) – composed of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Canada -- is not far behind. ROW led ot...

Hurry up, and wait. Despite the fact that no Long Term Evolution (LTE) network is expected to be commercial before 2010, ABI Research forecasts that by 2013 there will be more than 32 million subscribers using LTE networks. Three of the largest mobile operators -- China Mobile, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless -- have all announced plans to adopt LTE. Asia-Pacific countries will account for the largest regional share. "ABI anticipates about 12 million Asia-Pacific LTE network subscribers in 2013," says senior analyst Nadine Manjaro. "The remainder will be split about 60-40 percent between Western Europe and North America." According to the ABI market study, LTE commitments from NTT DoCoMo and KDDI in Japan will further boost adoption. However, the long wait for the Chinese government to issue 3G licenses may become a factor driving LTE in that country. "It wouldn't surprise me to see some operators skip over 3G and go straight to LTE," says Manjaro. ...

A recent report published by Dell'Oro Group revealed that although GSM was not the largest contributor to the growth of the total mobility infrastructure market during the first quarter of 2008, it grew nearly 10 percent over the year ago quarter. Driving the growth of the GSM market was the second largest number ever of base station shipments, exceeded only by the previous quarter, and the stabilization of equipment prices. "For the first time, Asia Pacific represented over half of all GSM revenue," stated Scott Siegler, Analyst of Mobility Infrastructure research at Dell'Oro Group. "Business in this highly price-sensitive region has resulted in double-digit quarter to quarter price reductions for the previous three quarters. Over these past several quarters, ASP's were pushed downward as vendors sold equipment at exceptionally steep discounts in order to establish and expand their footprint in the region." This quarter, in contrast, vendors became more...

Strategy Analytics released a forecast of virtual world adoption, which shows that over the next ten years 22 percent of global broadband users will have registered for one or more virtual worlds. This will result in a market approaching one billion registrants and an eight billion dollar services opportunity. Their study projects a diversified global market with services targeted at children, teens and adults across a wide range of applications. Currently, fewer than 10 percent of virtual world registrants actually become active users. However, this figure is projected to increase to 27 percent of users by 2017. Virtual worlds, such as Sulake's Habbo Hotel, have registered nearly 100 million registrants, and it has 10 million unique monthly visitors, while Linden Lab's Second Life has a similar pattern, with 12 million registrants and about one million active users. The research indicates that virtual worlds represent a massive activity that is growing in Asia, the Americas an...

Wireless broadband in all its forms -- fixed, portable, and mobile -- gives service providers a way to grow revenues as voice revenue growth slows, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Based on survey data collected by the high-tech market research firm, WiMAX provides the right mix of features and pricing to appeal to consumer subscribers. Business users on the other hand will provide more of a challenge to WiMAX operators, primarily based on the business users need for ubiquitous coverage. "While early WiMAX network coverage will not be as large as 3G cellular, it will be adequate to appeal to consumers," says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst. When respondents were presented with service examples and picked the one they most preferred, the one representing WiMAX was picked more than two-to-one over the one representing 3G cellular data. Service descriptions include information on coverage, network performance, pricing, and usage limitations. The research covers t...

Nielsen Online announced that based upon their latest market study, per person children consumed more streams than those over 18 and spent more time watching online video from home in April. Kids 2-11 viewed an average of 51 streams and 118 minutes of online video per person during the month, while teens 12-17 viewed an average of 74 streams and 132 minutes of online video. Those over 18 viewed an average of 44 streams and 99 minutes of online video. The top 10 online video destinations for kids 2-11 and teens 12-17 demonstrate that kids pursue similar interests both online and off. Younger children gravitate towards sites associated with well-known children's toys and TV programming, while teens go online to watch music videos, movie trailers and clips of other visitors. Disney Records led online video destinations among kids 2-11 when ranked by unique viewer composition percent, with 50 percent. EverythingGirl.com and MyePets followed with 48 percent each. Stickam was the top onl...