Digital Lifescapes

Video: a report from the exhibit floor at "Digital Life" in NYC.

Parks Associates and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced the preliminary agenda for their upcoming conference, with a focus on the role of digital media as a fundamental driver for growth in multiple sectors of the digital lifestyle markets. CONNECTIONS Europe, produced by Parks Associates in partnership with CEA, is an executive conference and showcase to be held December 4-6, 2007, in Berlin, Germany, at the Adlon Kempinski. Parks Associates' research indicates companies need to develop and market richer digital media offerings in order to spur the German home networking market. "While home network penetration has grown in Germany, there has not been an upsurge comparable to France or the UK," said John Barrett, director of research, Parks Associates. "More competition combined with digital media offerings such as video-on-demand, IPTV, and multi-room DVR are required to promote greater adoption of home networks." The Parks Associates study fo...

ComScore announced the introduction of their Ad Metrix Publisher, a new service that provides insight into the online advertising landscape by reporting where display ads are actually viewed across the Internet -- and the characteristics of the people who are exposed to them. Ad Metrix Publisher captures all types of display advertising, including static and rich media or interactive ads, for the U.S. market. "comScore Ad Metrix Publisher, the inaugural service from our Ad Metrix product suite, is the first online advertising measurement service to accurately account for the number of ads displayed and tie those views to actual Web users," said Alistair Sutcliffe, vice president of comScore Advertising Solutions. Understanding the reach, frequency and audience composition for an online advertising plan is vital information for any media planner. Ad Metrix provides the tools for optimizing the placement of online ad dollars, thereby fulfilling the promise of the Internet to d...

Revenue from shipments of removable memory cards for mobile phone handsets is expected to be over $7 billion in 2007, compared with $5 billion expected from headset shipments -- including both Bluetooth and wired headsets -- according to ABI Research. In fact, memory cards will continue to be the highest revenue-generating mobile phone accessory category over the next five years. ABI Research industry analyst Shailendra Pandey says, "With few exceptions, memory cards for handsets are bought by users separately from the handset purchase, whereas an increasing number of headsets are now being supplied in-box with the handsets." "Earlier handset vendors only provided wired headsets, but now even Bluetooth headsets are being presented in-box with the handsets. Therefore, greater after-market sales of memory cards versus increasing in-box sales for headsets are resulting in stronger growth and higher revenue from memory cards when compared with headsets." The recent anno...

The number of paying users of online video sites has grown significantly between 2006 and 2007, according to a new research report from Parks Associates. Their report entitled "Broadband Video: A Market Update" finds that the number of broadband households paying for online video content now stands at nearly 12 million -- up from a little more than three million in 2005 to 2006. "We have seen widespread use of the Internet as an electronic delivery medium for video content over the past couple of years," said Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates' vice president and principal analyst. "Certainly, the availability of higher-quality content and a significant base of products like the iPod that allow for more seamless content-to-device linkages have provided a boost to the online video space." Although this recent consumer data points to more widespread use of the Internet as a video delivery network, Scherf indicates that the market has been characterized by as ...

Online shopping has become more pervasive among Web-enabled consumers, according to the latest results of a U.S. market study commissioned by iCrossing. Moreover, purchases are increasingly being influenced by independent recommendations. The study reveals that while search engines have retained their popularity as a research tool -- and prior experience with a company's products remains an influential factor in the purchase process -- social media sites have grown in importance as places where consumers gravitate to obtain information about products and services. Key findings of the market study include: - Online shopping continues to grow. 39 percent of online adults reported making a purchase online at least monthly, versus 30 percent in 2005. This is an increase of 30 percent over two years. - Social media is increasingly relevant to online retailing. 42 percent of all consumers view information about brands and products on sites like Wikipedia to be extremely or very influenti...

In North America and Western Europe, large companies will play an increasing role in VoIP adoption, according to a recent study from ABI Research. Hosted services will be used on a more regular basis as well, becoming a stronger engine for enterprise VoIP growth in the future. "Increasingly, hosted services will interest larger organizations and will be offered by a greater number of service providers -- as premises-deployed, small-business VoIP solutions become more cost-effective -- targeting advanced features and applications," says Stan Schatt, ABI Research vice president and research director. The hosted services market for VoIP applications initially focused on smaller companies. Typically, SMB companies do not have the IT staff or the budget to install their own VoIP systems. As a result, they often rely on service providers for VoIP services that include the type of features found in large enterprise phone networks. Larger companies tend to deploy their own solutions...

Nielsen//NetRatings announced that among those aged 12-17, visitors to both MySpace and Facebook spend more time at each site than those teens who visit just one or the other. In August, teens who visited both sites spent on average 20 percent more time on MySpace than MySpace visitors alone. Facebook benefited to an even greater degree from dual visitors , who spent on average 26 percent longer at the site than exclusive Facebook visitors. "Teens who enjoy social media are intensive users and highly engaged. They are venturing onto multiple networks to experience new features and broaden their connections," said Jason Lee, media analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "This demographic is typically drawn to what's new, and since they are growing up online, they are not afraid of learning the latest Web technologies." Since Facebook's registration was opened to the public last year, the site has seen triple digit traffic growth, increasing 117 percent from 8.9 million...

Wireless communication within the home, whether for computer data, audio, or telephony, is becoming an established fact in much of the industrialized world. The next logical step is to stream video. But the exponentially greater amount of data involved -- particularly for high-definition TV -- introduces a higher order of difficulty, and questions remain about whether wireless video will ever become more than a niche market. "How popular will wireless home video distribution become?" asks ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson. "It's the very early days for this market, so it's hard to tell for sure. What is clear is that among the connectivity technologies competing in this space, Wi-Fi (802.11n) and wireless HDMI (UWB) are closest to offering practical solutions." Consumers might want a wireless video distribution solution, but most will not pay a premium for it. So initial interest will come from two groups -- tech-savvy early adopters at the high en...

The message from U.S. mobile phone service subscribers to their network operators is clear -- stay on the same course and value-added service (VAS) adoption will be minimal. Some 35 percent of respondents to an In-Stat consumer survey of primarily North American users still only use voice services from their mobile providers, reports In-Stat. This presents a huge opportunity for the entire mobile service industry to get these consumers to partake of some mobile data and entertainment offerings, the high-tech market research firm says. That said, VAS growth tends to remain elusive. "There is a potential dark cloud on the horizon for the cellular operators, however, as unlimited Internet access packages may disrupt today's enhanced service offerings, which are currently very tightly coupled to what a particular service provider wishes to offer," says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. I believe that the mounting evidence that identifies closed "walled garden" busine...

Recent teardown research from IDC's semiconductor analysts provides insight into the value chain for cutting-edge consumer electronics (CE) products, such as the Apple iPhone, the Apple TV, and the Slingbox AV. "Teardown research analyzes product bill of material (BOM) costs and, more importantly, allows us to witness technology adoption and integration trends firsthand," said IdaRose Sylvester, senior analyst for IDC semiconductor program. "It also allows us to evaluate the competitive supplier situation from one product generation to the next." IDC's teardown analysis of the iPhone reveals that many of its revolutionary features, including PDA functionality, strong multimedia playback, and Wi-Fi, are made possible by the semiconductor content found in the device. "As a result, IDC sees new opportunities for semiconductor companies to sell into the converged mobile device market, now that Apple has pushed these features to the consumer," added Syl...

Video: assessing BT as a role model for a 'Telco 2.0' company (23 mins).

The last quarter of 2007 is seen by many as a crucial time in the life of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) formats, according to the latest assessment by Understanding & Solutions (U&S). It is also a crucial time for PS3, having underperformed last year in the U.S. market due to its high price, delayed availability and the unexpected success of the Wii gaming console. Though DVD player prices are falling across the board, there is growing concern that the consumer does not fully understand the high definition (HD) concept -- and the confusion is further compounded by the choice of two different disc-based formats. Taking everything into account, U&S says that BD has been the leader for much of the year, accounting for close to two thirds of HD discs sold in the U.S. market. In Europe, the BD format share is at a lower level, but it enjoys a stronger performance in Japan. However, developments over the past few weeks have the potential to erode BD's current lead, and th...

Annual shipment trends for Digital Terrestrial Television-enabled Set Top Boxes will be uneven over the next several years as the timing of digital switchover and DTT service availability varies dramatically from country to country, according to a recent study by ABI Research. A decline in Western Europe will come as the result of an earlier switchover to digital in most countries, along with the need for consumers with analog TVs receiving Over-the-Air (OTA) signals to obtain DTT STBs or to join pay-TV services. The peak in North America in 2009 is related to the timing of the digital switchover, and highlights the need for those with free OTA service on analog TVs to convert to digital television broadcast reception. "The spike in 2009 reflects a jump in North America and continued growth in Eastern Europe and the Middle East & Africa region," says Stan Schatt, ABI Research vice president and research director. "After a subsequent decline, annual shipments again wi...

Comcast continues to lead the North American market in terms of overall broadband access subscriptions -- boasting a total of 12. 4 million at the end of the second quarter of 2007, according to the latest market study by Strategy Analytics. Whereas AT&T and Comcast were on roughly the same level twelve months ago -- each with roughly 9 million subscriptions -- Comcast now leads, boasting a 3 million net new subscription increase compared to Q2 2006. This translates into a 32 percent year-over-year growth rate. Collectively, the top three North American operators maintain a 45 percent market share. I believe that the market penetration consolidation is still more an indication of the apparent lack of meaningful competition within the region -- instead of superior service offerings. The North American telco/cable duopoly is alive and well, with price-points maintained significantly above the leading global markets within the Asia-Pacific and European regions -- relative to the cost ...

StrategyEye reports that Time Warner is slowly coming around to face the harsh reality -- creating a media monolith for the 21st Century wasn't such a good idea after all. Conceived in 2000 as the biggest media merger in history, America Online found a cable strategy and Time Warner found an Internet strategy, as the pair merged in a stock swap valued at $350 billion. Seven years later, the lesson-learned is fodder for an MBA case study. Time Warner has said that it will consider the possible sale of its AOL dial-up internet access business in the U.S. market, after doing the same in Europe, in a bid to boost its share price. However, chief executive Richard Parsons believes selling off the internet arm would be difficult given that it contributes to visitor traffic on the AOL.com portal -- the primary surviving remnant of the America Online business unit. "It's much more complicated here than in Europe," he told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia media confe...

Greater public awareness, lower entry price points, more sophisticated features, and additional channels of distribution are all key trends contributing to the surge in demand for consumer navigation devices. Portable navigation devices (PNDs) remain the most popular segment of the consumer navigation market, representing 62 percent of the total worldwide market and nearly doubling in size with 93 percent growth over last year. IDC expects the entire consumer navigation market to grow by 53 percent worldwide in 2007. By far the largest regional market represented in IDC's forecast is Western Europe, where the PND segment has been historically strong, followed by the U.S. However, IDC also expects increased demand for PNDs in Asia-Pacific where China already owns a GPS satellite network. IDC suspects the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will spark PND popularity in China as the world navigates to the games. According to IDC's special study, PNDs are not the only segment of the cons...

Telcos that have invested heavily in infrastructure upgrades to deliver IPTV services will now have to invest further -- in next-generation advertising technologies -- according to a market study by Heavy Reading. As the last-to-market player in the pay-TV sector, telecom network operators don't have the business processes and relationships in place to compete directly with incumbent cable and satellite pay-TV providers for advertising dollars, notes Aditya Kishore, senior analyst with Heavy Reading and author of the report. "Telcos need to use that lack of history to their advantage. Advertisers and programmers are exploring new approaches to make TV advertising more measurable and effective," Kishore explains. The existing mass-market advertising model was developed in an analog world and is increasingly becoming unpopular. The deployment of digital TV infrastructure enables a wide variety of new advertising approaches, many of which are dependent on the provider's ...

As in recent years, consumer electronics (CE) products will be popular holiday purchases in 2007, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. The company's latest survey yielded over 2,000 responses from North American consumers -- more than 80 percent of these respondents have plans to purchase a CE product this holiday season, the high-tech market research firm says. "In 2007, High Definition Televisions (HDTV) top consumers' holiday wish list, most likely due to plummeting price tags for these products. HDTVs will bump digital cameras down to the third spot," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. I believe that we will also witness a second-wave of new gaming console purchases during the holidays. We typically see these type of deferred CE product purchases from families with limited incomes. The research report entitled "2007 Holiday Spending on Consumer Electronics" covers the North American market for CE product categories. It contains extensive...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments are projected to rise by 12.6 percent in 2007 to 257.5 million units, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. This projection represents a slight increase from IDC's previous forecast, reflecting a 28 percent year-on-year increase in portable PC volume with single-digit increases for Desktops and x86 Servers. This update increases projections for 2007 by less than half a point from the June 2007 forecast of 12.2 percent and increases the compound annual growth rate for 2006-2011 from 9.3 percent to 9.6 percent. Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) and Rest of World are driving the raised expectations. Strong growth during the second quarter showed not only relentless adoption of Consumer Portable PCs, but also gains in Desktop and Commercial markets. In contrast, the United States, Western Europe, and Japan adjusted expectations for 2007 and 2008 slightly downward, pushing some growth into 2009. With slower growth in more dev...