Digital Lifescapes

Video Chat Use Upside - 550 Billion Minutes in 2015

2012-02-10T07:34:00.000-06:00

The video communications market can be divided into three sub-markets depending on the consumer electronics (CE) device which is being used to make the call: PCs, Mobile, and living room (digital home) devices.

That being said, the living room video calling is a nascent market and currently has a relatively small user base. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that total users will increase from 1.5 million in 2011 to 16.4 million in 2015.

Asia Pacific will be the largest market for living room video calling by a significant margin as this is the region with the highest video calling enabled device shipments.

Video communications originated on the PC and these services are significantly more mature than on other device types -- Skype, Google Talk and G+ Hangouts are examples of the popular free consumer-oriented video chat services.

While PC video calling solutions have been available for several years, these services continue to evolve in functionality. The most notable change to PC video calling is the association with social networking and the unification of these solutions with social networks.

"While the mobile market is experiencing the strongest growth in usage, the PC and living room calling markets are also experiencing a surge of large player activity," according to Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst at NPD In-Stat.

The integration of video calling with social networks -- such as the Skype integration with Facebook and the Google+ incorporation of Hangouts -- is bringing a fresh perspective to video calling scenarios.

Additionally, introducing this capability to the living room, enabling HDTV video chat, is an additional aspect of the market that is being endorsed by Microsoft as well as leading device OEMs including Panasonic, Samsung, and LG.

Key insights from the latest study include:

The total number of video calling minutes of use will approach 550 billion minutes in 2015, a monumental increase from 141million minutes in 2010.
Skype and Apple FaceTime are leading the mobile video calling market and had similar usage rates among mobile and tablet callers. Other leading and emerging video calling solutions include, AOL, fring, Google, Microsoft Kinect, ooVoo, Raketu, Skype, and Tango.
The build out of 3G networks and launch of 4G will be important drivers in mobile video telephony.
Skype says that 75 percent of their online users have made a video call.
Active usage rates vary significantly across screen types.

Can Apple Maintain its Mobile Smartphone Lead?

2012-02-09T07:35:00.001-06:00

Has Apple dropped the price of some of its smartphone inventory, purely in an attempt to win back market share lost to other vendors during 2011? According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, Apple has overtaken Samsung during the last quarter of 2011 -- but it's not clear if it can maintain that lead.

Almost 25 percent of the 149 million smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4 were Apple iPhones. While Apple overtook Samsung to reach the number one position, the Korean giant has increased its market share four-fold since Q1 2010 -- that's from 4.7 to 21.7 percent.

According to Juniper's assessment, we know that the increase in Samsung smartphone popularity is forcing Apple to continue offering older models to mobile network service providers -- in an attempt to keep ahead. But for how long?

While Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4Ss within three days of launch, the company's return to top spot was partly driven by continuing to offer the iPhone 3GS -- first launched in 2009 -- at rock-bottom prices.

Juniper believes this is a calculated marketing effort to shore-up Apple's defense against a bombardment of standard and premium smartphones from Samsung. However, Apple doesn't have mind-share as a value-brand; it's typically positioned as a price-premium brand.

Daniel Ashdown, Research Analyst with Juniper Research said "The scale of Samsung’s product range is saturating the market. Apple has had to counter Samsung’s products like the Galaxy Ace in order to maintain the visibility of its brand."

While Apple and Samsung have traded places for the past three quarters, results of other OEMs were more muted.

Taiwan-based HTC was the only other member of the top five to see significant year-on-year growth. Juniper estimates, prior to official data, that the company shipped 12.1 million smartphones in Q4.

Elsewhere troubled Blackberry-maker RIM’s woes will be soothed somewhat as shipments remained steady year-on-year at 14.4 million -- that's down just 0.7 percent.

2012 will be an important year for Nokia as it looks to fight back with a full-year of Windows Phone 7 launches. The Finnish OEMs smartphone shipments were down 31 percent y-o-y in the fourth quarter.

The first half of 2012 is going to get very interesting in the smartphone arena -- which is a good thing for people looking to upgrade to a new device. It can be assumed that they will cost less and will be more capable than previous models.

Top Six Market Segments of Mobile Apps Users

2012-02-08T07:01:00.000-06:00

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), success with mobile applications (apps) begins with targeting the right audience. Moreover, if you want to reach the overall largest group of early-adopters, then you'll focus on the South Korean market.

IDC has identified six distinct consumer market segments: Tech Evangelists, Impulse Buyers, Experimental Adopters, Pragmatic Purchasers, Green Buyers, and Disengaged Functionalists.

One market segment in particular -- Tech Evangelists -- was found to be particularly influential when it comes to mobile apps.

"Tech evangelists not only own the most devices and utilize the most advanced functions, features, and apps, they are also the group that drives adoption of device ownership and usage by other market segments," said Michael DeHart, director at IDC.

Tech Evangelists are not only deeply involved in app usage, but also the most educated consumers about apps and technology in general, leading others to seek out their advice. Their spending on technology and apps is expected to increase at least 10 percent in 2012 compared to 2011, even in a down economy.

"In terms of formulating a strategy for the prioritization of app development and marketing, focusing on Tech Evangelists’ download and usage of apps will deliver the largest ROI by far in terms of segment-based app development and marketing," added DeHart.

IDC research revealed other key mobile app insights:

Free apps comprise 85 percent of the total app market.
The most popular free apps are gaming, music, social networking, weather, news, entertainment and navigation.
In the paid apps market, the most popular categories are music, games, navigation, entertainment, and books -- a category that does not perform well in the free app space.
App usage varies by country as well as by market segment. Generally speaking, categories of apps preferred are relatively stable across market segments, but the rates of download and usage vary dramatically.
South Korean consumers are most likely of all smartphone users worldwide to download both free and paid apps. Swedish and American consumers are also highly app-engaged smartphone users.

Level of App Download and Usage Across Countries

150 Million Smartphones were Shipped in Q4 2011

2012-02-07T07:45:00.000-06:00

A couple of firsts in the smartphone market developed during the fourth quarter of 2011, now that most of the major handset manufacturers have reported their results. Apple iOS topped the smartphone market, and Google Android suffered its first decline in share. But for how long, who knows?

According the the latest market study by ABI Research, the 4th quarter totaled 150 million smartphones shipped, representing a record high penetration of 36 percent of the 409 million total handsets shipped worldwide.

Apple was the leader this quarter with 37 million iPhones shipped for a sequential growth rate of 117 percent (128% QoQ). The Apple results made it the number one smartphone OEM in the quarter and for the year.

For the first time since Android was introduced, its market share declined from its 3Q high of 52.5 percent to 47.0 percent in Q4. Despite Samsung’s 33 million shipments as the head Android OEM, Apple’s iPhone 4S displaced Samsung and its highly coveted 280 percent YoY smartphone growth.

At the low-end of the Android spectrum, Chinese handset OEMs Huawei and ZTE showed strong growth with 6.6 and 4.5 million units shipped respectively.

Leveraging their inherent cost structure advantages, Chinese-based handset OEMs are rapidly consuming the market for low-cost Android devices which pressures the rest of the Android ecosystem to innovate or die.

As Android approaches its fifth year as a platform, often considered middle-age in the mobile world, its midsection is sagging as Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson struggle with profitability.

The overall handset market increased 5.4 percent sequentially and 11.4 percent for the year reaching 1.54 billion shipments. The smartphone market delivered 28.6 percent sequential growth, 48.6 percent QoQ and 57.4 percent YoY with the 2011 total reaching 473 million shipments.

"It is important to note that if smartphones are taken out of the equation, the remainder of the handset market showed a YoY shipment decline of 1.6%, signifying that market growth is entirely dependent on smartphones," said senior analyst, Michael Morgan, at ABI Research.

Nokia and Samsung retained the top positions in Q4 and 2011 for total handsets shipped. Which vendor bumped LG to 4th place in Q4 and 2011? Despite RIM’s recent troubles in the smartphone market, weakness in the feature phone sector pushed RIM from 9th position to the 7th largest handset vendor overall in Q4.

Asia-Pacific Mobile Net Operators Deploy Upgrades

2012-02-06T06:11:00.000-06:00

The developed Asian markets -- such as Japan and South Korea -- have always led the way forward in mobile network technology deployments and advanced applications. Now other markets in the region are actively investing in new infrastructure -- as the developing markets in the region catch up.

"A number of Asian operators are bracing themselves for a quickening in 3G and 4G subscriber adoption in 2012," says Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting at ABI Research.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, Asian capital expenditure in 2012 is forecast to increase 5.7 percent year-on-year to $58.8 billion.

Across the region, over 63 percent of the CAPEX budget for 2012 will focus on the construction of radio access network infrastructure, 8 percent on upgrades and capacity expansions to the core network, and 29 percent on development of new technologies and new businesses, construction of backhaul transmission facilities, etc.

Several Japanese operators are promoting 4G service offerings:

NTT DoCoMo is expected to have transitioned 100 percent of its subscribers to 3G/4G services by the end of March 2012 and switch off its 2G network completely.
MTT DoCoMo completed a soft launch of its 4G LTE service in December 2010 and subscribers have ratcheted up to 0.66 percenet (390,000) of the operator’s installed base.
KDDI WiMAX subsidiary achieved 1.237 million users (3.54 percent share of installed base) and 95+ percent coverage of Japan’s main cities
SoftBank plans to launch its 4G TD-LTE service in mid-February or March and has announced that TD-LTE smartphones will be on retail shelves by mid-2012

China Mobile has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerate TD-SCDMA/TD-LTE development so as to further develop mobile Internet services and enable the Internet of Things -- supporting a variety of M2M devices.

The China Unicom investment strategy has been to accelerate 3G network building, optimize 2G network coverage, expedite indoor coverage, and establish Wi-Fi hotspot zones to increase network capacity.

China Telecom is focused on rolling out integrated information service projects, strengthened the integration of wireline and mobile IT platforms, and implementing risk control systems.

In India, by contrast, only 10 to 20 percent of base stations are 3G-based. Operators like Idea are adding around 2,000 new cell sites per quarter to their networks and almost 3,000 3G base stations in upgrades and new cell site deployments.

Search Ad Spending will Reach $30 Billion by 2016

2012-02-04T10:39:00.000-06:00

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) practices have evolved over the last few years, but the demand from small, medium and very large brand advertisers has been consistent. The upside market potential is impressive and one company stands to gain significantly from this phenomenon -- Google.

According to the latest market assessment by eMarketer, U.S. search engine advertiser spending will maintain strong growth this year -- in part, boosted by major national government elections and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

eMarketer estimates that U.S. search spending this year will rise 27 percent to $19.51 billion. By 2016, search ad spending will approach $30 billion, following slower but consistent growth between now and then.

Among the top four search sites, Google revenues will grow most quickly in 2012, although the growth rates at Microsoft will surpass Google in 2013 and 2014.

Regardless, by that point in time, Google will have nearly 10 times the search ad revenue of Microsoft -- that's $20.28 billion (Google) vs. just $2.21 billion (Microsoft). Google will remain the search ad leader in the U.S., and will continue to solidify its dominant position in the marketplace.

This year, eMarketer estimates Google will attain 77.9 percent of all U.S. search ad revenues. By 2014, its share will be 79.8 percenet.

Microsoft likewise will gain some market share -- as Yahoo! and AOL continue to be marginal players in the market, with each losing more than half its share of the American search advertiser revenues between 2011 and 2014.

By 2014, search ad revenues at Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL will account for 92.1 percent of all U.S. search ad revenues -- and 44.3 percent of all U.S. online ad revenues, that's up from just under 90 percent of all search ad revnues and 43 percent of all U.S. online ad revenues in 2011.

Note, eMarketer currently benchmarks its U.S. total search ad spending projections against data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, for which the last full year measured was 2010.

Forecasts of revenues at the top search ad-selling companies are based on a meta-analysis of data from a combination of research firms, company reports and trends in the online advertising arena.

Reasons Why a Chief Marketing Officer is Obsolete

2012-02-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

The role of a typical Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a technology, media or telecommunications company is very challenging -- especially if they're skilled in the practices from the bygone era of legacy mass-media marketing. Many struggle to adapt to the needs of today's forward-thinking interactive online marketing environment.

According to the latest global CMO survey by Heidrick & Struggles and Forrester Research, CMOs need to contribute to substantive business strategy, but many need to raise their marketing technology IQ first -- so that they can become more credible as leaders in their organization, and clearly demonstrate that they're not obsolete.

Based on a survey of nearly 200 global marketing leaders, the market study attempted to measure CMOs' influence within their organization, their business objectives, and their skills and competencies necessary to survive in a rapidly changing realm of digital marketing.

Unskilled in Meaningful Business Strategy Development

Almost 80 percent of senior marketers said they wanted their influence to grow as business strategy and development leaders. They see improving their relationship with the senior executive team as a critical way to get there, with 38 percent saying C-level relationship building is the skill they most want to improve.

But in a world that's now being driven by a technology-empowered customer, the number-one skill to improve on is digital marketing skills. In fact, 40 percent of CMOs say increasing their technology knowledge is their top self-improvement goal -- that's a dramatic increase from the previous survey in 2008.

"For CMOs to prove the value of their role and justify the marketing investment, they must clearly illustrate the ROI of marketing plans, influence the understanding of their brand strategy across other functional areas of the company, and engage technology and sales peers to create a consolidated vision of how to succeed with customers," said David M. Cooperstein, Forrester vice president and practice leader.

While building meaningful relationships with the senior executive team is seen as an area of improvement, not all relationships are created equal. Despite the rise in importance of technology and digital media, CMOs are still prioritizing relationships with the CEO, CFO the head of sales -- rather than the CIO or CTO.

Only 30 percent of senior marketers see this relationship as important to develop, indicating a wide gap between marketing and the two technology-oriented departments.

Requirement to Raise the CMO Bar of Expectations

The survey also indicates that CMOs are increasingly recognizing the need to act as company strategy leaders, not just marketing staff managers, by ensuring that marketing becomes the growth engine for the organization -- rather than the primary producer of high-level messaging for press releases and marketing collateral.

In fact, 42 percent of CMOs claim that truly representing the "voice of the customer" is now one of the most critical factors in ensuring personal success as a marketer. However, many recognize that they're unable to assume that important role. They're schooled in the legacy marketing monologue, not today's interactive dialogue.

"Companies realize that it is very difficult to defend a competitive advantage mainly based on cost efficiency -- they are now moving to customer intimacy to drive differentiation," said John Abele, global managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles.

This shift in focus has to become part of the DNA of leading organizations. It will be a journey, and CEOs demand that their CMO be truly capable of leading that important expedition. It requires visionary leadership and an understanding of functional implications that will need to change to fully embrace this approach.

Smart Devices Transform Digital Media Entertainment

2012-02-02T07:26:00.001-06:00

In 2011, the global market for household consumer electronics (CE) continued its rapid shift toward connected devices. These are devices that are enabled with digital communications and have the ability to connect directly to the Internet -- or to a home network.

Some of these devices are optimized for the delivery of IP-based streaming video content.

This device category is being driven primarily by the success and adoption of low-cost streaming media players, digital TVs, satellite STBs, video game consoles, and Blu-ray disc players or recorders.

According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that the connected device installed base will grow from 256.8 million units in 2011 to 1.34 billion units in 2016.

"CE is no longer about dumb devices that exist at the edge of the network to provide specific functions, but rather about intelligent devices at the edge of the network that can connect consumers to new stores of content and engage them in new digital experiences," says Norm Bogen, VP of Research at NPD In-Stat.

This simple fact is having a profound impact on the development of the digital media and entertainment industry, which previously leveraged broadcast networks and linear channel programming to control the user viewing experience.

In contrast, the forward-thinking business model is all about on-demand video content -- and it's totally user controlled.

Key findings from the latest market study include:

The global installed base of smart devices will have a CAGR of 52.6 percent from 2011 to 2016.
Video game consoles will lead the market in smart devices rising to 36.7 million units in 2016.
The installed base of connected media devices shipped to Eastern Europe will reach 79.2 million devices in 2016.
Asia Pacific will account for 37.1 percent of CE devices shipped worldwide over the forecast period.

How to Reach the Digital Millennial Generation

2012-02-01T07:31:00.001-06:00

comScore released a report highlighting the results from a recent market study that identifies the unique characteristics of the Millennial generation -- defined as persons born between 1981 and 2000.

The study examined the Millennial response to different types of advertising, including TV and digital -- compared to older generations -- and how marketers can most effectively target this large and important segment of the marketplace.

"The 79 million Millennials in the U.S. have an estimated purchasing power of $170 billion per year, making them a highly attractive segment for brands to target," said comScore vice president Bert Miklosi.

Their comfort-level with the Internet and new technology in general makes the digital medium an ideal platform for reaching these individuals. But Millennials are much more difficult to persuade with advertising -- especially the poorly conceived ads that you typically find on broadcast radio and TV channels.

Key findings from the comScore market study include:

The defining characteristics of Millennials include their comfort-level with new technologies and cultural diversity, as well as being accustomed to on-demand access to entertainment, continual stimulation and extreme multitasking.
Ad breakthrough via television advertising for Millennials was substantially lower than for older generations. However, Millennials demonstrated a higher propensity than other generations to retain a lasting impression of a television advertisement.
Millennials tend to be less interested and more difficult to connect with, capture attention, impress, convince and entertain.
Millennials also appear to be more price-sensitive, perhaps due to lower disposable incomes.
Digital advertising performs better in relative terms among Millennials than does television advertising.
Across generations including Millennials, the presence of key creative elements in advertising, coined by comScore as the Validated Drivers, were shown to relate strongly to successful advertising.
Millennials are highly engaged with the content that they choose to view, within both television and digital environments. Engagement has been shown to amplify the effectiveness of advertising, so when targeting Millennials, it is important to utilize engaging content to help boost returns from investments in advertising.

Hybrid Set-Top Boxes Offer New Hope for Pay-TV

2012-01-31T07:08:00.000-06:00

Here in the U.S. market, 2011 was a year that many in the traditional pay-TV service provider industry would rather forget. That being said, this year will include more of the same challenges, where the fundamental value proposition is being questioned by subscribers.

There are some bright spots, however, where pay-TV providers can use new technology and additional capabilities to add value to their legacy offerings. Some may also create new lower-cost offerings.

Hybrid set top boxes are a fast-growing segment of the worldwide set top box market. These boxes include a TV tuner and an Internet connection -- with the latter used to access a multitude of on-demand video content.

Hybrid STBs are appearing in all pay-TV service categories with new usage scenarios and creative apps helping to provide some new service development momentum.

As consumer connected TVs begin employing applications that deliver low-cost video content via the Internet, hybrid set top boxes will emerge as an essential countermeasure for the traditional pay-TV sector.

According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that 100 million hybrid STBs will ship in 2015.

"As the STB industry continues its forward march, the next logical iteration is for the set top box to enhance and expand traditional TV-related services by permitting access to content from the Internet, or from Internet-like web services that provide a walled garden of authorized content," says Gerry Kaufhold, Research Director at NPD In-Stat.

By combining traditional TV services with much-needed enhancements that are delivered via broadband, pay-TV service providers hope that they can successfully compete with all the emerging over-the-top offerings -- such as Netflix and Hulu.

In-Stat's latest market research findings include:

Over 23 million hybrid STBs will ship in North America in 2012.
The Asia Pacific annual revenue will approach $1.5 billion in 2015.
Satellite hybrid STBs will represent 58 percent of the hybrid STB market in 2013.

Streaming Video Demand will Create Display Options

2012-01-30T05:51:00.001-06:00

Soon, just about every type of video-capable consumer electronics device (CE) will have the option to connect to a large screen video monitor or HDTV display. This list of devices will include most portable PCs -- with media tablets being one of the commonly used streaming video players.

Digital visual interface (DVI) and high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) are related high-bandwidth, unidirectional, uncompressed interface standards, while DisplayPort is a fully digital, packet-based technology.

HDMI and DisplayPort have recently gained in popularity within the computer industry. A number of computer vendors and display makers have said that they will stop using legacy DVI and VGA connectors within the next few years.

Nevertheless, many devices are still shipping with DVI connectors. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they forecast that the combined total number of devices shipped with DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort will surpass 2 billion in 2015.

"DVI has no roadmap to upgrade the specification; it is essentially the same as it was upon its launch in 1999," said Brian O'Rourke, Research Director at NPD In-Stat.

HDMI and DisplayPort, on the other hand, have made significant strides in a number of markets. HDMI-enabled device shipments will increase at a 17 percent annual rate through 2015 and DisplayPort-enabled device shipments will reach 1 billion.

Other details from this market study include:

Embedded DisplayPort will have a 95 percent attach rate in notebook PCs in 2015.
19 million desktop PCs will ship with DVI in 2012.
HDMI will have a 94 percent attach rate in Blu-ray players in 2013.
Over 118 million external DisplayPort-enabled tablets will ship in 2015.

How Online Privacy Policy will Impact All Marketers

2012-01-28T10:51:00.000-06:00

According to the latest market assessment by eMarketer, growing online privacy concerns involve three primary stakeholder groups -- consumers, government and the collective advertising industry. Those concerns have been heightened by recent examples of disclosure failures and the apparent lack of consumer trust in many of the recognized industry players.

People are becoming increasingly concerned about their online privacy. Government entities in the U.S. market and elsewhere are looking to address that anxiety through laws, regulations and new policy pressure on the digital advertising ecosystem.

That last category -- which includes advertisers, ad agencies, media companies, websites, retailers, search engines and related vendors -- is looking to satisfy both government and consumer demands through self-regulation, and tools like Do Not Track (DNT) headers.

"There are many key factors in the privacy debate, including control, transparency and value, along with the concept of privacy itself," said David Hallerman, principal analyst at eMarketer.

Attempts to overhaul online privacy standards and related data issues is believed to be complicated by raised expectations. According to a November 2011 study from the American Consumer Institute, nearly two-thirds of consumers don't trust some companies -- i.e. Facebook -- with their personal information.

But there are obvious ways to alleviate privacy concerns. The public clearly values transparency about exactly what data companies collect and how they use it. They also expect control over their own data. Companies that mock these ideals merely fuel the growing distrust.

What internet users want, according to a survey from loyalty management company Aimia, include knowing what data is being collected, a means to opt in to location tracking (instead of the typical default, opt out) and the ability to set privacy preferences once and make them applicable across sites using a portable profile.

That being said, even though transparency helps to calm some privacy concerns, many online providers are not entirely transparent about their actions -- until they're outed by an informer. Also, user controls that are complicated to invoke will likely be viewed as a deceptive practice.

"The entire advertising ecosystem must continue to come up with more sophisticated methods of self-regulation, such as the DNT header, and to educate both the public and government about how data is used and its importance in the digital economy," said Hallerman.

"To both manage consumers’ privacy concerns and assuage government misgivings, the digital advertising ecosystem will have to realize that it shares -- rather than owns -- audience data."

How Wi-Fi Enables In-Home P2P Device Connectivity

2012-01-27T07:15:00.000-06:00

The adoption of over-the-top video services, such as Netflix and Hulu, has created a increasing demand for wireless connectivity that's built-in to the numerous related consumer electronics (CE) devices that are used within the home.

Increasingly, home video entertainment devices such as digital HDTVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, and all versions of pay-TV set-top boxes (STBs) are coming to the market Wi-Fi-enabled -- so that devices can connect to the web and to each other.

According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, their research shows that the evolution of the home network will drive the number of in-home video WLAN-enabled video devices to approach 600 million in 2015.

"Wi-Fi has moved from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have feature as it provides the connectivity necessary to support IP-based video content." says Frank Dickson, Vice President of Research at NPD In-Stat.

It's important to note though that Wi-Fi is growing from being simply about getting content from a network to devices, to sharing content between devices -- as Wi-Fi evolves from being a network-centric connectivity standard to one that enables peer-to-peer (P2P) device connectivity.

New innovations such as Wi-Fi Display and Wi-Fi Direct will fundamentally change the way that digital media content is moved and shared in the home.

Some of the NPD In-Stat market study findings include:

Digital TVs will reach a 40 percent WLAN-attach rate by 2015.
In 2014, mobile hotspots will have an 802.11n attach rate of 98 percent.
Over 28 million WLAN-enabled Blu-ray players will ship in 2013.
The 802.11ac standard will achieve an attach rate in mini-notebooks of 23 percent in 2015.

Americans Viewed 7.1 Billion Video Ads in December

2012-01-26T07:18:00.003-06:00

Online video consumption reached record highs during 2011. The last month of the year also ended on a high note. comScore released data showing that 182 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in December of 2011 for an average of 23.2 hours per viewer. That same U.S. Internet audience viewed a combined total of 43.5 billion videos.

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in December with 157.2 million unique viewers, while VEVO ranked second with 53.7 million. Yahoo! Sites ranked third with 53.3 million viewers, followed by Viacom Digital with 45.8 million and Facebook.com with 42 million.

More than 43 billion videos views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 21.9 billion. The average viewer watched 23.2 hours of online video content, with Google Sites (7.9 hours) and Hulu (3 hours) demonstrating the highest average engagement among the top ten properties.

Americans viewed 7.1 billion video ads in December, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at nearly 1.5 billion, followed by Adap.tv in second with 1.1 billion. Tremor Video ranked third with 942 million, followed by BrightRoll Video Network with 872 million and Specific Media with 496 million.

Time spent watching video ads totaled more than 3 billion minutes during the month, with Adap.tv delivering the highest duration of video ads at 636 million minutes. Video ads reached 51 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 46 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 46.

The December 2011 YouTube partner data revealed that video music channels VEVO (53.5 million viewers) and Warner Music (31.7 million viewers) maintained the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 22.7 million viewers, followed by Maker Studios with 10.4 million, FullScreen with 9.7 million and Big Frame with 8.3 million.

Among the top 10 YouTube partners, VEVO demonstrated the highest engagement (67 minutes per viewer) and highest number of videos viewed (782 million), while Machinima exhibited the second highest engagement (64 minutes per viewer) and number of videos viewed (340 million).

Other findings from the December 2011 study include:

85.3 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
The duration of the average online content video was 5.8 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.
Video ads accounted for 14.1 percent of all videos viewed and 1.2 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

Upside Opportunity for M2M Reaches $35B by 2016

2012-01-25T07:14:00.000-06:00

The M2M market has become a fully mainstream segment of the mobile network service provider industry. By the end of 2011, most major mobile operators in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region had established M2M business units to focus their efforts in this fast growing market.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the market for cumulative cellular M2M connections will rise from about 110 million connections in 2011 to approximately 365 million connections by 2016.

This increase represents a compounded annual growth rate of about 27 percent by 2016 -- and translates to about $35 billion in connectivity services revenue.

The two largest cellular M2M market segments over the forecast period, by revenue, will be automotive telematics and smart energy.

Automotive telematics, including factory-installed systems such as GM’s OnStar service, aftermarket services such as usage-based insurance, and fleet management systems, will together represent more than $15.5 billion in 2016.

Meanwhile, smart energy, specifically cellular connectivity to smart meters and data concentrators, will represent more than $7.5 billion in 2016.

"As mobile operators further develop their M2M service offerings, software platforms and M2M application developer support will feature as increasingly larger components of the operators’ services," says Sam Lucero, practice director, M2M connectivity at ABI Research.

For example, AT&T announced on January 9, 2012 that it would be reselling Axeda’s M2M application platform in a U.S. carrier exclusive deal. This platform will enable AT&T customers to more easily develop and deploy complex M2M applications.

Why Solid State Storage Demand will Grow in 2012

2012-01-24T06:12:00.000-06:00

Flash memory technology advancements, changes in the expectations for new mobile PC capabilities, enterprise server and storage architectures, and hard disk drive (HDD) shortages are all impacting the worldwide solid state storage (SSD) market.

Chromebooks and media tablets are just one example of where the requirement for fast start-up and instant-resume access to the client device has raised the bar on design considerations. Informed people simply won't accept the legacy mobile PC constraints. The demand for superior SSD technology has risen as a result.

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the worldwide solid state storage industry revenue reached $5 billion in 2011 -- that's a 105 percent increase from the $2.4 billion in 2010.

IDC expects the SSD market will expand further in 2012 and beyond.

"2011 was a record year for the worldwide SSD market, with revenue more than doubling year over year due to strong SSD shipment growth in the enterprise and client segments," said Jeff Janukowicz, research director, Solid State Storage and Hard Disk Drive Components at IDC.

The increasing use of flash memory in enterprise solutions, explosive growth of mobile client devices, and lower SSD pricing is creating a huge demand for increased SSD shipments and revenue over the forecast period.

Other findings from the IDC market study include:

IDC expects worldwide SSD shipments to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51.5 percent from 2010 to 2015.
Pricing remains a key metric for SSD adoption in both the client and enterprise markets. IDC expects client SSD prices will fall below $1 per gigabyte in the second half of 2012, which will boost adoption in the PC market.
There are a number of dynamics influencing the PC market, from the growth in media tablets and ultrabooks to the upcoming introduction of Windows 8 and increased use of caching solutions such as dual drives (systems containing both an SSD and an HDD). IDC believes the net effect of these dynamics supports increased SSD shipments.
The flood in Thailand is disrupting the PC supply chain and the HDD industry's ability to supply the market near term. OEMs will certainly face unavoidable HDD shortages and higher HDD prices in 1H 2012. These shortages will present a significant short term opportunity for SSD vendors as OEM customers look to SSD vendors to fill HDD supply gaps.
The adoption of solid state storage as a complementary solution to HDD storage for enterprise applications is also driving SSD market growth.

Volatility in Overall PC Market Creates Uncertainty

2012-01-23T07:35:00.000-06:00

Personal Computer (PC) shipments totaled 92.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11), down 0.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2010, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Shortages of hard disk drives (HDDs) added to challenges from slow economic conditions and competition from other consumer electronics -- including media tablets, eReaders and smartphones.

The 4Q11 results reflected a year-on-year decline of 0.2 percent for the quarter and growth of 1.6 percent for the full year. This was in-line with IDC projections of a 0.6 percent decline for the fourth quarter and 1.5 percent growth for all of 2011.

Despite the overall market volatility, most regions slightly exceeded forecast. Most Tier 1 PC vendors had access to sufficient HDD supply, though smaller PC vendors and retail channels experienced drive shortages.

"Europe and Asia-Pacfic came in a little stronger than expected, reflecting improvement in key markets and the strength of underlying demand in emerging regions," said Loren Loverde, vice president, Worldwide Consumer Device Trackers at IDC.

PC Market Outlook Contains Some Uncertainty

In the United States, market saturation and the economic environment continue to weigh considerably on consumer demand. However, the market is awaiting new products and technologies. That said, what happens if the promise of Ultrabook PCs doesn't materialize in significant new demand?

IDC expects the market to slow further in the first quarter of 2012 as the full impact of the HDD shortage is felt, and hopefully recover to greater than 15 percent growth in the fourth quarter.

Annual 2012 shipments are currently projected at 371 million, an increase of 5.4 percent, followed by growth in high teens during the first half of 2013 and annual growth over 11 percent.

Let's not forget, the U.S. market had its second worst year in history in 2011, dropping nearly 5 percent from 2010.

Although not as severe as the 11.7 percent contraction following the Y2K buildup and subsequent tech crisis of 2001, 2011 was particularly affected by HDD supply constraints, very weak demand, and a difficult competitive landscape. The fourth quarter's HDD supply shortage has had a notable effect on fourth quarter shipments. It's not clear what the ongoing impact may be for the PC market.

U.S. Online Ad Spending to Reach $62 billion by 2016

2012-01-21T08:13:00.001-06:00

2011 will be remembered as yet another dismal year for most of the technology trade publishing sector. Connected Planet, a U.S.-based telecom industry magazine with an accomplished track-record which spanned across a century, ceased operations.

It was one more example of where advertising revenue could no longer sustain a legacy print publishing business -- even after it's been rebooted as a lower-cost online-only publication.

This phenomenon, the prospect of prolonged low profitability, will surely claim more publication closures and traditional media company victims in 2012, but the broader market outlook is apparently not as bleak -- from a top-line advertising revenue perspective.

Overall U.S. online advertising spending will growth above 20 percent again this year -- to reach nearly $40 billion, according to the latest market study by eMarketer.

Double-digit growth is forecast through 2014, when U.S. online ad spending will reach $52.8 billion. In 2016, eMarketer optimistically expects advertisers to spend an amazing $62 billion online.

"Advertiser comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers -- and more large brands -- put a greater share of dollars online," said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst.

Online has moved ahead of some traditional media -- especially print newspapers and magazines. In fact, U.S. online ad spending will exceed the total spent on print magazines and newspapers for the first time in 2012, reaching $39.5 billion (online) vs. $33.8 billion (print).

That said, spending on TV ads appears somewhat unaffected by the growth of online. As internet ad spending rises, so will TV -- although more slowly, and from a larger base.

eMarketer estimates TV advertising will attain $72 billion in U.S. ad spend by 2016 -- that's $10 billion more than will go online.

Overall, total media ad spending is forecast to grow by 6.7 percent this year to $169.5 billion, boosted by national election campaigns and gains in mobile spending. Growth will be in the 3 to 4 percent range for the remainder of the forecast period, with spending reaching nearly $200 billion by 2016.

eMarketer believes that online will be a driver of growth and will represent nearly a third of total media ad spending that year. Traditional media ad spending -- aside from a few dim bright spots, such as TV -- will stagnate during the forecast period.

How Consumers Use Their Smart Mobile Devices

2012-01-20T07:57:00.001-06:00

Multifaceted mobile devices, such as smartphones, are now pervasive in many markets. Moreover, these coexist with various other types of mobile computing or communication devices. The trend in developed markets is clear -- consumers are likely purchasing these devices with specific primary use-case scenarios in mind.

Whether that preferred device is a laptop PC, smartphone, portable media player (PMPs), or media tablet depends on many factors. According to the findings from the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they have been able to identify survey respondent's defining attitudes and behaviors toward these smart mobile devices.

One key finding was that the size of the screen tends to create an optimal use case for the device. Specifically, larger screen devices seem to fulfill productivity needs while smaller screen devices tend to satisfy communication or entertainment needs.

"The majority of tablet owners have a screen size between 9 and 11 inches -- a size optimized for sophisticated uses that require a lot of interaction," says Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst at NPD In-Stat.

The top uses for tablets are web browsing, email, and downloading and using applications, which are productivity-based uses. The larger screen supports more heavy text consumption and greater user interaction.

Portable media players, which can be virtually identical to tablets except for the smaller-than-5-inch screen, are used primarily to support entertainment-focused uses --such as listening to music and watching video.

Other findings from the market study include:

47 percent of the respondents had a PMP with a screen size from 2.5 to less than 5 inches.
Apple iPad is the current overall favorite media tablet device.
54 percent of the respondents cited personal information management as a top use for notebook and netbook PCs.
Smartphones are the most often used device while watching TV.

Tablet Usage for Online Shopping During UK Holidays

2012-01-19T02:49:00.000-06:00

Tablet use during the 2011 UK holiday season doubled compared with 2010, as 8 percent of consumers now use these devices as their main means of getting online, according to a new market study by eDigitalResearch and IMRG.

The results also saw record numbers of consumers visiting social media sites over two days, with just under half (45 percent) of online users logging into their accounts, up from 20.8 percent last year.

The annual Christmas activity survey also saw a 1 percent rise in the number going online with 86 percent of all UK online consumers now logging on over the two days.

Derek Eccleston, Head of Research at eDigitalResearch, said "Looking at the results, we can see that the internet is now a crucial part of everyday consumer life. Many see logging on during Christmas and Boxing Day as the norm, especially when trying out new gadgets and Christmas gifts."

The rise in tablet use and social media sites is an indication of what's to come in 2012. It's important for retailers to optimize online use across all available channels, in order to boost income and customer loyalty.

The survey also found that more and more people used the internet, as well as their smartphones, for their Christmas shopping this year. About 71 percent of consumers purchased some of their gifts online, up 1.3 percent compared with year, while half of all online consumers now say that they do the majority of their Christmas shopping online.

Approximately 18 percent of smartphone owners did up to half of their Christmas shopping online, with almost 30 percent saying that they did up to 50 percent of their pre-purchase research on their mobile device.

For the first time this year, shoppers saw discounts across the high street and online before Christmas day itself -- as retailers attempted to get consumers spending again.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 66 percent of shoppers said that their gift purchasing decisions were influenced by the sale promotions, while 29 percent were encouraged to buy more than they were originally planning.

Andrew McClelland, Chief Operations & Policy Officer at IMRG, said "iPads and Kindles were among the most wished-for gifts this Christmas and their popularity as a means for accessing the web is booming. The phenomenal popularity of social media is also continuing to grow at a remarkable rate, with over double the amount of people logging onto them over Christmas Day and Boxing Day compared with 2010."

Social networks and tablets should be considered as a key part of a retailer's marketing strategy, as the opportunities for consumer engagement through these channels are becoming very apparent.

SuperSpeed USB will Enable Digital Media Transfer

2012-01-18T07:48:00.000-06:00

As the number of consumer electronic (CE) devices and their capabilities continue to evolve and converge, many require significantly more communication bandwidth to provide the quality interactive experience users have come to expect.

SuperSpeed USB brings significant performance enhancements to the ubiquitous USB standard, while remaining compatible with the billions of USB-enabled devices currently deployed in the market. The additional throughput is required to accommodate the need to transfer large digital media files between devices.

According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat, they now forecast that SuperSpeed USB-enabled device shipments are on a fast track and will surpass 1 billion in 2014, that's up from 70 million in 2011.

"Because the throughput of SuperSpeed USB, ten times that of high-speed USB, is not required in some devices, adoption will not initially be as broad as for full- and high-speed USB," says Brian O’Rourke, Research Director at NPD In-Stat.

That said, SuperSpeed USB will gain significant initial penetration in markets requiring transfers of increasingly larger pools of data.

This process is already well underway, as evidenced in the USB Implementer Forum December announcement that Intel's 7 Series PC Chipset and C216 PC Chipset family achieved SuperSpeed USB certification -- guaranteeing increased SuperSpeed penetration of the PC market.

Other insights from the market study include:

Low-Speed and Full-Speed USB attach rates for keyboards will be 81 percent in 2013.
Notebook PCs will be the single largest device that will ship with SuperSpeed USB capability in 2015.
High-Speed USB-enabled device shipments will peak in 2012.
In 2015, 5.5 billion devices will ship with some type of USB capability.

Demand for Video Communication via Mobile Networks

2012-01-17T04:59:00.000-06:00

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, video communications and online messaging services over mobile networks were used by fewer than 47 million subscribers at the end of 2011, but will grow to reach 390 million users in 2016.

Mobile network operators once regarded video communication as the likely successor to voice communication and a source of potential new revenue, but their expectations are now more realistic.

Free alternative video chat offerings will always be available, which requires the service providers to offer substantive value-added offerings that are likely to generate revenue. That said, challenges remain in the marketplace.

"Only a small minority of consumers are willing to pay a premium price for video calls," says senior analyst Aapo Markkanen at ABI Research.

Video services will be monetized by their bundling with other communication media, promoting premium features to enterprises, and/or delivering advertisements.

But could operators seek an edge by offering a better system than the free over-the-top players? Markkanen is skeptical, pointing to the evidence from voice and text messaging services.

"Traditional mobile services didn't evolve in a practical sense with the operators in the driver seat. I seriously doubt they can reinvent video communication services," he said.

Perhaps the most serious dilemma for the mobile service providers is the lack of interoperability between the separate video ecosystems. Allowing the different ecosystems such as Tango, fring, and Apple's FaceTime -- as well as all the carrier services -- to seamlessly interconnect with each other is a big challenge.

However, if video chat service interoperability can be addressed effectively, then the large-scale adoption of mobile video applications could be closer than expected.

These findings are from ABI's study of services that are provided to consumers either by mobile network operators or by over-the-top (OTT) service providers. Their report covers video telephony, video messaging, and video sharing, as well as Video-on-Demand consumption.

Asia-Pacific Region will Drive the Mobile Enterprise

2012-01-16T08:44:00.000-06:00

As more smartphones and media tablets enter the workplace, the world's mobile device-enabled worker population will reach 1.3 billion by 2015 -- that represents 37.2 percent of the total workforce.

According to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the most significant gains will be in the emerging economies of the Asia-Pacific region -- thanks in part to continued economic growth.

In contrast, the Americas will experience a slower growth rate due to a protracted economic recovery and high rates of unemployment.

"Despite recent market turmoil, mobility continues to be a critical part of the global workforce and we expect to see healthy growth in the number of mobile workers," said Stacy Crook, senior research analyst for IDC's Mobile Enterprise Research program.

IDC's forecast shows that the worldwide mobile worker population will increase from just over 1 billion in 2010 to more than 1.3 billion by 2015.

Key findings from the latest IDC study include:

The Americas region, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America, will see the number of mobile workers grow from 182.5 million in 2010 to 212.1 million in 2015. North America has the largest number of mobile workers in this region, with 75 percent of the workforce mobile in 2010.

Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) will see the largest increase in total number of mobile workers with 601.7 million mobile workers in 2010 and 838.7 million in 2015. Much of this is due to the sheer size of the population in China and India, combined with strong economic expansion in both countries.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the mobile workforce will see a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6 percent as it expands from 186.2 million in 2010 to 244.6 million mobile workers in 2015.

Japan will see a declining CAGR of 0.2 percent because of its declining population base. However, the share of mobile workers will reach a penetration rate of 64.8 percent of its workforce by 2015, for a total of 38.6 million mobile workers.

Mobile Content Revenue to Exceed $1 Billion by 2015

2012-01-14T10:55:00.000-06:00

New product announcements and service demos at CES confirmed what many pundits predicted, a variety of mobile devices -- media tablets and smartphones, in particular -- and digital media streamed from the cloud was a pervasive theme.

Indeed, the future upside opportunities for mobile content look very promising.

According to the latest market study by eMarketer, ad-supported mobile content revenues will exceed $1 billion by 2015 -- with the fastest growth coming from advertising support for mobile video.

Last year, U.S. mobile video revenues from advertising reached just $37.5 million, but by 2015 advertisers will spend $213.6 million on ad placements that support mobile video content.

Regardless, that's still lower than the amounts spent on advertising against mobile games and mobile music -- estimated at $65.3 million and $181.4 million, respectively in 2011. Both are forecast to grow to $269.1 million and $591.5 million, respectively, by 2015.

Looking forward, eMarketer now estimates that 29.9 percent of all mobile content revenues -- or $1.07 billion in 2015 -- will come from advertising.

To date, mobile music has the greatest share of spend coming from ads, and it will hold that position, with advertising and promotion spend making up 73.9 percent of the total in 2011 and 79.3 percent by 2015.

The fast growth of mobile video advertising revenues will mean changes in the revenue mix. While ad dollars comprised just 5.4 percent of mobile video revenues in 2011, by 2015 it will more than triple to 16.5 percent.

By contrast, mobile gaming ad revenues will also rise as a proportion of the total spend, from 13.8 percent in 2011 to 17.4 percent by 2015.

The eMarketer forecast of mobile content spending starts with a meta-analysis of data from dozens of research sources -- as well as overall market trends and consumer behaviors around mobile gaming, music and video.

How Pay-TV Advertising will Shift to New Formats

2012-01-13T06:55:00.000-06:00

Increasing consumer adoption of new video entertainment formats -- including video-on-demand (VOD) and viewing on media tablets and smartphones -- will cause up to $22 billion (30 percent) of the U.S. pay-TV advertising market to shift to new formats by 2016.

Western Europe will see similar shifts in advertising revenue, while the rest of world will lag in its transition of advertising to these new formats. Regardless, the eventual realignment of all marketer's advertising budgets will have a dramatic impact on the legacy ecosystem.

"A shift is already underway in the television advertising marketplace from linear ads inserted by a 24-hour schedule to advanced technologies that will increase the effectiveness of advertisers' spending," says Sam Rosen, senior analyst, digital home, at ABI Research.

New technologies are achieving scale within broadcasters' advertising systems, notably audience measurement and tracking, targeted advertising, interactive advertising, VOD and multiscreen advertising, and other techniques -- including companion devices.

Many of the companies leading the charge in the advanced advertising ecosystem are yet to become mainstream industry players. Therefore, they're likely to disrupt the current status quo.

They're the specialists that will drive the shift, as new advertising formats develop. They including: Canoe Ventures (interactive ads), BlackArrow (VOD ads), This Technology (dynamic ad platform), INVIDI and Visible World (targeted or addressable ads).

Numerous technology components are required to deliver these new advertising formats. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the vendor ecosystem will rapidly expand to addresses these market opportunities.

The market study explored advertising technology used in television, Internet and over-the-top (OTT) video platforms, traditional linear TV, catch-up TV, DVR/PVR storage, and VOD platforms.

Vendor opportunities identified by the study include:

Advertising-specific hardware and software systems -- such as ad servers, ad splicers, ad decision systems, and traffic and billing systems.
Advertising-specific components of set-top box middleware -- such as measurement and reporting tools, interactive stacks, and interactive applications.
Advertising-specific VOD software.