Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, May 21, 2010
CHART OF THE DAY: Here's Why Wireless Carriers Are Hosed
Wireless carriers built huge businesses selling mobile voice service for a hefty monthly fee. But now that cellphone calls are a commodity, consumers are spending much less money than they used to for mobile voice service. Add VoIP and cheap prepaid service into the mix, and this will only continue to erode in the future.
The industry is hoping that data revenue -- from text messages, Internet access, multiple mobile Internet devices per person, à la iPad and Kindle -- will make up for the difference. And so far, it's coming close. But monthly bills will likely continue to shrink. (And with all the extra bandwidth required, it's much lower-margin revenue.)http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-heres-why-wireless-carriers-are-hosed-2010-5
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Number of Apps in Smartphone stores March 2010
Apple currently has about 170,000 apps available, according to AppShopper.com.
Its next closest competitor, Google Android, has about 30,000 apps available, a company exec recently said.
Research In Motion has more than 5,000 apps available, according to the company.
And Palm has "over 2,000 apps" in its app catalog, CEO Jon Rubinstein said yesterday on his company's earnings call.
Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 Series will launch with only a tiny handful of apps later this year.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tradtional Ad Revenue % Decline 08-09
Media industry ad revenue declined 12% year-over-year to $125.3 billion in 2009, according to a report issued by Kantar Media, the WPP-owned research firm formerly known as TNS.
The only major growth area: Online ad spending. Internet ads -- display only -- increased 7% in 2009, according to the report.
Meanwhile, TV ad spending fell 10%, as cable outperformed network TV, and spot spending fell dramatically, as political ads from 2008 weren't around in 2009. Magazines dropped 17%, newspapers and radio each dropped 20%, and outdoor fell 13%.
The only major growth area: Online ad spending. Internet ads -- display only -- increased 7% in 2009, according to the report.
Meanwhile, TV ad spending fell 10%, as cable outperformed network TV, and spot spending fell dramatically, as political ads from 2008 weren't around in 2009. Magazines dropped 17%, newspapers and radio each dropped 20%, and outdoor fell 13%.
Monday, March 15, 2010
US Smartphone Share
When Apple's iPhone hit the market, it looked like it was only a matter of time before Apple ate BlackBerry maker RIM's lunch. While that could still be case, RIM has done a great job defending its turf to this point.
The newest data from comScore's mobile subscriber report shows RIM's slow but steady ascent over the past two years as the U.S. smartphone leader. Note that comScore data is based on user surveys, and reflects subscriber base -- not simply market share of a specific quarter's sales.
How is RIM doing it? It started by being very popular with businesses, and it gradually shifted its focus to consumers. Verizon, the top U.S. carrier, has been promoting the heck out of it, including several buy-one, get-one promotions. And generally lower prices have made the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl very popular phones among mobile Web users and also people who just want a phone that's good for text messaging.
While RIM has performed admirably to date, there are challenges ahead. For instance, it's hard to see BlackBerry hanging on to such a strong lead for the next five years, unless it can improve its mobile software -- especially the Web browser -- and start competing better with Apple and Google in the mobile apps arena. (Yes, RIM has an app store, but it's pretty lousy.) And if Apple starts selling the iPhone at more carriers, that could be more trouble for RIM.
The newest data from comScore's mobile subscriber report shows RIM's slow but steady ascent over the past two years as the U.S. smartphone leader. Note that comScore data is based on user surveys, and reflects subscriber base -- not simply market share of a specific quarter's sales.
How is RIM doing it? It started by being very popular with businesses, and it gradually shifted its focus to consumers. Verizon, the top U.S. carrier, has been promoting the heck out of it, including several buy-one, get-one promotions. And generally lower prices have made the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl very popular phones among mobile Web users and also people who just want a phone that's good for text messaging.
While RIM has performed admirably to date, there are challenges ahead. For instance, it's hard to see BlackBerry hanging on to such a strong lead for the next five years, unless it can improve its mobile software -- especially the Web browser -- and start competing better with Apple and Google in the mobile apps arena. (Yes, RIM has an app store, but it's pretty lousy.) And if Apple starts selling the iPhone at more carriers, that could be more trouble for RIM.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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