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

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.

US statistics

Just The Facts...

Apropos to the Consumer Electronics Show, but equally valuable as a benchmark of the Electronic Media Industry starting out in 2010, Nielsen releases a fact sheet appended with the prediction that " ... In 2010 we see a continuation, if not an acceleration, of current trends with consumers watching and connecting more."

TV
Mobile
Smartphones
Social Networking
Internet
Game Consoles

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120071&passFuseAction=PublicationsSearch.showSearchReslts&art_searched=just%20the%20facts&page_number=0

Who says brands aren’t running mobile marketing campaigns?

Go here for links to example case studies

Lots of examples of US campaigns

That lament – that brands aren’t serious about mobile marketing or even ready for the channel – should be put to rest once and for all.

Yes, it seems that even after hitting key milestones – 270 million U.S. mobile phone subscribers, nearly 40 million smartphones nationwide, 40,000 iPhone applications downloaded more than 1 billion times, 99 percent ubiquity with SMS service on all phones – some marketing and agency executives still need evidence that mobile marketing is in rude use.

Well, here’s a compilation of the top headlines from Jan. 1 onward that ran in this publication focusing on brands engaged in mobile marketing and commerce. Feel free to forward to as many clients and prospects as possible for them to click through. Maybe they will want to become a headline, too.

By Mickey Alam Khan Mobile Marketer

US Wireless Market Q4 2008 And 2008

Download both powerpoints
- Mar 2009 by Chetan Sharma Consulting

Executive Summary
The US wireless data market continued to ignore the recession doldrums in Q4 2008 and grew 7.3% Q/Q and 38.7% from Q407 to reach $9.4B in mobile data services revenues. In 2008, the mobile data services revenues reached our original estimate of $34B. Even as the global industry crossed 4B in subscriptions and $1T in total revenues, the nervousness due to the current recession has been palpable. While the flailing economy has started to hit hard on the wireless data ecosystem esp. the infrastructure and handsets segments, consumers haven’t really pulled back on mobile data spending overall, just yet. There are sub-segments within mobile data revenue stream that are starting to feel the pinch like data card subscriptions and downloadables. Also, in an event of a longer recession, the fate of the US mobile industry will be more closely tied to the overall economy this time compared to the previous recessions.

Us Wireless Market Q4 2008 And 2008 Update Mar 2009 Chetan Sharma Consulting

View more presentations from Chetan Sharma. (tags: wireless us)