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Focus on experience, not technology

Submitted by Steve Smith on Fri, 03/08/2012 - 08:32
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Conventional wisdom is that people love technology (at least most of them), hence promote the next big thing you’ve designed. Take this extract from a press release about a new computer:

“It sports a full-sized USB port and a 16:9 aspect ratio – the industry standard for HD. It has edges angled at 22 degrees, a natural position for the PC at rest or in active use... The casing is created using a unique approach, a combination of material selection and process to mould metal and deposit particles....”

A common assumption is also that under 35s especially love technology. Yet when we look at people’s plans to purchase ‘must have’ technologies over the next twelve months, we see a surprising picture. Yes, under 35s are more likely than all adults to intend to buy these technologies, but the percentages are much lower than expected.

techsplantobuy.png

However, now look at some of the kinds of activities people do, which many people are able to do better through the above devices. For example, two thirds of under 35s surf the internet on a laptop whilst watching TV. Yet we know from Ofcom data that around four in ten (37%) tablet owners say they browse the internet more since owning a tablet, while around one quarter (23%) say they are doing more social networking. Sure, you can't watch a DVD on a tablet, but you can sideload or download a movie to it to watch wherever you are.

activitiesppldo.png

The point here for technology brand owners and advertisers is that it is what people can do through technology that they find most appealing. Thus, promote what people can do through your device, not the device itself - it is the medium for activity, not the end in itself. This is one reason why Apple products sell so well. An extract from the January 2010 iPad press release sums this up:

“Apple today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more... iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Smartphones form 38% of all mobile phone shipments globally - more mobile shopping on the way.

Submitted by Steve Smith on Fri, 27/07/2012 - 10:14
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Worldwide shipments of all mobile phones grew only 1% year on year during the second quarter of 2012, to reach 406.0m. Somewhat of a poor picture. But this disguises the number of smartphones that shipped during the same quarter. Of the 406m, 153.9m were smartphones, which is 38%. In 2Q11, 108.3m smartphones shipped, which formed 27% of all mobile phones shipped.

Increased ownership of smartphones means more people are using smartphones for shopping related activities. Latest research from Ofcom shows that 39% of all UK adults currently own a smartphone. Of these, more than half (57%) claim to have used their handset in some way when out shopping. This includes simple things such as taking a photo of a product (31%), to making online price comparisons (25%), acquiring more product information by scanning bar codes (21%), reading product reviews online (19%), and researching product features (19%).

Four signs we are now in a post-PC world

Submitted by Steve Smith on Thu, 26/07/2012 - 09:59
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We are living in a post PC world, a world in which people no longer give PCs and laptops dominant roles for accessing the internet in terms of routine, frequency and activities.

There are four recent pieces of news that attest to this.

Only 7% of Apple's sales are Macs

Apple released its third quarter 2012 results on Tuesday. It showed that during the quarter it sold only 2% more desktops and laptops than it did during the same quarter in 2011. Sales of iPhones on the other hand climbed 28%, and sales of iPads climbed a massive 84%. What’s more, for every one desktop or laptop Apple sold, it sold over four iPads and over six iPhones.

Smartphone data usage doubles

Three has just released a couple of findings from a study of its smartphone customers. Last summer, the average monthly data of its smartphone customers was 450MB. In less than a year, this has almost doubled to 1.1GB. Secondly, 95% of Three’s smartphone customers access the internet on their smartphones on a daily basis. It shows just how much people have integrated internet access via smartphones into their everyday lives.

People substituting PCs and laptops for smartphones and tablets

Ofcom released its annual Communications Market Report last week. It shows that Smartphone ownership in the UK rose to 39% of UK adults during the first quarter of this year, up 44% over 2011.

It also shows that tablet ownership rose nearly six fold, to reach 11% of UK households. Seventy-four per cent of tablet owners say they go online on their tablet every day, or most days, whilst 44% of smartphone owners say access the internet regularly.

The activities that smartphone users claim their handset is substituting for most are: watching video clips on a PC or laptop (51%), instant messaging from a PC or laptop (47%), taking photos with a camera (43%), accessing general news from a PC or laptop (39%) and social networking from a PC or laptop (37%).

In terms of tablets, Around four in ten (37%) say they browse the internet more since owning a tablet, while around one quarter (23%) say they do more social networking. People are also using tablets to replace some laptop and desktop behaviours. Thirty seven per cent use their laptop less since owning a tablet, and one third (33%) use their desktop PC less.

Smartphone processor profits and shipments climb

ARM processors are used in 90% of the world’s smartphones. It too released its most recent quarter figures this week. They show that it shipped 2 billion chips during the quarter; revenues were up 15%, and profits climbed 23%.

In terms of the whole smartphone market, a phenomenal 144.9 million smartphones were shipped in 1Q12 compared to 101.7 million units in 1Q11.This was an astonishing climb of 43% year over year, according to IDC

Mobile Update #22

Submitted by Michael Vitello on Wed, 25/07/2012 - 16:09
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This week's mobile news is being dominated, again, by two of the biggest mobile players, Samsung and Apple. Mainly due to their long-running, but questionable, legal battle (even the judge says – “Why on earth are these proceedings going ahead?" Bennett asked the lawyers in court today. “It's just ridiculous.”). However, figures are impressive; Samsung just reached 10 millions Galaxy S3 units sold while Apple sold more than twice that number with the iPhone in Q3 2012. Sales expectations for the iPhone 5 look enormous and, ultimately, this hides the fact that the biggest event in Mobile this year is definitely the London 2012 Olympics, not the next iPhone…

And for this momentous event your phone will remain your best friend, maybe not to check the transports, (we know it’s going to be a nightmare – check this great article) but for payments, (Visa and NFC) to check the highlights, and to find the location of the next event you’re attending, etc. (http://www.london2012.com/mobileapps/)

Let’s keep an eye on all of this from Friday!

Galaxy S III sales top 10 million – but way more people want the iPhone 5

Date 23rd July, 2012

Samsung’s (005930) Galaxy S III is a hot ticket. In the increasingly crowded smartphone market, Samsung has reportedly managed to sell more than 10 million Galaxy S III smartphones in under two months, according to a recent report from Yonhap News Agency that cited Samsung executive Shin Jong-kyun. A new survey suggests that Samsung’s impressive feat may soon be overshadowed, however, as demand for Apple’s (AAPL) next-generation iPhone reaches impressive heights.

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Apple sold 26m iPhones and 17m iPads in Q3 2012

Date 25th July, 2012

The Company sold 26.0 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 28 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 17.0 million iPads during the quarter, an 84 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.0 million Macs during the quarter, a two percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

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Economic downturn doesn't bode well for mobile payments

Submitted by Steve Smith on Mon, 23/07/2012 - 06:53
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I have written before about why I believe growth in mobile payment use in the UK is likely to be slow, especially those based on near field communication technologies.

There is another reason for this. The economic downturn.

When people feel their jobs are secure, they have plenty of disposable income, credit is easy and the future looks bright, people are quite willing to use their cards to buy things. Why? Because they don’t feel the need to add up their expenditure and make sure they keep within a tight budget. If you’ve ever tried keeping a running total of spending on debit or credit cards, you’ll know how tricky it is.

But in an economic downturn, you would expect people to prefer cash over cards. You know when your cash is running down and when you don’t have any left. It’s not surprising then that the value of cash used by people in the UK last year rose by 4%, to reach £121 billion of UK retail sales, according to the Retail Gazette. And data from Touchpoints 2012 shows that 48% of people like to pay for cash for everything they buy, which is only two percentage points lower than in 2008 at the height of the economic crisis.

Given tight budgets are going to continue, even into the next parliament, this doesn’t bode well for technology companies and banks who would like to see mobile payments pick up. A cash transaction costs a retailer about two pence to process, whilst a debit card transaction costs about ten pence and a credit card over thirty pence, with the banks pocketing most of the proceeds.

The Surface: Microsoft and Apple set to go head to head in the consumer market

Submitted by Steve Smith on Wed, 11/07/2012 - 11:47
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Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer gave a widely reported interview a couple of days ago about the Surface tablet and going head to head against Apple.

In it, Balmer boldly said that "we are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple," adding, "not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch."

Then focusing specifically on Microsoft's new tablet, Balmer explained, "Right now we are working real hard on the Surface. That's the focus. That's our core,"

So how does Microsoft plan on selling the Surface? Through its stores and website. Yet this is not how businesses - a core market for Microsoft - tend to purchase equipment and software from the company. Many of them, from schools and hospitals to retailers and financial businesses, depend on Microsoft's resellers to assemble a hardware/software solution which they then buy. In turn, resellers ordinarily get Microsoft products at a discount and can sell them for a little profit.

Unlike previous Microsoft products that tend to be aimed at business and consumers, Balmer's comments show that Microsoft's core target buyers for the Surface are going to be consumers. Which just happens to be the Apple iPad's core territory.

What Intel and Apple revenues tell us

Submitted by Steve Smith on Fri, 06/07/2012 - 07:41
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I came across two charts yesterday. The first one gives revenues from 1995 to 2010 for Apple, Intel, Microsoft and Google. Apple and Google have all seen huge rises, Microsoft less so, but still respectable.

But look at Intel. No rise since 2000. Why? As we know, mature markets (which include the US, W. Europe, Japan and Canada) have largely moved into a post- PC world – a world in which Intel has yet to make its mark. Consider this. Around three quarters of Apple revenues in 2011 came from post-PC devices (iPads, iPhones, iPods).

revenues.jpg

The post-PC world is a concern for Intel, despite a rise in revenues in 2011 (at $54bn). With the smartphone and tablet chip markets dominated by ARM, NVIDIA, TI and Qualcomm, Intel will find creating success in this market difficult. It was only as recent as May this year that Intel announced the first smartphone to be powered by one of its processors in Europe. Tablet wise, some Windows 8 devices will run on Intel chips, but how much people will prefer these over the iPad is unknown.

The second chart makes clear the problems Intel faces. Laptop and desktop shipments in mature markets fell 7% in 2011 over 2010, and IDC forecasts only modest annual rises of around 5% per year to 2015.

CropperCapture[3].jpg Source: IDC

But what about emerging markets? With rises of between 12 and 15% per annum, this is good news for the chip maker. Yet even though many of these PCs will ship with Intel chips, many are likely to be lower spec chips and therefore at the cheaper end, which of course will generate less revenue for the company.

CropperCapture[4].jpg Source: IDC

Mobile Update #21

Submitted by Michael Vitello on Wed, 20/06/2012 - 16:54
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Business Insider hosted a mobile advertising conference this morning in New York and explored the growth of smartphones, tablets, usage trends, etc. in the advertising space. Highlighting the fact that "the future is mobile", we found out that Mashable is partnering with BMWi to bring readers the latest innovations in urban mobility. Moreover, if "Mobility" is your thing, you can show how innovative you are and submit your pitch to BMWi Ventures in the US. Finally, we know that Microsoft is also jumping into the game and they recently presented their new tablet, "Surface". Let's hope it's going to work better in our hands than during the official presentation...

The Future Of Mobile Ads [SLIDE DECK]

Date 19th June, 2012

The BI Intelligence team put together a deck on the current trends in mobile advertising. We looked closely at the growth of smartphones and tablets, mobile usage trends, and emerging mobile advertising strategies. BI Intelligence is a new research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet.

"Click here to read full article"

Microsoft's Windows 8 Surface tablet unveiled – video

Date 19th June, 2012

The world's largest software maker, Microsoft, launches its new tablet computer, which runs the new touch-friendly Windows 8 operating system. The tablet, named Surface, will come in two versions, one running Window RT, a 'light' version of Window 8, and a pro version running the full operating system. The tablet's cover folds out to become a keyboard

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Microsoft's Windows 8 tablet computer

Submitted by Steve Smith on Tue, 19/06/2012 - 07:28
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Last night, in a last-minute press event, Microsoft confirmed it will retail its own Microsoft-branded Surface for Windows RT tablet and Surface for Windows 8 Pro tablet. Here is some top line info about the two devices.

The RT tablet will measure 9.3mm thick and weigh 676g (1.3 pounds). Built around all-magnesium VaporMg case, it uses an NVIDIA-made ARM chip. It also has an in-built stand, twin antennae for WiFi, and a 10.6-inch Gorilla Glass 2-covered HD display. It also has a magnetically attached cover, which doubles as a full multi-touch keyboard and trackpad.

Port wise, it has HDMI, microSD and USB 2.0. It comes with either 32GB or 64GB of storage, and Windows 8. Probably released around the time of Windows 8, Microsoft promises pricing that is "competitive" with similar ARM tablets.

The second version – Surface for Windows 8 Pro, features an Intel chip, Windows 8 Pro, USB 3.0, and a choice of either 64GB or 128GB. It has a higher 1080p resolution and comes in slightly thicker and heavier than the RT Tablet, at 13.5 mm thick and 903 grams in weight (2 pounds). Price wise, Microsoft says it will be "on par with Ultrabook-class PCs", and will be available around three months following the launch the RT model.

Mobile Update #20

Submitted by Michael Vitello on Wed, 13/06/2012 - 18:03
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Mobile on its own doesn't truly shine and many of us already know this...however, assessing the state of the market (smartphone market, mobile advertising market, social media market, etc.) and starting to understand how these markets will shape mobile on a global level is key. As one of the articles below cleverly says: "The first screen may not be the one you think". This is indicative that analysing consumer behaviour in the context of multi-platform development becomes crucial to your MARCOM strategy. A unified media strategy becomes fundamental, and more complex, in order for brands to provide a positive experience on all devices/screens/platforms, and media formats.

State of the US smartphone market

Date 04th June, 2012

The United States may be overtaken by China as the world’s largest smartphone market this year, but it’s nevertheless a huge and highly influential market. According to Comscore, more than 100 million Americans now own a smartphone, a number that keeps growing.

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Global Mobile Advertising Market Worth $5.3bn

Date 07th June, 2012

The global mobile advertising market was worth $5.3bn (£3.4bn) in 2011, according to a new study from the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence in the US, IAB Europe and IHS Screen Digest. The study also breaks this figure down into regional shares, with Asia-Pacific leading the way on 35.9 per cent ($1.9bn), followed by N. America on 31.4 per cent ($1.7bn), Europe on 25.9 per cent ($1.4bn), Latin America on 3.5 per cent ($200m) and the Middle East & Africa on 3.2 per cent (£170m).

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