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Austrilian operator Telstra discovers that slapping a better UI on feature fones increases data usage

Stefan Constantinescu — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:40:05 +0000

Telstra, an operator from down under, created a new user interface in house called the “TelstraOne Experience” and have discovered that by making mobile fones easier to use, they can successfully increase usage of their data services. While many of you are rolling your eyes right now, saying “no fucking shit”, this new evidence may make handset makers rethink their feature fone OS user experience instead of pumping resources into yet another failed project that attempts to compete with the iPhone. Most devices in the sub 200 EUR price range are currently optimized for calls and SMS, or what used to be the bread and butter of operators. With the mobile web becoming ridiculously popular, little Johny does want to tell all his Facebook friends about how shit faced he was last night after all, it is the devices that make getting on the internet easier that more and more operators will want to offer their customers.

We all focus on the crazy high end, 500+ EUR smartphone market, but what about innovation in mid and low end devices? Ross Fielding, Executive Director Telstra Product Management, had this to say about TelstraOne: “We looked at figures aggregated by handset type over the three months to September 30. We found that customers with the TelstraOne UI were 60 per cent more likely to use their phone on a weekly basis to access the mobile web compared to Telstra’s regular 3G mobile customers” and later added “data and content revenue on TelstraOne Experience handsets is more than 11 per cent higher than on the identical handset model we compared”.

How fast is data usage increasing on Telstra’s network? It’s doubling every 8 months. Pay attention handset makers. Time to start making devices that are easy to use not because you want to create some sort of unique value proposition in an attempt to increase brand recognition, but because your largest customers, the operators of the world, will love you if you can increase their revenues.

[Via: Cellular News]

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Droid Does… pretty damn well in it’s first week

Will Park — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:18:23 +0000

Droid Does. That’s the slogan that Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s ad campaigns for the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid have been hammering into our heads for the past several weeks. With $100 million reportedly invested into the marketing push to turn struggling Motorola’s Droid the de facto alternative to the iPhone 3GS, Verizon and Motorola are betting big on the new Android phone. Turns out, the Motorola Droid did damn well in its first week of sales. A new report estimates Droid sales hitting 250,000 during its launch week!

The analytics gurus at Flurry track over 10,000 iPhone and Android apps, which Flurry says gives it an eye into usage patterns for two out of every three iPhones on the planet. They used that data to estimate that a quarter million Droid handsets made their way into customer pockets this past week. Thanks to the power of a $100 million advertising campaign, Verizon’s 90 million-strong subscriber network and a far-reaching 3G network, Flurry says the Droid is the “fastest-selling Android phone to date.”

Droid nay-sayers will be quick to point out that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) pushed out 1.6 million iPhone 3GS units in the first week of sales, but it would be good to remember that Apple launched the iPhone 3GS in eight countries around the world. There were also 27 million installed iPhone users around the world pushing the iPhone 3GS on their friends. The Droid obviously can’t live up to the iPhone’s numbers, but 250,000 handsets sold in the first week is still an impressive number.

It’s not going to stop there either. The Droid may be the most visible Android handset of late, but there are some incredible Android offerings coming down the pipeline in the near future.

[Via: Flurry]

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Apple iPhone takes third place in Q3 global smartphone sales

Will Park — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:58:03 +0000

There’s no denying the almost magical draw of the iPhone and the world of good it’s done for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s bottom line. A new report from Gartner today backs up that notion with data that has the Apple iPhone accounting for 17.1% of global smartphone sales in Q3 2009. That figure puts Apple in the No. 3 spot, behind Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)), as far as global smartphone market share.

Apple shipped some 7 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2009. The continued success of smartphones like the iPhone is fueled by a disproportionate growth in the mobile phone market that has the smartphone segment growing 12.8% year-on-year while the overall mobile phone segment languished with just 0.1% year-over-year growth.

It’s clear that smartphones are here to stay and will soon become the “norm” in the mobile space. Can Apple sustain its third-place position in the face of hot new smartphones running the Android operating system? It’s going to be a tough battle, and we can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

[Via: MacRumors]

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ABI Research: Mobile accessories to turn over nearly $55 billion in 2009

Dusan Belic — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:39:46 +0000

ABI Research’s latest report says that by the end of this year, the world’s mobile handset accessories market will have chalked up a value of nearly $55 billion, representing a small decrease from the 2008 figure.

The problem seems in the memory card segment market, which has been oversupplied, with selling prices being barely above production costs — something that could unfortunately change in the future. The good thing, however, is that handset makers are more often than not bundling higher capacity memory cards with their products, and now we have few handset models shipping with 8GB cards.

Of course, memory card makers don’t want to disturb consumers, hence they’re experimenting with new ways of increasing the card’s value (and justifying the higher price), such as pre-loading them with some mobile content or even apps and games.

As for the future, the accessory market will remain somewhat sluggish in 2010 and not until 2011 will the 2008 figure be surpassed… Additional details about ABI’s report titled “Mobile Accessories Market Data” is available from their website.

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Bad news for streaming music services – Most students prefer to download music

Will Park — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:03:21 +0000

Streaming music services like Spotify seem like n0-brainer winners. You get unlimited access to a virtually unlimited catalog of music for a nominal monthly fee. How could streaming music not be a runaway success? By not catching on with the all-important youth/student demographic, that’s how.

A new survey of 10,000 university students, conducted by the University of Reading, finds that 75% of students would rather pay for songs and download music to their hard drive or music player. The survey indicates that the streaming music model, while attractive, just doesn’t give students the kind of semi-tangible goods that music downloads provide.

With more and more music stores eschewing DRM, digital-rights management, protection, it’s getting easier to take music libraries from the desktop to mobile. And, with on-board smartphone/music player memory stores hitting 32GB, storage space is fast becoming a non-issue. Is it any wonder college students prefer to own their music rather than rent it from a streaming music store? Take Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Comes With Music, for example, that has yet to sign up 200,000 customers. Best Buy’s decision to put their Napster iPhone app on ice is starting to make more sense now.

What say you? Is streaming music something you’d pay for? Or would you rather stick to the pay-per-song model and own your music?

[Via: PRNewswire]

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Analyst: 1 in 6 mobile subscribers will have an NFC enabled device by 2014

Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:39:31 +0000

The boffins at Juniper Research have predicted that by 2014, 1 in 6 mobile phone subscribers will be using an NFC device. Whether or not they’ll be using NFC for something other than transmitting naughty pictures and business cards is another story all together. Juniper Research also thinks that in 2014, NFC enabled monetary transactions will exceed $110 billion. If we assume that there are 4 billion mobile subscribers now, and that number will hit 5 billion by 2014, then that would be roughly 833 million people (1 in 6) spending an average of $132 during a 12 month period. That’s roughly the population of the USA and the EU combined, buying a $5 meal at McDonald’s every other week.

Do you think they’re being a tad too optimistic? I am, but then again I tend to stay away from predicting what will happen more than 3 years into the future. At the rate the world is moving, 2014 may as well be a millennium away.

[Via: Business Wire]

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Juniper Research: Mobile coupon redemption value to approach $6 billion globally by 2014

Dusan Belic — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:13:32 +0000

In its new report titled “Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters: Strategies, Applications & Forecasts 2009-2014,” Juniper Research forecasts that consumer usage of mobile coupons will generate close to $6 billion globally in retail redemption value by 2014.

However, the research company warns about stumbling blocks the industry faces: apathy amongst the wider public, and the lack of willingness to learn a new method of making financial transactions. Juniper goes on suggesting that smart posters with embedded NFC tags will bring to life static billboards, enabling interaction between potential customers and their prospective purchases.

Further findings from the report include:

ARPU from NFC coupons and smart posters will exceed ARPU from NFC payment transactions;
The vast majority of mobile coupon redemption value will be generated by the Far East & China, Western Europe and North America in 2014.

As usual, more information about the report is available from Juniper’s website.

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IDC + Canalys: Q3 2009 was a record breaker for smartphone shipments

Stefan Constantinescu — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:07:48 +0000

The economy, which is experiencing either a recession, or depression depending on who you ask, is starting to look better, but make no mistake, a lot of people are still hurting and will continue to hurt for a few more years. It’s surprising then that in the midst of all this belt tightening and frugal spending that in Q3 2009 smartphone sales broke a record. IDC says that 43.3 million smartphones shipped last quarter, while Canalys says 41.4 million, either way, they both conclude that this has been the best quarter, ever, for converged devices. Here are the numbers:

Manufacturer – (IDC) – (Canalys):

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) – (16.4 million) – (16.4 million)
RIM – (8.2 million) – (8.5 million)
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) – (7.4 million) – (7.36 million)
HTC – (2.4 million) – (2.18 million)
Others (8.8 million) – (6.9 million)

In terms of growth as a percentage, IDC says RIM shot up 35.7% year on year, while Canalys reports 40.8%. Apple and Nokia are growing at roughly the same rate year on year, IDC says Nokia grew 6.6% while Apple achieved 7.1% growth, and Canalys is saying Nokia grew 6%, while Apple did marginally better at 6.7%. In terms of market share, Nokia is still number one: IDC is saying 37.9% and Canalys saying is 39.7%, both are higher than the 35% Nokia quoted themselves as having during their Q3 2009 financial conference call.

Mind share is another story all together, but to quote Steve Ballmer: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what the critics say, it matters what the customers say.”

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ABI Research: 27% of smartphones cost under $200 this year

Dusan Belic — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:43:08 +0000

We dig the idea of falling smartphone prices. ABI Research has been following the market and they say that in 2007 only 18% of these devices were priced under $200 retail. This year, however, that percentage went up to 27%, and by 2014 the research company predicts 45% of them [smartphones] will be priced below $200.

According to ABI, these numbers show changing consumers’ attitudes toward smartphones, and a corresponding shift in vendors’ and mobile operators’ sales and marketing strategies which ultimately lead to the current situation where we have more and more smartphones and conventional (feature) phones being priced in similar ranges.

ABI also points out that some smartphones are never subsidized (i.e. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) in the U.S.), but increasingly manufacturers want to see their higher end models reach high volumes of sales.

ABI’s mobile devices practice director Kevin Burden said: “Prices will hold at a certain point. We may never see a $30 smartphone. But over time, smartphones will take a substantial part of the mainstream handset market.”

More information about ABI Research’s new “Smartphone and OS Markets” report is available from their website.

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Analyst: Over half of Europeans want their next mobile phone to have a touch screen

Stefan Constantinescu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:15:56 +0000

Analysts at Canalys (does that rhyme?) conducted a survey with over 3,000 people spread out over France, Germany and the United Kingdom to find out how large of an impact touch screen devices are having on Western Europe. The results speak for themselves: 38% want their next mobile phone to be finger touch enabled and 16% want their next device to be stylus enabled. That’s 54% of people who have simply had it with a regular T9 keypad and 5 way directional pad.

What about the people who are taking this survey and already have touch screen devices? Of those individuals (percentage not given) only 47% wanted their next mobile device to be touch enabled, which leads me to believe that buying into the touch screen hype and building a terrible user interface is almost as toxic as not making a touch screen model at all. Those with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and HTC devices are the most likely to buy another touch device, while those with Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) touch devices are the least likely to buy a touch screen again. The people most eager to buy a touch screen device? Men between the ages of 22 and 45. The people who least want a finger based touch enabled device? People who currently use stylus based devices.

Which side of the argument do you sit on? I’m still pounding away on buttons with my Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E71.

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ABI Research: Consumers to buy more 3G modems than businesses for the first time

Dusan Belic — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:40:13 +0000

In its latest report, ABI Research argues that consumers will buy more 3G modems than businesses for the first time. The research company anticipates that in 2010, 51% of these modems (mostly USB) will ship into the consumer segment, and by 2014 that percentage is expected to rise to 63%.

ABI continues adding that although notebooks and netbooks will increasingly feature embedded modem modules, penetration will remain slow in the near-term. To prove the point ABI points to 2009 figures when less than 5% of laptops and netbooks has shipped/will ship with embedded modems. However over the long-term, the attachment rates will reach significant levels and in 2014, 48% of laptops and netbooks will come with 3G or 4G data connectivity.

In addition, there’s one important factor that will shape the market in the mid-term – roll-out of mobile WiMAX and LTE networks during 2011 and 2012, which will create demand to upgrade to compatible modems…

Additional details on ABI Research’s report titled “Cellular Modems and Mobile Broadband Connectivity” are available from their website.

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Opera Software: Opera Mini saves consumers $8.1 billion per year in mobile data costs!

Dusan Belic — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:01:33 +0000

Opera Software is out with their monthly “State of the Mobile Web” report and we bring you some cool highlights:

You know Opera Mini works through proxy server that compresses data and sends you the user more bandwidth friendly version of the site. Well, thanks to that compression, Opera Software said that their mobile web browser has saved their users in top ten countries approximately $8.1 billion in mobile data costs! It’s important to note that this survey reflects metered rates only, not flat-rate subscription options.
In September 2009, more than 35.6 million people used Opera Mini, an 11.5% increase from August 2009 and more than 150% compared to September 2008. These people viewed 15 billion pages in the period – 7.2% increase since August and 230% since September of last year. In terms of data usage, September 2009 accounted for nearly 227 million MB of data for operators worldwide.
The top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage are (in order): Russia, Indonesia, India, China, Ukraine, South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Poland and Vietnam.

As usual, you can get the full report from Opera’s website.

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ABI Research: 385 million ultra mobile devices to ship in 2014

Dusan Belic — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:31:02 +0000

ABI Research forecasts that ultra mobile devices (UMD) — which they say include Ultra Mobile PCs, netbooks, MIDs and some other mobile consumer electronics devices — will achieve a 385 million unit size in 2014.

The research company’s senior analyst Jeff Orr says that as uptake continues, developing markets will become the larger opportunity leveraging ARM-based, Linux-powered devices. The premium netbook category will also be established with larger screens and greater choices in connectivity solutions.

Orr also added that pocketable MIDs remain a far more interesting product segment to watch, as the market is still emerging. We have pure tablet-shaped devices, as well as models with sliding keyboards. “However, there is a danger that the MID market will disappear before it gets the chance to mature, as smartphones increase in popularity and mimic most if not all tasks performed by MIDs,” he added.

In addition, ABI says that the lines are blurring between MIDs and smartphones with the addition of voice capabilities. Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s N900 was not surprisingly pointed as a prime example… More information about ABI’s findings is available from their website.

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iPhone Breaks 100,000 Approved Apps

Simon Sage — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:21:08 +0000

A short month after announcing 85,000 apps in the iTunes store, recent metrics are hinting that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has approved over 100,000 applications for the iPhone (although only about 93,000 are currently available for download). All jokes about the proliferation of fart apps aside, the rate of growth and activity in the iPhone’s app market is nothing short of meteoric and has had many other manufacturers scrambling to get their own application stores up and running. While iTunes might be the original, it’s quickly becoming oversaturated; that’s good news for internal competition, but it does have a lot of developers looking to burgeoning on-device markets like webOS, Android, and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) where they’ll have an easier time to make a name for themselves. In any case, good on iPhone for reaching this landmark, and developers, keep ‘em coming.

[via Mashable]

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Study: iPhone Mom demographic could be a lucrative marketing target

Will Park — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:06:53 +0000

Soccer moms, move over, your time is over. It’s time to make room for the “iPhone Mom” – a relatively new demographic made up of female iPhone owners with children. A new survey from Greystripe indicates that the usually slow-to-adopt “mommy” segment has quickly become a significant consumer of mobile content and mobile applications. As a key purchase decision maker in most US households, sometimes the sole decision maker, the iPhone Mom could prove to be the most important demographic to advertisers.

Greystripe found that a typical iPhone Mom is 7% more likely to be African-American, but 5% less likely to be Hispanic, than the typical iPhone user in general. They wield a lot of purchasing-power in their homes – 96% are involved in purchase decisions, with 40% indicating that they alone decide what their family buys. And, these iPhone Moms use their iPhones for a variety of daily activities – 59% let their kids use their iPhone; 79% use their iPhone to keep their daily shopping duties organized, with 60% using it to locate a nearby store; and a healthy 42% of iPhone Moms use their iPhone at the grocery store. To top it all off, they’re an educated bunch – fully 80% of iPhone Moms have completed a an undergrad stint in college.

What do all these numbers mean for the typical iPhone user? Well, if advertisers take this iPhone market analysis to heart, you might soon see in-app and other types of mobile advertising catering to the iPhone Mom segment.

Check out Greystripe’s full report here [PDF link].

[Via: webwire]

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Refuseniks: People who prefer not to have a mobile phone; they’re out there!

Stefan Constantinescu — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:20:29 +0000

A few years ago I would have been stunned at this article in The New York Times about people who choose not to have a mobile phone, but lately I find myself sharing some of their feelings and at times even do the same things they do; turning my mobile phone off for a day, sometimes even an entire weekend. “Refuseniks”, a phrase I was unfamiliar with until today, go without a mobile phone for a variety of reasons. Gregory Han, 34 year old online blogger, says “It’s a luxury not to be reached when I’m out and about”, a statement I agree with wholeheartedly. Then there is Jenna Catsos, a 22 year old college student, who keeps it old school by writing letters to people. She thinks being able to be reached whenever and wherever is “scary”. The most frightening statistic in this article however is a statistic from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that says only 85% of Americans have mobile phones. For such a rich country to have less than 100% penetration rates is absurd.

[Via: Textually]

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Juniper Research: Over half a billion people to use mobile money transfer services by 2014

Dusan Belic — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:38:49 +0000

Juniper Research’s latest report titled “Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances: Markets, Forecasts & Strategies 2009-2014″ argues that the consumer demand for mobile money transfer services will see users exceed 500 million globally by 2014, most of which will come from the developing countries. The reason is simple – for many people living in such markets, a mobile phone will be their first touch with the banking system.

However, Juniper also points out that many of the mobile money services being announced will face political, regulatory or commercial challenges along the way.

Further findings from the report include:

Sophisticated mobile financial services such as loans and savings accounts can add to the attractiveness of mobile money services, and help to reduce mobile operator churn;
Africa & Middle East, Far East & China and the Indian Sub Continent will be the leading regions for national mobile money transfer services in 2014;

More information is available from Juniper Research’s website.

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GSMA Research: Mobile off-grid charging solutions are a $2.3 billion market opportunity

Dusan Belic — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:56:41 +0000

Simu Ya Solar - solar phone launched at Safaricom

A new GSMA report titled “Charging Choices” has revealed a $2.3 billion opportunity in the off-grid charging solutions such as solar phones or external solar chargers in emerging markets. GSMA’s Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme commissioned the research, estimating there are 485 million mobile users without access to the electricity grid. Furthermore, a range of charging choices have been identified — all which could extend service availability and boost average revenues per user by 10-14%.

The research has found a significant interest in off grid solutions, with 60% of mobile operators interviewed already have or are exploring off-grid charging initiatives. However, there is currently only limited understanding about the full scope of options and the associated social and business benefits. Digicel and Safaricom, however, have demonstrated how to do this properly with their eco-friendly offerings… Additional details are available from the official press release.

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ABI Research: Nearly half of US consumers would choose an eco-friendly handset if properly priced

Dusan Belic — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:08:13 +0000

ABI Research has conducted a small survey of 1000 mobile phone users in North America, asking people what they think about “green” handsets and whether they would buy them. Key points identified include:

Approximately 7% of respondents would be willing to pay a premium for an environmentally friendly handset, and
A further 40% would choose a green handset over a conventional one if price, features, and performance were equal.
However, only 4% said they were “very familiar” with green handsets.

ABI argues that although components found in regular and eco-friendly handsets are the same, it is not that easy for manufacturers to fully “go green,” because such a move would involve revamping the whole supply chain and retooling the production process.

Hence, regulation could help. The EU has the most comprehensive regulations in place, which targets the most proactive handset vendors such as Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Samsung, and Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)… Additional details are available in ABI’s special report titled “Green Mobile Devices.”

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Strategy Analytics: Smartphone owners use four to six apps regularly

Dusan Belic — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:43:12 +0000

Despite the fact that many smartphone users download multiple applications to their devices, Strategy Analytics argues that only about four to six applications are consistently used on a regular basis.

The research company surveyed smartphone users in the US and the UK, and has concluded that the iPhone users have downloaded and installed the largest number of applications, but these are not necessarily used on a regular basis. As for the Android users, they seem to remove the apps they don’t use, while those with BlackBerrys keep almost all of the applications they download.

Christopher Dodge, Analyst in the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice, said that “only 57% of all smartphone applications device are being used regularly.” His colleague, Paul Brown, Senior Analyst at the company, added: “Application developers need to ensure that their application is useful, usable and compelling in order to ensure it will be used regularly and not just downloaded, used a couple of times, and then discarded.” We couldn’t agree more.

[Via: CellularNews]

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