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  • VIZIO HDTV Sales Boosted By Economic Downturn


    US TV-maker VIZIO remains the largest shipper of LCD HDTVs in North America – with an increased market share as consumers turn to value products.

    Shipments have increased 21.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, which is a 69 per cent increase year over year (YOY), according to iSuppli.

    VIZIO HDTVs are primarily merchandised through retail partners, such as Costco Wholesale, WalMart, Sam’s Club and Target stores.

    VIZIO also experienced quarter over quarter growth with a 46 per cent increase in Full HD 120Hz sets and 19 percent increase in 42" and above size TVs.

    LCD TV unit shipments grew 21 per cent from 1,116,428 in the final quarter of 2008 to 1,351,860 in first quarter 2009.

    When plasma HDTVs were added to the results, VIZIO’s shipping totals came to 1,400,207 TVs for the quarter and will also rank No.1 in US sales of total flat panel HDTVs.

    Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems, for iSuppli, said that due to its aggressive pricing, VIZIO for some time has maintained its position as North America’s top-selling LCD TV value brand.

    "However, since the onset of the economic downturn, VIZIO’s share has risen dramatically," he said.

  • VUDU Partners Brightcove For Ad-Supported STB content


    VUDU has agreed a partnership with online video platform Brightcove that will allow its customers to distribute their content directly to the living room television via VUDU.

    The first feature available in the VUDU Labs area of the VUDU service will be the MyPlay application, which offers current Sony Music videos through Sony Music’s MyPlay Video Network affiliate program.

    Edward Lichty, executive vice president of strategy and content for VUDU, said that for the first time, content owners can make all of their online video available on the television without changing their monetization strategy.

    He said the partnership supports multiple advertising platforms, allowing Brightcove customers to maintain their existing online video monetization strategy and infrastructure while expanding their distribution reach to the television.

    VUDU is the first partner to support Brightcove-powered, ad-supported content distribution on a set-top-box.

    "Through our integration with Brightcove’s online video platform, we are combining the selection and control of the online video experience with the visual richness and lean-back satisfaction of the television experience," he said.

    Chris Johnston, director of technology partnership at Brightcove, said it had been challenging to expand online video distribution beyond websites to the living room.

    "The partnership announced today with VUDU is a significant step forward for media businesses that want to centrally manage distribution and monetization across the Web while also taking advantage of the high-quality TV experience VUDU enables," he said.

    The integration with Brightcove utilizes VUDU’s Rich Internet Applications (RIA) platform to add on-demand video to the VUDU service by enabling ad-supported content.

    RIA enables VUDU to support dynamic ad logic and live ad calls to content owners’ existing advertising platforms.

    Content owners retain complete control over their advertising inventory.

  • Epix Network Offers HD Movie Streaming Service


    Epix plans to offer full-length HD movies over the Internet using a dynamic-streaming feature from Akamai Technologies’ content-distribution network.

    The movie service, created by Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate, previously said it was launching as a broadband-video service in May, followed by the linear cable channel in October.

    Akamai will provide the dynamic-streaming feature through Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5.

    This allows video playback to adapt to the capabilities of users’ computers – adjusting the bit rate of the video stream according to processor speeds and Internet connections.

    Epix chief digital officer, Emil Rensing, said it intends to provide new releases, catalog titles and original content over a variety of platforms, including TV, computers and mobile devices.

    Epix has not announced carriage agreements with pay-TV providers.

    "The Epix model of commercial-free, uninterrupted current Hollywood movies will set a new online content bar," he said.

    "Akamai’s dynamic streaming solution enables us to be one of the first to provide the accessibility, quality and convenience which today’s digital consumers desire."

    Epix’s titles are expected to include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Cloverfield, Defiance, Drillbit Taylor, The Duchess, How She Move, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man.

    The service will also have the rights to all 17 remastered James Bond movies, as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

    Akamai and Adobe expect the solution to be commercially available before the end of June.

  • Rising Demand For VoIP Tied To Bundled Packages


    A growing number of UK broadband users plan to start using VoIP in their homes, according to research.

    The study by consultancy Booz and Company found that 44 per cent of consumers plan to use VoIP in the next six months.

    It also showed that 45 per cent of respondents want to bundle their communications packages to include telephone, broadband and television.

    John Ward, principal in Booz and Company’s UK CMT practice, said the recession is revealing characteristics about consumers that operators can capitalise on.

    He said that the successful service providers will be the ones that offer the most innovative ways of purchasing telecoms and media services.

    Other research in the UK found that very few broadband users in the UK switch their service provider in order to get the most affordable package.

    Comparison website Consumer Choices reported that just ten per cent of broadband users switched their service in 2008 for a better deal.

  • T-Mobile Germany Back-Tracks on N97 VoIP Strategy


    T-Mobile Germany is reconsidering its VoIP strategy as a rival carrier works on special VoIP plans.

    The change of heart is in sharp contrast to T-Mobile’s threat to cut off VoIP users – both physically and contractually – after Skype announced the release of its iPhone app in March.

    The carrier is considering ways of dealing with VoIP – which could include VoIP-specific monthly plans.

    It comes as Vodafone Germany is reported to be considering offering special VoIP plans.

    T-Mobile Germany is to launch Nokia’s flagship smartphone the N97 this summer but Skype will not be pre-loaded on the device.

    This is despite Nokia having a deal to preload the VoIP client on to the new devices.

    The carrier has now said that it will be up to subscribers to decide if they want the app.

    Those that do will be able to download it to their VoiP compatible N97s.

    It certainly seems as though T-Mobile Germany has paid attention to consumer displeasure following its initial outburst.

  • FCC Slashes Number Porting Delay To 1 Day


    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US has cut the time allowed for wireline, mobile and certain VoIP providers to transfer a customer’s existing telephone number to a new provider from four to one business day.

    The move will make it easier for consumers to switch voice service providers.

    Delays in number porting cost consumers money and hamper the selection of providers based solely on price, quality and service.

    Now the FCC is requiring all providers – with the exception of small carriers – to implement the new number porting interval within nine months from the time the Commission receives key input from the North American Numbering Council (NANC).

    This is due 90 days after the effective date of the order.

    Small carriers have 15 months after the NANC recommendation to implement the new interval.

    In a second order, the FCC expanded consumer protections for customers of interconnected VoIP providers.

    Interconnected VoIP providers are those whose customers can place calls to and receive calls from the public telephone network.

    These providers are now required to notify customers before they discontinue, reduce or impair service, as conventional providers currently must do.

  • App Store Growth Risks Confusing Consumers

    INTERVIEW: Mark Newman, Chief Research Officer at analyst house Informa, talks about some of the latest trends affecting the mobile voice and data markets.

    Speaking in advance of his address to the Insights’09 conference next month in Lisbon, he discusses the impact of the iPhone, the rush to open app stores and carriers’ attitude to mobile VoIP.

    There is no doubt the phenomenal success of Apple’s App Store has been the spur for other handset makers and carriers to open similar ventures.

    The rush to download software to the iPhone has led to Nokia, Google, Microsoft, Palm and RIM, and operators like Vodafone, announcing their own versions of online mobile application stores.

    But while these will give consumers incredible choice Mark Newman, Chief Research Officer at analyst house Informa, said the proliferation of app stores might also lead to confusion.

    "It’s going to become a complete nightmare for the consumer," he said. "Already they have to make a decison about which device and which operating system, now they also have to decide which app store.

    "It’s unclear today if you buy a high-end Nokia device, with Vodafone as the operator and running the Symbian operating system, which app store you will first get access to."

    Newman said he believed there would be "massive fragmentation" since operators supporting hundreds of different handsets were not going to make all applications available on every handset.

    Mark Newman, Informa

    But he said mobile operators were keen to tap the lucrative app market because they realised that in the long-term new revenue-earning services are needed if they weren’t to become simply "dumb pipes".

    "Here we have a brand new market created by Apple. The operators are not going to allow Apple to secure that for themselves," he said.

    Newman is speaking at the Insights’09 conference next month in Lisbon, Portugal, an event covering a range of themes related to the global mobile market.

    He will be talking about the latest voice and data mobile trends on a global and regional scale.

    Mobile Has Become Indispensible

    In an interview with smartphone.biz-news, the analyst said there is no doubt that the mobile industry is being affected by the global recession.

    But he said that the financial results seen so far from the operators suggest that it is more robust than many other sectors.

    "The mobile phone is no longer a discretionary spend," he said. "It’s something we need for our everyday lives.

    "There are examples of people economising in their bills – but not as much as thought."

    Newman said a glance at any "high street" in any country around the world would reveal the dynamic and fast-changing nature of the mobile phone.

    He said this applied as much to the hardware – the handsets – as to the software and mobile applications.

    "In any country we will have 3-10 mobile operators, often fighting very aggressively to win market share," he said. "The winner tends to be the consumer."

    Newman said there had been two big new trends in mobile industry in the last couple of years.

    Mobile Broadband: Success and Challenge

    The first was mobile broadband, which allows laptops to be connected through the mobile network.

    He said that while the industry had been reasonably optimistic about the success of this service, operators have been surprised at how quickly it has grown.

    "Now it is a very big market and in many places is outselling fixed broadband," he said. "This brings new revenues for the operators but it also brings about major challenges for them as well.

    "Data services use up a lot more bandwidth than mobile voice services, so the operators are having to invest heavily to ensure support for data requirements."

    Newman said the evidence so far was that mobile broadband use was not dissimilar to that for fixed – with a lot of P2P traffic, which sucked up bandwidth.

    "What the mobile operators do not like is consumers paying a flat rate for services," he said. "They will think of ways around this."

    iPhone Sets the Pace

    Newman said the second big change to impact heavily on the mobile industry in the last couple of years has been the iPhone.

    He said the Apple handset’s success has had a profound effect – both on mobile operators and handset manufacturers.

    "If you look at its recent history – the last six months – it has moved from being an iconic handset in terms of its design, but it is the first example of a handheld device that people can use for basic internet connectivity," he said.

    "It is very exciting for a huge number of people and has opened up new services and possibilities."

    Newman said making internet connectivity mobile – and not just something you did from home – created the potential for a raft of features, not least the ability to use smartphones’ location capabilities to design new applications.

    While the iPhone is oriented towards the top end of the market, Newman said the fact it had been so succesful meant it was now being marketed to the broader consumer market.

    "It’s quite likely that Apple will introduce some low-priced offering," he said. "Which will be a threat to the likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung."

    Posturing For Position

    Apple has also shown its ability to generate revenue through its app store and when it came to consumers paying for mobile applications, Newman said this has been well managed through the iTunes Store.

    He said having billing capacity was one factor that operators have in their favour, but it was unclear what payment mechanism Nokia, for example, was intending to use.

    "Nokia would like people to buy a Nokia device and be billed by Nokia," he said. "But the operators want revenue share from Nokia."

    Newman said that as a result, the industry is currently experiencing the early stages of posturing between players to determine how this very lucrative new market is going to be handled and divided up.

    He didn’t expect the outcome of this to be known for two to three years.

    "It’s not clear who will win," he said. "In the short-term it will be confined to high-end devices.

    "But that’s going to start to change as handset makers bring down the price of phones with internet capability."

    Newman said the issue was much simpler with Apple, since it had one device and a strong brand in the market.

    He said this meant Apple was in the "enviable position" of having the leverage to more easily dictate the terms of deals with operators.
    "Apple will keep that advantage," he added.

    As for Apple’s competitors, Newman believes Android will be a force to be reckoned with even if the early devices supporting its OS have not been as attractive as hoped.

    He said RIM’s Blackberrys and Palm’s soon-to-be launched Pre will both see demand for applications but not on anything like the scale of the iPhone.

    Mobile VoIP Not in Carriers’ Interests

    One area where Newman doesn’t see operators backing down is on the issue of Voice-over-IP (VoIP).

    While carrier 3UK recently launched a SIM card that allows users to make Skype calls for free, it stands out among mobile operators who have largely sought to block VoIP use over their networks.

    He describes 3UK’s position as unique and doubts if any other operators will follow its lead.

    "3UK is a group that entered the European market quite recently," he said. "They have come into a crowded market as the fourth or fifth operator and have the disadvantage of adding spectrum at high frequencies.

    "It’s not desperation – that’s harsh. But 3 has to offer something that’s different. They are using Skype largely as a marketing strategy in order to win customers from their competitors."

    Newman said that if any other operator took this approach it would simply be to stand out in a crowded market.

    "I can not see why it would be in an operator’s interests to allow VoIP," he said. "Eighty per cent of their revenues are voice, so there is really little or no motivation to allow VoIP."

    In the future, however, Newman said the roll out of next-generation LTE and the fact they were going to be All IP Networks meant it would be more difficult for operators to stop subscribers using VoIP.

    "Because of that we are seeing a lot of operators investing in technology that allows them to see different types of VoIP applications," he said.

    Newman said this raises the possibility of operators charging by VoIP type, with users being able to pay for the "privilege" of using VoIP.

    New Entrants

    If the dynamic nature of the mobile industry is causing carriers to feel the heat, consider also the situation with handset manufacturers.

    Recently, a number of companies whose heritage is in the PC space have either entered, or shown a desire to enter, the smartphone market – most notably Acer, HP and Dell.

    Newman said this was significant because of their access to low-cost manufacturing bases in the Asia Pacific region and their ability to share components, such as screens, across devices and industries.

    Consequently some of the traditional handset makers will be put under pressure over the next three to five years.

    He said this would result in some leading brand names’ market position being seriously transformed in much the same way that Sony Ericsson has moved from a position of great strength to one of weakness.

    Mark Newman will be speaking at the Insights’09 conference being held on 8-10 June in Lisbon, Portugal
    Click here for more information.

  • Wireless Makes ZTE Fastest Growing Telecom Maker


    ZTE was the fastest growing telecom equipment maker and solutions provider in 2008, according to a report by research firm IDC. The report was based on 2008 earnings.

    Driving the growth is the company’s wireless business, which grew 20 per cent year-over-year.

    This part of ZTE’s operations, which includes sales of infrastructure, handsets, software and services and other wireless-related items, amounted to 38.5 per cent of the company’s total revenues.

    ZTE’s full year net profit jumped by 32.5 per cent to USD $239 million and revenue rose 27.4 per cent to USD $6.4 billion.

    The company has made it clear it intends to push deeper into the US handset market – currently the company currently sells phones mainly through MetroPCS – but it has still to sign many infrastructure deals.

    Its Chinese counterpart, however, the privately held Huawei, has made progress in that area.

    Huawei won a contract to provide the infrastructure for Cox Communications’ 3G CDMA network and is reportedly one of the three infrastructure companies AT&T has short-listed for its trial of LTE technology.

    Yin Yimin, president of ZTE Corporation, said the IDC result showed ZTE’s commitment to spearheading R&D initiatives, coupled with its determination to innovate and introduce high quality telecom equipment solutions, is paying off.

    "With a strong global workforce ready to provide the best technical support to our customers, we believe ZTE will remain a key player in the highly competitive telecom market in the years ahead," he said.

  • Clearwire and Cisco Team Up To Deliver WiMAX Network


    Clearwire Corp has agreed a deal with Cisco Systems that makes it the main supplier of new mobile business and WiMAX devices for the CLEAR 4G mobile WiMAX service.

    The high-speed wireless network is still being built – Clearwire currently only offers service in Baltimore and Portland.

    But nine further markets are due to be launched this year and up to 80 markets by the end of 2010.

    The companies said that as part of their multiyear agreement, Clearwire has selected Cisco as its supplier of Internet equipment on a national basis.

    Cisco is to build devices for Clearwire’s WiMax network targeted at consumers, small offices and home offices as well as small and medium-sized business and plans to introduce its first WiMax device later this year.

    Scott Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer at Clearwire, said the agreement with Cisco would result in a robust and cost-efficient next-generation network designed specifically for delivering rich broadband services.

    "In addition, Cisco plans to develop WiMAX technology for end-user devices, which will give consumers and businesses more compelling ways to stay connected through our CLEAR 4G service," he said.

  • Sony Launches Coin-Sized HD Camera


    Sony has developed a coin-sized high-def camera module that can be used for security and industrial applications.

    The 8.3-megapixel camera, which measures just 9.5 x 7.1mm, is capable of delivering 720p, 30fps video.

    Called the MCB1172, the device from Sony Europe’s Image Sensing Solutions Division includes movie stabilisation, face detection, autofocus and motion autofocus.

    It also boasts a high sensitivity mode and a slow-mo function, delivering 120fps as well as the option of 16x zoom.

    Sony says it the HD camera is available now for mass production and products with the module are expected to reach business markets later this year.