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Tag: analysis

  • Report: European Videoconferencing Endpoints Market

    Videoconferencing has proved to be a viable solution for companies that are reducing their travel expenditure, thereby boosting the European videoconferencing endpoints market growth, says Frost & Sullivan.

    New analysis from the research group, European Videoconferencing Endpoints Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $383.6 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $1.03 billion in 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of 18.0 per cent.

    According to Frost & Sullivan, the major growth factors of the videoconferencing endpoints market in Europe include the need for companies to decrease travel expenses, search for alternative ways to meet their workers and clients and the stringent environment policies imposed by the European Parliament.

    Additionally, videoconferencing is stepping up the decision-making process and enhancing teamwork in the more-than-ever dispersed workforce.

    "The videoconferencing endpoints market has been witnessing a slow transformation in the recent years, largely attributed to the introduction of high-quality products, such as high-definition conferencing and telepresence, the market’s shift towards converged audio, video and web conferencing solutions, and integration with other existing collaborative applications," states Iwona Petruczynik, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst.

    However, the report says, the European videoconferencing endpoints market is restrained by several factors. For example, the misconception that videoconferencing services are communications tools used only by large enterprises is hindering the adoption among small and medium businesses.

    Moreover, new communications and collaboration vendors are delivering videoconferencing as a part of a unified solution, creating a one-stop-shop for their customers; however, this is hampering the growth of standalone videoconferencing providers. Poor infrastructure and low bandwidth, especially in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), also have adverse effects on the videoconferencing endpoints market growth.

    "The two main challenges with which the market is constantly battling are – the long-standing belief that videoconferencing is a complicated tool, reserved only for the top level management in large enterprises, and the rise of unified communications (UC), where audio, web, and video-conferencing tools are converging," said Petruczynik.

    Analyst claims that overcoming the first barrier is a constant challenge for vendors. However, with the recession spurring the growth of videoconferencing, these collaboration tools and their benefits have been brought to the fore, especially their increasing ease of use.

    “Videoconferencing vendors should be able to proactively address their clients’ needs and evolve constantly in this market. The trend of shifting towards UC is leading to an increased attention to the adoption and usage of visual collaboration in business,” concluded Petruczynik.

    Related articles
    Goober Introduces New HD Voice and 6-Way Video Conferencing Solution
    Skype Introduces New Monthly Calling Subscriptions and Group Video Chat
    GIPS Enables Video Conferencing with HD Voice to iPhone Developers

  • U.S. Smartphone Market – Only the Strong Will Survive

    According to the recent Canalys Smartphone Analysis, the smart phone market continues to increase as a proportion of the overall mobile phone market in the US.

    Despite a drop in market growth to 6% in Q3 2009, down from 37% in Q2 2009, smart phones represented 26% of all mobile phones shipped in Q3 2009. This is up from 24% in Q2 2009 and will continue to rise in coming quarters.

    The top two smart phone vendors increased their combined market share in Q3 to 76.3%. Research in Motion (RIM) held 48.1% while Apple held 28.2%.

    “Despite what looks like a ‘closed shop’, with continued growth expected in the US smart phone market there is still plenty to play for, and new products are coming thick and fast from the competition,” the report says.

    Four other smartphone platforms in the US market today – Android, Symbian S60, webOS and Windows Mobile – represented only 23.7% of the market in Q3.

    Canalys claims the challenge for the handset vendors on the multivendor platforms is to “differentiate their products, especially as the market gets busier, while also providing competition to Apple and RIM and choice to the consumer.”

    Canalys also thinks that with an increasing number of Android and Windows Mobile devices launching, there can be little, by looking at the specifications, to choose between one and another on the same platform. “A key product differentiator will be seen in the software and the user interface. In short it is all about the user experience, particularly how the user organises their favourite applications, content, messages, people and places,” analysts say.

    Canalys says Verizon needs to fight back against the iPhone’s tremendous success and will be hoping the new Android devices (Motorola’s Droid and HTC’s Droid Eris) will “light up its somewhat uninspiring consumer device portfolio.” Demand for Android devices will be helped by the addition of Google Maps Navigation on Android 2.0.

    Analysts reminds us of the fact that AT&T is the only one of the big four US mobile operators not yet to range an Android device.

    RIM’s US device shipments were up 27.5% in Q3. Around 3.8 million net new subscriber accounts were added worldwide in its fiscal quarter and profits beat analyst expectations. According to Canalys estimates, RIM, with only the Storm, held a 2.2% share of US touch-screen smart phones in Q3 2009. As its entry-level and mid-range (mostly keyboard-based) devices increasingly come up against new touchscreen Android devices, buyers’ appetite for BlackBerry devices will be tested.

    The iPhone remains the leading consumer smart phone in the US. The response to the iPhone 3G S was ‘tremendous’ and ‘very surprising’ according to Apple, so much so that many international markets had limited supply for several weeks.

    Canalys says with each software release the iPhone gets more ‘CIO friendly’. According to Apple, the iPhone is being ‘deployed or piloted’ at more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies and is doing well in higher education institutions and government agencies, though increased device security will still be needed for broad deployment to be considered in government.

    The report shows that US smart phone share of HTC, the leading worldwide manufacturer of Android smart phones, supplying T-Mobile and Vodafone (in EMEA) as well as selling under the HTC brand, has hovered around the 5-7% mark for five quarters.

    “HTC devices are ranged by the big four US mobile operators. These relationships and the installed base of customers it has are crucial to HTC, and Microsoft. From being the first, HTC is now one of many Android device vendors,” says Canalys.

    According to the research group, Motorola “rose from the ashes” of the smart phone market recently with the announcement of the new Android-based smart phones, the CLIQ with T-Mobile and the Droid with Verizon.

    “If the CLIQ and the Droid do anything like as well as the RAZR did it will give Motorola a solid base for 2010. Working on Android means that building its own app store need not be a top priority for Motorola.,” according to Canalys.

    They also think Nokia really needs a big hit in the US (“It has failed to get its most popular Nseries devices ranged by the leading US mobile operators and it has thus far failed to make a significant impression with its Ovi services in the US”), Palm needs the old volumes back (“Mobile operators must be convinced that they can profit from ranging Palm webOS devices. Palm needs their commitment”), and Samsung has lagged in smart phones, although it still leads the overall US mobile phone market and continues to roll out new handsets with all leading mobile operators at a “blistering pace.”

    Canalys notices that there are more vendors planning to launch smart phones in the US in the next few months: Dell, Kyocera Wireless, LG (Android handsets) and Acer (Android and Windows phones).

    “They will all be faced with the same challenges: getting their smart phones ranged by the mobile operators and capturing the imagination of consumers. The mobile operators can only range, subsidise and promote a certain number of devices. As Apple did, new entrants need to come up with something special, and that is no easy feat,” the report concludes.

  • IFA 2009: iSuppli Analyst About HDTV Market

    VIDEO INTREVIEW. This time at IFA 2009 our reporters interviewed Riddhi Patel, the iSuppli analyst. Riddhi is responsible for the television and plasma display panel (PDP) analysis.

    She shared with us her latest discoveries on HDTV market as well as her opinion of the nearest future of LCD technology that has dominated our living rooms.

    She was visiting this year’s Berlin expo looking for some big innovations. Watch the video to check out if she has found anything that took her breath away.

    iSuppli is a market research and consulting firm specialized in the electronics value chain. They provide market intelligence services for the EMS, OEM and supplier communities in addition to servicing consumer electronics and media concerns. /

    iSuppli provides research in multiple areas, including: Automotive, Broadband, Digital Home, Consumer Electronics, Mobile Handset, Displays, Semiconductors, Storage, Wireless Systems and more.

  • Could Savings Ratios Give A Clue To Market Robustness?


    Black Friday has arrived in the US and many retailers are hoping fears of prolonged economic difficulties will not hamper consumers’ appetite for spending – not least for HDTVs.

    Paul Gray, Display Search’s director of European TV research, has added some intriguing analysis to the various predictions about how robust consumer demand is likely to be in key markets in the coming months.

    He examined the correlation between the TV penetration and savings and reckons there is some kind of a link.

    Based on his results, the US and UK markets are the most vulnerable whereas Italy and Germany appear well placed to ride out a recession.

    Describing himself as "stunned" by the findings he said the correlations appeared almost too good to be true.

    "But it does perhaps give a peek into where demand can be expected to be most robust," he said.

    "Clearly Germany and Italy have few sets. If the set fails, the choice is to replace it or read a book instead."

    Gray said that by comparison, the US and UK had enjoyed an Anglo-Saxon credit binge and much of the market is supported by second sets.

    "When times get tough, these will not be replaced, or the impulsive demand for another set will easily be extinguished by tight household budgets," he said.

    "These markets look most vulnerable, and indeed have so many sets in the home that in really tight times a bedroom set could be called into front-line duty if the main set fails."

    Just how accurate his methods are remain to be seen, but there is a certain logic to them – isn’t there?