Business News Holding

Tag: market-data

  • Survey Reveals Mobile Users Prefer Voice Over IP

    A study conducted by BroadSoft revealed greater than 2/3 of mobile device users showed a preference for voice over IP or UC services and regarded it the most worthwhile application. BroadSoft surveyed 700 people who work in assorted industries located in Sweden, Spain, and in the United States.

    The primary issue users had with communication was lack of speed at 78%. The next two issues were finding and contacting a person (68%) and email problems (58%). Other issues users experienced included travel interruptions, internal meetings, and telecom problems.

    The survey found that users of voice over IP preferred internet collaboration, instant messaging, and mobile incorporation. Leslie Ferry, vice president of marketing for BroadSoft concluded operators of mobile devices are in a better position to make their investments earn them the most profit quicker in LTE networks and they can furnish users with excellent service business users need regardless of location and device. This is because of the greater revenue produced by each user through UC services.

    A white paper issued by BroadSoft indicated there are still professional employees who communicate with smartphones and laptops more than desktop computers. Other professional employees still communicate with desktops and standard telephones perhaps because of limited finances. Desktop computers are among the most used deice for communication proceeding laptops and office telephones. Desk tops and office phones tied as a commonly used communication device for the health industry.

    Other studies and BroadSoft agreed with other studies that observed the developing enterprise adaptation of UC services. The study also concluded that a lack of UC applications may cause a 'production gap' amid employees onsite and mobile device users of nearly 2.5 hours weekly. The trend of voice over IP and other UC services will proceed to expand as employees continue to take their mobile devices to work and more services for mobile communications are provided by UC vendors. Vendors will need to stay ahead of trends.

  • Mobile Phone Sales Fell in 2012 While Smartphones Thrived

    Half of last year, the research and market analysis company Gartner warned that sales of handsets are in decline, the final report for last year, which was published today, confirming the trend observed in August.

    The unfavorable economic climate that people from Gartner blame for this negative trend, has affected the sales figure for mobile phones. Producers managed to sell 1.75 billion pieces, a 1.7 percent decrease compared to performances recorded in 2011.

    The least demanded products were the featurephones, in the last three months they managing to attract only 264.4 million customers, a figure that marks a sharp drop of 19.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

    In the same three months of last year, smartphone sales reached a record level, the 207.7 million units representing a jump of 38.3 percent compared to the last quarter of 2011. In 2013, Gartner estimates that sales of smartphones will reach one billion and the entire mobile phone market will recover and reach a figure of approximately 1.9 billion pieces.

    Rivals Samsung and Apple have captured 52 percent of the market. South Koreans last year sold 386.4 million mobile phones, of which 53.3% were smartphones, while Apple, which is only selling smartphones, has sold 130 million handsets, an increase of 22 percent from 2011.

    According to Gartner, the Android platform has captured nearly 70 percent of smartphone market in the last quarter, followed by the iOS, down nearly 3 percent, BlackBerry OS, also in decrease, and Windows Phone, which managed to reach a modest market share of only 3 percent, but which represents almost double compared to the situation in late 2011.

  • Samsung Galaxy S Range Sells Over 100 Million Copies

    Samsung has announced in a post on the official blog the number of over 100 million Galaxy S terminals sold.

    It all started two and a half years ago with the Samsung Galaxy S, top of the range at that time and a quite controversial terminal. It was cited often in the Apple-Samsung trial in the United States. From then until now, the No. 1 mobile phone manufacturer in the world sold over 100 million units of Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III. The latter two models were able to sell each in an impressive number of 40 million units. It is possible that in the total figure to be included the supplies of Galaxy S Plus and Galaxy S III Mini, but the percentage is small.

    The most successful Galaxy smartphone is Galaxy S III, which, according to Samsung officials, at this moment sells about 190,000 units per day.

    Samsung Galaxy S III combines advanced technology developed by Google with high-end components. Thus, users of this top smartphone benefit from the experience offered by the 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, with 720p HD resolution, supported by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor.

    With such popularity, the next Samsung Galaxy S is already in the top of terminals expected this year. We’d dare to say that the interest in the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 is significantly lower. Apple has already provided a significant upgrade to the iPhone 5 and the next model could be a sort of facelift. As for the Samsung Galaxy S IV, it is expected even in this spring, with a 5-inch full HD screen. It seems that the “phablets” are on a roll and Samsung cannot get out of the trend.

    South Korean company will announce at the end of this month the quarterly earnings recorded in Q4 2012.

  • Hulu in 2012: $695M Revenue, 3M Paying Subscribers

    2012 has been a huge year for Hulu. The following article will go over the progress the company made over the past year, its current and future expansion plans and also what is in store for Hulu in the upcoming years.

    Hulu Revenue Update

    In the year 2012 Hulu earned $695 million dollars in revenue. This number represents a 65% growth in revenue over the past five years, which is high for general industry as well as tech companies.

    New Subscriber Numbers

    Hulu has expanded its subscriber base substantially in 2012, with around three million current users. These Hulu Plus subscribers represent users that pay to access Hulu and represent a revenue stream separate from the company's advertising based revenue model.

    How Has Hulu Content Changed in 2012?

    2012 has brought a plethora of new content to Hulu streaming video service. Total titles available have grown by 40% and much of the new content comes from premium, established media companies like Viacom, CBS, and World Wrestling Entertainment. The content additions have done a great deal to make Hulu more competitive with other streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

    Hulu Advertising Changes in 2012

    This fiscal year has brought a large increase in the number of advertisers who work with Hulu. In 2012 Huku has worked with over a thousand different advertising firms which represents a 28% increase over the same advertising partnerships from one year ago. Not only are advertisers who work with Hulu becoming more diverse, they are being drawn to the company by the ability to effectively target an audience and reduce the amount of wasted commercial impressions.

    One big project that Hulu will be focusing on in 2013 will be to expand into the Japanese market with special Japan-only programming and production of domestic Japanese shows for usage on the Hulu Japan site. This expansion combined with the solid revenue and content numbers bodes well for the future of Hulu in the online content streaming industry.

  • Mobile UC Deployment the Key to Higher Productivity, Says Survey

    Adding mobile technology to a Unified Communications strategy could allow the average business to recover $5,500 per employee per annum in lost productivity.

    Webtorials has collected survey responses from 200 people employed at companies which have over 500 employees, most of which are located in the United States. The survey, which was commissioned by the SIP communications company Sonus Networks, has some results that will interest business owners.

    Only one-quarter of the businesses surveyed stated that the saturation of Mobile UC in their workforce was intermediate, while another quarter said they were just starting to deploy the new technology. Another twenty-one percent said they had limited deployment of Mobile UC.

    With this technology only effectively deployed in around one-third of the businesses surveyed by Webtorials, there is a lot of room for improvement. The technology allows employees to communicate with each other on different mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, and can therefore boost employee productivity significantly.

    The report also stated that the shortfall in the widespread adoption of offsite UC capability could promote the development of a "productivity gap" between remote workers and onsite workers. This leads to a loss of around 2.5 hours per week per employee, a significant waste in productivity. Mobile UC allows enterprises to recover around $5,500 per annum in lost productivity.

    The use of smartphones and tablets at work is now widespread. According to the survey, two-thirds of knowledge workers in enterprise use their mobile devices at least one-quarter of the time.

    Steve Taylor, editor-in-chief of Webtorials, highlights the importance of this new technology, stating that mobility and flexibility is the key to the UC conundrum, especially for large enterprises. "Enterprises must push their Unified Communications capabilities beyond the office walls if they wish to get the maximum return on investment from their technology investments and the employees who use them."

    Wes Durow, the vice president of global marketing at Sonus, added: "Enabling mobility across the enterprise should be the first consideration as companies plan their UC deployments and that means having a robust, open-standard, SIP-based communications architecture in place that can support employees no matter where they are or what device they use."

  • Half the World's Smartphones are Delivered by Samsung and Apple

    A few days after the rival Apple announced its less spectacular results, it is time for Samsung to disclose the official figures of the financial performance in the second quarter, and they are pretty impressive.

    Mobile market grew by only 1% in the second quarter of 2012, compared with 2011, and the giants Samsung and Apple have delivered almost half of the smartphones in the world, according to a recent IDC study.

    The two companies have doubled their market share over the past two years distanced themselves more and more from the competition, but at the same time has also increased the advantage of those from Samsung from the Cupertino-based company.

    Thus, in chapter smartphones, Samsung's market share in the second quarter was 32.6% , while of those from Apple was 16.9%. Samsung has also managed to achieve deliveries of 50.2 million units during this period.

    However, we must take into account the fact that Samsung has already launched the model that counts the most in this year, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple's iPhone 5 will likely see the light of the day later this year, with a market share of 6.6% and shipments of 10.1 million units, followed by HTC, with 5.7% and 8.8 million units sold.

    In total, global deliveries in the second quarter of 2012 have reached the impressive figure of 153.9 million smartphones, according to the same study conducted by the IDC.

    Samsung, Apple and Nokia are the top three producers with the most smartphones sold, but the surprise is ZTE, which climbed up to the fifth place in this ranking, with an increase of 300%.

  • Nielsen: Android Leads the Market Share in USA

    Android operating system seems to win the battle over iOS, at least in the American market share. At least, that's what a latest research says.

    According to Nielsen's research, 51.8 % of US users that own a smartphone are choosing Android as their operating system. Apple comes second with the 34.3% of the market share, while RIM by Blackberry is third with 8.1% of the market share. Although the figures might be surprising for some of you, in fact they shouldn't be.

    We all know that iPhones dominate in the industry, but we also know that Android is a big competitor. Although their constant battle does not always have a clear winner, in this case the numbers can be justified by the fact that Android is used by many smartphone brands. Also, the fact that Android smartphones are cheaper, at least statistically, than the iPhones, makes users prefer the cost-effective choice. Android's percentage of market share consists of Samsung, HTC, Motorola and other smartphones.

    On the contrary, when we are referring to iOS, we know that it's only iPhone that includes the specific operating system. Despite its higher price, iPhone is still in high esteem and that's why the stand-alone percentage of 34% should not be underestimated.

    After all, times are changing and we are not sure whether the numbers will be the same by the end of the year. We might not be able to predict the winner, and whether it will be a clear victory, but we can tell that the release of Apple's new iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S III will affect the current graph.

  • iPhone Revenue Hits $150 Billion in 5 Years

    Apple iPhones have had a resounding success since launch, having generating huge revenues for the Cupertino-based company over the time.

    With an estimated volume of 250 million iPhones sold over 5 years, Apple rose among the most profitable and valuable companies in the world, managing to collect, with this range of products only, revenues that currently exceed $ 150 billion. However, from the equation are excluded accessories, software and other services, which together generated between 3% and 5% of quarterly revenues associated with Apple’s iPhones.

    However, the spectacular success enjoyed by Apple in the last five years is not a guarantee for the future. According to Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, there are already appearing signs announcing a more difficult progress for the iPhone range.

    "Some mobile operators are becoming concerned about the high level of subsidies they spend on the iPhone, while Samsung is expanding its popular Galaxy portfolio and providing Apple with more credible competition,” Shah told CNET.

    According to him, mobile operators’ concerns are based on economic reasons. Shah gave an example where an iPhone priced at $ 600, then offered through a two-year subscription contract at $ 299 or even $ 199, the difference of $ 300 – $ 400 from the original price is supported at the expense of mobile operators. Aware of the sales power they hold, those from Apple are willing to negotiate for a lower price.

    The story is radically different when it comes to popular Android terminals such as HTC One X or the Galaxy S3 from Samsung. Taking as example the Galaxy S3, with starting price set initially at $ 500 – $ 550, mobile operators have managed to negotiate discounts at $ 400 or even less, considerably shortening the time required to recover the investment in the payment of contracted subscriptions. "The Galaxy S3 subsidy is considerably lower," Shah told CNET, also adding that this might convince phone operators to think twice before working with Apple.

    However, there are some doubts about the ability of operators to make things right. Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said that most mobile operators are contractually obliged to provide certain subsidies, and these contracts will remain in force for at least several years. Even worse is that all these contracts will expire simultaneously, virtually excluding any possibility that the large operators to ally against Apple, seeking more favorable conditions for subsidizing products.

    Helped by favorable contracts and the popularity enjoyed by its products, Apple is likely to achieve record revenues in the years to come, even if the competition comes with products that are reaching a level that can be considered convincing alternatives.

  • Mobile Payments: Increasingly Popular!

    Total value of mobile payment transaction will exceed $171.5 billion worldwide in 2012, meaning an increase of 61.9% compared to 2011, according to the latest figures provided by the consulting company Gartner.

    Total value of payments made with mobile devices will amount to $105.9 billion, while the number of users will reach to 212,200,000 in 2012 from 160,500,000 users in 2011.

    Company specialists expect the overall volume of mobile transactions and the average annual growth to be around 42 percent between 2011 and 2016, estimating a market worth $ 617 billion, with 448 million users by 2016. Sandy Shen, Research Director at Gartner, says that this growth will bring new opportunities for service and solutions providers that will have to respond to local requests to customize their offers.

    Mobile payment market will experience different fragmented services and solutions for the next two years. Technology providers will have to adjust their solutions for the local markets using different access technologies, business models and partnerships, under different regulatory conditions.

    The SMS remains the dominant technology access in developing markets because of constraints on different types of mobile and the easiness in using SMS.

    Web / WAP access is the preferred technology for North America and Western Europe as mobile Internet is commonly available and enabled on users’ devices. Gartner expects that by 2016 account access by Web / WAP to be active for about 88% of transactions in North America and 80 percent in Western Europe.

    Near Field Communication (NFC) transactions will remain relatively low until 2015, although the growth level will begin to increase starting from 2016.

  • Top 10 Activities of the New Smartphone Users

    A recent study by Ericsson ConsumerLab points out 10 of the most common activities of a new smartphone user.

    In the order of popularity, the new smartphone users inaugurate the device by installing check-in applications like Foursquare, in order to let friends know their location. The next activity is installing navigation applications that provide maps and traffic information, applications that enable them to watch TV on the Internet, watch movies, or play online.

    On the sixth place are ranked the applications that allow users to watch videos live on the Internet, followed by applications that enable them to access social networking games, to use Twitter and read or write on blogs.

    In addition, 69% of respondents recognized that use applications to access the Internet on a daily basis, and 20% of them use every day large data traffic services, such as video and TV applications, maps and navigation.

    The study was conducted on markets in India, Brazil and Russia, where the use of applications is different from the model seen on developed markets. For example, two out of five users are visiting rarely or never the official platforms that markets applications and download, instead, applications from third party websites or forums. Almost half of users have firstly downloaded applications on computer and then transferred them to the smartphone.

    "These figures reveal strong interest in apps that enable consumers to deal with daily challenges and interact with people, places and things in their urban surroundings. We believe that, "Smartphones and apps will be key in transforming everyday life for people in high growth markets going forward into the Networked Society", said Jasmeet Singh Sethi, Senior Specialist at Ericsson ConsumerLab.