Monday, November 29, 2010
Redpoint Ventures on Future of Cloud Computing
Redpoint Ventures exec talks about software as a service, cloud investments, the big impact of Amazon on startup economics and mobility.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
AT&T, Sprint Target Over-50 Texters
As growth in voice revenue slows, carriers are pushing data services and the over-50 market is largely untapped. Forty-two percent of Americans 50 or older sent any texts in a given month last quarter, compared with 85 percent for 13- to 34-year-olds, according to ComScore Inc.
“It’s a very attractive market for us,” said Michael Woodward, vice president of AT&T’s mobile-phone portfolio. “The opportunity has been to improve the rate at which people are attaching data plans and that starts with texting.”
To reach the older market, wireless carriers are offering lessons in how to text, introducing phones with oversized buttons and fine-tuning their marketing strategies. AT&T has boosted its advertising in media that draw older generations, including the AARP magazine from the over-50 advocacy group and the “Dancing With the Stars” series on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC.
“It’s a very attractive market for us,” said Michael Woodward, vice president of AT&T’s mobile-phone portfolio. “The opportunity has been to improve the rate at which people are attaching data plans and that starts with texting.”
To reach the older market, wireless carriers are offering lessons in how to text, introducing phones with oversized buttons and fine-tuning their marketing strategies. AT&T has boosted its advertising in media that draw older generations, including the AARP magazine from the over-50 advocacy group and the “Dancing With the Stars” series on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Cloud Computing Gets Traction in Asia-Pacific Region
Close to 25 percent of Asia Pacific enterprises use some form of cloud computing, says Frost & Sullivan after a survey of Asia Pacific senior IT decision makers.
More than 50 percent of the survey respondents believe that cloud computing technology can help businesses reduce their infrastructure cost and lowers capital expenditure investment compared with traditional IT management.
About 23 percent of the respondents indicated using some form of cloud computing now, while 61 percent of the respondents are likely to increase their cloud computing spending in 2011.
About 23 percent of the respondents indicated using some form of cloud computing now, while 61 percent of the respondents are likely to increase their cloud computing spending in 2011.
IBM, Google and Microsoft had the highest mindshare in the public cloud computing space while IBM, HP and EMC/VMware were the top mindshare garners in the private cloud space.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Generation Y Chooses the Mobile Web
Most 18 to 27 year-old Opera Mini users use their mobile phones to browse the Web more often than they use a desktop or laptop computer for the same purpose, according to the results from a survey released today by Opera, the web browser company.
In Nigeria, South Africa, and Indonesia, over 90 percent of Millennial-age users said they use their mobile phones more than desktop or laptop computers to access the Internet.
The findings are published in Opera's State of the Mobile Web report. The full report is available from http://www.opera.com/smw/.
In Nigeria, South Africa, and Indonesia, over 90 percent of Millennial-age users said they use their mobile phones more than desktop or laptop computers to access the Internet.
Looking at the top handsets used by Opera Mini users in those countries, we notice fewer smartphones (compared to the Poland, Germany, the United States, and Brazil). This result challenges to the long-standing belief that smartphone uptake will be the major driver of mobile web usage globally.
The findings are published in Opera's State of the Mobile Web report. The full report is available from http://www.opera.com/smw/.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Mobile eBay Purchases Up 30% This Year
On "Black Friday" of 2010 (the day after Thanksgiving), eBay saw a 30 percent increase in mobile bidding activity, compared to 2009 levels. And since the launch of its first mobile application in July 2008, nearly 30 million items have been bought or sold using eBay mobile apps around the world.
Globally, eBay mobile is on track to nearly triple its sales over last year and is expected to bring in well over $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
3rd Quarter Rough for U.K. Consumer Services, Worse Expected for 4th Quarter
The value and volume of consumer services sold in the United Kingdom fell unexpectedly during the third quarter of 2010, the CBI Service Sector Survey, published by the Confederation of British Industry, reports.
Of those businesses surveyed, 30 percent said the value of consumer services sold rose and 38 percent said it fell, giving a balance of minus-eight percent. That was weaker than the modest growth that had been expected (eight percent).
Looking at the volume of business, 23 percent of respondents reported a rise, and 41 percent a drop, giving a balance of -18 percent. That too was weaker than expected (nine percent). In the next three months, consumer services firms expect business values (minus-eight percent) and volumes (-20 percent) to contract further.
The latest quarterly CBI Service Sector Survey was conducted between 27 October and 10 November, and covered 169 service sector firms. They are divided into Business & Professional Services, such as accountancy, legal and marketing firms, and Consumer Services, such as hotels, bars and restaurants, travel and leisure.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Telstra Structural Separation Moves Ahead
Telstra will be structurally separated into wholesale network services and retail businesses as part of new legislation related to creation of a new National Broadband Network for Australia. As part of the new law, Telstra will sell its fixed-line access assets to the NBN as well.
Many practical details remain to be ironed out, and it is too early to make a firm judgment about how the structural separation will affect Telstra's market and financial position. But the separation ought to provide some evidence, over time, of how important "network ownership" is for a major tier one telco.
Generally speaking, most executives of tier one service providers continue to believe that access network ownership confers business advantage. Ownership means service providers can create more advanced facilities on their own accord, without the restriction of leasing only such capabilities as a third party might be willing and able to supply. Comcast is free to create and sell 50 Mbps broadband access connections whenever it wishes to, because it does not have to rely on a third party to create such features. Wireless providers can upgrade to fourth-generation networks on their own schedule, rather than waiting for third parties to build such networks.
Also, to the extent that a single network can be used to support multiple services (the whole idea between IP networks), ownership of a broadband access network allows creation and offering of many complementary services ranging from voice to entertainment video, business services and conferencing, for example.
Smaller competitors, on the other hand, frequently deem widespread wholesale access to be the underpinning for their business operations, since they cannot afford to build their own access networks on a widespread basis.
So at least in principle, the coming NBN ought to allow many more retail service providers to try and grab some share of the consumer and smaller business markets. In principle, that should lead to Telstra having less overall market share.
In June 2010 Telstra's share of the total Australian communications market was just over 60 percent, but virtually all observers expect Telstra's share to decline in 2011 and 2012.
Optus is perhaps the major contestant Telstra faces, as Optus has market share between 21 percent and 22 percent. Vodafone and Hutchison have merged their Australian businesses and could be a stronger competitor as well. Optus has built and operates a number of hybrid fiber coax access networks in Australia and is not likely to decommission them, suggesting that Optus will use the NBN access facilities at some point to expand into new geographies.
Optus competes in the mobile segment as well, operating a wireless 3G network that reaches more than 97 percent of the Australian population.
Historically, one might argue, the competitive benefits of robust wholesale access have been most clear in markets where the former telecom monopoly represents the only fixed-network access capability in a region. One might argue that the benefits arguably are least when at least two strong facilities-based access networks exist in most markets.
Despite concern about Telstra's strong position in the market, its declining market share, across virtually every fixed-line and mobile service, suggests that the move to a NBN framework will not fundamentally change the Australian marke's dynamics. At least immediately, the NBN will spur many new entrants.
But communications always is a scale-dependent business. Over time, the normal market dynamic is for disparate smaller operators to combine in an attempt to gain more marketing scale. The NBN will not change that dynamic. One might predict an initial flurry of new entrants into the wireline markets, followed by a period of consolidation where market share concentrates in a smaller number of viable players.
Nor will the Telstra structural separation necessarily settle the argument about the strategic importance of access access ownership. One might argue that Telstra's retail unit's success now will be judged solely by its retail effectiveness, not the advantage of its network asset ownership. That will be true to some extent. The problem is that Telstra's market share has been declining for some time.
A continuation of that market share shift would not conclusively prove that access network ownership was important, and that Telstra "needed" those assets. At the same time, it is perhaps unreasonable to expect Telstra's market share to tumble without end.
At some point, Telstra's share should stabilize. That would not, in and of itself, "prove" that the access ownership ultimately was unimportant. In the U.S. market, where strong telco and cable competitors face each other in nearly every local area, the two players dominate consumer markets, roughly splitting new markets and gradually taking share in each others' legacy markets as well. There are a few markets where a third fixed-line contestant operates, but those scenarios are relatively rare, and no third provider typically has market share anywhere near what the local telco and cable operator have.
There are some market segments where a third provider has significant share. Satellite entertainment video provides one example. Also, looking just at the "voice services" market, mobile providers collectively have more than 50 percent voice market share, across all network access types.
read more here
Many practical details remain to be ironed out, and it is too early to make a firm judgment about how the structural separation will affect Telstra's market and financial position. But the separation ought to provide some evidence, over time, of how important "network ownership" is for a major tier one telco.
Generally speaking, most executives of tier one service providers continue to believe that access network ownership confers business advantage. Ownership means service providers can create more advanced facilities on their own accord, without the restriction of leasing only such capabilities as a third party might be willing and able to supply. Comcast is free to create and sell 50 Mbps broadband access connections whenever it wishes to, because it does not have to rely on a third party to create such features. Wireless providers can upgrade to fourth-generation networks on their own schedule, rather than waiting for third parties to build such networks.
Also, to the extent that a single network can be used to support multiple services (the whole idea between IP networks), ownership of a broadband access network allows creation and offering of many complementary services ranging from voice to entertainment video, business services and conferencing, for example.
Smaller competitors, on the other hand, frequently deem widespread wholesale access to be the underpinning for their business operations, since they cannot afford to build their own access networks on a widespread basis.
So at least in principle, the coming NBN ought to allow many more retail service providers to try and grab some share of the consumer and smaller business markets. In principle, that should lead to Telstra having less overall market share.
In June 2010 Telstra's share of the total Australian communications market was just over 60 percent, but virtually all observers expect Telstra's share to decline in 2011 and 2012.
Optus is perhaps the major contestant Telstra faces, as Optus has market share between 21 percent and 22 percent. Vodafone and Hutchison have merged their Australian businesses and could be a stronger competitor as well. Optus has built and operates a number of hybrid fiber coax access networks in Australia and is not likely to decommission them, suggesting that Optus will use the NBN access facilities at some point to expand into new geographies.
Optus competes in the mobile segment as well, operating a wireless 3G network that reaches more than 97 percent of the Australian population.
Historically, one might argue, the competitive benefits of robust wholesale access have been most clear in markets where the former telecom monopoly represents the only fixed-network access capability in a region. One might argue that the benefits arguably are least when at least two strong facilities-based access networks exist in most markets.
Despite concern about Telstra's strong position in the market, its declining market share, across virtually every fixed-line and mobile service, suggests that the move to a NBN framework will not fundamentally change the Australian marke's dynamics. At least immediately, the NBN will spur many new entrants.
But communications always is a scale-dependent business. Over time, the normal market dynamic is for disparate smaller operators to combine in an attempt to gain more marketing scale. The NBN will not change that dynamic. One might predict an initial flurry of new entrants into the wireline markets, followed by a period of consolidation where market share concentrates in a smaller number of viable players.
Nor will the Telstra structural separation necessarily settle the argument about the strategic importance of access access ownership. One might argue that Telstra's retail unit's success now will be judged solely by its retail effectiveness, not the advantage of its network asset ownership. That will be true to some extent. The problem is that Telstra's market share has been declining for some time.
A continuation of that market share shift would not conclusively prove that access network ownership was important, and that Telstra "needed" those assets. At the same time, it is perhaps unreasonable to expect Telstra's market share to tumble without end.
At some point, Telstra's share should stabilize. That would not, in and of itself, "prove" that the access ownership ultimately was unimportant. In the U.S. market, where strong telco and cable competitors face each other in nearly every local area, the two players dominate consumer markets, roughly splitting new markets and gradually taking share in each others' legacy markets as well. There are a few markets where a third fixed-line contestant operates, but those scenarios are relatively rare, and no third provider typically has market share anywhere near what the local telco and cable operator have.
There are some market segments where a third provider has significant share. Satellite entertainment video provides one example. Also, looking just at the "voice services" market, mobile providers collectively have more than 50 percent voice market share, across all network access types.
read more here
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Online Video is Killing the DVD Business, Not Cable TV
The DVD industry rose to a breathtaking level nearly as fast as any entertainment medium in history. The basic technology for the product was created in the early 1990s. DVDs were not available in the US until 1998, but it only took another five years for them to outsell VHS products.
After a short and spectacular run, the reign of the DVD is coming to an end, though. Global DVD sales dropped nine percent in 2009, for example.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Tablets Will Cannibalize 10% of PCs by 2014
In fact, one illustration of how much device trends have changed in less than a year can be gleaned by forecasts of "emerging devices" published as recently as January 2010.
One such forecast, published by Strategy Analytics, shows no "tablet" or "media tablet" category at all. In all likelihood, tablets are going to displace a portion of the forecast notebook and netbook sales.
Growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad also is affecting near-term sales, said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
“PC market growth will be impacted by devices that enable better on-the-go content consumption such as media tablets and next-generation smartphones,” said Raphael Vasquez, research analyst at Gartner. “These devices will be increasing embraced as complements if not substitutes for PCs where voice and light data consumption are desired."
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Video Aids E-Commerce
A comScore study revealed that when video was included in the shopping experience, visitors were 64% more likely to purchase than without it, and stayed on the site for an additional two minutes.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Nothing is "Normal" This Year, it Seems
The traditional "Black Friday" start to the holiday shopping season seems mixed. Black Friday sales this year showed a very slight increase over last year, according to ShopperTrak. Retail sales increased a very slight 0.3 percent compared to last year with consumers spending $10.69 billion in various retail locations.
Sales on Black Friday 2009 increased 0.5 percent versus Black Friday 2008, with $10.66 billion spent.
ShopperTrak’s data suggests that earlier sales in November might have sapped some of the Black Friday spending. Sales and traffic for the first two weeks of the month through Nov. 13 increased 6.1 and 6.2 percent respectively versus the same two week period in 2009, ShopperTrak says.
As with auto buying and home buying propped up by government subsidies, shoppers might simply have pushed forward planned spending, resulting in no net new sales.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
New Home Depot iPhone App
The app also includes an in-store product locator, how-to videos, a list function and access to user accounts. An Android version is being created as well.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Mobile Payments Business Has Shifted Gears
According to Richard Oliver, executive vice president with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who says he is "flabbergasted" by the development, a wide range of current and would-be participants in the mobile payments business have agreed on a framework covering business and technology matters related to mobile payments, apparently for the first time.
"Dynamic authentication" is one of the issues the participants seem now to have reached agreement about, including ways of handling "on-the-spot" generation of unique identification credentials for each transaction.
The apparent consensus developed during a series of three meetings held earlier in 2010 that included executives from software companies, processors, and merchant and wireless trade groups, carrier, bank, and card-network representatives.
The apparent consensus developed during a series of three meetings held earlier in 2010 that included executives from software companies, processors, and merchant and wireless trade groups, carrier, bank, and card-network representatives.
All of this suggests a common recognition that the fundamentals are in place for significant development of the budding business.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Portable Devices Top Amazon "Bestsellers in Electronics" List
The Western Digital "My Pasport" external hard drive is number five on the list. The Garmin GPS navigation device is sixth; the iSymphony 32-inch TV is seventh.
The Canon Powershot camera stands at eighth, while the LG Blu-ray player is ninth. The Tom Tom GPS device is 10th.
It is worth noting that eight of the 10 top-selling devices is a portable device of some sort.
Amazon top-selling electronics list
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
Orange claims major benefits from HD Voice - Rethink Wireless
The jury is still out on whether high-definition voice provides enough real user value to alter end user behavior.
The main exception is Orange, which is an enthusiastic supporter, and the carrier claims the service gets customer satisfaction ratings of 90 percent, helping boost average revenue per user and reduce churn.
That example might suggest that HD voice primarily will find its initial niche in the mobile market, rather than the fixed-voice market.
Gary Kim was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes, ranked second in the world for coverage of the mobile business, and as a "top 10" telecom analyst. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top two percent.
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