Netflix Now Competes with HBO, Showtime, Starz

Virtually everybody believes that online video competes with multichannel video services, for user engagement and time if not yet so much revenue.

The corollary is that Netflix competes with Blockbuster, Redbox But one might argue Netflix increasingly also competes with the "premium" networks such as HBO, Showtime and Starz.that historically have made a business out of showing movies.

Netflix soon will have as many subscribers as Starz and Showtime put together. At the very least, Netflix growth is going to cap premium channel growth. One can argue about how much Netflix competes with the "basic" channel subscriptions most Americans buy.

So far, one might argue that is a lesser, hard to quantify level of competition. Right now, Netflix has largely vanquished its DVD rental competitors and might be viewed as cannibalizing the premium channels next.

iPad Faces Pricing Challenge

Two thirds of people who are thinking of buying an iPad in the next 12 months are expecting to pay less than the current lowest retail price, according to Strategy Analytics. About 66 percent say they will pay less than $500 or €500, and half of those say they want to pay less than $300 or €300.

Strategy Analytics surveyed nearly 5000 consumers across the United States and four major European markets as part of the study.

One might draw several conclusions. Consumers already are conditioned to expect price declines for any digital appliance over time. They already expect to see "newer" models, every year or so, that maintain current prices for models with new features, but also expect current models to be sold at lower prices.

But the findings might also illustrate demand for lower-cost alternatives. Given Apple's historic emphasis on selling at premium prices, that would also suggest there is a relatively-big market for lower-cost tablets. Though the analogy is not exact, one might point to an eventual market where Apple has less share, but more share at the high end of retail pricing, while Android devices have more of the market overall, and dominate in the "value" and mid-range parts of the market.

Already we are seeing a proliferation of (mostly Android-based) tablets arriving on retailers’ shelves, often at iPad-undercutting prices. Staples is offering a 10″ Viewsonic, Android 2.2 device at $400.

iPad Faces Pricing Challenge

Wireless Now the Majority of Broadband Connections

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that Korea (95 percent), Sweden (76 percent), Japan (75 percent) and Norway (73 percent) have the highest wireless broadband penetration in terms of subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

Among the countries which have been able to report complete data, standard mobile broadband subscriptions usually represent the majority of wireless broadband connections.

Satellite and terrestrial fixed wireless subscriptions represent a small share of wireless broadband subscriptions. Its penetration rate is slightly higher only in the Czech Republic (6.5) percent, the Slovak Republic (three percent) and Ireland (two percent).

Broadband Portal - Press Release (June 2010 data)

Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business in a Smartphone and Tablet Market

The mobile phone is the first piece of technology that people started carrying with them all the time. It's the most-personal technology tool most people use and though it always has been used to "communicate," it also now is used as a "social tool" to keep in touch with people and content each user cares about.

And since most people still do not use any form of mobile broadband, voice and text remain the universal common denominators for any marketing campaigns aimed at mobile users. It might not be the most "sexy" channel for mobile marketing. That position increasingly is occupied by video and display advertising for the mobile channel. But voice and text remain the universal tools in terms of reach, and the ability of a small entity to afford the creation and execution of a campaign.

Not many smaller businesses can spend $1 million on a single display campaign, for example. Most can afford text campaigns built on their own internal databases.

Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business

Is the Next Great Wave of Internet IPOs About to Hit?

The last big wave of Internet initial public offerings happened a decade ago. Some think the next great wave is about to break. Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, Groupon,Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, Hulu and eHarmony are some of the possible candidates to lead the wave.

That likely is going to bring more luster to the Internet stock sector, app venture capital activity, some predict. Some likely will argue a second great IPO bubble would be a more-apt description. Either way, it is possible that the next generation of Internet leaders will be funded in the wake of any IPO wave.

We might not see the full impact of those start-ups for as much as another decade. The trick, one might argue, is not to get "bubbled" by the possible wave.

6 Reasons Groupon's Rejection Of Google Is Great For The Universe

Google Gains Market Share in U.S. Mobile Ads, Local Will be Dominant by 2014

Google will widen its lead in the $877 million U.S. market for mobile advertising, ending the year with a 59 percent share, according to research firm IDC.

Google's share will increase from 48.6 percent last year, before it bought mobile-ad network AdMob, IDC says. AdMob, which had an 8.4 percent share in 2009, was bought by Google in May. Apple may finish with less than 10 percent, IDC says.

None of that likely is as significant as a separate projection by BIA/Kelsey that U.S. mobile local advertising revenues will grow from $213 million in 2009 to $2.03 billion in 2014. That's about a 57 percent compount annual rate of growth.

But event that is not the most-significant implication. The eye-popper is that local mobile advertising already represents 44 percent of total U.S. mobile ad revenues in 2009, growing to 69 percent in 2014. Basically, mobile advertising, in 2014, is going to be dominated by various forms of local advertising, using the location features of mobile devices to target messages to end users in various ways.

See more on the shape of the mobile marketing market here: Mobile Marketing and Technology

Read more about mobile ad share here: Google Gains Market Share in U.S. Mobile Ads - BusinessWeek

Skype’s Move To The Web

Skype long has been a client-based service, but Skype now is planning on adding browser plug-in access as well, which should make the service available to many more people.

Skype is hoping to launch its web-based service in the first quarter of next year. Skype is reported to be talking to sites such as LinkedIn for integration.

Most proponents of IP-based voice have assumed such integration would happen, for some years. So it isn't so much the move to a "no client" access, but rather than the access will be happening on a major scale.

On the Internet, there might typically be few significant barriers to entry. But there are lots of barriers to gaining scale. Skype is about to become more dangerous for firms that compete against it directly, and some that compete indirectly.

More Details On Skype’s Big Move To The Web