U.S. Consumer Technology Sales: Smartphones, Tablets, E-Readers Gain

U.S. consumer technology holiday sales declined five percent in 2010 totaling $10.3 billion, according to the NPD Group.

The traditional categories felt significant spending pressure from smartphones, tablet and e-reader sales, as well as the rebound in the video game market. Overall NPD estimates that 2010 sales for the 9 week sales period will total $14.9 billion down 4 percent from last year.

What is significant here is that all three of the strong categories are mobile products.

Notebook unit volume fell 9 percent with little to no discounting, as average selling prices remained flat. Netbook unit volume declined 38 percent compared to the 2009 season and accounted for 19 percent of Windows' notebook sales, down from 27 percent of last year's volume. Desktop sales also took a hit dropping 16 percent in units.

U.S. Consumer Technology Holiday Sales Drop 5 Percent in 2010, According to NPD

Mobile Payment Among Top-5 Trends for 2011

Mobile payments are expected to be among the top-five trends in the payments business in 2011. Mobile devices are poised to become a primary form of payment for millions of people around the world, according to the Aite Group.

Mobile bill payments will reach $214 billion in gross dollar volume in 2015, up from $16 billion in 2010, which represents a 68 percent compound annual growth rate. A November 2010 Aite Group report stated “Over the past 12 to 18 months, the United States has begun to move closer to a tipping point that will lead to the popularization of mobile payments.

Five payment trends to watch in 2011 | VentureBeat

Frontier plans big FiOS TV rate hike

Frontier Communications Corp. plans a big rate hike for some of its FiOS cable TV customers in Oregon and Washington.

Rates will rise 46 percent or more for standard cable plans, the result, Frontier says, of rate hikes by the cable networks. If you ever wanted an illustration of the impact content rights have on smaller firms, this is it. Verizon obviously is able to negotiate lower content rights rates, as it has more volume, and programming rates are tiered based on volume.

The higher rates won't immediately affect customers who have Frontier FiOS TV contracts. But for customers without a contract, and customers whose contracts are expiring, the rate hikes will be steep.

For example, the monthly cost of Frontier's standard, 220-channel package will rise from $65 to $95 a month -- a 46 percent increase. The higher rates kicked in Monday for new customers, and start February 18 for existing customers without a service contract.

Frontier plans massive FiOS cable TV rate hike | OregonLive.com

Internet Gains on Television as Public's Main News Source

The internet is slowly closing in on television as Americans’ main source of national and international news, according to researchers at the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

Currently, 41 percent say they get most of their news about national and international news from the internet, which is little changed over the past two years but up 17 points since 2007. 

Television remains the most widely used source for national and international news, overall. About 66 percent of Americans say it is their main source of news, but that is down from 74 percent three years ago and 82 percent as recently as 2002.

Click image for larger view

Internet Gains on Television as Public's Main News Source: Overview - Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Netflix Button Coming to Remote Controls

Netflix has struck deals with makers of TVs and DVD players to put a one-click “Netflix” button on remotes starting this spring, Netflix says.

Such a button would make it easier for people to go straight to their Netflix account, rather than clicking through other menus, which take time and could potentially distract the viewer.

This reminds me of the "icon on the screen" or "icon in the system tray" discussions people used to have in an earlier wave of online media, about 2000, when it was assumed the display would be a PC, and therefore the value of on-screen real estate was deemed valuable.

It isn't a trivial advantage, as icons on main smartphone screens are seen as having value, or as preloaded software typically is seen as having business value.

Netflix Button Coming to Remote Controls (Wall Street Journal subscription required)

Hispanic Consumers are "Ideal" Online Consumers

A new digital marketing study conducted by comScore and commissioned by Terra reveals that Hispanics are the ideal online consumers.

The research also re-affirms that the Internet is the main media source of information for Hispanics when researching information about any service or product.

For example, Hispanics are more responsive to targeted ads with 37 percent saying they would likely respond to them vs. 30 percent for non-Hispanics.

Some 35 percent of Hispanics compared to 27 percent of non-Hispanics said they are more open to advertising on sites where they read or contribute user generated comments.

Some 37 percent of Hispanics, compared to 25 percent of non-Hispanics enjoy the interactivity of online video ads, and the ability of obtaining additional information which is unavailable through a traditional TV ad.

Furthermore, 36 percent of Hispanics, compared to 24 percent of non-Hispanics claim that Internet advertising has motivated them to visit a retail establishment while 35 percent of Hispanics, compared to 25 percent of non-Hispanics are likely to attend movies based on their online campaigns.

The study also shows Hispanics are more open and willing to explore new technology presumably to stay up to speed with trends. In addition, these initiatives are likely to enhance their perception of the brand with 60 percent of Hispanics, compared to 42 percent of non-Hispanics saying that they react positively to I-Pad demonstrations, virtual shoppers, mobile coupons, live streamings and others.

New Terra comScore Research: Digital Marketing Is Essential in Building Brands With Hispanic Consumers

A La Carte is a 20th Century Solution to a 21st Century Problem

If in 2011, larger numbers of TV viewers become more screen-agnostic, using Hulu, Netflix, mobile video to a greater extent than they do today, with their demonstrated appetites for 'snackable' video clips of all sorts, and as major TV distributors and appliance vendors ramp up sales of devices that allow Internet-delivered TV to be viewed on standard TV screens, it is possible more questions are going to be asked about the future of linear TV.

That would come as no surprise. It is not clear whether older debates about allowing or forcing linear TV to be offered channel-by-channel, in a la carte fashion, will resurface. Right now, it seems unlikely. Nor is it especially likely any of the leading linear video distributors will reverse course and suddenly decide their business models are better served by a widespread shift to a la carte viewing.

Most important of all, content owners and program networks do not yet see the value of a la carte buying. Content businesses are all about the content, fundamentally. Without access to the "hot" content lots of people want, any distribution channel will enjoy modest success.

A La Carte is a 20th Century Solution to a 20th Century Video Problem: It's the 21st Century