Millennials Aren't Getting a Fair Shake

If you care about America's future, you have to care about the hammering Millennials are taking in the current economy. This is a three-generation problem, though.


Aside from Millennials, their parents are affected. And looking out a bit further, grandparents are worried about what it all means for their grandchildren. Do not discount the seriousness with which this is viewed. 


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Retailers Say 2% of Sales Generated from Mobiles

According to the annual "Merchant Survey" conducted by the Direct Response Forum, a majority of retailers report only two percent or less of their sales are generated from a mobile device. Those 63 percent of  respondents presumably do not rely on mobile-enhanced payments in store, or do not relay heavily on online commerce. 


About 17 percent reported that mobile sales are over 10 percent, though. 


With regard to mobile commerce retailers report 17 percent of mobile customers are new buyers,   while another 17 percent of respondents say mobile customers are existing customers who are now purchasing using a mobile device.  


These findings should be qualified, though. Fully  54 percent of the respondents said they are unable to determine how much mobile commerce is happening. 

Screen Size Dictates Usage Mode

Screen size and app use are correlated, according to Stephanie Ethier, NPD In-Stat senior analyst. “Screen size has emerged not only as a key differentiator, but also the leading indicator of different tablet usages," she says. 

For example, devices with smaller form factors in the 3.5 inch to less than seven-inch range, spanning the portable media player and tablet categories, best serve entertainment needs that are typically considered complementary to everyday activities like commuting, exercising, and other on-the-go activities, Ethier argues. 

By implication, 10-inch screens more commonly are used to displace activities formerly conducted on PC screens. 

Worldwide shipments for devices with screen sizes between 3.5" to less than 7.0” will decline throughout the forecast period to 15.6 million in 2016. 

Due to continued iPad success, tablets in the 9.7” to less than 11” form factor category will represent 65 percent of worldwide tablet shipments, NPD In-Stat says. 

Mobile Bandwidth Demand Will Double Every Year Through 2015

Internet-generated broadband traffic will increase approximately 50 percent year over year on fixed networks and double on mobile networks.IDC also notes that fixed and mobile traffic volumes are driven by power users.

IDC forecasts that end-user demand for worldwide wireline and mobile broadband traffic will increase from 9,665 petabytes per month in 2010 to 116,539 petabytes per month in 2015, or two orders of magnitude in just five years. 


Web browsing, peer-to-peer file sharing, audio/video streaming, and a host of other applications are all driving bandwidth consumption. 


"The enormous growth in end-user demand for both fixed and mobile broadband services is staggering," says Matt Davis, IDC director of Consumer SMB Telecom Services.
Bandwidth usage strongly correlates with the availability of faster broadband speeds. Given access to faster speeds, users and application providers adjust by creating and consuming apps that use such speed.

Hign-definition video content will drive a new level of bandwidth demand, with more than 50 percent of video and audio streaming destined for a connected TV (either directly or indirectly), an iPad, or another mobile device or tablet.

Smart Phone Owners Prefer Larger Displays

Up to a point, smart phone owners in the United States and United Kingdom say they prefer larger screens,  compared to displays on their current phone, Strategy Analytics has found.

Respondents surveyed prefer device screens in the four-inch to 4.5-inch range, as long as the device is also thin.

Females are more likely to consider slightly smaller devices than males, and existing Android owners are more likely to seek larger devices than existing Apple iPhone owners.

“Almost 90 percent of existing smartphone owners surveyed chose a prototype smartphone with a display larger than their current device,” says Paul Brown, Strategy Analytics director.

NetZero Offers 4G Dongle and Wi-Fi Hotspot Service

NetZero Wireless has launched its “NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband,” a mobile broadband service using a PC dongle or stand-alone Wi-Fi personal hotspot.

Very-light users, who can live within a 200 Mbyte monthly usage limit, can get service free for one year, with the purchase of a device. NetZero offers a variety of plans starting at $9.95/ month for 500 Mbytes of usage, up to $50 for 4Gbytes of usage a month.

Users do not have to sign a  contract and there is no activation charge.

The NetZero 4G HotSpot simultaneously supports up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The NetZero 4G Stick supports a single laptop or netbook via a USB port. The NetZero 4G HotSpot costs $99.95 and the NetZero 4G Stick costs $49.95.

The service is available in over 80 cities nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Miami, though coverage in some metro areas is spotty. Check the website to verify actual coverage in any metro area.

Apple to Initiate Dividend and Share Repurchase Program

In response to calls to "do something" about the excess cash Apple has been piling up (about $98 billion at the moment), Apple today plans to initiate a dividend and share repurchase program, starting later in 2012..


Apple plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012. Apple also has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program to start in the Apple's fiscal 2013 business year, which begins on September 30, 2012. 


The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.


You might argue that Apple alternatively could have plowed more of its cash back into building its business, but Apple in recent years has been cautious about undertaking large acquisitions, so the refusal to make a big, "game-changing" acquisition was not unexpected. 


The new plans might represent a cash outlay of about $15 billion a year.