How Fast is Long Term Evolution 4G in "Normal" Use

Mobile broadband as provided by AT&T and Verizon Wireless might be fast enough to suite the needs of some users, an analysis by RootMetrics suggests. Tests show typical downstream speeds between 13 Mbps and 14 Mbps, with upstream speeds in the 6 Mbps to 7.4 Mbps range, fast enough for lighter users to consider using mobile broadband as their only connection, Rootmetrics says.

The current usage caps will make mobile broadband supplied by LTE a likely poor choice as an exclusive access method for many multi-user households, or households watching lots of video, though.  Rootmetrics coverage maps 

What's an "App?" What's a "Platform?"

Facebook knows something about the difference between an app and a platform. You might say a platform is an app with monster traction. And that, apparently, was what Facebook saw in Instagram, a "viral" app that would amass an audience and user base so large it would become a platform.

Instagram raised $50 million at a $500 million valuation in the days after the app launched on Android, after first gaining attention as an iPhone app. Daily average users exploded at that point.

The Android adoption curve and the fundraising apparently suggested  to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook that Instagram was going to be a well-funded, fast-growing competitor as a mobile platform.

Instagram's ability to become a new platform suggests why mobile apps now have similar business dynamics to traditional media, namely that the business opportunity occurs when content creates a big and engaged audience.

Also, an additional 30 million users, at a time when Facebook is about to become a public company, means placing a valuation on each additional user. At $30 per user, that's a serious bump in value.

Apple iPad Accounts for 90% of All Mobile Shopping in March 2012

In March 2012, Apple iPad users represented a whopping 68 percent of mobile shoppers, according to RichRelevance. Perhaps more important, the iPad accounts for 90 percent of all mobile revenue (and four percent of total retail revenue).

According to the study , iPad users spent significantly more time and money on retail sites than other mobile users. Apple iPad users spend dramatically more, on fewer items, than other mobile shoppers. When compared to online shoppers, iPad users spend approximately the same amount on an average order, but buy much more expensive products.

The iPad had the highest average order value (AOV) of any mobile device: $158 for iPad, compared to $105 for other mobile devices, and $104 for iPhone and other iOS devices.

AOV for iPad shopping also is higher than desktop shopping of $153. Overall, iPad shoppers averaged $52.66 per item, compared to $21.86 per item for desktop users and $23.80 for other mobile users.

Tablet OS Forecasts Overstate "Competition" with iPad

If Gartner forecasts are correct, one could argue that Android devices will be key contenders for Apple in the tablet market. That might not be the best way to characterize matters in 2016. If you look at tablet devices by manufacturers, Android suppliers likely will be highly fragmented.

If 2016 trends are anything like early 2012 figures, the Kindle Fire might be the only brand that actually has significant share, and it is positioned in a distinctly different part of the tablet market than the Apple iPad.


In 2011, there were about 7.7 million Android tablets sold, but 47 percent of those sales came in the fourth quarter of 2011, and 61 percent of all Android sales in that quarter were Kindle Fire devices.

What Does "Post-PC Device Market" Look Like?

In one sense, we already live in a "post-PC" device market, if one considers smart phones as computing devices, which they are. But even in a more-restricted sense, considering only PCs and tablets, far more PCs will be sold in 2016, than tablets.

Of course, many will argue that developing markets are where much of the PC sales will occur. In developed markets, tablets will likely represent sales volumes much more nearly comparable with PCs. 

Tablets Boost Entertainment Video, Reduce Use of Everything Else

According to Forrester Research, people seem to read books less, use their PCs less, use their MP3 players less, watch shows on their TVs less and play games on consoles or portable game players less, after they get a tablet. The only thing they seem to do more of is watch online video, presumably on their tablets.

What Role for Key Devices in "Post-PC" Era?

So far, the “post-PC” era heralded by Steve Jobs, the now-deceased CEO of Apple, has been characterized by growing sales both of traditional PCs and tablets, though there had been indications tablet sales were cannibalizing PC purchases. That might still be true in some markets, though globally, sales of both devices, overall, are growing.

Global tablet sales to end users are forecast to total 118.9 million units in 2012, a 98 percent increase from 2011 sales of 60 million units, according to researchers at Gartner. At the same time, it appears that traditional PC sales also have grown. .

PC shipments worldwide, expected to grow 4.4 percent in 2012, will grow 10 percent in 2013, according to Gartner. That is a bit of a surprise, with all the attention now focused on tablet sales.

It would not be inappropriate to argue that the future growth trajectories for both types of devices, and smart phones, will be dictated by the primary use cases for the three broad categories of devices.

Juniper Research has projected that annual revenues from consumer mobile applications will approach $52 billion by 2016 as consumer smart phone adoption accelerates in tandem with the emergence of a mass tablet market. The forecast might raise some pertinent questions.

Much will hinge on how that new revenue is created, for all three categories of devices. At least two of the categories might be driven, in large part, by content purchases and broader mobile commerce apps..

Kip Cassino, Borrell and Associates EVP, argues that by 2016, most computers available to consumers are going to look and act just like today’s iPhones and iPads. That means they will be able to communicate like cell phones, they will all have built-in GPS, and they will feature cameras and touch-screen interfaces.

Most importantly, Cassino argues, they will depend on apps instead of expensive, bundled software  In fact, what we now call computers will have largely faded from the scene, except for some business and gaming applications. Personal computers will be replaced by mobile devices of one sort or another, Cassino argues.

You don't have to agree with the time frame to agree with the direction of the user experience Cassino describes.

“Touch” arguably is the preferred interface for transactions and content navigation. Mouse and keyboard still make more sense for “work” and content creation (writing, editing a movie, working with a spreadsheet, for example).

Ultimately, one might argue, touch will become the preferred interface for most consumer appliances, none of which are used for “content creation” applications more complicated than taking a picture, sending an email or text message, or content sharing.