RIM Weighs Sale of Hardware Business

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, The Sunday Times reports. 


Keep in mind that in its most recent quarterly report, RIM said it earns 68 percent of its revenue from selling hardware. RIM earned about 27 percent of revenue from services. 

RIM could spin off the handset operations as a separate company or sell it, a move that would be inconceivable for a firm such as Apple, for example. The difference is that RIM makes significant revenue providing messaging services.

Who Uses Mobile Over the Top Apps, and Why?

About 11 percent of smar tphone owners use mobile VoIP applications regularly, compared with only 5% of mobile users as a whole, according to Analysys Mason Group. 


About 29 percent of smartphone owners use over the top messaging, compared with 17 percent for all mobile users. So the issue is why there is a difference and what it might mean for service provider efforts to compete with their own OTT apps, or sustain their own bundled offerings. 


The adoption of mobile OTT services may indicate that some users are willing to sacrifice certain features, such as extensive customer care capabilities, in favor of others, such as group chat messaging, Analysys Mason says. 


By focusing on features that are valued by particular users, OTT service providers can apply an alternative business model, often at no additional cost to the user. To compete, service providers must identify market segments and then create services that appeal to those specific segments, Analysys Mason suggests. 

Consumers are Rational about 4G

Adoption of 4G mobile phones has nearly quadrupled since early 2011, going from 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to 7.6 percent in the first quarter of 2012,  Nielsen Online says.  

Consumers under 34 are most likely to have already adopted 4G and 63 percent of teens are likely to consider switching to 4G within the next year (of course, that will require parental approval, so you might approach that particular finding with circumspection). 

Also, 55 percent of respondents are unable to identify any forms of 4G technology, so it is not as though most people actually understand the value proposition. 

Also, as you would expect, consumers who value "speed" are early adopters. The research also found that 4G capability is considerably more important for those purchasing a data card or mobile hotspot than either a smartphone or tablet. 

That makes sense. Smart phones don't show the obvious benefits of "faster" connections as much as PC or notebook experiences tend to do. 

But there is another interesting finding: current 4G users are five times more likely to consider 4G as a replacement for their home broadband connection, compared to users who have only 3G connections. 

How Much Does Remote Work Suffer From "Lack of Tools?"

According to new data released by harmon.ie, 77 percent of mobile workers finish documents, proposals or presentations while on the road, with more than half literally finalizing materials in the 11th hour.


Some 84 percent of traveling executives and managers report that they cannot work effectively on collaborative projects while on-the-go despite increased enterprise adoption of iPads and smartphones. 


Of course, some might argue, blaming tools is sometimes an excuse. Another study by harmon.ie found that people get distracted while working, losing at least an hour a day of potential work time from various distractions specifically caused by collaboration and social tools intended to increase the value of collaboration. 


The study found that 53% of IT users waste at least one hour a day dealing with all types of distractions. The point is that too much sometimes is made of "lack of tools." The tools themselves cause lost productivity.


Some people just whine. 

Just a Reminder About Where AT&T Makes its Money

Wireless drives fully half of all revenue. More than a quarter comes from data services of various types. Fixed network voice is 19 percent. 

Apple Doesn't Compete With Anybody Else, Really

In some genuine sense, Apple doesn't really compete with other suppliers. It competes against itself. That is one reason Apple, as a matter of business practice, destroys markets for existing products it already successfully sells, with new and "better" products. 


To be sure, "every" company claims to be an innovator. "Every" company claims to have products that are substitutes for Apple products. There is truth to some of those claims. But no firm of Apple's size and influence actually behaves the way it does, even if other firms claim they do the same.


Apple does not build products its surveys, and other market research, indicates people want. I can't think of another large firm that really operates that way, with a possible exception of 3M. Apple dreams up what it thinks people need, and never asks people whether they "need it."


Most other firms identify markets and then create products to serve those markets. Apple creates markets. 


Sure, Apple sells smart phones, tablets and MP3 players. A research firm tracking market share has to include Apple and other competitors in such studies. In that sense, Apple has competitors. 


But Apple really is different. I buy smart phones. I prefer Android, HTC and Samsung. My children buy iPhones, not smart phones. 


But I own three iPods, zero MP3 players. I wouldn't buy any brand other than Apple, if that was the product I was buying. In that sense, Apple is different. 

Gnashing Teeth Numbers

If you run a business, work for a business, or want to work for a business, these are tooth-gnashing numbers. The blue is actual economic growth. The red line is our debt burden. You know what it means. 


Consumption, spending and therefore growth will be choked for decades as debt repayments pinch back spending on every level. To get that red line back to where it needs to be, the blue line will continue to struggle, as we "spend" our money on debt service and principal reduction, instead of "buying stuff" that suppliers can sell. 


Getting the blue line growing faster than the red line is the key to generating enough surplus to pay off the debt. But paying off the debt will slow growth. That isn't to say every type of spending by businesses and consumers "has" to decline equally.


You can make the argument that some segments, such as consumer appliances, could do better than other segments. We do love our gadgets. But even then, there must be trade-offs made elsewhere. 


Gnash, gnash, gnash. 




If you subtract the added debt from GDP, this is what really is happening: