When Will Programming Costs Subside?

It's an almost certain bet that retail prices for video entertainment services will increase in price, virtually every year, driven, video entertainment service executives say, by ever-higher costs of programming. That doesn't mean immediate changes are coming in the video business. But observers would say a day of reckoning awaits. 

At 10 percent per year rates of growth, the $40 wholesale cost of goods sold today would more than double, to about $80, in another seven years," says Craig Moffett, Bernstein Research analyst.

With an average retail subscription price of about $80, you might assume the retail price is double the wholesale price, implying a $160 a month subscription price in seven years, should nothing else change. Some think that is unlikely. 

Ultrabooks Not Selling as Hoped, Globally

Global ultrabook shipments are falling short of expectations in 2012, according to IHS iSuppli. High prices are partly to blame, but also industry ability to cut through all the clutter around new devices. Tablets and smart phones are getting most of the attention, in okther words. 

An estimated 10.3 million ultrabooks will ship worldwide in 2012, according to IHS iSuppli.

That is a reduction from the previous forecast issued earlier this year of 22 million units. In the newly adjusted forecast for 2012, more than half of the shipments for the year are expected to come in the fourth quarter.

Along with the revised figures for 2012, shipments have also been modified for the next year, projected to rise to 44 million in 2013, down from the older outlook of 61 million.

“There once was a time when everyone knew the‘Dude you’re getting a Dell’ slogan. Nowadays no one can remember a tag line for a new PC product, including for any single ultrabook,” says Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for compute platforms at IHS. 

“So far, the PC industry has failed to create the kind of buzz and excitement among consumers that is required to propel ultrabooks into the mainstream," says Stice.

Half of U.S. Adults Use Mobile Broadband

Half of all U.S. adults now have a mobile connection to the web using either a smart phone or tablet, significantly more than a year ago, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and The Economist Group.

Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22 percent, now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier. 

Another three percent of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home. And nearly a quarter of those who don't have a tablet, 23 percent, plan to get one in the next six months. 

Some 44 percent of U.S. adults have smart phones, up from 35 percent in May 2011, the Pew Center says. 

Will FreedomPop become a "Free Mobile" Catalyst in U.S. Market?

With the launch of FreedomPop, a reasonable question to ask is whether FreedomPop can pull an "IIlliad Free" and disrupt pricing in the mobile market. 

There might not be a direct causal relationship, but beginning Oct. 7, 2012, AT&T "GoPhone" smart phone customers will have a new rate plan featuring unlimited talk and text, with 1 GByte of data for $65 per month. Unlimited text messaging to Mexico, Canada and over 100 other countries is also included.

This new plan is specially designed for smart phone users, and saves them $10 per month compared to previously available options.

The $50 monthly plan with unlimited talk and text and the $25 monthly plan with 250 minutes and unlimited nationwide text with optional data packages will continue to be available to smartphone customers.

Windows Challenging RIM in Europe

Windows now is challenging RIM for third place in smart phone share in Europe, as low-end devices such as the Nokia 610 drive sales in key markets such as Italy and France, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

“Lower end devices are driving sales of the platform as consumers seek value, resulting in growth rates of 6.6 percent in Italy, 3.5 percent in France and 2.3 percent in Great Britain, Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, says. 

In Italy, Windows now holds a double-digit market share, 10.4 percent, a first in the European market,” Kantar Worldpanel reports. 

2% of India Mobile Subscribers Use 3G

Today just two percent of India’s 971 million mobile phone users are using 3G, Maravedis Rethink says.

Despite that, new Long Term Evolution networks are coming as well. Ironically, 4G introduction might be the trigger for 3G adoption. 

By the end of 2013 there will be 74 million 3G users, up from 18 million now, and Maravdeis expects active 3G subscribers in India to reach 371 million by the end of 2017.

How Enterprise Workers Communicate

Email remains mission critical for enterprise workers, even if email is considered outmoded by Millennials. On a daily basis, globally, an order of magnitude more emails are sent than telephone calls made, according to analysts at Gartner. 

Corporate Email: 82.7 billion
Corporate Telephone Calls: 5.4 billion ( over public PSTN and Cellular networks*)
Instant Messages: 26 billion