Microsoft Nokia Buy Puts More Pressure on BlackBerry

BlackBerry, the original market leader in smart phones, now has fallen from third place to fourth as the Microsoft Mobile operating system eclipsed BlackBerry in 2013. And though Microsoft once was a rumored potential buyer of BlackBerry, the potential pool of buyers has shrunk now that Microsoft already has Nokia.

That puts more pressure on BlackBerry to sell itself, and soon. With HTC struggling and Panasonic withdrawing entirely from the phone market, pressure on all contestants other than Apple and Samsung seems to be reaching the breaking point.

Majority of Android Handset Traffic Uses Wi-Fi, in 9 Countries Across North America, Asia and Europe

About 68 percent of Android data consumption occurs over a Wi-Fi connection, a study of users by Informa Telecoms and Media and Mobidia has found. 

The study shows that the most-balanced usage was in India, where Android users consumed about 53 percent of their handset data using Wi-Fi, both private and at public locations, though public locations represent just about one percent of consumption in India and just two percent in the U.S. market.

That data simply confirms the crucial role now played by mobile offload to third party access networks.

Mobile Accounts Outnumber Fixed Lines More than 6:1

Explaining what is going on globally, in the communications business, sometimes is a matter of nuances, and sometimes is drop dead simple.

The drop dead simple part is the role played by mobile services , which outnumbered fixed voice lines by about 4.5 to one in 2009, and now outnumber fixed connections by about six to one.

ITU Access LInes (Millions)
	2011	2012*	2013*
Fixed-telephone subscriptions
Developed	542	531	520
Developing	662	655	652
World	1,204	1,186	1,171
Mobile-cellular subscriptions
	2011	2012*	2013*
Developed	1,475	1,538	1,600
Developing	4,487	4,872	5,235
World	5,962	6,411	6,835

The nuances come when we are looking at total fixed network lines, for several reasons. There is, for example, a difference between the number of access lines or equivalents that might be available for use, and the number that actually are in use.

That roughly corresponds to the difference between a network that could sell a customer service at a location, and the number of customers that actually do so.

In some cases, there can be a difference between a voice line available, or in use, and a broadband line that is available, or in use.

And, of course, there is a difference between trends in developed regions, where the number of voice lines being used is dropping, and the developing regions, where capacity and usage often are growing. The offset, even in developing regions, is the use of lines exclusively for Internet access, irrespective of voice.

At a high level, one might say the number of lines physically able to be used is growing, globally. The number of lines in service seems to be dropping, overall, despite growth of usage in developing regions, simply because the rate of abandonment in developed regions is greater than the number of new lines being added and used in the developing regions.

According to International Telecommunications Union data, for example, the total number of fixed lines in use has declined since about 2006. But the number of fixed broadband lines in use has grown steadily.

Overall, the number of fixed network lines has grown steadily. What has changed is the willingness of customers to pay for a fixed voice service, not fixed services of any type.

Yelp Really Works, Study Finds

Merchant Warehouse research found that 93 percent of consumers who use Yelp go on to make a purchase with a company they researched on the review site.

A Boston Consulting Group survey of 4,800 business owners in March 2013)  found that small businesses with a free Yelp business owner's account saw an average increase in annual revenue of $8,000.

Can Microsoft Nokia Make a Dent in Apple Samsung Handset Lead?

Microsoft's purchase of Nokia has been justified as a way of strengthening Microsoft's bid to win a bigger place in the mobile operating ecosystem. Some would say it will not be easy. Markets tend to become quite stable in the mainstream adoption or mature market phase. 

In June 2013, Apple gained nearly one point of market share, BlackBerry lost a share point and Microsoft grew one tenth of a percent. And Gartner says Microsoft passed BlackBerry in operating system share by August 2013. 

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System	2Q13  Units	2Q13 Market Share (%)	2Q12  Units	2Q12 Market Share (%)
Android	177,898.2	79.0	98,664.0	64.2
iOS	31,899.7	14.2	28,935.0	18.8
Microsoft	7,407.6	3.3	4,039.1	2.6
BlackBerry	6,180.0	2.7	7,991.2	5.2
Bada	838.2	0.4	4,208.8	2.7
Symbian	630.8	0.3	9,071.5	5.9
Others	471.7	0.2	863.3	0.6
Total	225,326.2	100.0	153,772.9	100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

Nearly 142 million people in the U.S. owned smart phones (59 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in June, up four percent since March. 

Apple ranked as the top OEM with 39.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 0.9 percentage points from March). 

Samsung grew its share 2 percentage points with the release of its new Galaxy S4 model, ranking second with 23.7 percent market share. HTC ranked third with 8.5 percent, followed by Motorola with 7.2 percent and LG with 6.6 percent. Microsoft's purchase of Nokia 

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2013 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Mar-13	Jun-13	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Android	52.0%	52.0%	0.0
Apple	39.0%	39.9%	0.9
BlackBerry	5.2%	4.4%	-0.8
Microsoft	3.0%	3.1%	0.1
Symbian	0.5%	0.3%	-0.2

Study Confirms: Most People Watch One to 10 Channels

The conventional wisdom for many decades about consumer TV viewing is that most people watch relatively few channels. Some studies suggest the average is about seven channels. Others might peg the typical number of channels watched  ab it higher.

A new study by Digitalsmiths suggests that 86 percent of respondents watch the same channels, most of the time.

The study also suggests that 79 percent of respondents watch between one and 10 channels, on average, with a typical number at five to six channels, and a big spike at 10 channels.

Largest Price War in U.S. Mobile History is Coming

The biggest price war in the history of the U.S. mobile business is coming. We don't know precisely when it will begin, but it is coming.

The skirmishes already have begun as T-Mobile US has launched its "uncarrier" strategy. So far, the biggest impact has been on device purchase options, as T-Mobile US device installment policies have triggered competitive responses by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. 

That is probably marginally important to some consumers, namely those who routinely buy new devices frequently. But most users arguably have been more affected by shared data plans that are relatively incremental in impact.

SoftBank's Sprint probably has plans to do something more disruptive, and the other service providers will have to respond, in some way. 

Softbank launched just such a disruptive attack on pricing in the Japanese market after acquiring Vodafone's Japan business. 

Some would argue that Vodafone's willingness to sell its stake in its biggest market is evidence that it expects tougher and more competitive times in the U.S. market. That could be a problem for Verizon Communications, which is shelling out $130 billion to acquire the Vodafone stake in Verizon Wireless.