Americans Viewed 5.3 Billion Video Ads in July 2011

comScore released data showing that 180 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in July 2011 -- for an average of 18.5 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions.

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in July -- with 158.1 million unique viewers, while VEVO ranked second with 62.1 million. Facebook.com was ranked third with 51.4 million viewers, followed by Microsoft Sites with 49.5 million and Viacom Digital with 47.3 million.

Total viewing sessions reached another all-time high in July at nearly 6.9 billion, with Google Sites crossing the 3 billion mark to account for more than 40 percent of all viewing sessions online. The average viewer watched 18.5 hours of online video content during the course of the month, with Google Sites (5.9 hours) and Hulu (3.4 hours) exhibiting the highest engagement.

Americans viewed more than 5.3 billion video ads in July, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 963 million. Adap.tv ranked second overall (and highest among video ad exchanges/networks) with 674 million ad views, followed by Tremor Video (639 million) and BrightRoll Video Network (522 million).

Time spent watching video ads totaled more than 2.4 billion minutes during the month, with Hulu delivering the highest duration of video ads at 409 million minutes. Video ads reached 49 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 35.9 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 40.4 over the course of the month.

Other notable findings from the July 2011 study include:

• 86.0 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The duration of the average online content video was 5.3 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.5 minutes.
• Video ads accounted for 12.4 percent of all videos viewed and 1.2 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

Upside Growth for Tablets, the Cloud and Mobile Apps

Several years after the first introduction of prototype concept devices known as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), the tablet fulfilled the promise of this product category.

The tablet market reached an inflection point through the combination of a new device (the Apple iPad), new business models supported by mobile phone service providers, and new usage models through cloud computing and mobile applications (apps).

As we enter the last half of 2011, In-Stat forecasts upside growth opportunities as a result of price degradation, and new tablets from major consumer electronic (CE) companies -- such as Samsung, Motorola, BlackBerry, LG, and HTC.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, the growth trend will help push tablet shipments toward 250 million units in 2017.

“The tablet market and its associated ecosystem are still evolving. Over the next few generations we will see more differentiation between devices that are targeting different market segments and usage models. In addition, competitive device and service pricing will bring tablets into the mainstream consumer and enterprise markets,” says Jim McGregor, Chief Technology Strategist at In-Stat.

Tablets are joining an array of smart-connected devices that allow users almost unlimited access to content and communications.

These new devices mark a significant change in the value proposition of the electronics industry -- where the content and applications are now the key differentiators or innovation drivers.

In-Stat's latest market study findings include:

• In the consumer segment, tablets are competing against all CE and computing devices, not just PCs.
• Despite similarities in system hardware and software architecture, usage models among mobile devices vary by device type.
• The combination of mobile applications, new semiconductor technology, and the full Internet experience are key factors in empowering the tablet market.
• The 9-inch to 11-inch form factor is forecasted to be the dominant tablet form factor with 56 percent of the market in 2017.
• iOS and Android are forecast to maintain over 90 percent of the market share with Windows as a distant third.
• Not supporting one of the leading OS platforms is likely to lead to the failure of several companies in the tablet market, due to lack of application support.
• Wireless operator business models could have a tremendous impact on future tablet demand.

257 Million Active Game Consoles Worldwide by 2015

Regardless of the particularly weak overall video game spending in North America this summer, the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast of the worldwide video game and interactive entertainment console market points to a rebound -- beginning in 2012.

The growth will be driven by new or updated platform releases, rising game console market penetration and spending in select developing economies.

"Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010," says Lewis Ward, research manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming, at IDC.

But fears that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature.

IDC expects that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony's PS4 circa 2015 -- along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games -- will help bring a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.

IDC forecasts direct global console hardware and disc software sale revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6 percent from 2010 to 2015, reaching $39.7 billion in 2015 with developing economy growth rates about twice those in developed markets.

Despite this rebound, the installed base of actively used game consoles won't keep pace with the number of worldwide households.

IDC expects there to be about 257 million active consoles worldwide by 2015, or 12.7 percent of anticipated households that year.

That's down about 1 percent, when compared to same console penetration figure for 2011. In this sense, it's possible to conclude that console popularity will slip due to the rise of media tablet gaming, new casual games, free-to-play or social online PC games.

97.3 Million American Mobile Users Access the Internet

The mobile web user population in the United States will increase by almost 25 percent this year -- as 97.3 million mobile device users access the internet from their device at least monthly, according to the latest market study by eMarketer.

By 2015, more than three in five mobile device users -- and almost half the total U.S. population -- will be using the mobile internet, eMarketer forecasts.

“The rapidly expanding smartphone and mobile internet user populations raise the stakes for marketers and make the mobile web more of an imperative than ever,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst for mobile.

eMarketer’s estimates of mobile internet usage include people of any age who access the internet from a mobile browser or installed application at least once per month.

Most of the growth in mobile internet usage will come from increased smartphone penetration, which will reach 38 percent of mobile users and 28.8 percent of the overall population by the end of this year.

The number of smartphone users is set to increase 49.6 percent this year and continue growing at a steady double-digit pace through 2015, when nearly 150 million U.S. consumers will have such a device.

Mobile internet usage is still heaviest among younger adults, with 43.2 million US consumers ages 18 to 34 logging on to the mobile web this year, eMarketer estimates -- or 44.4 percent of the total.

Usage is on the rise among older adults as well, however. This year, eMarketer estimates 21.5 million 45- to 64-year-olds and 3.7 million seniors 65 and older will use the mobile internet. By 2015, those numbers will both more than double to 45.4 million and 11.3 million, respectively.

Cloud Computing Service Usage is Growing with SMBs

It has always been predicted that small business expenditures on wireless communication services would someday exceed that of wireline voice communication.

That day will happen in 2012 -- as wireless service offerings becomes the largest category of telecommunications spending for small businesses, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

Wireline data spending and cloud computing services round out the four high-growth spending categories.

"Connectivity has become the life blood of business efforts, but it is particularly crucial to small businesses as many operate without a brick-and-mortar presence to customers," says Greg Potter at In-Stat.

One can already see the strength of wireless in the 5-9 and 10-19 employee sub-segments. It is the 20-99 sub-segment, however, that will maintain the dominance of wireline voice through the end of this year.

Additional insights from the latest market study include:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is set to grow 190 percent from 2010 to 2015.
• Overall, cloud computing services are the largest growth engines for small business telecom spending.
• Traditional TDM services are set to decline 15 percent from 2010 to 2015, a loss of over $1 billion.
• Retail trade, along with the hospitality and food vertical will account for over $11.5 billion in spending in 2010.
• The 20-99 employee size portion of the small business segment accounts for over half of all spending in small businesses (5-99 employees).

Market Opportunities for Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology is a leading short-range wireless communication standard that enables a broad array of electronic devices to connect.

The technology continues to evolve and expand, taking advantage of the desirable attributes it possesses: a small-form factor radio, low power, low cost, built-in security, robustness, ease-of-use, and ad-hoc networking abilities.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, they are forecasting continued success, with expected Bluetooth-enabled device shipments to exceed 2 billion in 2013.

“Bluetooth continues to gain design wins over a wide range of applications, with Bluetooth device shipments increasing by 23 percent between 2009 and 2010,” says Brian O’Rourke, Research Director at In-Stat.

Bluetooth has been bolstered in the past year by the emergence of two new standards. Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed (HS) combines classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to transmit large data files and Bluetooth 4.0 -- which offers much lower power consumption than classic Bluetooth and targets medical and fitness devices, as well as PCs and mobile phones.

In-Stat's latest market study insights include:

• Classic Bluetooth will remain the leading BT interface throughout the forecast period.
• Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed is a software-only solution that allows Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to work together.
• Bluetooth 4.0 primarily targets new BT markets: medical, fitness, and security devices.
• Bluetooth 4.0 + High Speed option expected to hit the market in mobile phones by the end of 2011.
• Automotive BT is now a common option in mid-priced sedans.

Broadcast Digital Mobile TV Services Gaining Traction

The transition from older-style can-type television channel tuners to silicon TV tuners finally began to occur in 2010. Today, the top TV set manufacturers are actually putting silicon tuners directly on their main TV chassis boards -- and many ODMs are using can-type modules that contain silicon tuners and demodulators.

Moreover, new broadcast TV applications are helping to increase demand.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, mobile video services in China, Brazil, and the U.S. are creating new growth markets for all-digital mobile tuners that will drive the value of silicon TV tuner shipments to $750 million in 2015.

“Silicon tuners have finally turned the corner in the battle with traditional can-type modules,” says Gerry Kaufhold, Research Director at In-Stat.

The major name-brand TV set manufactures have been convinced of the performance, reliability and roadmaps presented by the silicon tuner vendors. An epochal shift away from old-style cans is now fully underway, and the trend is progressing.

Broadcast digital mobile TV services are gaining traction, and even mobile analog tuners are showing strong growth in less developed regions of the world.

In-Stat latest market study found the following:

• By 2015, nearly 80 percent of all new TV sets will ship with silicon tuners built in.
• Silicon tuner shipments into Latin America will grow at CAGR of 30.5 percent.
• In North America, silicon tuners built into TV sets, will grow with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.5 percent through 2015.
• Many European TV sets already include silicon TV tuners, and expected growth will push the number of units shipped to nearly 36 million in 2015. 
• In the cable TV space, Broadcom’s Full Band Capture technologies will help bring an expanding range of Internet Protocol (IP) services to consumers homes. 
• In the satellite space, NovelSat’s NS-3 modulation may create a new wave of satellite services that can re-invigorate shipments for next-generation satellite set top boxes.

MPLS Service Spending to Reach $2.4 Billion by 2015

Wireline telecommunications data services is a growing business communications category that includes expenditures on wide area network (WAN) data transport services.

These enterprise communication services include dedicated cable, DSL, network-based IP VPN, T1, frame relay, ATM, and Ethernet services. MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) service is also part of this group.

It's a high-performance telecom network offering that directs and carries data from one network node to the next with the help of labels -- making it easy to create virtual links between distant nodes.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, MPLS network services are becoming more popular and business spending will reach $2.4 billion in 2015.

“MPLS is communication protocol agnostic and highly scalable,” says Greg Potter, Analyst at In-Stat.

It was designed to provide a unified data-carrying service for both circuit-based clients and packet-switching clients. A number of different technologies were previously deployed with similar goals, such as frame relay and ATM services.

Newly collected market data suggests that the increase in MPLS spending has had a negative impact on some of these other communication technologies.

In-Stat's latest market study insights include:

• Frame relay spending will decline 55 percent from 2010 to 2015.
• Spending on cable data services will increase 34 percent over the forecast period.
• Small businesses (20-99 employees) will spend a little over $6.2 billion in 2012.
• The healthcare and social services vertical will experience the largest overall gain, increasing $1.2 billion over the forecast period.

3D Mobile Devices will Surpass 148 Million in 2015

The implementation of 3D on mobile devices, such as smartphones and media tablets, is still in its infancy and requires a much more advanced technical solution for both viewing 3D and capturing 3D.

However, the tremendous size of the mobile applications and entertainment market is driving the industry to overcome some of the current technical limitations.

3D displays are still evolving, while image sensors are benefiting from a TAM that is likely to triple by 2015, and the processing solutions are already on a roadmap that will support the increasing demands of 3D.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, the total number of 3D mobile devices will surpass 148 million units in 2015.

"Despite the advances in the technology, adoption of 3D in mobile devices is still likely to be relatively slow due to limitations in content, the potential of eye strain and headaches from viewing 3D content by some, and the additional cost for 3D content and devices," says Jim McGregor, Chief Technology Strategist at In-Stat.

Although 3D has been around for decades, the current technology that will be used on mobile devices is different and more advanced. Besides, as with any new technology, adoption will increase as the ecosystem matures and costs come down.

Moreover, the ability to capture 3D is combined with innovative mobile applications, which will likely occur in the 2013 to 2015 timeframe.

In-Stat's latest market study findings include:

• Nearly 30 percent of all handheld game consoles will be 3D by 2015.
• 3D mobile devices will increase demand for image sensors by 130 percent.
• In 2012, notebook PCs will be the first 3D enabled mobile device to reach 1 million units.
• By 2014, 18 percent of all media tablets will be 3D-capable.

Broadcast Digital HDTV Indoor Antenna Solution

Over-the-air (OTA) broadcast high definition television deployment is growing across the globe, as more nations retire the analog TV transmission infrastructure and convert over to digital. Here in the U.S. market, the video image quality of digital broadcast TV has to be seen to be believed – it’s a vast improvement over the old system.

That being said, I’ve discovered that most indoor TV antennas don’t perform well. I live on high ground not too far from the communication towers where the broadcast TV signals are transmitted. So, theoretically, we should achieve outstanding broadcast digital TV reception.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case, until now. My prior attempts at finding a suitable indoor antenna for digital TV broadcasts proved to be very problematic. Some indoor antennas are very particular about placement – the proximity of the antenna relative to the TV set, and the other surroundings.

Many require tuning – carefully adjusting the placement of the antenna so that reception across all broadcast channels is somewhat consistent. I’ve used three different antenna types, thus far. Only the Leaf Indoor Antenna, from Mohu Inc., has delivered acceptable performance in our home. To date -- based upon our usage needs -- the Leaf was able to effectively deliver all the local channels, all of the time (with no tuning required).

As you’ll see, the manufacturer claims that “The Leaf is unlike any other television antenna on the market and provides unparalleled performance, installation options and value.” Frankly, when I received the device I was immediately struck by the relative simplicity of the design – it’s flat, very unobtrusive and easy to install.

I’ve used it successfully with our nineteen inch digital HDTV set that we use in the kitchen area, underneath a row of cabinets. The other TVs in our home are connected to the local cable TV network. Because we don’t use their digital cable service – just the basic analog service – I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the OTA channels produce high quality video images.

Mohu offers a 30-day money back guarantee and the antenna has a standard one-year warranty. I’ve waited a couple of months before I decided to write my review of this product. Given my prior experience with other indoor antennas, I wanted to be sure that the excellent results were truly sustainable.

If you’ve been searching for a digital broadcast TV antenna that doesn’t require power for signal amplification, can be easily hidden from view and works well across the full spectrum of broadcast TV channels, then the Leaf is a good choice.

For additional insight about the product application in other parts of the U.S., read the customer Testimonials on the Mohu website or the product reviews on the Amazon.com site.

Social Commerce Impact in Western European Markets

According to the latest market study by eMarketer, the UK has long dominated the Western European ecommerce landscape, accounting for well over half of annual sales in the European Union top five (EU-5). But France, Germany, Italy and Spain are increasingly important markets.

eMarketer estimates that in 2013, combined B2C online sales in these countries will reach $121.5 billion -- and overtake the UK total for the first time. By 2015, spending across the region will reach $343.5 billion, with 58.2 percent of the total -- or $199.9 billion, coming from France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

“Europe’s ecommerce market is a resounding success by any standard,” said Karin von Abrams, senior analyst at eMarketer. “The number of online buyers in Europe’s four main continental markets is rising steadily as consumer confidence increases and online sellers provide an ever-wider range of goods and services.”

However, the number of online buyers in these countries -- as a percentage of total internet users -- can vary significantly. In the UK and Germany, nearly three-quarters or more of the online population has made a purchase online in the past year -- incidentally, that's higher than the U.S. market rate of 72.6 percent for 2011.

Apparently, France is not far behind. But in Spain and Italy, rates of online purchasing are much lower. One reason is that Italy, like Spain, had no prior tradition of catalog-based home shopping, whereas France and Germany do. As a result, most consumers in these countries are not familiar with the process of evaluating goods without an in-store visit.

“As ecommerce grows across the region, each country seems to foster a unique blend of ecommerce habits,” said von Abrams.

For example, mobile phone owners polled in France in 2011 appeared far more likely than those in other EU-5 countries to use their handsets while shopping in stores. Yet France’s mobile users were less likely to make any mobile purchases. Similarly, it's unlikely that Italy and Spain will embrace online food shopping -- as consumers in Germany and the UK have done.

“Though levels of online buying will rise in all major European countries, significant variations will persist,” she continued.

I believe that the next wave of online sales growth in Western Europe will likely come from Social Commerce -- where collaborative e-commerce tools enable shoppers to get advice and guidance from trusted individuals, find the specific goods and services that they need and then purchase them from their preferred online retailers.

Revelations from QR Code Study in the U.S. Market

comScore released the results of their latest market study on mobile phone user adoption of QR code scanning. Quick Response (QR) codes are a specific matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by a mobile smartphone.

The study found that in June 2011, 14 million mobile users in the U.S. market -- representing 6.2 percent of the total mobile phone user population -- scanned a QR code on their mobile device.

The study uncovered that a mobile user who scanned a QR code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5 percent of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100k or above (36.1 percent).

"QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns to help reach desired consumer segments," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile.

For marketers, understanding which consumer segments scan QR codes, the source and location of these scans, and the resulting information delivered, is crucial in developing and deploying campaigns that successfully utilize QR codes to further brand engagement.

Analysis of the source and location of QR code scanning revealed further insights into how consumers are interacting with this marketing tool. The most popular source of a scanned QR code was a printed magazine or newspaper, with nearly half scanning QR codes from this source.

Product packaging was the source of QR code scanning for 35.3 percent of the audience, while 27.4 percent scanned a code from a website on a PC and 23.5 percent scanned codes from a poster, flyer or kiosk.

Among mobile users who scanned a QR code on their mobile devices in June, 58.0 percent did so from their home, while 39.4 percent did so from a retail store and 24.5 percent did so from a grocery store. Nearly 20 percent scanned a QR code while at work, while 12.6 percent did so outside or on public transit and 7.6 percent did so while in a restaurant.

Many More Low-Cost Media Tablets Planned for 2011

Annual media tablet shipments across the globe are forecast to top 120 million units by 2015. While not quite as strong as traditional PC or smartphone annual sales, media tablets are emerging from the shadow of non-handset mobile devices to become a significant product category.

Google Android media tablets have collectively taken 20 percent market share away from the Apple iPad in the last 12 months. However, so far, no single vendor using Android (or any other OS) has been able to mount a significant challenge against the iPad dominant position.

ABI Research mobile devices group director Jeff Orr says, "Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple. In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads."

Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.

Fragmentation within operating system software is hindering growth of this device category. Application developers must choose an initial software platform and may delay starting development if the market potential is not significant.

The Google Android OS currently has three different software builds deployed across media tablets at the same time. According to ABI's assessment, the benefits of open software platform development have yet to be realized for media tablets.

"De-featured, low-cost media tablets are being introduced by more than fifty vendors in 2011," Orr says. "This will certainly help bolster year-over-year growth for the category, but it also creates a negative perception in the minds of the mass consumer audience about the readiness of media tablets to be fully functional within the next several years."

A good user experiences and product design are needed to propel this market beyond the early adopter stage. We'll have to wait any see if any brand, other than Apple, will set a new media tablet benchmark in the global marketplace.

Why Contactless POS is Ready for Retail Deployment

Developments in contactless payment technology are generating renewed interest, and now suggest that the point-of-sale (POS) payment systems that adopt this capability may finally be ready for mainstream deployment.

The introduction of Google Wallet, and the expectation that several new NFC-enabled smartphones will reach consumer markets soon, have created a sense of optimism.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, in 2010 only about 10 percent of total POS terminal shipments included some form of contactless technology.

While ABI doesn't agree with some of the wilder predictions for contactless POS growth -- for example that within 12 months, one third of all terminals in the U.S. will accept contactless payments -- it does forecast that 85 percent of terminals shipped worldwide will be contactless-enabled in 2016.

That growth will be driven by increased proliferation of contactless cards and especially, rapid adoption of NFC-enabled cell phones. Craig Foster, senior analyst at ABI says, "Contactless has the potential to change the way we pay for goods completely, significantly reducing time spent queuing at the point of sale. It also represents an almost perfect fit for the vending industry."

There are two key benefits: the increased speed and simplicity of check-out go hand-in-hand with the very essence of the vending machine -- to provide goods quickly and conveniently; The fact that small-value transactions -- typically under $25 in the U.S. market -- do not need to be authenticated by signature or PIN entry is very appealing to vending machine operators.

Contactless technology is also in the very early stages of adoption in ATMs: rather than inserting the card, a customer waves it in front of the machine and enters a PIN.

Ingenico, VeriFone, and Hypercom are the three leading vendors of POS terminals. Contactless terminals have formed an increasingly significant part of Ingenico's product portfolio in recent years, accounting for a claimed 21 percent of the company's shipments in 2010.

SuperSpeed USB Designed for Large Data Applications

The transition to SuperSpeed USB (also known as USB 3.0) is occurring more rapidly than previously anticipated -- due primarily to quicker integration of the new interface standard into core logic chipsets.

Yet, low-/full-speed (USB 1.0) and high-speed (USB 2.0) will remain relevant for the near future as well.

Low-/full-speed will remain the communication interface of choice in mice and keyboards, and high-speed will remain in many PC peripheral and consumer electronics (CE) multimedia applications.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, USB will grow at 7.4 percent through 2015 with most of that growth being fueled from SuperSpeed devices which will have an impressive CAGR of 178 percent over that same time period.

"Because the throughput of SuperSpeed USB -- 10 times that of high-speed USB -- is not required in some devices, adoption will not initially be as broad as for full- and high-speed USB," says Brian O'Rourke, Research Director at In-Stat.

However, SuperSpeed USB will gain significant initial penetration in markets requiring transfers of increasingly larger pools of data. This process is underway in applications such as PCs, external hard disk drives, and USB flash drives.

It will happen over the next few years in applications such as digital still cameras, camcorders, and portable media players.

Other insights form the In-Stat market study include:

• More than 3.5 billion USB devices shipped in 2010.
• High-speed USB is still the most popular USB interface, comprising over three-quarters of USB device shipments in 2010.
• Mobile phones are a key driver for USB overall, and will play a role in the adoption of SuperSpeed USB.
• The price of SuperSpeed silicon will begin to approach the cost of high-speed USB, on both the host and device side, over the next two to three years.

SOHO Tech Spending will Surpass $17 Billion in 2015

The developments in office system and business communication technology have helped to foster what has been a significant rise in telecommuters.

Recent economic conditions have also helped to create, in many cases out of necessity, a large self-employed and home-based labor force.

The combination of the two has been instrumental in the growth of the SOHO (single office/home office) work environment. That expansion in turn has led In-Stat to forecast that SOHO business technology spending will surpass $17 billion in 2015.

"The overall trend in SOHO spending will see a 20 percent increase over the next five years,” says Greg Potter, Analyst at In-Stat.

According to In-Stat's latest market assessment, there will be pockets of spending in business technology products and segments that are more significant than others.

For example, healthcare and social services, construction, and retail trade market segments will experience the largest overall gains over the forecast period -- each increasing their overall spend by $240 million.

Meanwhile, cloud computing -- as a product category -- continues to experience the largest overall percentage of growth.

Insights from In-Stat's latest market study includes:

• Software as a service (SaaS) spending will increase to almost $800 million by 2015.
• The professional services vertical segment will spend 2.5 billion in 2013.
• Wireless data spending will increase 45 percent from 2010-2015.
• Cloud computing continues to experience the largest growth in terms of percentage, growing roughly 150 percent.

China Will Lead Online Ads in Asia-Pacific by 2015

The market potential for advertising in China -- while still developing,  compared to mature markets like the U.S. and Japan -- is beginning to catch up to the demand of consumer-facing companies looking to expand their reach among the world's largest population and its growing buying power.

According to the latest market study by eMarketer, by the end of 2011, advertising spending in China will increase enough to make the country the second-largest advertising market in the world.

In 2010, the number two spot was held by Japan, where total media ad spending last year reached $34 billion. But after slow, 0.4 percent growth in spending last year, the effect of the tsunami and continuing economic difficulties this year will cause ad spending in Japan to drop by 3.7 percent, to $32.7 billion.

Meanwhile, spending in China is forecast to increase by 14 percent in 2011 -- rising to $38.3 billion. The U.S. will remain the leading country -- in terms of total media ad spending -- with a projected $157.4 billion in ad sales this year.

"One key reason for Asia-Pacific's growth in ad spending is that the region's two most populous countries -- India and China -- also boast two of the world's fastest-growing economies," said Kris Oser, eMarketer director of strategic communications.

In 2010, China surpassed Japan as the second-biggest economy in the world. And, this year marks another major milestone for the ongoing Chinese economic growth story. That being said, regarding the online advertising market potential, China still has some catching up to do.

eMarketer estimates that in 2011 advertisers will spend $4.6 billion on digital in China -- far short of Japan's projected $7.2 billion in spending. But by 2014, China's higher growth trajectory will bring the two countries even with each other -- at $9.5 billion in spending. In 2015, however, China will become the largest online ad market in Asia-Pacific.

Due to the anticipated Chinese population growth, even these spending levels are low on a per-person basis. This year, Chinese total media advertising spending will reach $28.68 per person -- compared to $258.88 in the Japan and $502.49 in the U.S. markets.

In 2015 that figure will still be far below the worldwide average. Online, advertisers will spend $8.68 per internet user in China this year, vs. $76.80 in Japan and $134.87 in the U.S. market. Even as estimated spending per internet user in China nearly doubles by 2015, online spending will remain below average.

Why Apple and Google Lead Mobile Apps Ecosystem

Appcelerator and International Data Corporation (IDC) announced results from a joint survey of 2,012 app software developers around the world. Analysis shows that Apple and Google lead in mobile by redefining app engagement, loyalty, and cloud connectivity through their new Google+ and iCloud offerings.

Developers also indicate that they see Apple and Google gains in the consumer application space translating into significant traction in the enterprise space over time.

"Google and Apple are pushing mobile competition beyond OS platforms into the cloud and into social integration," notes Scott Ellison, IDC vice president, Mobile & Consumer Connected Platforms.

This likely translates into increased competition with Amazon and Facebook, creating new competitive complexities and opportunities going forward for everyone in the mobile ecosystem. In particular, the study results raise new questions about the diminished role of mobile phone service providers.

As mobile app and platform leadership continues to coalesce around Apple and Google, both players are leveraging their strengths into the cloud in different, but compelling new ways that are likely to generate long-term value and competitive differentiation for each of their respective ecosystems.

Study findings about the app developer perspective includes:

When asked "what will impact the growth and adoption of mobile the most?," Apple and Google come out on top. In order of priority -- Google+: 25%, Apple iCloud: 22%, Near-Field Communication: 18%, iOS 5 Twitter Integration: 14%, Android Patent Issues: 13%, Amazon Android Tablet Rumors: 6%, HP TouchPad Launch: 2%.

• Two-thirds of respondents believe that Google can catch up to Facebook in social with Google+. When asked why, 68% of developers say that leveraging Google's assets (eg: Search, YouTube, Maps, etc) trumps Facebook's social graph lead. Forty-nine percent say that Google shows more innovation than Facebook with new Google+ features like circles, sparks, hangouts, etc.

• While Google+ may be the future, today 83% of developers using social in their apps say they use or are planning to use Facebook this year. Twitter is second at 73%, followed closely by Google+ (when API is released) at 72%, LinkedIn at 30%, and Foursquare at 23%.

• When asked what social capabilities are most important in their apps, developers said that features that encourage repeat usage and offer fresh content are more important than location check-ins and photo sharing. In order of priority, developers use social for: notifications (52%), status updates (49%), login/identity (44%), messaging (38%), news (35%), location sharing (32%), photo sharing (31%), and friend requests (26%).

• Continuing on the real-time update theme, when it comes to iOS 5 features, developers are most interested in: improved notifications (58%), iCloud (51%), integrated Twitter support (40%), reminders (36%), and iMessage (32%).

• iCloud may significantly disrupt the mobile cloud computing space, as developers envision a tight race between Amazon and Apple. Developers who are using or planning to use cloud services over the next year see Amazon (51%), iCloud (50%), Microsoft Windows Azure (20%), VMWare (20%), and RedHat OpenShift (17%) as the top five players.

• Apple and Google's strengths in the mobile consumer space are clearly making inroads in developer perceptions of the enterprise arena. When asked which platform is best positioned to win in the enterprise, respondents were evenly divided between iOS and Android at 44% each. Only 7% believe Windows Phone has a shot, 4% for BlackBerry, and 2% for webOS.

• While neck and neck in the enterprise, perceptions on why Apple or Google might win in the enterprise are dramatically different. We posed two reasons why each platform might win and then asked developers to rank which statements were most accurate across all platforms. Topping the list, 30% of developers believe Android's market share lead will be the key driver for success in the enterprise ,followed by 24% of respondents saying that Apple's consumerization of the user experience will carry iOS into mainstream enterprise adoption.

Ultimately, these changes are an evolution of the mobile engagement lifecycle. From customer acquisition or awareness to engagement, to monetization to loyalty -- mobile ecosystem leaders are focusing on leveraging their ubiquitous adoption levels into new areas that will significantly enlarge the overall value that's possible on each of their platforms.

78.5 Million People in the U.S. Now Own Smartphones

comScore reported key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending June 2011.

The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 40.1 percent market share in June.

During the same period, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices.

Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.8 percentage points), followed by LG with 21.3 percent share (up 0.4 percentage points) and Motorola with 14.5 percent share. Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 8.9 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.0 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.9 percent share.

78.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in June 2011 -- up 8 percent from the preceding three month period.

Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 40.1 percent market share, up 5.4 percentage points. Apple strengthened its #2 position with 26.6 percent of the smartphone market, up 1.1 percentage points from the prior reporting period. RIM ranked third with 23.4 percent share, followed by Microsoft (5.8 percent) and Symbian (2.0 percent).

In June, 69.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device -- up 1.0 percentage points. Browsers were used by 40.1 percent of subscribers (up 1.5 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 39.5 percent (up 2.2 percentage points).

Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points to 29.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 26.9 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.2 percentage points), while 19.0 percent listened to music on their phones (up 1.1 percentage points).

Mobile P2P Advances with Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth

Connectivity protocols in mobile devices and other consumer electronics (CE) are finding new growth through evolving wireless communication standards. Two key short-range protocols, Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth v4.0 -- or Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE -- are benefitting from the activities of the Bluetooth SIG and the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The goal of these groups is to simplify and standardize device implementation for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), increasing the protocol's capabilities and pushing them into new devices and vertical applications.

They provide a way for CE OEM priorities to be factored into these competing (yet complementary) protocols.

"To remain competitive against their short-range competitors in mobile devices, connectivity protocols must advance their capabilities," says ABI Research senior analyst Michael Morgan.

Space, power, and cost are serious concerns in mobile device design. That's why a connectivity protocol must perform its role efficiently, or it risks being excluded from OEM design considerations.

BLE is expected to ride alongside the massive adoption of earlier versions in handsets and other devices. The low power sensors can be added to health and fitness monitoring devices and deliver a new addressable market for Bluetooth to serve.

Wi-Fi Direct offers peer-to-peer (P2P) communication capabilities similar to Bluetooth's applications. As Wi-Fi continues to penetrate into all manner of devices and consumer electronics, it gains potential to replace Bluetooth in certain device segments (eg. remote controls, Bluetooth headsets).

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, Wi-Fi Direct device shipments will experience a 50 percent CAGR from 2011 to 2016 -- and ship 2 billion devices in 2016. Not to be outdone, total BLE device shipments (both dual and single mode) will grow at a 61 percent CAGR -- to ship 2.9 billion devices in 2016.

ABI Vice President Kevin Burden said there's a prominent exception, "Another short-range technology, NFC's mobile wallet function, is not benefitting from an industry body's drive to standards: the NFC Forum takes the position that the marketplace is the best arena for that process."

Multi-Format Video Transcoder Growing Upside

Digital video content is delivered to multiple device types over unmanaged networks with fluctuating bandwidth. As a result, video delivery must adapt to the variable bandwidth available on the IP network, the resolution and screen size of the receiving device, and the decoding capability (or limitations) of each device type.

Given that multifaceted scenario, a rigid one-size-fits-all solution is really not an option.

As more and more video content becomes available via the public Internet and accessible on mobile networks, the need for video transcoding products -- that can ingest content in one format and then output that content into the various video formats -- will grow significantly.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, worldwide revenue for multi-format digital video transcoders will surpass $460 million in 2015.

"The industry is at the start of multiscreen delivery and TV Everywhere. Content providers expect in a few years that as much as 75 percent of their content will be available via the new distribution platforms," says Michelle Abraham, Research Director at In-Stat.

Multiscreen delivery -- either directly on the part of content creators, or via pay-TV service providers -- is driving the market for multiformat transcoders. In-Stat expects this increasing demand to remain the case for the next several years.

They define multiscreen as delivering content files or video streams to displays of various sizes and resolutions -- not just to the typical TV and the PC platforms.

In-Stat's latest market study found the following:

• The multiscreen services from content providers are primarily being launched in the Americas and EMEA.
• The expectations for TV Everywhere have brought new vendors to the market in 2011, Arris, Imagine Communications, and Thomson Video Networks.
• In 2010, the file multiformat transcoding market grew by 72 percent due to the growth in multiscreen services from content providers.

Downside for Shrinking Mobile Feature Phone Market

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 11.3 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), despite a weaker feature phone market, which declined for the first time since 3Q09.

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), vendors shipped 365.4 million units in 2Q11 -- compared to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010.

The 11.3 percent growth was lower than IDC's forecast of 13.3 percent for the quarter and was also below the 16.8 percent growth in 1Q11. The feature phone market shrank 4 percent in 2Q11 when compared to 2Q10.

The decline in feature phone shipments was most prominent in economically mature regions, such as the United States, Japan, and Western Europe, as users rapidly transition to smartphones. This was the first decline since Q3 2009 and reflected a combination of conservative spending and continued shift to smartphones.

"The shrinking feature phone market is having the greatest impact on some of the world's largest suppliers of mobile phones," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC.

For the overall market to grow by double digits year over year, despite the decline in feature phones, is testament to the strength of the global smartphone market. While this is not a new trend -- smartphones have been the primary engine of growth for the last several quarters -- it does mark something of a transition point, as demonstrated by the growing number and variety of smartphones featured in vendor portfolios.

The feature phone forecast isn't expected to be any rosier in the quarters and years to come. Shipment growth of the device type won't exceed 1.1 percent in any year forecasted by IDC.

In North America, smartphones once again took center stage, propelled by lower prices, key device launches, and enhanced channel marketing. In particular, Android-based devices extended their lead in the United States and took leadership in Canada.

Meanwhile, demand for feature phones continued to slide, but there still existed pockets of interest for voice-centric and quick-messaging devices. Still, as the region heads towards a smartphone-centric future, IDC expects feature phones to represent an increasingly smaller portion of the market.

Why Few Marketers Reap the Full Potential of LinkedIn

I was an early-adopter of the LinkedIn.com platform, having received an invitation from Reid Hoffman shortly after the beta site was launched. Back then, the user experience was very different, because the site was little more than a U.S.-centric online directory of member profiles.

The site is now an invaluable worldwide business development tool, for those who apply its unique attributes that enable commercial-oriented interactivity.

eMarketer reports that merely a month after its debut as a public company -- and now eight years after its launch -- LinkedIn has recently passed Myspace to become the number two global social networking site in terms of visitors, according to the latest market study by comScore.

Marketers can learn how to most effectively reach LinkedIn members by observing how they typically use the site and where they interact on the platform. In July 2011, market research firm Lab42 surveyed LinkedIn users and found that the membership is somewhat engaged. Approximately 32 percent of members check the site several times a week -- 35 percent of survey respondents said they sign-in to the website daily.

The Inherent Value of Member Profile Segmentation

The Lab42 market study also found that 42 percent of LinkedIn members update their profiles regularly and 81 percent belong to at least one group. The study also revealed that some LinkedIn users are interacting with the numerous features, and searching for individuals and companies on the site.

That being said, the actual reasons why members use the site apparently can vary substantially, based on their role and responsibilities. In all cases, the typical member use case scenarios are different than Facebook users. In my opinion, LinkedIn has never been a "social network" platform -- in fact, that's a key part of its appeal for informed marketing professionals.

Senior level executives use the site mainly for trade industry networking (22 percent) and promoting their businesses (20 percent). Middle managers are more likely to use LinkedIn primarily to keep in touch (24 percent) with others, as well as for industry networking (20 percent). Entry level employees, not surprisingly, are using the site mainly for job searching (24 percent) and co-worker networking (23 percent).

Usage differences among demographic and psychographic segments are worth noting, particularly if marketers are trying to target higher level executives or entry level employees with their outreach on the site. Display advertising on LinkedIn -- which can already be targeted based on education, location, job level and other criteria -- can be focused in various sections of the website, including Jobs, Groups and Answers.

LinkedIn is Not an Audience of Typical Consumers

Savvy members know that LinkedIn is best utilized for no-cost marketing efforts. Meaning, they can easily connect with their target stakeholders via the creative use of LinkedIn Group discussions or the Answers section of the site.

eMarketer believes that now LinkedIn is public, more information will surface about the site and how the members use it, potentially providing deeper insights and benefits for marketers. However, I'm not convinced.

Based upon my own observations to date, the vast majority of legacy marketers will never reap the full potential from LinkedIn, because that would require an investment in their time and purposeful engagement. Regardless, too many professionals would gladly browse content on Facebook, with zero return on their investment. Moreover, those who purchase display advertising on Facebook are equally misguided.

Update: Lab42 created an infographic to help visualize their study results.

Mobile Gaming Upside to Reach $16 Billion by 2016

The mobile gaming phenomenon is already established in the online marketplace as a form of interactive entertainment, appealing to a diverse group of consumers across the world.

The growth in this application software is driven on one hand by the emergence of modern touchscreen smartphones as a suitable gaming platform, and on the other hand by innovation in casual games that attract users from both genders and from all age groups.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, this is also reflected in the gaming industry's revenue base -- which will grow from less than $5 billion revenue in 2011 to more than a $16 billion upside opportunity by 2016.

"An ever-larger share of mobile gaming revenue is coming from virtual goods and other purchases that take place within the game," said Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst at ABI.

These in-app payments will account for about one-third of the 2011 revenue base, but by the end of 2016 their share will increase to almost half of the total. Also, the in-game advertising revenue will increase considerably, as more advertisers take advantage of the mass-media potential for mobile games.

Because online distribution of game content is the norm, barriers to entering the mobile gaming sector are low.

That said, the dynamics of both casual gaming and the discovery of new content make it a somewhat risky hit-and-miss business, though good content is still definitely more important than luck.

Angry Birds from Rovio is an early example of the adoption that the most successful titles will be able to achieve. Yet for every hit game title, there will be scores of failed attempts to engage with consumers.

It's likely that there will also be further consolidation among independent mobile game software developers, such as the recent acquisitions made by gaming industry giants Electronic Arts and Zynga.

48 Billion Mobile App Downloads Expected by 2015

Smartphones and media tablets have created a bonanza for independent software developers. The mobile applications (apps) market is growing rapidly and will continue to evolve in the coming years, with the addition of new products, industry players, and creative business models.

While this growth has created new opportunities it also presents some new challenges.

The apps market is already flooded, and there's also significant pricing pressure -- as well as a shift toward free applications which will necessitate new revenue models. Despite these and other potential hurdles, In-Stat is forecasting that mobile application download revenue will surpass $29 billion in 2015.

"Largely spurred by the launch of the Apple iPhone, mobile applications have been a strong growth market over the past several years. The number of applications available has exploded, which has sparked an increasing rate of downloads," says Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.

As the market matures, developers and app stores must take innovative approaches and compete across multiple platforms to attract new users.

While the market will become more competitive in the coming years, there is a broad base of interested parties with a vested interest in promoting continued market growth.

Key data form the latest In-Stat market study includes:

• Mobile application downloads will approach 48 billion in 2015.
• According to the survey, the average amount paid for a mobile app was under $2.50.
• Smartphones are expected to increase from 23 percent of total phone shipments in 2010 to over 45 percent in 2015.
• In December 2010, the number of applications in the Apple App Store reached 350,000 while the Android Market reached 80,000.
• Smartphone applications are not only about 3G. Almost half of survey respondents report downloading applications over Wi-Fi.

Connected TV Apps Transforming Video Entertainment

Software applications (apps) have been the primary focal point in the smartphone and media tablet worlds for some time. Now, with the advent of smart connected TVs, people everywhere are rapidly adopting online video applications that are changing their on-demand viewing experience.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, their forecast estimates that over 60 percent of these connected households will use a TV app at least once per week. However, these apps won't likely be provided by an incumbent pay-TV service provider. Clearly, other companies are driving this trend.

"As expected, Netflix and YouTube currently dominate the TV application space," says Keith Nissen, Research Director at In-Stat.

But as Netflix competitors become more numerous and as applications are optimized for the big screen, TV apps will become part of the mainstream TV viewing experience. They will transform video entertainment.

Once again, the current dominant entertainment industry players have been passive to disruptive market transitions. How will traditional pay-TV providers react to this latest threat to their core business model?

Why did they not see this transition coming, or why did they ignore the apparent shift away from linear channel viewing? Who is guiding them through these changes? Should the pay-TV STB vendors have already created a developer ecosystem that leverages open APIs and thereby help fuel new service delivery innovation?

There are so many of these troubling questions that have been left unanswered. Meanwhile, the pay-TV service subscriber losses are mounting.

In-Stat's latest market study found the following:

• Shipments of connected TVs with integrated TV applications will grow by an average 36 percent over the next five years.
• 22 percent of U.S. broadband households already own an HDTV with integrated TV apps.
• TV apps are not the primary reason for purchasing connected TVs -- but they're the reason the balance of power is shifting in the marketplace.
• Adoption of online video streaming services, such as Netflix, does not increase the propensity to purchase online video content.
• The viewing of DVR recorded TV programming does not lead to the adoption of free VOD services from a pay TV operator.
• Consumers favoring subscriptions to both pay-TV and online video services rose from 18 percent to 30 percent during 2010, contributing to the continued growth of Netflix.

Media Tablets Impact EMEA Market Outlook for PCs

Shipments of personal computers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) continued to decline in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11) as sustained high levels of inventory inhibited stronger sell-in -- particularly in Western Europe -- and led to a decline of 8.9 percent in overall shipments across EMEA compared with the same quarter last year.

A shift in interest toward other products continued to contribute to weak consumer demand and slow stock depletion across Western Europe, but other parts continued to expand and enjoy positive growth, performing even better than expected -- driven by robust demand for portable PCs.

Western Europe shipment levels further decelerated, recording a decline of 20.9 percent, impacted by persisting high inventory levels and slow consumer demand across the region which prevented stronger sell-in from most vendors.

The situation improved and stock depletion continued, but low retail traffic and a continued shift in budget and interest toward other devices, particularly new media tablets and smartphones, continued to contribute to PC purchases being postponed and led to a contraction of 32.2 percent in consumer sell-in -- affecting both desktop and portable PC form factors.

"Consumer demand is likely to remain lackluster and geared toward media tablets, as a plethora of new models was launched in 2Q with many more to follow in the coming months. Broader product availability and choice will drive fierce vendor competition, which is likely to lead to a price battle," said Eszter Morvay, research manager at IDC.

Commercial demand fared better and recorded a softer 4.3 percent decline, albeit slower than anticipated due to rising concerns about the deteriorating economic climate. Corporate renewals continued to feed some level of demand, but SMB purchases remained cautious, with many businesses holding on to their spending, while the uncertain economic situation in the eurozone contributed to a further drop in public investments.

Southern Europe remained the most impacted, with severe contractions in Spain and Italy, while other key economies, including France and Germany, fared only marginally better, aided by more sustained commercial investment levels, but they remained severely constrained by slow consumer demand.

"Although no major rollout has started just yet, we're seeing very encouraging signs for Windows-based slate tablet adoption. IDC estimates that in 2Q close to 20,000 slate tablets shipped in the Western European commercial segment -- compared with just 5,000 during the same quarter last year. Vertical sectors with field workers, such as utilities, transport, and healthcare, have always represented a key growth opportunity, and current product expansion and improvement could well support accelerated penetration," said Morvay.

HTML5 will Transform Multimedia on Mobile Devices

According to the the latest market study by ABI Research, more than 2.1 billion mobile devices (such as smartphones and media tablets) will have HTML5 browsers by 2016 -- that's up up from just 109 million in 2010.

While the official position from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is that the HTML5 mark-up language standard will not be complete until 2020, ABI believes that 25 HTML5 features currently in development will become widely used at varying intervals within the next three to five years.

"We expect HTML5 features in categories such as graphics, multimedia, user interactions, data storage, and others to be widely adopted sooner rather than later. A significant number of HTML5 features will be adopted in the mass market in the next three to five years," says Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI.

HTML5 adoption is going to accelerate because it will be a key differentiator in the smartphone operating system competitive race to world dominance. Moreover, Apple will likely be a key driver of HTML5 and consequently a primary benefactor as well.

According to ABI's assessment, Apple's competitive edge stems from vision and its lack of fragmentation.

"The key to HTML5 growth is browser capabilities. Apple will quickly develop HTML5 features capabilities for their browsers and be able to easily push those updates out to their devices," Beccue says.

In contrast, Android doesn't have the capabilities to move so quickly. Blackberry has market share, but their installed base of phones with HTML5 capable browsers are somewhat limited.

One important HTML5 feature, online video streaming, is making a play to challenge the popular Adobe Flash Player plugin software. The feature would allow video to stream without the necessity of activating a plugin. While industry discussions of Flash’s disappearance generally conclude that Flash will not be phased out any time soon, ABI's Beccue thinks differently.

"I think the disappearance of Flash is closer than people think," he said.