Video Ads Now Reach 50 Percent of U.S. Population

comScore released data showing that 182 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in September for an average of 19.5 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in 39.8 billion video views.

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in September with 161 million unique viewers, while VEVO ranked second with 57.3 million. Microsoft Sites climbed to the #3 position with 54 million viewers, followed by Viacom Digital with 53.4 million and Facebook.com with 49.9 million.

Nearly 40 billion videos views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 18.6 billion. The average viewer watched a record 19.5 hours of online video content, with Google Sites (6.3 hours) also demonstrating the highest engagement.

Americans viewed more than 6.8 billion video ads in September, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1 billion. Tremor Video ranked second overall (and highest among video ad exchanges/networks) with 811 million ad views, followed by Adap.tv (803 million) and BrightRoll Video Network (665 million).

Time spent watching video ads totaled more than 2.9 billion minutes during the month, with Adap.tv delivering the highest duration of video ads at 450 million minutes. Video ads reached 50 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 45.3 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 38.2.

September marks the second month of official rankings for comScore YouTube Partner Reporting within the Video Metrix offering, providing a comparison of viewership across thousands of YouTube partners and their channels.

The data revealed that video music channels VEVO (57.3 million viewers) and Warner Music (28.8 million viewers) maintained the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 17 million viewers, followed by Maker Studios with 9 million, Demand Media with 6.8 million and Revision3 with 5.4 million.

Within the top 10 partners, Machinima demonstrated the highest engagement with 61.9 minutes per viewer on average, while accounting for the second most videos viewed (249 million) after VEVO.

Other findings from comScore's September 2011 study include:

• 85.3 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 0.4 minutes.
• Video ads accounted for 14.7 percent of all videos viewed and 1.4 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

The Marketer Quest to Measure Meaningful Influence

Measuring the performance and resulting impact of a marketing organization has always been difficult -- particularly where the primary metrics tend to be quantitative, and few are qualitative. Today, most marketers would like to demonstrate meaningful online influence as their key performance indicator (KPI). But when capturing that metric proves to be elusive, they attempt to refocus their monitoring efforts on target stakeholder engagement.

By far, the more common outcome that's reported, however, tends to be counting activity-oriented or event-oriented metrics (clicks, impressions, etc.).

eMarketer reports that companies now realize that amassing fans and followers is not the ultimate goal of social media marketing. Yet the challenge remains -- how to measure marketing success that a chief executive would gladly reward.

Data from the August 2011 Chief Marketer “2011 Social Marketing Survey” found that only 26 percent of marketing professionals saw amassing total followers as an aim for social media marketing. More popular goals included driving traffic to a website (66%), generating sales or leads (48%), and identifying and addressing brand fans (47%).

What have marketers been doing to reach these goals? The most common tactic among survey respondents was including a social sharing button in emails or on a company website, with 69 percent of respondents. Additionally, 59 percent offered unique content for social media fans and followers, 58 percent had a Facebook “like” button on their websites and social pages, and 54 percent posted videos to social video sites.

eMarketer observed that despite the strategic intent by marketers was to focus more on active engagement, measurement tactics still focus on numbers. The Chief Marketer study found that 60 percent of respondents counted the number of friends, followers and likes as a leading method of measuring social media marketing success. Additionally, 39 percent highlighted sharing, forwarding, retweeting and posting brand content, while 35 percent said they track qualified leads from social media.

eMarketer concluded that the way most marketers currently measure their performance shows that there's a major disconnect between the stated objectives and the actual execution of monitoring and reporting practices.

The data found that only 13 percent of respondents thought they were "very effective" at measuring social media campaigns, while 47 percent said "somewhat effective," and the honest 28 percent said "not very effective" and 12 percent said "not at all effective."

Savvy marketers should start by investing in the extra effort required to measure consumer engagement with their content. By monitoring stakeholder sentiment online, and by performing ongoing analysis of the apparent trends, they should be able to see how social media activities impact business results.

Ultimately, marketers must strive to attain an understanding of how their investment in programs and campaigns equate to meaningful influence in the marketplace. Stakeholder influence is the metric that many chief executives value the most -- since it can significantly effect other key aspects of business performance.

Upside for Smartphones and Mobile Net in Asia-Pacific

The telecommunication services boom in the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific is expected to continue in 2011, and will drive the total mobile subscription rate in the region to grow by more than 15 percent.

According to thee latest market study by ABI Research, the mobile market in the Asia-Pacific still has the potential to grow at more than a 10 percent rate for the next two years.

The smartphone market is also forecast to have healthy growth, with 24 percent share in total handset shipments in 2011 -- that's up from 17 percent in 2010.

Smartphone shipments in Asia will see a significant growth of 56 percent in 2011, which indicates the growing demand for smartphones in emerging Asian markets.

Smartphone shipments in Asian markets will see a boost for Android-based smartphones, with market share increasing to 52 percent in 2011, up from 16 percent in 2010.

As a result, the combined market share of Samsung and HTC, the leading Android-based smartphone makers in Asia, will swell from 11 percent in 2010 to 24 percent in 2011. Riding on the success in the low-end handset segment, new players like Micromax, Karbonn, and G’Five are also striving to make their presence felt in the smartphone segment with their new smartphones.

The smartphone market in Asia is likely to see turbulence soon as these mobile phone makers up the ante to increase their smartphone market share.

“Asian markets are proving to be a hot spot for media tablets as well,” says Jeff Orr, group director, mobile devices at ABI. “With an estimated 7.8 million media tablets shipped in 2011, media tablets are an important constituent in the ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) category.”

In addition to media tablets, the UMD category also includes ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and netbook PCs.

“Despite the current global economic situation, markets in the Asia-Pacific will continue to see increased acceptance for media tablets, driven by the accelerated penetration of 3G in emerging markets, as well as the availability of media tablets in lower price ranges,” says Orr.

60 Million Media Tablets will Ship Worldwide in 2011

You've been thinking about your next portable computing device, but you can't decide because there are now numerous options to consider. Perhaps the next device that you purchase won't be called a computer. Does it matter?

Media tablet shipments surpassed netbook personal computer (PC) shipments this quarter -- reaching 13.6 million tablets, compared to just 7.3 million netbooks.

Netbook PCs had previously led the way with 8.4 million shipments in 1Q11, compared to just 6.4 million media tablets.

“This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse,” says Jeff Orr, group director, mobile devices at ABI Research. “As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the most interesting device type.”

Driving media tablet interest is Apple’s iPad 2. In fact, 68 percenet of the media tablet shipments in 2Q11 consisted of Apple iPad models.

Consumers are choosing tablets over netbooks for a number of reasons. Media tablets are perceived to be easy to use, compared to the keyboard and mouse interface of a netbook computer.

Those who have avoided PCs because they are difficult to use -- the Baby Boomer generation and older people who are very late-adopters -- see media tablets as an opportunity to re-engage with Internet access.

"Cost, however, is certainly not a reason driving tablet interest, as the average media tablet costs approximately $600 and the average netbook is only about half of that," says Orr.

While 32 million netbook PCs and 60 million media tablets are expected to ship worldwide in 2011, netbooks still hold interest in under-served countries, where PC penetration to the home, along with broadband services, are not widely available.

In contrast, media tablet shipments will primarily cater to the early-adopter consumer audiences of Western Europe, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.

Smartphone Users Interact with Brands via Social Nets

comScore released results of a study on mobile social media usage which showed that 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their smartphone in August 2011 -- an increase of 37 percent in the past year.

Their latest market study also provided new insights into how mobile users interact with social media, finding that more than half read a post from an organization, brand or related event while on their mobile device.

“Social media is one of the most popular and fastest growing mobile activities, reaching nearly one third of all U.S. mobile users,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president for mobile. “This behavior is even more prevalent among smartphone owners with three in five accessing social media each month, highlighting the importance of apps and the enhanced functionality of smartphones to social media usage on mobile devices.”

In August 2011, more than 72.2 million people accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, an increase of 37 percent from the previous year. Nearly 40 million U.S. mobile users -- more than half of the mobile social media audience -- access these sites almost every day, demonstrating the importance of this activity to people’s daily routines.

Research also indicated that although more people accessed these sites via their mobile browser, the social networking app audience grew five times faster in the past year. While the mobile browsing social networking audience grew 24 percent to 42.3 million users in the past year, the mobile social networking app audience surged 126 percent to 38.5 million.

A look at selected social networking brands, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, revealed that each grew their mobile audiences by at least 50 percent in the past year.

Facebook was home to the largest mobile audience among the three destinations with more than 57 million mobile users in August, up 50 percent from the previous year. Twitter saw its mobile audience jump 75 percent to 13.4 million people, while LinkedIn’s mobile audience climbed 69 percent to 5.5 million users.

Understanding how mobile users interact with social media is important for brands looking to engage with on-the-go consumers. comScore recently released new social media metrics through its MobiLens service, offering deeper insights into mobile consumers’ social media activities.

Of those accessing social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, 80.3 percent read posts from people known personally, while 69.5 percent posted status updates while on their mobile device. Mobile social networkers also were likely to interact with brands on these sites with more than half (52.9 percent) reading posts from organizations or brands or related events.

One in three mobile social networkers received a coupon/offer/deal, with one in four (27.7 percent) clicking on an ad while on a social networking site.

Donovan added, “Advertisers and marketers should take note -- mobile users are not only engaging with their friends through social networking, but a majority are also interacting with brands in these social media environments. Knowing that fans and followers engage with branded content on mobile devices opens the door to a world of opportunity for location-based services.”

130 Million Mobile Video Communication Users by 2016

According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, mobile voice-over-IP (mVoIP) clients downloaded to a smartphone will account for four fifths of 640 million mobile VoIP users by the end of 2016 -- while alliances between carriers and mVoIP specialists will remain relatively few in number.

Improved technology, more intuitive interfaces and increased user awareness all account for the increasing dominance of the app model for mVoIP.

In addition VoIP specialists are broadening their horizons as they explore the potential of alliances with social media, gaming and software companies.

As social media becomes ever more mainstream, Juniper Research anticipates the role of voice within the broader communications market changing and becoming available as an extension of other applications, such as gaming and social networking.

Specialist companies, such as Vivox, are pioneering these new services in the gaming industry, and Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft and several Facebook alliances with VoIP providers will accelerate this trend.

“Eventually voice may become one of several options in an environment where multiple methods of communicating are possible on the same platform,” says Anthony Cox at Juniper Research.

Their market study report notes, however, that circuit-switched technology will continue to be important for the foreseeable future, particularly in less developed markets.

Further findings from the Juniper market study include:

• The number of mobile video communication users will exceed 130 million by 2016, spurred by the launch of mobile video calling by major players and technology improvements.
• Mobile VoIP and mobile video calling services will develop significantly faster in developed markets, due to a correlation between 3G and 4G roll outs and the take up of mobile VoIP and mobile video calling.
• There is, as yet, no clear role for advertising within the mobile VoIP and mobile video calling business model, though this is beginning to come for VoIP on the desktop.

Demand for Media Tablets Disrupts the PC Market

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments increased by 3.6 percent in the third quarter of 2011 (3Q11) compared to the same quarter in 2010, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC).

The results are up slightly from the 2.7 percenet growth experienced in 2Q11, and just below IDC's August projections for 4.5 percent growth in the quarter.

The Americas and EMEA were slightly below expectations while the Asia-Pacific markets were slightly ahead. The market continues to struggle as consumer discretionary income is diverted to other areas and business spending remains depressed in light of other priorities and a potential double-dip recession.

"For the moment, PCs have taken a backseat to a range of other devices competing for shrinking consumer and business budgets," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC.

While growth is expected to stay in mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, IDC expects to see faster growth in 2012 and beyond -- based on easier comparisons and refreshed PC offerings, as the industry better addresses the evolving usage models by integrating more of the features in ultra mobile devices (UMD).

Most vendors continue to struggle with the slow market environment and product changes. Although media tablets and other devices won't likely replace PCs, questions on how products will evolve, and consumer interest in these and other emerging categories are providing a distraction.

And while price remains critical, many users are delaying PC purchases for the moment. Still, there are opportunities, as demonstrated by Lenovo's gains, and IDC expect PCs to find stronger demand in the coming years.

"The U.S. market came in about flat as expected, but failed to generate positive momentum given the state of saturation and lack of incentives for consumers to upgrade. Other inhibitors included the poor economic environment and, to a certain extent, Apple iPad cannibalization," said David Daoud, IDC's Personal Computing Research Director.

As we approach the holiday season, the opportunity for low single-digit growth is real, but mostly as a result of poor market conditions last year, as opposed to a recovery in demand. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in over 80 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment.

Why B2B Content Marketing is Now Going Mainstream

I'm eagerly awaiting my review copy of a new book entitled "Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide to Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand" by Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi. This book builds on the foundation of "Get Content, Get Customers" that Joe Pulizzi co-wrote with Newt Barrett at the outset of the content marketing phenomenon, back in early 2008.

Today, I'm sensing that savvy marketers everywhere are ready to move their budgets away from under-performing advertising, to something that's potentially more appealing to their customers. Yes, it's about time.

eMarketer reports that with the average cost-per-lead increasing -- and too many marketers competing for the same buyer's attention -- traditional tactics are no longer enough to influence the sale. Business-to-business (B2B) companies are looking to content marketing as a way to proactively boost their return on investment.

“Informative, nonpromotional content in the form of webinars, white papers, videos, blogs and peer recommendations on social networks and forums can attract prospects,” said eMarketer's Lauren Fisher.

It can also be used to build and maintain ongoing relationships with potential buyers -- long considered a must for remaining top-of-mind throughout the complex product buying cycle, that can continue for many months before reaching a close.

Customer acquisition -- including both lead generation and lead nurture -- are top priorities for B2B marketing leaders, according to several surveys, including a June 2011 poll from MarketingSherpa.

Content, in the form of blog posts, white papers, fact sheets, case studies, webinars and newsletters can help to influence your target customer stakeholders throughout the various stages of their lengthy buying cycle.

“Online content is the fuel for the new B2B marketing lead generation engine,” said Fisher. “In creating informational, educational and actionable content, marketers can effectively lure early-stage buyers into their sales pipeline."

She believes, "By mixing this content with comparative, company-specific and interactive content -- and regularly sharing it online -- marketers can build relationships designed to nurture prospects throughout the sales funnel."

I believe that Curated Content Marketing and the early-adoption of Transmedia Storytelling will ease this transition -- and, over time, further position substantive multimedia content development skills into the mainstream of B2B marketing practices.

Publishers will Embrace eMagazines and eNewspapers

According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, annual revenues derived from eNewspapers that are delivered to portable digital devices will exceed $1.1 billion by 2016 -- with publishers increasingly adopting subscription-based applications to counteract their falling print publication sales.

The Juniper market study noted the surge in Apple iPad adoption led a number of newspaper publishers to move beyond standalone smartphone apps towards more integrated digital media strategies.

Companies such as News International have begun offering a single subscription price enabling access to The Times across all digital platforms.

It observed that transitioning to a paywall-based model would almost certainly result in a substantial decline in the digital media user base.

Despite this, for many publishers the revenues that accrued from a moderate user base paying a modest subscription charge would outweigh the initial loss of CPM (cost per mille)-based advertising revenue.

However, the Juniper report stressed that many newspaper publishers would struggle to bridge the gap caused by the dramatic decline in sales from existing print editions.

Furthermore, the ubiquity of free online news and infotainment sources obliges publishers to set digital subscription prices markedly lower than print to ensure a critical mass of users. This requirement would therefore put further pressure on their profit margins.

Meanwhile, these pressures are likely to be exacerbated by the emergence of NeoNewspapers. These are publications such as The Early Edition and Flipboard which essentially create newspaper or magazine-style content on media tablets -- with content derived from social media, RSS feeds and brand partners.

According to report author Windsor Holden, "The problem facing traditional publishers is twofold. Firstly; is their content sufficiently attractive to create a viable paying audience? Secondly, can they continue to sustain the costs of a print proposition during the migration to digital?"

Other findings from the Juniper Research report include:

• 5 million consumers will access eNewspapers over tablets or eReaders by the end of 2011.
• Tiered content pricing will become increasingly popular in the eMagazine space.

Media Tablet Owners Purchase Online More Frequently

Recent findings from a survey of U.S. smartphone and tablet owners indicate that tablet ownership increases the frequency of mobile shopping, improves the purchase experience -- and makes people who own both devices use their smartphone more often.

The study revealed that tablet ownership increases mobile purchase frequency, with owners of tablets (as well as smartphones) buying nearly twice as often as those who only have smartphones. Further, more than 40 percent of these “dual owners” made more than 20 mobile purchases over the past year.

Nearly two-thirds of dual owners indicated higher overall spending due to their mobile purchasing activity.

“Dual owners have the classic markings of early tech adopters, including skewing high-income and male,” says Todd Board, SVP of Ipsos OTX MediaCT. “That said, our study clearly suggests that owning both a smartphone and tablet can positively reinforce mobile shopping and spending habits.”

“We are starting to see more retailers take advantage of this trend by tailoring their mobile websites and apps for tablets. With more shoppers planning to use tablets to shop this holiday season, and quite often using them from the comfort of their own home, we expect that retailers will see quite a bit of ‘couch commerce’ this year,” says Laura Chambers, Senior Director of Mobile, PayPal.

Chambers added, “We are predicting that the first big spike in mobile shopping will be right after Thanksgiving dinner, where consumers will be shopping from their tablets and smartphones right from their couch -- a fantastic early opportunity for retailers to engage their customers.”

Dual owners are significantly more likely (63%) to indicate increased overall spending on mobile purchases, versus owners of smartphones only (29%). Tablet owners may be enticed to spend more due to the device’s larger screen and keyboard, and touchscreen capabilities, which tablet owners say improve the shopping experience.

The study also found that the addition of a tablet complements the smartphone shopping experience. In fact, the results show that dual owners still prefer smartphones for a wider range of m-commerce tasks.

Says Board, “Where dual owners have a preference between devices for mobile commerce activities, most preferences are in favor of the smartphone. They’re easier to use for swiping the device for coupons or QR codes, listening to audio with privacy, and buying in some public settings, and also preferred for making a final purchase. Also, while smartphones seem preferred for app-based purchases, tablets seem preferred for website-based purchases, probably tied to the ‘couch commerce’ theme of at-home purchasing we also see in our data.”

Board concludes that, “The profile and habits of these ‘dual owners’ are still fluid, with tablet adoption still early. The bottom line, though, is that owners of both devices are raising their hands to say ‘I want to spend money with these devices,’ and retailers have an opportunity to help them do so as much as they can.”

Digital Omnivores Feast on the New Media Landscape

comScore released the results of a new market study that analyzes how cross-platform consumption has created a vastly different landscape -- as people utilize a growing number of devices to consume digital content. They analyzed the impact that these shifting consumption habits are having on media site visitation and engagement across the Internet.

“The popularization of smartphones and the introduction of tablets and other web-enabled devices have contributed to an explosion in digital media consumption. As these devices gain adoption, we have also seen the rise of the ‘digital omnivores’ -- consumers who access content through several touch-points during the course of their daily digital lives.” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile.

In order to meet the needs of these hyper-active digital media consumers, advertisers and publishers must learn to navigate this new landscape so they develop cross-platform strategies to effectively engage their audiences.

Key findings highlighted in the comScore report include:

• Mobile phones drive digital traffic around the world, while tablets are gaining steam. The share of non-computer traffic for the U.S. stood at 6.8 percent in August 2011, with approximately two-thirds of that traffic coming from mobile phones, and tablets accounting for much of the remainder.
• Increased WiFi availability and mobile broadband adoption in the U.S. are helping drive connectivity. In August 2011, more than one third (37.2 percent) of U.S. digital traffic coming from mobile phones occurred via a WiFi connection. This percentage grew nearly 3 points in just the past three months. On the other hand, tablets, which traditionally required a WiFi connection to access the Internet, are increasingly driving traffic using mobile broadband access. In August, nearly 10 percent of traffic from tablets occurred via a mobile network connection.
• Today, half of the total U.S. mobile population uses mobile media. The mobile media user population (those who browse the mobile web, access applications, or download content) grew 19 percent in the past year to more than 116 million people at the end of August 2011.
• iPads dominate among tablets in driving digital traffic. In August 2011, iPads delivered 97.2 percent of all tablet traffic in the U.S. iPads have also begun to account for a higher share of Internet traffic than iPhones (46.8 percent vs. 42.6 percent of all iOS device traffic).
• In the U.S., tablet users display the characteristics of early technology adopters: young males in upper income brackets. In August, 54.7 percent of all tablet owners were male and nearly 30 percent were age 25-34. Nearly half (45.9 percent) of tablet owners belonged to households earning $100K and more.
• Nearly half of tablet owners made or completed a purchase on their tablet. Tablet owners exhibited significant use of their devices throughout the entire online shopping process – from doing the initial planning, conducting product and store research, making price comparisons, to finally transacting.
• In the past month, more than half of tablet owners looked up product or price information for a specific store (56 percent) and read customer ratings and reviews while on a tablet (54 percent).
• Nearly 3 out of 5 tablet owners consume news on their tablets. 58 percent of tablet owners consumed world, national or local news on their devices, with 1 in 4 consuming this content on a near-daily basis on their tablets.
• Tablets facilitate real-time social networking. Nearly 3 in 5 tablet owners updated their social networking status or commented on others’ status on their device during September, while slightly less than half shared their location using a location-sharing site.
• The incremental reach through mobile and connected devices should not be underestimated. In the case of a publisher such as Pandora, the incremental reach of additional channels, such as connected devices, is significant. In August 2011, the additional mobile and connected device audience for Pandora accounted for more than half of their total cross-platform audience. 

Although the Android platform accounts for the highest share of the smartphone market (43.7 percent in August), its total audience among mobile and connected devices in current use is eclipsed by the Apple iOS audience.

The iOS platform had the highest share of connected devices and smartphones in use at 43.1 percent, fueled by the iPad’s dominance in the tablet market, while Android accounted for 34.1 percent of the total mobile and connected device universe.

The iOS platform also accounts for the largest share of Internet traffic, measured in terms of browser-based page views, in the U.S. at present. When measuring market share of Internet traffic by platform, iOS accounted for more than half (58.5 percent) of the share of total non-computer traffic in the U.S. market.

Android OS ranked second, delivering 31.9 percent of overall non-computer traffic in August. With iOS having a significantly higher share of traffic (58.5 percent) compared to its share of devices (43.1 percent), it suggests that iOS users are heavier-than-average consumers of Internet content -- they're the digital omnivores. Their appetite is voracious.

4G Mobile Network Services Deploy in Slow Motion

The market for fourth-generation (4G) wireless devices continues to shift and evolve, as expectations are being reset and planned network upgrade deployments proceed slowly. Shipments of 4G smartphones are now expected to grow from 4.6 million in 2010 to 245 million in 2016.

LTE smartphone shipments will surpass WiMAX smartphones in 2011 -- growing at a 72 percent CAGR over the forecast period.

Michael Morgan, senior mobile devices analyst at ABI Research, says, “Nearly all of the world’s mobile operators, including the largest, are supporting LTE. It is an important driver for the LTE ecosystem that dwarfs any other drivers of 4G in general or of WiMAX and LTE, specifically.”

4G smartphones are emerging as the next major platform opportunity for mobile operators, device OEMs, IC vendors, network equipment vendors, and content companies.

Despite the growing number of 4G-capable device segments, smartphones will remain the largest and most important device segment for incumbents and new entrants.

Shipment volumes of 4G smartphones will far surpass all other device segments and will greatly affect the design choices and technology paths of products and services looking to grasp the 4G opportunity.

Initial 4G smartphones are being brought to market to fulfill operator demand -- regardless of the numerous technological and business concerns that have yet to be fully addressed.

As the 4G device ecosystem moves forward, questions around spectrum allocation and alignment loom over operators and device OEMs seeking to maximize their addressable markets and achieve economies of scale.

Even though there are superior spectrum alignment and lower component costs for WiMAX technologies, operators are still supporting LTE smartphones -- hoping that LTE will eventually deliver the most robust device ecosystem.

“Mobile operators prefer to support LTE over WiMAX since it makes the most sense strategically to put their weight behind the technology that is best suited to maintaining the status-quo among wireless network incumbents,” says Kevin Burden, vice president and practice director at ABI Research.

Will New Media Tablets Displace PCs or Smartphones?

Led by a growing demand for media tablets -- and more specifically the Apple iPad 2 -- an estimated 37 million ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) will ship into the United States during 2011.

UMDs represent mobile computing devices on a continuum bordered by laptop or notebook  PCs and smartphones.

The UMD category consists of four segments: ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), netbooks, and media tablets.

The revenue value from vendor shipments of UMDs into U.S. sales and distribution channels during 2015 is forecast to reach $24 billion. About 75 percent of total UMD shipments in the U.S. market during 2011 are expected to be media tablets.

“While the near-term opportunity is all about media tablets, no UMD segment type has ever sustained a lead for longer than 36 months in any part of the world,” says ABI Research group director Jeff Orr.

Is the next mobile device trend, beyond the introduction of new low-cost media tablets, on the horizon? Will it displace an existing mobile device category? We will have to wait and see.

Netbooks continue to be an important segment, though U.S. volumes will steadily decline over the next five years from all-time highs of 9.9 million units shipped in 2010.

Netbook value will shift from highly competitive computing and mobile broadband markets, including the U.S., to countries where low computing and home broadband penetration offers the greatest potential for mobile computing.

UMDs are well-positioned inside the edges of the mobile device landscape, though end-user demand is driven more to newer form-factors by an emotional connection -- and less on consumer needs and business roles.

“For UMDs in the U.S. to take the PC or smartphone markets head-on, there needs to be a fundamental shift in buying behavior -- driven by lifestyle enhancements and workplace requirements,” says Orr.

Mobile Ad Spend in China to Reach $1 Billion by 2014

According the the latest worldwide market study by eMarketer, 2010 brought a welcome return to growth after the devastating global economic recession.

The expectation was that this year would continue this positive trend, but in several major markets -- including the U.S. and UK -- the onset of a second recession is casting a dark shadow over mainstream marketer and advertiser outlooks.

Economic turbulence will typically impact advertising spending in a negative way. But global advertising spending will still approach $500 billion this year, eMarketer estimates, and digital advertising will remain strong -- following a 2010 upswing, in which growth in online ad spending outpaced all other platforms.

eMarketer forecasts that North America will continue to draw the greatest share of online advertising spending of any region -- with over 40 percent of the worldwide total. The Western European share of online spending will decline as emerging markets in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe experience an increase in spending.

Moreover, mobile devices are transforming the media landscape in every corner of the world -- especially in regions where they represent the primary form of broadband internet access. But mobile device usage patterns still vary significantly, even within single regions of the world.

As an example, within the Asia-Pacific region, at least 83 percent of individuals in South Korea and Japan will use a mobile phone this year. While India will register just 52 percent market penetration. That being said, markets with lower mobile usage are catching up fast.

Within four years, mobile phone penetration in Asia-Pacific will climb from an estimated 55.4 percent to nearly 73 percent, and the region will reach 2.9 billion mobile phone users. Besides, there are noteworthy regional differences in the gender balance in mobile audiences.

Similarly, the link between affluence and smartphone or mobile web adoption seen in many Western nations is apparently not always a foregone conclusion in other regions.

Mobile ad spending in the U.S. will reach $1.23 billion this year, and will surpass spending in Japan, the current largest single-country market, by the end of 2012. While spending levels in emerging markets like the BRIC nations are lower, growth is strong.

Some markets will represent a unique upside market opportunity, relative to the others. eMarketer anticipates that mobile advertiser spending in China alone to top $1 billion by 2014.

84.5 Million People in the U.S. Now Own a Smartphone

comScore released data reporting the key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending August 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 43.7 percent market share.

For the three-month average period ending in August, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.

Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.5 percentage points from the prior three-month period), followed by LG with 21.0 percent share and Motorola with 14.0 percent share. Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 9.8 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.1 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.1 percent share.

84.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in August, up 10 percent from the preceding three month period.

Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 43.7 percent market share, up 5.6 percentage points from the prior three-month period. Apple strengthened its #2 position, growing 0.7 percentage points to 27.3 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 19.7 percent share, followed by Microsoft (5.7 percent) and Symbian (1.8 percent).

In August, 70 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.0 percentage points. Browsers were used by 42.1 percent of subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 41.6 percent (up 3.0 percentage points).

Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.3 percentage points to 30.9 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 28.5 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.6 percentage points), while 20.7 percent listened to music on their phones (up 2.1 percentage points).

HD Video is Pervasive in Mobile Consumer Electronics

Today, high-definition (HD) video capabilities are a standard option in many types of consumer electronics (CE) devices. Once considered a feature that was available only in the expensive high-end products, HD video technology is now truly pervasive -- rapidly spreading throughout the industry.

As an example, last year there was a dramatic increase for High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connections in portable consumer devices -- including consumer-oriented HD video camcorders and digital still cameras (DSC).

In addition, within the personal computer segment, the HDMI interface applications in mobile PCs, graphics cards, and PC monitors continued to increase as consumers become more familiar with the benefits of the interface standard.

HDMI supports, on a single cable, any uncompressed TV or PC video format, including standard, enhanced, high definition and 3D video signals; up to 8 channels of compressed or uncompressed digital audio; a Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) connection; and an Ethernet data connection.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, they forecast that HDMI-enabled mobile PC shipments will surpass 300 million units in 2014. Many of these mobile PCs will be likely be purchased and used to stream video content to HDTV sets.

“HDMI has made significant strides in mobile PCs over the past three years, since it has two big advantages in this market, says Brian O’Rourke, Research Director at In-Stat.

According to O'Rourke's assessment, the small profile of the interface is a better fit for size-conscious mobile PC OEMs. In addition, HDMI’s popularity across the CE segment makes HDMI a clear choice, especially for consumer mobile PCs.

Dell, Sony, HP, Acer, and Toshiba all feature HDMI in their consumer notebook lines. Netbooks are adopting HDMI as well, particularly higher-end devices that are marketed as media devices, so that they can easily connect to an HDTV.

In-Stat's latest market study insights include:

• Embedded DisplayPort will have a 35 percent attach rate in mobile PCs in 2013.
• 117 million LCD PC monitors will ship with DVI in 2011.
• HDMI will have an 82 percent attach rate in A/V receivers in 2012.
• Over 19 million HDMI-enabled digital camcorders will ship in 2014.

In-flight Wi-Fi Service Revenue to Surpass $1.5 Billion

During the past year there has been significant growth in both the usage rates of in-flight broadband internet access and number of planes deployed with the capability. As new providers enter the emerging global market, growth is sure to continue in the coming year.

Additionally, what has to date been predominantly a U.S.-centric market began to see an expansion of borders -- with deployments in Europe growing over the past year and new activity in the Middle East.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, they now forecast that in-flight Wi-Fi revenues will surpass the $1.5 billion mark in 2015.

“While airlines initially viewed in-flight broadband as a competitive differentiator, it is now simply viewed in the U.S. market as a competitive requirement,” says Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.

The future of in-flight Wi-Fi will be less about convincing airlines of the merit and more about leveraging the network to provide a broader breadth of services.

As in the terrestrial hotspot market, Wi-Fi access is likely to become a commodity within the in-flight market, with the revenue opportunity resting on the services and value-added features, not the basic connectivity.

Findings from the latest In-stat's market study include:

• Take rates have increased significantly, moving from an average of 4 percent in 2010 up to 7 percent in 2011.
• While in international markets in-flight broadband is just entering the competitive differentiator stage, In-Stat believes it will rapidly transition to a competitive requirement in these markets as it did in the U.S. market.
• Combined, smartphones and tablets are now the predominant devices, in terms of percent of connects.
• In-flight broadband providers are beginning to introduce new revenue opportunities, including additional passenger services (video and voice) and operational services.

IPTV Subscriber Growth in Europe will Treble by 2020

As broadband subscriptions continue to grow in the European Union (EU) countries, Point Topic has forecast that related pay-TV adoption is set to treble by 2020.

“We’re projecting just over 160 million broadband subscribers in the EU27 by 2020 -- and just over one in three will take an IPTV subscription,” says Oliver Johnson, CEO at Point Topic.

According to their latest market assessment, IPTV adoption in Europe has been very different in countries where it is deployed. The success of IPTV depends primarily on two factors. Firstly is it available, not only the physical network but at a price the consumer can afford? Where the cost and the link are suitable, is there demand for IPTV -- as seen in France?

However, in many markets not only are cost and availability significant barriers but the incumbent pay-TV service providers are well entrenched. Many of the European markets, particularly in the East, have developed their own multichannel TV delivery systems over cable networks.

Often small, local and sometimes non-profit organizations serve a particular community. While they do not have the same reach as the larger players, they are proving to have a loyal subscriber base. IPTV service providers and ISPs are therefore trying to tackle these market entry barriers.

Sometimes a broadband subscription will actually be priced higher than a service bundled with IPTV, a classic tactic to try and gain pay-TV market share. European IPTV providers are all looking at consolidation, as they attempt to gain subscriber share in a market.

The success of IPTV in France, compared to other countries in Europe and worldwide, can’t be attributed to a single reason. A number of conditions exist which has made the diffusion of IPTV throughout the market much easier and quicker. But the main driver has clearly been significant competition.

France, with Free Internet as a good example, has much clearer and more transparent tariffs for IPTV and that has not only earned the consumers trust, but allowed them to align the value they derive from the services with the amount that they pay.

Often the price isn’t obvious for each bundle constituent, and there are a number of reasons for this, but the end result is that the consumer resists purchase far more than they might if they felt they had better information.

“We estimate that a consumer will pay $66 per month on average today for a broadband plus IPTV service. If we split out the broadband charge we get revenues today of just over $5.3 billion a year for IPTV services rising to 14.8 billion in 2020 in the EU27 countries,” says Johnson.

However, the entrance of Google and Apple into the internet TV market could be a game changer, according to Johnson's assessment. Along with services like Netflix, Hulu and offerings from other over-the-top (OTT) streaming video service providers, we'll likely see a significant increase in competition and lower prices.

Worldwide Wi-Fi Network Equipment Market Demand

Wi-Fi connectivity has taken on new meaning within the connected home, as more IP-enabled consumer electronic devices reach the marketplace.

Meanwhile, broadband service providers and retailers are introducing Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities in all types of social venues and in-store surroundings. Expect to find Wi-Fi availability in more places, used in a variety of new applications, during 2012.

In the first quarter of 2011, worldwide revenue for the Wi-Fi network equipment market remained relatively flat compared to Q1’11 -- staying at $1.6 billion, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

Continuing a trend, 802.11n remains the fastest growing Wi-Fi technology with shipments rising 17 percent from the previous quarter, while revenues grew nearly 7 percent.

“In terms of total unit shipments, TP-LINK is number one, leading the way with a 26 percent market share,” says Brad Shaffer, Analyst at In-Stat.

NETGEAR has overtaken D-Link for the number two spot with nearly a 19 percent market share while D-Link holds a little over a 17 percent share -- placing them close behind in the number three slot.

Cisco's Linksys and Pace round out the top five, holding market shares of 7 and 5 percent, respectively.

In-Stat's latest market study insights include:

• Shipments of wireless network adapters were up from the previous quarter, rising 7.4 percent overall to 5.27 million.
• North America gained regional market share, rising to 33 percent in the current quarter.
• 802.11n-enabled networking equipment now accounts for 68 percent of all Wi-Fi networking equipment unit shipments.
• The USB form factor experienced an increase of 8.6 percent.

U.S. Brands Spend $1.23 Billion on Mobile Ads in 2011

 
I'm not who you think I am. Yes, I write about the very latest mobile device technology and the growth of mobile internet usage. But I don't use my mobile phone to send text messages or to access the internet -- it's just for making and receiving voice calls.

Truly, I've yet to find the one application that convinces me that I "personally" really need a smartphone. Very soon, that scenario will make me part of a rapidly shrinking segment within the American consumer population.

By the end of this year, eMarketer estimates that 38 percent of U.S. mobile users will have a smartphone and 41 percent will use the mobile internet at least once each month. According to their latest assessment, that adoption translates into an increase in the opportunity for mobile advertising -- and more ad spending.

Frankly, if there's anything that's sure to dissuade me from joining the ranks of smartphone users, it's the thought of being subjected to the unimaginative advertising that's produced for most U.S. brands. I gave up watching broadcast TV because I simply couldn't tolerate the advertising. But I digress...

eMarketer forecasts that advertisers will spend nearly $1.23 billion on mobile advertising this year in the U.S. -- that's up from $743 million last year and set to reach almost $4.4 billion by 2015. This growth includes spending on display ads (such as banners, rich media and video), search and messaging-based advertising, and counts all ads viewed on mobile phones and media tablets.

This year, messaging-based ad formats still take the largest piece of the advertising spend, accounting for $442.6 million.

But in 2012, banners and rich media will be even with search -- each getting 33 percent of spending, or $594.8 million. That will put them both ahead of messaging, which will fall to just 28.2 percent of all mobile ad spending next year.

By 2015, banners and rich media and search will truly dominate, and messaging will have shrunk to 14.4 percent of the total -- though still growing in terms of revenue. Apparently, video is the fastest-growing mobile advertising format, but from the smallest base.

Mobile video ad spending, at $57.6 million this year, will grow at a compound annual rate of 69 percent between 2010 and 2015 -- to reach $395.6 million.

Disc Media: the Bygone Era of Digital Entertainment

In a few years from now, the perceived need for physical media formats could become a mere novelty, as more multimedia consumption moves online. Until then, there's the continued debate about the future of the Blu-ray Disc format.

The name Blu-ray Disc (BD) refers to the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than possible with red laser technology used for DVDs.

It's not new technology. The first prototype Blu-ray Discs debuted in October 2000, and the first prototype player was released in Japan in April 2003. Its evolution and development continued until it was officially released in June 2006.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, they now forecast that the number of Blu-ray player units shipped will reach 105 million in 2015.

“DVD players and recorder shipments will decline over the next five years for most regions. By 2015, DVD recorders will be essentially phased out entirely, with only negligible shipments to Japan,” says Norm Bogen, VP Digital Entertainment at In-Stat.

Blu-ray recorders will replace DVD recorders, and many consumers of recorders will even drop the physical disk media option altogether and instead opt for a player with a large hard drive or a DMS in which to store DLNA-certified and other digital video content.

That being said, with the accelerated adoption of music and video online streaming services, I'm wondering if these growth forecasts will be revised downward in the coming months.

I'm thinking that demand for physical media (discs) will likely change as more content consumption shifts to unlimited use online streaming subscriptions -- and away from the traditional disc ownership model, that's now becoming part a bygone era in the digital entertainment industry.

In-Stat's latest market study reveals the following insight:

• BD players shipped to North America in 2010 represented 38 percent of the total Blu-ray player and recorder market.
• Japan accounts for the majority of Blu-ray recorders, and Europe is the main market for DVD recorders.
• At the end of 2010, over 15 percent of Netflix subscribers opted for Blu-ray subscriptions.
• The Chinese market for Blu-ray has been stalled by the lower prices of the local CBHD standard.

Network Operators are Preparing for Mobile Video

Two technologies that are positioned to help mobile network operators (MNOs) cope with growing volumes of video traffic will need to improve their market penetration over the next 12 months -- to ensure their place as long-term options for mobile offload, according to the latest market study by Heavy Reading.

"Athough only 9 percent of wireless customers are using their devices for video at any given time, that group is generating 38 percent of mobile data traffic," says Tim Kridel, research analyst with Heavy Reading.

To avoid running out of capacity -- and, more importantly, retain service profitability -- some vendors and MNOs are looking to offload up to 20 percent of video traffic using IMB, eMBMS or both.

Although eMBMS and IMB are best known for their video capabilities, it's a mistake to pigeonhole them in that role.

Kridel adds "Assuming that eMBMS, IMB or both ever become widely adopted, wireless carriers might be drawn to products that use those technologies instead of clogging up the main network."

And, even though HSPA and LTE enable faster connections and lower cost of delivery, by themselves they're not enough to ensure that carriers can deliver video services profitably. That reality is apparently driving the market demand for IMB and eMBMS.

Key findings from the latest market study include:

• eMBMS and IMB could offload up to about 20 percent of video traffic.
• IMB is relatively cheap: around $10,000 per site, or £30 million for half the U.K. population, and under $2 for device-side hardware.
• Despite tests by blue-chip carriers, eMBMS and IMB are struggling for operator and vendor commitments.
• IMB’s window of opportunity closes in mid-2012, some vendors and carriers say.
• If eMBMS and IMB flop, it will be a boon for vendors offering compression and other solutions that don’t involve offload.
• Although they’re designed for video offload, eMBMS and IMB can support other tasks, such as firmware and anti-malware updates.

Upside Opportunities for Multi-screen Video Offerings

According to the latest market study by MRG, Inc., small and independent Pay-TV operators will introduce Multi-screen Video (MSV) and Mobile TV services by 2014 -- after they introduce infrastructure upgrades and whole-home DVR.

Those findings are based upon the results of a survey sent to over 600 telecom network service providers and video systems vendors.

“All of the elements, from adaptive bit streaming to the widespread adoption of the tablet and smartphones to licensing rights, are in place for multi-screen to be a standard part of many operators’ offerings within the next 3 years,” said Ken Pyle, Analyst for MRG, Inc.

Because multi-screen uses OTT (Over-the-Top), where video content can be watched on many smart devices both inside and outside of the home, MRG believes that this is why and how multiscreen service will start -- and how quickly TV Everywhere will likely develop.

Due to the fast acceptance of iPads and iPhones, and because to their common UI and OS, Apple has now set the stage for its competition -- primarily with Google, and their Android OS -- who wants to establish a quicker pace of hardware upgrades than was common in mobile just a few years ago.

By profiling over 60 Vendors in the 3 important infrastructure areas of transcoding, security/authentication and on-demand servers, the MRG report also provides a technical foundation to small operators needing help getting started with TV Everywhere, second-screen or multi-screen services based on OTT services.

Lack of wireless spectrum for broadband service was the biggest concern among surveyed network operators.

“In our initial look, it appears as if the race to help independent Telcos with their multi-screen offerings is wide-open for the vendor community,” said Pyle. “I suspect the root of this concern is that the larger carriers could be potential competitors with their 4G networks and could throttle the bandwidths of customers who didn’t take their video service.”

Americans Viewed More Than 5.6 Billion Video Ads

ComScore released data showing that 180 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in August for an average of 18 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions.

August marks the first month of rankings for comScore YouTube partner reports, for a comparison of viewership across thousands of channels.

The data also revealed that video music channels VEVO (60.6 million viewers) and Warner Music (30.9 million viewers) assumed the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 17.7 million viewers, followed by Maker Studios with 10 million, Demand Media with 8.4 million and Revision3 with 6.6 million.

Within the top 10 YouTube partners, TheGameStation demonstrated the highest engagement with 76.5 minutes per viewer on average. Machinima was a close second on average engagement at 72.6 minutes per viewer, while accounting for the second most videos viewed (289 million) after VEVO. Interestingly, 68.1 percent of Machinima viewers were male and 70.3 percent were under the age of 35.

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in August with 162 million unique viewers, while VEVO ranked second with 62.3 million. Facebook.com remained at the #3 position with 51.7 million viewers, followed by Viacom Digital with 49.9 million and Microsoft Sites with 46.4 million.

Total viewing sessions reached another all-time high in August at 6.9 billion, with Google Sites generating the highest number of viewing sessions (3.5 billion). The average viewer watched 18 hours of online video content during the course of the month, with Google Sites (5.7 hours) and Hulu (3.2 hours) demonstrating the highest engagement.

Americans viewed more than 5.6 billion video ads in August, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 996 million. Tremor Video ranked second overall (and highest among video ad exchanges/networks) with 764 million ad views, followed by Adap.tv (720 million) and BrightRoll Video Network (603 million).

Time spent watching video ads totaled more than 2.5 billion minutes during the month, with Hulu delivering the highest duration of video ads at 426 million minutes. Video ads reached 50 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 37.6 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 38.1.

Other notable findings from August 2011 include:

• 85.8 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 13.4 percent of all videos viewed and 1.3 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

Broadband Customer Premises Equipment Shipments

Across the globe, the increasing demand for wireline broadband Internet access creates the need for additional network infrastructure, and the associated modem and/or router devices that are installed at the subscriber location.

In 2Q11, 39.8 million broadband customer premise equipment (CPE) units shipped, a 5.6 percenet increase from the previous quarter and a 13.9 percent increase from the same quarter last year.

Total revenues were $1.49 billion, a 3.1 percent decrease from the previous quarter -- and that's down 1.4 percent from last previous year, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

“In terms of overall unit shipment market share growth, TP-LINK continues to gain market share, growing over 20 percent, while NETGEAR also gained that amount,” says Brad Shaffer, Analyst at In-Stat.

Pace and Cisco Small Business also experienced market share gains from the previous quarter.

In-Stat's latest market study insights include:

• SOHO (small office/home office) router unit shipments experienced a 15.7 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 30.6 percent increase from the same quarter last year.
• Residential gateway device revenues were $680.0 million in Q2’11.
• Broadband router revenues were $465 million in Q2’11, nearly a 4 percent increase over the previous quarter and almost an 11 percent increase from the same quarter last year.
• Shipments of data-only cable modems decreased 6.6 percent from the previous quarter.

How Buyers Research Complex Product Purchases

We know that the internet is a source of consumer product information and guidance, but how are marketers helping B2B decision-makers . According to the latest assessment by eMarketer, buyers investing in high-cost complex product or service purchases require extensive research and consideration.

Typically, these buyers will search for meaningful content online, select a short-list of vendors and solicit peer advice -- in order to finalize their purchase decisions.

That said, survey findings from TriComB2B and the University of Dayton School of Business Administration suggest that these buyers are now using their smartphones to gather purchase information.

In fact, their market study revealed that 59 percent of B2B purchase decision-makers and influencers had used a smartphone to gather information -- indicating there's a significant group of buyers seeking content sources such as websites, catalogs and insightful blogs.

But data indicates few product and service vendors are actively catering to this audience. According to a recent study by Google and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), only a third of U.S. advertisers had mobile-optimized websites.

Even fewer (19%) had a mobile app -- that's unfortunate considering 52 percent of U.S. executives had already used a paid for or sponsored B2B mobile app to gather business information as of October 2010, according to Forbes Insights.

eMarketer believes that though mobile-optimized websites or apps might not make sense for every B2B, marketers that do gain site traffic from these sources, particularly technical or industrial firms, would benefit from enhancing their online locations with mobile device usage in mind.

Moreover, the important information for buyers researching complex product purchases online included very detailed content -- such as technical data sheets. Peer advice from industry contacts was also very important to 54 percent of buyers -- with 46 percent regularly following industry discussion forums to gather information, and 35 percent leveraged LinkedIn to seek peer recommendations.

I've previously shared my observations about LinkedIn. Enough said.

Overall, the study confirms that numerous online sources are used by B2B buyers to inform their purchase decisions -- including social media, traditional websites and mobile-optimized sites. Clearly, by providing useful content and engaging with industry peers, marketers can better meet the procurement needs of these B2B purchasers.