Can Amazon Really Afford To Exit From India Inspite Of The Hurdles ?

Online gambling is regularly described by insiders as the fastest growing industry on earth. As a sector in which players are not neatly tied to one geographical location or regulatory framework, that claim is not immediately provable. Precise figures for the overall industry are necessarily somewhat vague since not all online gambling is strictly accountable in the conventional sense. However, where figures are available they make the dramatic reading.

The highly regarded Statista predicts the global online gambling market to be set for a 30% expansion over the three years leading up to 2015. Statista estimated the global market worth 22 billion euros in 2012 and predicted its increase to 28 billion euros with that three-year span. Setting those figures in a broader historical perspective, Statista shows the level of activity from 2003 at just 6.62 million euros. Growth in the sector has been sustained year on year and is expected to rise further beyond 2015*.

The online gambling market is comprised of the categories sports betting, online casino, poker and bingo, with the bulk of activity deriving from sport-betting which comprised over half (53%) of all online gambling activity. Casino gaming accounted the second-largest proportion of gambling activity with 25.4 percent of the total whilst. Poker and bingo comprise 14.2 and 7.4 percent of the market respectively.

Whilst online gambling is expanding there is a general anticipation that the overall gambling market, which includes the enormous revenues enjoyed by bricks and mortar casino operators worldwide, is set to see a deceleration in overall growth. Saturation in the marketplace combined with external geopolitical factors is seen as the primary reason for this.

What is happening online is provoking a recalibration of the overall industry, with many casual gamers switching their activity from bricks and mortar gambling to an online platform. For example, a recent report predicted an increase of 100 million in people online gambling in the period leading up to 2018. In contrast, Macau’s Gaming Inspection Co-ordination Bureau reported earlier this year that the resort’s revenues had fallen 3.75% year on year this June and the figure recorded for September is being predicted as a reduction of between 12% and 13%.

Macau’s proximity to China represents a local and highly specific set of circumstances. However, such has been the effect of the Chinese economic surge that what happens there inevitably resonates on a worldwide scale. What is happening in Macau is merely a concentrated reflection of a wider global pattern. As China’s growth slows, and as the authorities there appear set to tighten their crackdown on corruption, the flow of money from China is expected to slow.

The focus here on the Far East is significant because this has been an area identified in numerous reports as representing an opportunity for expansion. In contrast to the market saturation that is being predicted in areas that have an established history and culture of regulated gambling, the emergence of new markets in places such as India and the Chinese periphery represent virgin territory, ripe for exploitation. But as China’s growth is reigned in, that is bound to have an impact on those calculations.

Established industry players such as bet365, 32Red, 888.com and William Hill have been aggressively targeting these potential online markets. These well-resourced competitors have been committing extensive resources to brand-building marketing campaigns designed to establish an early foothold in these developing marketplaces. In the early phase of this wave of activity great dividends were anticipated, although expectations are being downgraded somewhat. However, this is not to say that the strategy or the allocation of resources has been misplaced, merely that the enormous growth potential in this part of the world is simply less spectacular than some may have hoped.

At the same time, the picture in the rest of the world is not without its points of encouragement. The US market, for example, has begun to be opened up, with online gaming recently being legitimated in New Jersey as well as Nevada and Delaware. It has been reported that a further ten states are contemplating similar moves to open up their territories. Those states are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the same time, there are moves to bring online gaming into the regulatory fold in South Africa, and there is a bill before the Japanese parliament to make casino gambling legal there for the first time.

There is little doubt that there remains considerable potential for growth within the gambling sector. There is still sufficient uncertainty as to how – and where – might be the best places to exploit that potential. But with cash-strapped legislators increasingly sensitive to the tax revenues that gambling can generate, it does appear that online gambling is well placed to continue its remarkable growth for some time to come.

* The figures described here represent a measure of ‘Gross Win’ which is calculated as the accumulation of all stakes/wagers placed, less prizes and payouts (but including bonuses – such as loyalty incentives).

The Future Of Native Ads: A Billion Dollar Opportunity For Publishers !

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November 4, 2014

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There are no ironclad rules for earning via ads on your website. But, there has to be a sense of structure to how you advertise. Taking hold of the user’s attention and making them to hit that all-so-alpha button has to be an endeavor governed by a sound approach, one that knows where it’s going. And a genre of advertising that fits the description just right is native advertising.

If you happen to be just another blogger who vents out his/her personal idiosyncrasies through an online blog, you can afford to live without advertising! But if being known as a serious publisher is your instrument to earn big bucks, advertising is likely to be on the agenda.

The marketing realm keeps reinventing itself with a rhythmic charge every now and then, and with every reinvention, there is something more newfangled, more innovative, and even more user-centric element that is a result of a marketeer’s going-for-broke ambition. Native advertising, meanwhile, takes a conventional route, and remodels it with its own set of exclusive rules.

The digital space has witnessed a transformation of sorts with native advertising as it has triggered some unique ad types and given marketeers more opportunities to drive consumer engagement in a way that fetches abundantly improved ROI.

Almost appearing to be a part of the content, native ads do not scream for the user’s attention, and still manage to well and truly grab it. They are part of a website’s content environment, fuelling brands to curate consumer-centric content. Its relevancy stays bona fide across diverse channels and devices, largely owing to the fact that there is nothing flashy about the native ads. No large fonts, no gloss, no blings. Everything is most natural, most real. It is a part of the digital environment that a customer is expecting, not the environment that he gets.

Native Ads: Why Was it Needed

To begin with, emergence of native advertising is a direct result of the recent lack of impact of the traditional ways of advertising.

The print ads have been heading south in their effect on the end user for quite a while. And that’s where marketeers needed something that would be reliably stable, and bring in the results with a greater degree of success and urgency.

As for the ads that pop up on your computer’s screens out of nowhere, we are so accustomed to their designs and appearance, they hardly ‘catch’ our attention. If they are pushed right into our face, looking for the close button is our first instinct. And if they are displayed on the sidebar, we really don’t give a damn!

Native advertising made its foray at just the right time. Marketeers needed a platform that could elevate them to a place wherefrom they could address a larger width of consumers in a way that they could really pull in their attention. Native advertising has indeed proved to be the remedy.

How Does it Make a Difference

Let’s face it, digital marketing has for a long while being about a lot of strategy making and creative pursues. Native advertising helps marketeers glide past them, if only partially. The ad units in native advertising are far richer, domain-relevant and more attuned to the consumer sensibilities.

Native branding is different than the traditional as well as the more “state of the art” marketing approach in the sense that it delivers on both – branding and generating revenue. While on one hand it makes users click on ads with a greater probability and effect, it can also be used to broadcast the brand message in an apt manner.

A recent survey, conducted by a native advertising platform provider Polar amongst leaders at world’s largest publishers, examined some of the benchmarks of native advertising and shed lights on established revenue growth opportunity native advertising presents. To understand how exactly native ads are creating their impact on readers, here are some statistics that break down native ads benchmarking by device and vertical.

For mobile publishers native advertising is a must-to-adopt strategy. As below data shows, the majority of leading publishers have a deep focus on native advertising to monetise their traffic when it comes to executing their sponsored content program. Infact, native advertisement is becoming the most preferred choice for most of the publishers as readers are shying away from display banner and adopting device-based and network based ad-blocking mechanism to avoid banner advertisements.

Some more stats that advocate the use of native advertising over the other methods are:

Close to 30% of the general Internet audience notices the native ads more than they do a banner ad.
The rate at which native ads are looked at in terms of frequency is more than 50%.

Native advertising is not about indulging in hard slog, per se. it is about placing your ad at the right place, and with a right tone. It may or may not have brought new blood to the genre of advertising, but it surely has taught us how to advertise with impact.

Here is an interesting video on native advertising that explains why, how and which way publishers and HBO is trying to leverage upon native advertising. The video after this break:

Author Signature: Lucie Kruger is a Senior Content Editor and IT consultant for Mobiers Ltd. She is fond of sharing information rich content that is related to latest mobile technology.

Global Smartphone OS Market Share Q3 2014: Android Dominates With 84% Share

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Srishti Yadav

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November 4, 2014

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A strong competition from Chinese smartphone firms to the market leaders has been met with the latter putting up a strong fight. As a result, global smartphone shipments have hit new peaks. The new data from Strategy Analytics shows that following a strong second quarter in 2014, the sequential successive quarter has kept the promise of growth upping the number of units shipped globally from 252.9 million to a record 320.4 million units in the third quarter of 2014. The figure equates to a strong growth of nearly 27% from the same quarter in 2013. This quarter saw the release of the much anticipated and surprising two versions of iPhone: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, whose launch allowed Apple to increase its share of the units shipped. The wait for Google’s Nexus 6 phablet coupled with the holiday season and strong Chinese markets is expected to drive growth in the next quarter and it seems fairly plausible that the 1.2 billion units estimated by IDC in the beginning of 2014 may well be exceeded.

The Chinese players in the market have shown a consistent growth challenging the likes of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. (KRX:005935), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). However, in the third quarter of 2014 Xiaomi, which has had a strong presence in China and has been expanding aggressively to other Asian markets has dethroned Huawei to take the third position in a very competitive market.

Android Continues To Grow, Dominates With 83.6% Of All Shipment

The data from Strategy Analytics shows Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) owned Android is undeterred by the strong sales of iPhone 5S and the release of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The global smartphone shipments in Q3 saw Android increase its dominance to 83.6% of all the smartphones shipped. This growth was at the expense of almost all other OSs. The strong demand for low-end and mid-range smartphone devices like Moto E, Moto G and Mi3 in the lower spectrum of the market has resulted in Android gaining a stronger footing and higher sales. With these entry-level and mid-range devices shipping the latest version of OS – Android KitKat – Android is looking to reduce the fragmentation plaguing the market space. Google is looking further to fuel the growth in coming quarters with the launch of Android One in many more emerging markets including India, Indonesia, Singapore and Philippines.

With the release of new iPhones and iOS 8, iOS saw a growth in the units shipped in Q3, but was not enough to keep up with the overall smartphone market growth and resulted in iOS losing 0.9% of market share to Android in the quarter. A limited market presence in the global markets and the phenomenal growth in low-end market space has resulted in iOS failing to grab a sizable chunk of the newly developed smartphone market.

BlackBerry saw a lackluster performance from its BB10 range of devices, which failed to impress the consumers. This resulted in BlackBerry losing a 0.3 percent point of the market as well as a decline of 0.2 million units as compared to the same quarter last year. However, there is still some hope for BlackBerry with all the hype surrounding the upcoming new “Classic” devices.

Windows Phone continues to struggle in Asian markets, particularly in the boosting Chinese market space, resulting in a decline of 0.8% point to 3.3% global market share in Q3 2014 2014. However, the number of devices shipped in Q3, 2014 by Microsoft saw a minor growth of 0.2 million to 10.5 million devices shipped.

Chinese Vendors Back Smartphone Growth, Xiaomi Hit Another Milestone

The record-breaking growth of Android and smartphones shipped this quarter was a direct result of Chinese vendors Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei hitting their new milestones in units shipped.

According to the latest data from IDC, Lenovo shipped a record 16.9 million units in the third quarter ending September compared to 12.3 million units in the same quarter last year, hitting a market share of 5.2% in Q3’14. The 38% growth in market share earned Lenovo the fourth position among global smartphone players.

The shining star however in the latest quarter was Xiaomi, which owing to its wild popularity in Asian markets and aggressive growth, shipped 17.3 million units in the last quarter ending September, which is a massive improvement over the 5.6 million units from the same quarter in 2013. This elevated growth earned it the third spot among the global smartphone players beating both Lenovo and LG with a handsome 5.3% market share over the 2.1% it held in the same quarter in 2013. Xiaomi is expected to show more growth as it plans to expand to Europe and other Asian markets.

Huawei Technology Co Ltd (SHE:002502) though continued to show growth in Q3 as it shipped 16.8 million devices compared to the 12.5 million units in the same quarter in 2013. Huawei managed to increase its market share by 0.1 percent point to 5.1% compared to Q3 in 2013 though, it lost its 3rd position among the global players in the smartphones space.

How long will it take for these emerging vendors to aggressively compete with the big-guns is something to ruminate. But the narrowing gap between the preferences in the developed and developing economies makes one thing sure- competition is bound to increase-and who takes over whom is the biggest storyline to watch!

The 5 Things You’re Doing That Will Make You A Victim Of A Data Breach

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November 3, 2014

Most people who are caught in data breaches are surprised. After all, when you’ve done nothing but shop at your favorite retail store and pay with your debit or credit card, you haven’t exactly done something dangerous.

Yet while most of the millions of people who had their data compromised in recent large-scale breaches were nothing more than innocent victims caught in the snare of a ruthless cyber criminal, there are still plenty of cases in which stolen data — and money — can be directly attributed to certain behaviors. Not taking the proper precautions to secure your devices and data are almost guaranteed to lead to a hassle at minimum, and at worst, a stolen identity.

Making matters worse is the fact that you may not even realize that you’re putting your information at risk. You just go about your everyday business, assuming that everything is safe and no one is watching. You couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, there’s a good chance that you have at least a few of the most dangerous habits — habits that are practically guaranteed to make you a victim of a data breach.

1. Using Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi is great. It allows us to access the Internet, send email, and stay entertained no matter where we happen to be. But the thing about public Wi-Fi is that, well, it’s public. Anyone can hack into the network and see all of the traffic on it. This means that when you use the Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop to check your bank balance while waiting for a friend, there’s a chance that the “student” in the corner could be capturing your username and password via a hacked connection. Save the tasks that involve accessing sensitive information, such as paying bills or logging into work databases, for when you’re on a secure connection, and only use public Wi-Fi for tasks that won’t jeopardize your identity.

2. Not Protecting Your Mobile Devices

With so mobile devices these days, is it any wonder that cyber criminals are turning their attention toward stealing the data they contain? The number of viruses targeted at Android devices continues to grow at an alarming rate, and the recent scandal involving celebrity nude photos stored in private iCloud accounts shows that even Apple devices aren’t immune to hackers. For that reason, it is vital to take steps to secure your mobile devices. Take the time to install an Android security solution to block viruses, use your phone’s security features, and don’t store passwords to important apps (like your bank) to keep your data safe in the event the device is lost or stolen.

3. Using Debit Cards in the Wrong Places

Debit cards are convenient, but when someone gets ahold of your card and PIN, they can clean out your accounts in a matter of minutes. Not to mention, when you use a debit card, you create an “electronic trail that gives a hacker everything they need to steal your money and identity. You may not have shopped at a particular store for months, but if a hacker steals several years of records, you could still be vulnerable. Try to use cash as much as possible, or if you must pay with plastic, use a credit card that has a higher degree of fraud protection than a debit card, especially if you are shopping online.

4. Oversharing on Social Media

You know it’s not a good idea to announce that you’ll be out of town for two weeks online, but you can overshare other information that leaves you vulnerable to identity theft. Your Facebook profile most likely contains everything an enterprising thief needs to steal your identity — birthdays, anniversaries, pet names, maiden names, etc. — so be cautious about what you share and with whom. Lock down your profile as well, so “friends” of friends cannot see and access your vita data.

5. Giving Out Unnecessary Information.

When you’re checking out at a store, politely decline to provide a phone number, birthday, email address, or other information, no matter how insistent the clerk may be. If you’d rather not argue, give out fake information. If a hacker accesses a store database, they will have all of the information you shared, all of which can be used to steal your identity. Keep your personal information personal, and never give out your Social Security number, driver’s license number, or other vital information without a valid reason.

By recognizing your bad habits and taking steps to stop doing them, you can keep your data safer. You may not be able to avoid being part of a large group of breach victims, but when there is less information about you floating around, there’s less likelihood that what the hackers get will be of any use to them.

WhatsApp Growth In India: 20 Million To 70 Million Users In Just One Year !

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November 3, 2014

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) owned WhatsApp has become a household name in every nook and corner of India with 70 million monthly active users in the country, speaks Neeraj Arora, Vice president for WhatsApp at the fifth annual INK Conference. The number accounts for nearly one-tenth of the entire global count of WhatsApp users, which amounts to 600 million users. Undoubtedly the cross platform messenger app has carved a niche in the Indian market and all the competitors, be it the home grown app Hike or WeChat the most popular messaging app in the global arena are green eyeing the strong foothold of WhatsApp. The company aims to tap into the huge customer base in countries like India and Brazil, which rank quite high in the smartphone adoption list.

With a surge in smartphone adoption among common masses, thanks to the smartphone players like Xiaomi, Motorola, Micromax and Lava who are providing smartphones for as low as US$105, there is also a relative hike in the social media penetration. Android One a Google initiative, targeting the first time Android users, wherein it presents a standard for the utilized software and underlying hardware. The handsets powered by Android One generally have stock Android minus the UI customizations or modifications which can’t be commonly seen in phones from well known smartphone vendors like Samsung, HTC, LG etc. In India Micromax, Spice and Karbonn have exclusively come up with Android One smartphones in the price range of Rs.5,700 – Rs.6,400 (US$100 – US$110). This initiative has made smartphones more affordable.

People tend to be lured towards social media when they buy a smartphone and it has become a common trend among smartphone users to embrace messaging apps like Whatsapp, WeChat, Viber etc instead of standard SMS. And as reports suggest, the hand in hand growth of smartphone market share and social media apps is going to continue up all the way in the coming years, especially in the emerging markets.

In a recent incident reported, the government officials in the state of Raipur, India have been ordered to use WhatsApp for effective communication across different levels of authorities. The additional Collector of Surajpur has directed the head of departments in all ranges to put to use the messaging application WhatsApp for official communication. Officials not owning a smartphone have to procure one and install WhatsApp for the same. The ability to pass on information in real time will prove crucial in effective administration says the Collectorate office, as directions issued by top-level authorities can be passed on to concerned officials for quick implementation and the decisions made at grass root levels can be effectively communicated to the higher officials.

Another report suggests, the medical fraternity is making use of the picture sharing feature of WhatsApp to relay ECG images of patients suffering from cardiac arrests or heart attacks, thereby aiding in quick and accurate medical assessment, which is invaluable in such cases.

Why WhatsApp is faring so well in comparison to other competitor’s is not a mystery. The major chunk of population leaping from a feature phone to a smart phone is rather ignorant of social media and works on the word of mouth. The simple user-interface seals the deal for nascent users. It’s pretty easy to figure things out even for a layman. The popularity of WhatsApp is so high that many smartphone companies are bound to provide it as a pre-installed application in most of their handsets.

Many smartphones manufactures have come up with offers where they sell in their devices with free data packs for few initial months for specific carriers. This kind of marketing has boosted the popularity of instant messaging particularly WhatsApp in India, directly or indirectly. The trend has shifted from texting “Wassup to IM’ing wassup on WhatsApp”

The company’s motto of providing quality service is reaping rewards for them. And lest they continue to do so the number is only going to go up.

Facebook Inc. (FB) Q3 2014 Results: Revenue From US, Users From Asia !

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November 3, 2014

The undisputed social media mogul Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) recently released its revenue records for Q3 2014. Though every year is a good year for Facebook as it continues to scale greater heights every time, surpassing expectations and continuing to grow inspite of having been written off and being much hated for its ad-stuffed UI.

With every new network that appearing on the scene, analysts start predicting the beginning-of-the-end for Facebook. Even WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook in early this year, was seen by many as a rival to the networking giant at one point of time.

The third quarter financial figures released last week, however, suggest, that it continues to grow with every passing year and every passing month. Every day, infact!

Love it or not, you just can’t ignore Facebook. Can you?

The king of networking sites earned a revenue of $3.203 billion in Q3 2014, beating all profit projections for the period comprehensively and crossing the $3 billion mark for the first time since its birth nearly a decade ago.

Growth of Daily And Monthly Active Users In Q3 2014

Facebook recorded an increase of 13.78% in Daily Active Users (DAUs) and 2.5% increase in Monthly Active Users (MAUs) Over the Last Year.

Daily Active Users of this hugely popular site grew at a rate of 4.21% in the quarter that just ended. The greatest growth (6.14%) has come from the Asian region, with their DAUs increasing from 228 million in Q2 2014 to 242 million in Q3. It was followed by the Rest of the World. Growth rates were much lower for Europe, USA and Canada.

An overall growth rate of 13.78% was observed during the last year, since the number of DAUs over Q3 2013 was a much lesser 757 million.

The MAUs of the site also, in a similar fashion, grew by only 2.50% over Q3 2014 as their numbers increased from 1,317 million to 1,350 million during the last three months. But the annual growth figures were higher- a 13.54% increase over last year’s 1,189 million. Here too, the healthiest growth was seen in Asia and the Rest of the World (which includes Africa), while US & Canada and Europe portrayed a stagnating scenario once again.

39% Increase in Mobile DAUs and 28.60% Increase in MAUs as Compared to Q3 2013

The number of mobile DAUs (Daily Active Users) has increased by 49 million over the last three months. By the end of Q3, 2014 there are now 703 million mobile DAUs as compared to 654 million in June 2014. That also means an increase of nearly 39% as compared to Q3 2013. The number of mobile DAUs in Q2 2013 was only 507 million.

Similarly, the number of mobile MAUs has also increased from 1,070 million in Q2 2014 to 1,124 million in Q3 2014, an increase of 5.04%. The increase over the last year has been 28.60%, as they increased from 874 million in Q3 2013 to 1,124 million in Q3 2014.

Mobile only MAUs Almost Doubled Over Last One Year Period

The increase in the number of mobile only MAUs has been noticeable with the former jumping from 399 million to 456 million over the last quarter, and almost doubling over the last year. The number of mobile only MAUs in Q3 2013 was only 254 million.

Facebook Revenue Crosses US$3 billion Mark for the First time Ever!

With an ever expanding user base, Facebook continued to roll in the millions, quite literally!

Though the year 2014 did not begin on a very positive note for Facebook, as its revenue dipped from $2.59 billion in Q4 2013 to $2.50 billion (it had registered a similar dip in Q1 2013 as well), the growth thereafter has been encouraging. The revenue increased by 16.4% to touch $2.91 billion in Q2 and though the rate of growth (10%) has not been as encouraging as the previous quarter, it has risen nevertheless to cross the $3 billion mark for the first time in Facebook history.

That also means a whopping 60% growth over the $2 billion revenue in Q3, 2013.

The lion’s share of advertising revenue continues to come from America and Canada. Almost half ($1,514 million) of Facebook revenue for Q3 2014 came from this region. From its home-markets, so to say.

Only 15.86 per cent ($469 million) of ad revenue came from Asia, though the region is one of the largest, demographically speaking though the growth over Q2 was a robust 15%. Since this figure is higher than the overall growth rate, that should be taken as a positive signal.

The noteworthy observation here is that while Facebook continued to register a faster growth in less developed and underdeveloped regions of Asia and Africa, the revenue comes mainly from the developed countries, with America and Canada accounting for a greater share than Europe.

This could be attributed to the fact that smartphones are catching up faster in these areas and internet is also reaching out to more users. Developed countries have already been saturated.

Average Advertising Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth also received a setback, though it did grow from 13.08 percent last quarter to 15.91 percent this quarter in the US and Canada to reach $1,362. This might be indicative of the fact that news ad offerings like premium video and Audience Network are gathering momentum in the USA & Canada region.

Facebook earnings have surpassed the analyst’s prediction of $3.12 billion, though Zuckerberg, we are sure, is used to it by now- this is the ninth time in a row that his company has silenced its most formidable and vocal critics in the best possible manner- by delivering results!

Plasma HDTVs Are Dead After LG and Samsung Announce Exit !

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November 3, 2014

It was bound to happen, and with the latest announcement by LG Electronics Inc. (KRX:066570), the countdown has finally begun. Plasma HDTV is no more maker movers and all electronics giants have finally dumped it. And why not, technology was outdated and in an era of Smart LCD, 3D LED and 4K HDTV era, who wants to keep paying the huge electricity bills due to high consumption of power by Plasma TVs. LG and Samsung are two remaining manufacturers who decided to delay the exit of Plasma TV business due to unknown reasons. However, with market showing no sign of revivals and Plasma TVs are good for nothing but to occupy space at warehouses, LG has decided to shut down Plasma TV production by the end of next month.

Samsung is the only manufacturer left in the market now, still offering only one particular range of Plasma TV. But that’s not going to continue for long as the Korean giant has also decided to exit from the market next month. This could most probably be the final nail in the coffin of Plasma TV – unless any manufacturer bounces back with new innovative technology gels with only Plasma TV and take the market by the storm, which is quite unlikely.

However, Plasma TV will survive till 2015 when Samsung will offload all ranges of Plasma TV. But for that we need to wait till upcoming CES 2015 where Samsung and many other TV manufacturers will announce their plans for Plasma screens. And, if we hear nothing in the favor of Plasma, it’s official – and completely – dead.

Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, JVC and many other players don’t manufacturer Plasma any more. Infact, Plasma TV industry started facing the tune when Pioneer exited from the TV market itself and took its superlative Kuro plasma screens with it. Samsung and Pioneer tried to lure customers with many excellent plasma televisions after that though, but the substandard and mediocre performance failed to attract the class of television buyers who wanted to experience nothing but the very best of television technology. At later stages, the low-price LED-backlit and LED screens completely eclipsed leaving no room for Plasma.

Facebook Inc. (FB) Alone Generates 20% Of Total Social Referral Traffic To Websites

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November 3, 2014

The supremacy of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) over all other social networks is unquestioned, as the social giant continues to drive nearly 5X more traffic to websites across the world than any other social site worth a mention, as disclosed by Shareaholic in its Q3 2014 Social Media Traffic Report.

Shareaholic studied the referral traffic from eight leading networks over a four month period (June- September 2014) to see how much traffic each of these has been sent over to publishers, marketers and website owners across the web. The data reveals what percentage of social traffic of more than 300,000 sites of various sizes which have a combined global audience of more than 400 million unique monthly visitors.

The eight leading networks that managed to send traffic to various small and big websites are Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), Google Plus, YouTube, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), StumbleUpon and Reddit.

Facebook Continues To Be At The Top Of The Table

With a 22% of referral traffic in September 2014, Facebook continues to be at the top of the table. Though the share of Facebook in driving social traffic to a site has fallen marginally over the four-month period being discussed here from 23.89% in June 2014 to 22.36% in September 2014, it still towers above any other social site in terms of clout and influence. The numbers clearly state that one out of every five visitors coming to the site via online social channel comes through Facebook. And why not; Facebook currently has the largest database of 1.38 billion internet users.

The dominance of Facebook in referral traffic could be understood with the fact that Zuckerberg and company are driving four times the amount of traffic than its nearest rival, Pinterest to any site. It is a significant 115.63% increase over its 10. 37% social media referral share of traffic in September 2013.

No wonder, why almost every brand wants to adopt Facebook-First strategy immediately after they implement and invest in any kind of social media strategy.

Pinterest Becomes The Second Largest Source Of Referral Traffic

70 million users make Pinterest the second largest source of referral traffic in Q3 2014.

The pinning site accounted for 5.52% of the social referral traffic in September 2104, which is a 50% increase over its 3.68% share in September 2013. Its share has, however, fallen from a slightly robust 5.72% in June 2014.

A much smaller user base as compared to the social referral supremo, Facebook, and the fact that nearly 80% of its users are females do not quite make it a challenge for the social giant but certainly, make it a site which cannot be brushed off.

For publishers and website owners aiming to reach out to a female audience, THIS is the goldmine. A site which was popular mainly with American females first is now gaining popularity globally, which probably explains its steadily improving figures.

Twitter Sinking Into Oblivion

Twitter’s share of referral traffic fell to less than 1%, a sad pointer to the fact that it is “losing influence and clout.”

Already hovering around the 1% mark in September 2013 (at 1.17%), the months of August and September saw the traffic from this site touching new lows, as its share of referral traffic got less than 1%. A fall of almost 25% over last year.

Pinterest And Google Plus The Only Two Gainers Besides Facebook

The only two networking sites apart from Facebook, whose share increased over September 2103 and through June 2013 were Google Plus and Pinterest.

Google Plus – in spite of 1 billion users – is not a source of traffic on which publishers and website owners would like to spend their time, money and energy since it got only 0.07% share of social referrals. That apart, it has improved by over 57% as compared to September 2013 (0.04% share).

YouTube The Biggest Loser

The site which has lost maximum ground since last year is the most popular online video sharing platform, Google owned YouTube.

Its share of social referrals has fallen from 0.29% in September 2013 to 0.04% in September 2014. Its share has also dropped rapidly through the June-September 2014 period.

With YouTube executive Susan Wojcicki proposing an ad-free, paid model of the popular site recently, the share could fall even further, though it is too early to predict yet.

Five Forgettable Sources Of Traffic

Reddit, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Google Plus and YouTube have been mentioned by Shareaholic as ‘forgettable’ sources of traffic for website owners since they together make up for less than 1% of the social referrals.

The report clearly highlights the fact that with a user base larger than the population of China, Facebook is one social site publishers and website owners cannot afford to ignore. Inspite of a slight fall in its share of social referrals over the Q3, 2014 period, it accounted for almost one-fourth of the total referral traffic and is four times as capable of delivering as its nearest rival, Pinterest.

Looking Beyond IoT: Welcome To The Internet Of Everything (IoE)

By

Rishen kapoor

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November 3, 2014

Pillars of The Internet of Everything:

We live in a world where everything we say and do is defined and driven by technology. All our interactions and decisions are molded by a nexus of forces, including, but not limited to, the world wide web and web-enabled devices.

The internet has irreversibly changed the way consumers associate with businesses and how these businesses engage consumers. Theses changes have been rapid due to the influence of a combination of social, mobile, web and cloud trends. We are now at the precipice of the next stage in this rapid evolution, The Internet of Everything, largely being addressed as IoT.

The Internet of Everything (IoT) is a catch-phrase that can be used to define global connectivity and intelligence. The Internet of Everything (IoE) is the next step after the Internet of Things (IoT). Although more and more electronic devices are becoming internet-capable, they are still living in silos, unable to make meaningful communication with other devices. The IoE eliminates any boundaries, physical or otherwise between them. It’s a technology concept that sees previously unconnected devices and processes being converged under a single digital umbrella. It is an all-encompassing convergence of physical and digital domains.

Wondering what is IoT and IoE?

Now a lot of you may be new to the Internet of Things & would already be wondering what this jargon Internet of Everything is. Cisco explained the difference between the two terms which are mistakenly used interchangeably, in a public address. The key takeaways from that speech are given below.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is the network of physical devices accessed through the internet. It allows devices to communicate and facilitate each other in performing functions which previously were not possible. For example, smart thermostats like ‘nest‘ use sensors that take real – time weather forecasts and monitor the real-time activity in your house to automatically control the temperature and minimize your electrical consumption.

Internet of Everything (IoE)

The Internet of Everything is the smart connection between people, data, processes and things. It allows devices to communicate with each other and transmit data, thereby allowing the devices to learn and adapt according to our mannerisms. For example, the ‘nest’ thermostat will be linked to our mobile phones, the mobile phone will send a signal to the thermostat sometime before we arrive home, thereby allowing the thermostat to pre-cool the room. The thermostat will give a signal to the coffee-maker to start preparing coffee. This level of interconnectivity and intelligence is what the IoE concept proposes.

IoT is the connectivity between unique and identifiable web-enabled devices. It talks about how individual devices can “talk” to each other, while still maintaining its own identity and singularity. On the other hand, IoE abandons this compartmentalized approach which looks at individual devices. The IoE views all devices as part of an ecosystem in which all the devices co-exist and which is omnipresent.

Put simply, the IoT is made of billions of connected objects. However, the IoE is the smart network, which is required to support and transmit all the data that is generated between these interconnected devices.

Why IoE

Today there are billions of web-enabled devices in the world, all these devices have the potential to be interconnected via the IoE. IoE will provide a seamless connection between people, data and processes. This will revolutionise the way we carry out the most rudimentary of tasks. We are seeing this interconnectivity today in many forms, some are common like connecting the internet on our TV with devices such as the Chromecast. Others may be unheard of like Internet-connected tooth-brushes which harness data to fight plaque. What was once a futuristic concept, the IoE is fast becoming a reality.

Devices such as Chromecast and Fitbit are part of the IoT, these devices utilise the web connectivity between devices to perform functions which initially were not possible. However, majority of these devices cannot communicate amongst themselves. The IoE proposes to eliminate these differences and establish global and continuous connectivity between all devices.

People – The aim is to connect more people in relevant ways that add value to them.

Data – The ability to receive and comprehend data to make informed decisions

Process – The right information to the right person or device.

Things – Physical devices or infrastructure used for connectivity, also known as the Internet of Things.

The emergence of IoE has been helped by the development of low-cost connectivity and projects such as internet.org and Loon will only help increase its rate of acceptance. These projects led by US-based technology giants Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) respectively aim to connect the “next five billion”. Currently, only about two billion people in the world have access to sustainable and reliable internet connection. These projects aim at providing the remaining people with reliable and affordable internet access. Post which, the IoE will connect these people, not just to the internet but with each other. The Internet of Everything will not differentiate between humans and devices, but view us as a single homogenous entity of data.

The Internet of Everything will be run by a protocol which in turn would be dependent on sensors. Sensors are the backbone in the dream to realise the Internet of Everything. These sensors are already present in billions of devices and are a means for these devices to connect to the Internet. These sensors will be the building blocks for the cities of tomorrow. All devices connected via the Internet of Everything will generate data, this data would have to be handled effectively. And in a world where data is money Cisco has estimated that the true value of the Internet of Everything in monetary terms exceeds $ 19 trillion.

The possibilities with such interconnectivity are limitless. Anyone with access to the internet will be able to access a plethora of information and resources. The IoE will not just connect all devices, but it will in-fact add intelligence. This intelligence will facilitate in our decision making and so add value to our lives.

Just like Web 2.0, IoE is a concept and it is a phenomenon that is changing how the Internet impacts us. Here is a concept video by Cisco on IoE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt5VulFqBm4

Global Smartphone Shipments Q3 2014: Samsung Shows Decline, Xiaomi Replaces Huawei !

By

Srishti Yadav

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November 3, 2014

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Global smartphone shipments have exceeded the 300 million mark for the second consecutive quarter, according to preliminary data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker for Q3 2014. A total of 327.6 million units of smatphones were shipped during the quarter, resulting in a 25.2% year-over-year growth when compared to the 261.7 million units shipped in Q3, 2013 and 8.7% sequential growth above the 301.3 million units shipped in Q2, 2014. The exploding smartphone industry is driven by strong demand for low-end phones in emerging markets, where local players have posted growth, backed by local demand and competitive pricing.

“We’ve finally reached a point where most developed markets are experiencing single-digit growth while emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively. In these markets, smartphone price points are making mobile computing possible where we once expected feature phones to remain dominant. This is great news for overall volumes, but the challenge has now become how to make money on devices that are quickly becoming commodity products. Outside of Apple, many are struggling to do this.” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker

Samsung And Apple Continue To Be Clear Leaders

Market leader and Korean major Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KRX:005930) has maintained its dominant position with the highest market share of 23.8% in the third quarter, but has reportedly declined in terms of shipment volumes as well as market share both. Its mid range and low-end models are major contributors in up-ticking the market sales. Samsung is currently struggling to compete with competitive priced devices which are being churned out at a rate never heard before. This rapidity of slowdown had made its production planning quite tricky. Its high end market is being locked up by Apple and a handful of domestic vendors and Chinese vendors are on their way of locking down the low-end market too.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) witnessed its largest third-quarter volume ever backed by strong sales of its flagship iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. 39.3 million units of iPhone shipped during the third quarter resulted in 12% share of global smartphone shipments. Its first weekend 10 million sales had already created buzz in the company boardrooms. It is noteworthy of the fact that this figure does not include China’s share, one of its major markets, where these two new launches just made a debut. Known to cater to high end users, it does not seem to face issues of customer loyalty. However, an evident increase in the sales of iPhone 5S and 5C post new launches is something which has attracted curious attention.

Differing Market Strategies Drive Sale of Non-Apple, Non-Samsung Smartphones

Telecommunication giant and emerging smartphone startup, Xiaomi led the pack of vendors trailing market leaders Apple and Samsung, that posted phenomenal growth figures in the third quarter of 2014. Xiaomi jumped into the global list of top 5 smartphone vendors for the first time at the number 3 position owing to its focus on China and adjacent markets, which resulted in an astounding 211% year-on-year growth. It’s also interesting to know that Xioami has replaced its Chinese competitor Huawei to grab this position. Key to Xiaomi’s success was the launch of Mi3 in other emerging markets, likes of India, in early third quarter, followed by Mi4 smartphone in mid of the quarter in China, which was positioned as a high-end alternative to the status quo. The growth of Xiaomi has been phenomenal considering company not only grabbed the top position in China by dethroning Samsung but also how quickly the company expanded its sales and operations in other emerging neighboring countries including India, Indonesia and Singapore.

Compatriots Lenovo in contrast to compatriots Xiaomi, focused on cheaper units to drive volume and share in markets local and abroad. Lenovo also posted a healthy growth of 38% in year-on-year shipment numbers, riding on the back of a steadily increasing share in the local market. Also, their share of non-China shipments rose to hit 20% in Q3, 2014, up from 9% a year ago. Sub-US$100 smartphones like the A369i and A316 drove volumes from emerging markets in Asia/Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Domestically, it launched a number of 4G handsets, with some at lower price points.

Korean giants LG Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:LG) have mixed up strategies, and have tried to court both the low-end market with their F-and L-series smartphones that have earned a warm reception, within both emerging and developed markets and the high-end market with newer models. This focus on cheaper smartphones has paid enough dividends to push its total volumes past the 15 million unit mark for the first time in the company’s history. LG also released its flagship G3, touted by some as the “best LG phone yet”, to maintain a presence in the high-end of the market, lifting the company’s overall LTE footprint.

Smartphone Industry Untouched By Global Slowdown, Competition Is Expected To Increase Over Time

To summarize, the smartphone industry is apparently untouched by the global slowdown crippling the rest of the economy, and growth in volume has shown a consistent, steady increase. Encouraging numbers like these seem to be driven by rapid growth in emerging markets in Asia and Africa, where market penetration is on the rise. In this race to capture and consolidate in these new markets, the major players Samsung and Apple seem to have made initial progress, but are increasingly being challenged by local players. Samsung in particular, faces the stiff challenge of having to compete with the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei that offer cheaper, more feature-laden alternatives. Apple seems to have made progress in creating a loyal base, but still faces competitive pressure from both Samsung and other, local players whose high-end products pose a challenge in the continued expansion of the fabled loyal base.

Drop In The Tablet Sales Growth In 2014 – 2015 Worries Manufactures, Smartphone Develops Confidence

By

Srishti Yadav

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October 31, 2014

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Where on one hand, smartphone companies are jotting down their line of strategies to compete in the tablet market, Gartner is out with its Q3 results which may upset the decision-making bodies in the company boardrooms. The report estimates that Tablet worldwide sales will reach a figure of 229 million, a 9.5 percent of the total worldwide sales of devices in 2014. This accounts for an 11 percent increase from 207 million tablet units sold during the same quarter in 2013, but its a very dismal figure when compared to 2013 when tablet sales grew 55 percent.

As far as the worldwide combined shipment of devices are concerned, it is expected for them to touch 2.4 billion ending this year. There is a fair increase of 3.2 percent from the previous year. With other segments showing a modest increase, traditional PCs suffered loss with shipment dipping to 276 million this year compared to 296 million in 2013.

Alternate Devices and Lifetime Extension To 3 Years Bring Tablet Market Gain Down

The reason for gloominess in the tablet market lies somewhere behind the choices of the buyers. New hardware device purchasers are turning to other alternatives like hybrid devices. This has contributed to the increased share of the ultramobile premium market to 22 percent in 2014, and 32 percent by 2018. Also, the existing users are well aware about the lifetime extension of current tablets to three years by 2018. They are happy upgrading their devices with new software rather than spending on a completely new device. The loss is omnipresent in the market. As per the projection, number of new tablet purchasers were reduced by 90 million. Even the ones who sought replacement were down the mark by 155 million through 2018. The ones looking out for replacement are preferring hybrid or two-in-one devices over another tablet. Previously, IDC too had predicted the growth to be 19.3% in 2014 as compared to 51.6% in 2013.

Apple and Samsung are losing its market share due to the rise of local vendors. Apple is still optimistic of its stable earnings from its IBM partnership, but that does not relieve it of the bitter truth of its falling share in tablet market. The dip in Apple’s share were anticipated long back. Some would call it a win-win for the Samsung but it too could not steer the customers in its own way at the expense of Apple’s loss. Where Apple’s iPad shipment dipped by 1.3 million, Samsung gained 100,000 units which is not quite a gain. Both have slipped down in the market. This industry shakedown has also been highly affected by dismal performance by other tablet manufacturers who have shown a similar loss in market shares.

With 52% Projected Growth, Smartphones Continue To Lure

The most promising sector once again turned out to be the smartphones. It is backed by the popularity of homegrown and strong sales of lower-end smartphones. With a projected growth of 52% of basic smartphones, they are likely to be highest revenue generators. Utility smartphone units too share the profit status with their share doubling in the market.

As per Robert Cozza, research director at Gartner, “The market is clearly favoring those vendors offering value in lower-priced smartphones. This trend has become more apparent, especially in the second quarter of 2014 when most of the top Chinese smartphone vendors grew volume and market share”

With an estimated 71 percent of global market share, smartphone market has lured one and all. The increase is up 17 percentage points from 2013. Even among these smartphones, low prices-below $200, are a hit especially in lower economies.

The highest penetration of these smartphones has been in Asia-Pacific region. Of the estimated 1.2 billion mark of global smartphone shipment, growth would lie in developing countries like China, India, South-East Asia etc. With millions of these smartphones being churned out every year, the OS too gets to deserve attention.

Android Rules Over iOS; Emerging Market Makes It More Popular

Be it the mature or the emerging market, Android has a very stable hand. It can be observed from the figure that shipment of Android devices in emerging markets is way too high when compared to the matured markets. In matured markets the shipment of Android devices is expected to cross 313 million in 2014 when compared to 167 million device shipments of Apple. However, in emerging markets Android stood at whooping 928 million, way ahead of 95 million of iOS device shipments. The stats showed similar pattern the year before. We have previously analyzed this trend. Android with its free to use platform has encouraged other OEMs to bring out devices at jaw dropping prices. Competition from Chinese and homegrown devices are already giving tough competition to established big-guns. China’s white box vendors are already eying this growing market. In lower economies, it is the brand and the price that are primary factors in a smartphone’s popularity and Android leads the show.

Apple has been long known to cater to the premium market. Though it lags in shipment figures, it continues to boast of its leadership in the revenue market by targeting the high-end device users. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus had created buzz prior to their launch and with its loyal fan-base it is not willing to give up the its lead position in the market.

With such a complex relationship between the existing devices and platforms, it will be worth watching the state of these markets in the months to come. The demand of large screen devices is already on high but limited to industrialized countries. Tablet market is already on a downside. App developers, advertisers and industry analysts should be attentively looking after this changing market preference to plan out their next move.

Stats Prove Facebook Inc. (FB) Is Affecting The Popularity Of YouTube !

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October 31, 2014

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If a picture says a thousand words, a one minute video is worth 1.8 million, say Forrester’s researchers! It is one of the most engaging ways to tell a story. Sharing video content with users has become one of the main strategies for content marketers and social media experts of late.

By 2017, 69% of all internet traffic is expected to come from videos, and the demand for them will treble, says Cisco. Interestingly, Facebook is becoming the preferred platform for sharing video content, at the expense of YouTube, according to the recent study done by social media analytical firm SocialBakers.

As of now, experts who realize what a powerful impact online video can make to the consumer psyche are moving on to Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) for sharing videos, ignoring Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) owned YouTube, it is being observed.

Till 2012, videos were created and uploaded to YouTube and then shared over Facebook. Not so any more! The thumb rule for marketers two years back was “YouTube first, Facebook second”.

Video sharers and content marketers have now, in a clear departure from the previous policy, been uploading videos to Facebook directly, observed Emma James, SocialBakers’ Head of North American Marketing. Now what does that indicate?

SocialBakers, the most popular provider of social media analytic tools, statistics and metrics for Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and LinkedIn, analyzed over 180,000 video posts across 20,000 Facebook pages. They took into account all links shared from YouTube and the videos directly uploaded to Facebook before coming to the conclusion that Facebook is emerging as a serious threat to YouTube.

While the number of video shares over YouTube has been, more or less, declining steadily, those over Facebook have registered a sharp increase. One can also notice that YouTube, which had a distinct edge over all other platforms where video content is shared at the beginning of 2014, is losing ground. As the year progressed, the sharing of video content over YouTube has plummeted while those being shared over Facebook almost doubled over the January- September period. The period from May-June has been particularly rewarding for the Zuckerberg owned networking site.

Facebook claimed “Growth in video views exceeded 50%from May through July of this year, and since June there has been an average of more than 1 billion video views on Facebook every day. Video on Facebook was built to be mobile first, and now more than 65% of video views are on mobile. And we’re just getting started.”

As the year draws to an end, the gap between YouTube and Facebook has narrowed down and the latter looks poised to wrest the top position from Facebook soon.

When content marketers want to share videos with their existing and proposed clients, they seek maximum mileage and engagement out of their effort- whether by way of likes, share, comments or subscriptions. And since Facebook has been consistently outperforming YouTube, the former is becoming the preferred choice for sharing video content.

YouTube is the clear loser as a result of the shifting priorities. Facebook’s share of interactions has also increased steadily, as is obvious from the bar chart below:

Why is this happening?

There is a clear and well marked strategy behind the changed video sharing scenario.

Facebook has, over the years, made several arrangements which make it easier for users to discover and share great videos on their site.

Facebook videos would start playing automatically as users scrolled down their NewsFeed and through the Facebook policy of auto playing of videos has not gone too well with some of its users, that has not affected the site’s popularity as Facebook users learned that Auto-play settings are easily customizable on both web and mobiles.

In May, Facebook rolled out an update which allows people to see video metrics i.e. how many people saw a video, how many unique video views and the average duration of the video view. The number of views on public pages helps users to discover new products and the most viewed videos at that point of time. Marketers, particularly, loved the detailed metrics they got to see with this update.

Later in June, the ranking of videos on NewsFeed was improved so that users of the site are served with videos that suit their tastes and match their preferences. Furthermore, after a user is done with watching a video, he is shown more related videos, hoping he might stumble across something more interesting and/ or useful.

Not only content marketers and brand owners, public figures and publishers are benefitting from the popularity of video content over Facebook as well.

Now, while Facebook might be ecstatic over the sudden splurge in the number of views, the fact is that users had no control over the playing of videos- which explains the sudden explosion in the number of views during this period. There was not much a user could do if the video started playing automatically as he was going through his news feed. As more and more people came to know about the customizable settings, the rate of growth declined, though it did continue to rise steadily.

Further, though that helps increase the number of views, the degree of involvement didn’t improve much.

“While there’s reach advantage for auto-play, there’s an issue as to whether you’re getting good engagement. You’re getting good engagement from user-initiated (video on YouTube) by definition,” said Gian Fulgoni in an interview with Beet.tv, comScore’s co-founder and executive chairman.

Will Facebook Videos Emerge As A Threat To Youtube?

How will the increasing popularity of Facebook videos affect YouTube?

Though Facebook might wrest away a sizeable market share of video marketing from YouTube and might cause it some initial damage, the proposition that Facebook will surpass YouTube sounds far-fetched.

At present, Facebook differentiates between the videos posted directly on its site and those that are shared via YouTube and to make the best of both the platforms, it looks like advertisers and publishers will have to use both these platforms in the right ratio.

Videos like Gangnam style and Harlem shake (and back home, the rapper Honey Singh who debuted on YouTube when no one was willing to give him a break) got huge hits only on YouTube. Facebook is yet to create international stars out of their videos’ sharers.

The CEO and Co-Founder of Socialbakers, Jan Rezab, also feels that as bounce rate of Facebook is reducing due to video content, YouTube is at risk. Marketers are also fonder of this medium to upload content as it engages most of the viewers. The trend is rising now without any indication of reversal as of now.

Though Facebook videos might pose a threat to the popularity of YouTube, it would be difficult to believe that they can obliterate YouTube with an aggressive marketing strategy. Not in the near future, at least.

Top 10 Tech Devices Markets 2015: India Will Register The Highest Growth !

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October 31, 2014

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Imitating the phenomenon which occurred a decade ago, when feature phones sales in developing nations was at the peak, the emerging markets are again set to ouster the developed market in the sales of smartphones, indicates the GfK Target Setter projections. The reports, covered 70 digital device types globally, suggest USA, Germany, UK, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Italy will be displaced by third world nations like Indonesia, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Though the overall market for sales of tech devices is predicted to remain at par with last year at one trillion USD, the market share of nations like India, China and other APAC nations are going to witness an underlying combined increase of US$10 billion. The report also suggests the sale of feature phones will witness a further decline of about 20% in terms of units sold and around 30% in terms of revenue. Though The APAC and Middle East will see some silver lining in the feature phone market.

According to the projections, Indian markets seem the most promising zone for sale of smartphones and this will help India to record an overall growth of 16% in the total digital devices market, accounting for US$4.8 billion increase in 2015 over 2014.

Although the growth percentile for China is only 1%, it occupies a whopping US$199 billion market in 2014. The figure is huge compared to other emerging markets like Brazil claiming a share of only US$39 billion or India with a share of US$30 billion. Interestingly, the countries with a relatively lesser population like Philippines, Bangladesh and Nigeria are displaying a greater growth percentile.

The ASEAN region is also identified as a consumer hub, which the smartphone makers are targeting. According to reports, markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia saw a cumulative sale of 120 million smartphones unit.

In 2015, sales of smartphones, worldwide, will be increased by 18% as compare to 2014. Interestingly, this growth would be largely driven by most of the small and developing markets who would leapfrog many countries leading in the chart in 2014. India is forecasted to top the list of Top 10 Smartphone markets for growth by value in 2015, leapfrogging China, USA, Japan and UK. Few of the top smartphone markets in 2014, such as Japan, US, UK, South Korea and Russia, would fall out of the list in 2015 by making way to new emerging smartphone markets, such as Indonesia, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh, which are forecasted to record higher growth.

The impact on Indian Sub continent:

The advent of new players in the market, who have led to the drastic decline of mid-range smartphones and defined new parameters of pricing in India, combined with the steep popularity of smartphones, due to which people tend to favor the price jump while upgrading from a feature phone to smart phone, seems to be the likely factor for India reaching the top rungs of the ladder in smartphone markets.

The pricing issue as addressed by major key players like Xiaomi, Huawei and Motorola in the mobile industry, has opened a plethora of options for the lower end market and the mid range market is also seen gradually migrating towards the budget smartphones. The consumer base in the emerging markets is more interested in buying value for money products and these companies are striking gold by introducing smartphones for as low as US$105. Naturally, when customers can reap the benefits of a high mid range phone at an entry level price they are attracted to buy these devices irrespective of the brand. That’s the reason why the Moto G and Xiaomi handsets in India sold like hot cakes the moment sale went live on Flipkart.

Compared to the developed markets where smart phone adoption is nearly saturated, it was inevitable to see a boom in the emerging markets. Homegrown players in the Indian subcontinent like Micromax, Lava, Xiaomi, Vivo etc will look to garner this new customer base and the stalwarts of mobile industry like Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG will need to take some drastic measures to retain the market share. The average selling price of mobile handsets is on the down curve ever since device makers have come up with low budget smartphones and feature phones.

With fierce competition ensuing between the reigning moguls and the dark horses of the mobile industry, the ultimate winner in the war of price and quality will be the consumers.

Facebook Inc. (FB) Beats Google+, Yahoo! In Social Login Q3, 2014, But Loses In Mobile !

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