Posts Tagged ‘Apple’
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
 With almost $200 billion in combined 2011 revenues, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are well positioned to take the lead in mobile payments landscape.
However, the top mobile payments spot is still up for grabs, as consumers trust PayPal, Visa, and their own banks for making financial transactions compared to mobile networks, social media, and online retailers.
“Companies will need to understand how their brand resonates with consumers in the three key areas of trust, innovation and privacy. Brands must partner with companies to achieve complementary strengths and widespread adoption in mobile payments.”
The report reveals the shift in consumer mobile behaviors over the past two years and spotlights emerging market opportunities for mobile wallets.
Mobile purchases skyrocketed
In 2011, consumers’ mobile purchases of physical goods skyrocketed to 41% from 14% in 2009, while those of ringtones, which once dominated the market, decreased significantly. This shift from “nice to have” to “needs” indicates how consumers are beginning to find more value in purchasing via mobile devices.
Using its TIP (Trust-Innovation-Privacy) Model, Javelin scored brand effects of social media, mobile networks, and financial institutions (FIs) on trust, innovation, and privacy.
While PayPal came closest to reaching “Gold Zone”, the high trust-high innovation-high privacy position, no brand placed in the coveted spot.
However, despite overall low scores in all three categories, FIs scored extremely well among their own customers, receiving the highest rankings for trust in security, protecting private information, and even innovation. Facebook and Sprint were the least trusted brands for financial transacting.
“Although consumers rate Apple as the greatest innovator, no brand will reach the Gold Zone without the right alliance,” said Mary Monahan, executive vice president and research director, Mobile at Javelin. “Companies will need to understand how their brand resonates with consumers in the three key areas of trust, innovation and privacy. Brands must partner with companies to achieve complementary strengths and widespread adoption in mobile payments.”
“Don’t count out banks, which are well respected in their geographic markets,” said Jim Van Dyke, president, Javelin. “Our data shows that banks’ own consumers ranked them higher on trust and privacy than payment providers, mobile network carriers, other banks, and the Gang of Four. FIs are viable partners for these mobile payment vendors.”
Javelin’s Gang of Four (and Possibly Five) Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon – and PayPal report analyzes consumer perceptions of mobile payments players of trust, innovation, and privacy and recommends strategies for social media and mobile companies and FIs to succeed in the mobile purchasing market. The report is based on survey data collected online from more than 5,800 consumers.
Selected Key Report Findings
- Mobile technology usage is on the rise, paving the way for increased mobile purchasing. By 2016, 72% of adults will use smartphones, while 40% of mobile phone owners will use tablets.
- Consumers’ mobile purchases of physical goods skyrocketed to 41% from 14% in 2009, while purchasing of ringtones significantly decreased.
- Consumers with primary banking relationships at FIs gave their own banks the highest trust and privacy scores over Visa, which received top scores among all consumers.
For additional details or to purchase Javelin’s report, click here Gang of Four (and Possibly Five) Apple Google Facebook Amazon – and PayPal: Positioning for Payments in the New Mobile-Social Technology Era
Tags: Amazon, Apple, facebook, FLs, Google, Javelin Strategy & Research, Jim Van Dyke, mobile payments, PayPal
Posted in Amazon, Apple, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Money, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
 Intel, Apple, and Cisco, provide the best product and relationship experience in the tech industry, according to a new research report published by Temkin Group, Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, rates the experiences delivered by 60 large technology providers.
The research, which is based on a survey of 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual sales, examines how large enterprises rate IT vendors’ products and relationships.
Looking across the two key areas, products and relationships, Intel, Apple, and Cisco earned the highest average ratings. While the average rating across all 60 tech vendors was 50%, eight vendors fell below 40%: Compuware, Wipro, Capgemini, Tata Consulting Services, Unisys, Novell, Qualcomm, and SunGard.
“The research uncovered a wide range of experience delivered by tech vendors when it comes to both products and relationships,” states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.
To evaluate the relationship experience provided by tech vendors, Temkin Group asked IT professionals to rate the companies in four areas: cost of ownership, innovation, account team support, and technical support.
 The vendors with the highest relationship ratings are Intel, Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft servers, and IBM IT services. The tech vendors that received the lowest relationship ratings are Compuware, Wipro, and Unisys.
To evaluate the product experience provided by tech vendors, Temkin Group asked IT professionals to rate the companies in four areas: ease of use, features, flexibility, and quality.
The vendors with the highest product ratings are Intel, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft business applications, Microsoft desktop software, Microsoft servers, Google, Oracle database software, Oracle business applications, and VMWare.
The tech vendors that received the lowest product ratings are Compuware, Capgemini, and Wipro.
Highlights from the eight evaluation criteria:
 Cost of ownership: Two tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher - Google and Intel.- Innovation: 16 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher, while four were above 70% - Apple, Intel, Cisco, andGoogle.
- Account team support: Seven tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher, led by Apple, Intel, and Cisco.
- Technical support: Nine tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and only Intel is above 70%.
- Product ease-of-use: 13 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and two are above 70% - Intel and Apple.
- Product features: 17 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and two are above 70% - Cisco and Intel.
- Product flexibility: 12 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and only Intel is above 70%.
- Product quality: 17 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and four are above 70% - Intel, Apple, Cisco, andAdobe.
This report can be accessed from the Temkin Group website at http://www.temkingroup.com or from the blog, Customer Experience Matters, at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com.
Tags: Adobe, Apple, Capgemini, Cisco, Compuware, Google, Intel, Novell, Qualcomm, SunGard, Tata Consulting Services, Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, Temkin Group, Unisys, Wipro
Posted in Apple, Cisco, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
 Android and iOS together make up 91 percent of the mobile OS market. Based on data from the Jumptap network of more than 95 million monthly users, both operating systems reached new heights in January, according to the February MobileSTAT, from Jumptap, a targeted mobile advertising firm.
Android hit 58.8 percent and iOS reached 32.2 percent market share respectively. Blackberry, on the other hand, sunk to a record low of 6.7 percent.
The data nicely complimentsNielsen’s recent report, showing 89 percent of smartphones that were acquired in Q4 2011 were Android or iOS, and only 6 percent were Blackberry.
Jumptap predicts that Blackberry, Symbian and Windows have an uphill battle just to retain OS market share in 2012.“With Google activating 850,000 mobile devices daily, it’s no surprise that Android has continued to outpace every other OS on the market”
Personally, here at the TechJournal, we’ve tested several android devices and two Windows phones. We actually found the Windows phones the most intuitive and easiest to use. Their late arrival on the market may keep them from gaining traction, but they’re worthy entrants.
“With Google activating 850,000 mobile devices daily, it’s no surprise that Android has continued to outpace every other OS on the market,” said Paran Johar, Chief Marketing Officer, Jumptap.
“What advertisers should take away from this data is the importance of advertising cross-platform. Both the Android and iOS operating systems continue to grow while the remaining competitors represent only a fraction of the market.
Additional February MobileSTAT Findings:
- Exponential Tablet Growth: The launch of the Kindle Fire has helped fuel exponential tablet growth in the last few months. Overall tablet traffic on the Jumptap network has increased over 50 percent since December. In that same time period, Kindle Fire has grown from holding a 4 percent share of tablet traffic to a 33 percent share. Jumptap predicts that 2012 will be a year of heavy competition between the iPad3 – launching in March – the Kindle Fire, and other low-cost tablets.
- Top Picks for Mobile Devices of CES Attendees: The largest consumer electronics show in the world, CES, brought hundreds of the best and brightest in media and tech to Las Vegas — and with them, their mobile devices. In analyzing the types of devices used in Las Vegas during the event vs. devices normally used in the area, the Jumptap February MobileSTAT found that Apple and Blackberry made the strongest showing. Additionally, iPad traffic increased 100 percent and Blackberry traffic increased 111 percent during the show. To no surprise, the report also found that tech-focused CES attendees were less likely to use feature phones as compared to Las Vegas locals.
- All Politics is Mobile: Political candidates aren’t the only ones using mobile for the primaries. Mobile users in South Carolina took to their phones to check results of the state’s primary election on January 21. Significant spikes on the Jumptap network ‘News Channel’ occurred on the day of the primary resulting in a 35 percent increase in traffic at 7 p.m. ET when the polls closed, and a 40 percent spike at 10 p.m. when results were announced.
 MobileSTAT (Simple Targeting & Audience Trends) is a monthly view of the top targeting and audience trends in mobile advertising. Jumptap strives to better understand mobile audience and educate the entire mobile ecosystem through its insight reports. MobileSTAT contains analysis of hundreds of gigabytes of log data, run through Jumptap’s analytics technology. To download a full copy of the Jumptap MobileSTAT report, visit jumptap.com/STAT.
Tags: Android, Apple, Blackberry, CES, iOS, Jumptap, Symbian, Windows phones
Posted in Apple, IT, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, March 5th, 2012
 Apple and other high growth companies share five key behaviors. Apple says that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the users of the more than 315 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices worldwide.
The company justly touts the revolutionary effects its app store and its touch screen devices have had on the digital world. They have made the company among the world’s most valuable despite intense competition.
The 25 billionth app downloaded, Where’s My Water? Free, was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said, “When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users.”
The revolutionary App Store offers more than 550,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 123 countries around the world, with more than 170,000 native iPad apps available.
App Store customers can choose from a range of apps in 21 categories, including Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health & fitness and travel. The App Store has paid out more than four billion dollars to developers.
Tags: app store downloads, Apple, Chunli Fu, iPad, iPhone, iPod
Posted in Apple, Internet/New Media | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Professional networking site LinkedIn is raking in money at a faster rate than Google, Facebook or Apple Inc.
Since going public, the company has posted a 105 percent year-over-year growth. The numbers crunchers over at Statista created this infographic to show LinkedIn’s growth:
Tags: Apple, facebook, Google, LinkedIn, revenue growth, Statista
Posted in Apple, Facebook, Google, infographic, Internet/New Media, Money, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, February 24th, 2012
 Apple iPad3s Apple held on to its dominant 26.6 percent share of mobile PC sales in Q4 2011 largely due to its iPad sales, while HP maintained the top notebook ranking and Lenovo saw strong growth as Acer struggled, says the latest NPD report on mobile PC shipments.
Apple shipped nearly 23.4 million mobile PCs in Q4’11, up 128% year over year, and over 62.8 million mobile PCs in 2011, up 132% Y/Y, according to preliminary results from the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report.
Nearly 80% of Apple’s mobile PC shipments were iPads, more than 18.7 million shipped in the quarter, up 156% Y/Y, and 48.4 million units for the year, up 183% Y/Y.
Overall mobile PC shipments grew 12% Q/Q and 44% Y/Y, reaching 88 million units in Q4’11. This was driven by continuing strong demand for tablets. Tablet PC shipment growth was 42% Q/Q and 210% Y/Y, reaching 31.7 million units in Q4’11. Notebook PC shipments were flat Q/Q but up nearly 11% Y/Y, reaching 56.3 million units. As expected, consumer mobile PC adoption was focused on tablets, holding up demand in notebooks.
“Mobile PC brands read the writing on the wall in the fourth quarter,” said Richard Shim, NPD DisplaySearch Senior Analyst. “Consumer demand for notebooks was expected to be weak following modest back-to-school results, especially with the expected launch of Windows 8 on the horizon, and increasing interest in tablet PCs. As a result, brands focused their typical holiday price cuts on tablets to boost demand.”
Apple’s 26.6% share in Q4’11 is largely due to its dominant position in tablet PCs, which propelled it to nearly three times the shipments of HP. The other brands in the top five market share rankings relied almost exclusively on notebook PC shipments to establish their positions.
HP holds top notebook rank
HP maintained the top notebook PC ranking with a 15.5% share, although it lost some of its lead as shipments into North America, China, Latin America, and Asia Pacific faltered. Dell and Acer essentially tied for second place with 11.8% each. Dell had strong results in EMEA, while Acer continued to struggle in the notebook PC market.
Lenovo continues to build on momentum started early this year with strong growth in China and Asia Pacific with a dip in North America, and maintained its #4 position in notebook PCs, gaining some share in Q4’11. Apple leapfrogged over ASUS and Toshiba to capture #5 with 8.3% market share.
In the tablet PC market, Apple continued its strong growth across all its regions, capturing 59.1% share in Q4’11. Newcomers Amazon and Barnes and Noble firmly planted their flags in the market, at #2 and #5, respectively—Amazon with 16.7% share and Barnes and Noble with 3.5%. Both brands focused on North America in their market entries.
Samsung improved in all its key markets, particularly EMEA, helping it to reach .67% market share. ASUS continued its strong results in North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific as it took 4.6% share in Q4’11.
The NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report covers the entire range of mobile PC products shipped worldwide and regionally.
Tags: Acer, Apple, Asia Pacific, China, Dell, HP, iPad, Latin America, Lenovo, North America, NPD Quarterly Mobile PC forecast
Posted in Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Monday, February 20th, 2012
 Tax sites rapidly grew in January as millions of Americans looked to begin preparing to file, according to comScore, the digital measurement firm. Many Americans also booked travel to escape the winter doldrums, while others resolved to begin the new year by researching new careers and education programs.
“In January, the average U.S. Internet user spent a record 36 hours online, reflecting the growing importance of digital media to Americans’ daily lives,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore.
“Among the biggest category gainers in this heavy month of Internet usage were Travel and Career sites, which posted double-digit gains, and of course Tax sites as the non-procrastinators among us decided to get an early jump on getting their refunds.”
Winter Blues Melt at Travel Sites
Several Travel subcategories were among the top-gainers in January, including Transaction sites which grew 28 percent to 3.7 million visitors. TravelPN.com led the category with 798,000 visitors (up 11 percent), followed by Viator.com with 642,000 (up 9 percent), WWTE.com with 442,000 (up 86 percent) and OneTime.com with 278,000 (up 48 percent).
Car Rental sites jumped 22 percent to 6.2 million visitors during the month, led by Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company with 3.2 million visitors (up 14 percent). Avis Budget Group ranked second with nearly 2 million visitors (up 19 percent), followed by Hertz with 1.3 million (up 21 percent), CarRentals.com with 793,000 (up 30 percent) and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. with 790,000 (up 27 percent).
A trip wouldn’t be complete without lodging, so it is not a surprise that Hotels/Resorts also ranked among the fastest-growing Travel sites. The category attracted 33.2 million visitors in January, representing an 18-percent increase.
Marriott secured the #1 position in the category with 5.1 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Disney Parks & Travel with 4.8 million (up 36 percent), Hilton Hotels with 4.6 million (up 25 percent) and Expedia Hotels with 3.3 million.
Career-Minded Americans Research Options Online
As the new year began, Americans turned their focus to career services and education. Traffic to Job Search sites grew 27 percent in January to 24.2 million visitors. Indeed.com Job Search ranked as the category leader with 13.7 million visitors (up 33 percent), followed by CareerBuilder.com Job Search with 9.8 million (up 27 percent), Monster.com Job Search with 5 million (up 28 percent) and SimplyHired.com with 3.5 million (up 42 percent).
Training and Education sites also gained traction, with a sizeable increase of 23 percent to 14.7 million visitors. LiveCareer.com topped the list with 1.2 million visitors (up 58 percent), followed by AesopOnline.com with 940,000 (up 44 percent), FastWeb.com with 736,000 (up 30 percent) and Learn4Good.com with 599,000.
Tax Sites Spike as Season Begins
Visitation to Tax sites swelled in January as millions decided to get a jump on filing and hopefully getting a refund check from Uncle Sam. More than 30.7 million Americans visited a Tax site in January, up 359 percent to rank as the fastest growing category.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in January with 187.4 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 179.2 million and Yahoo! Sites with 177.2 million. LinkedIn.com jumped 8 positions to rank #29 with 36.8 million visitors, while Everyday Health, which helped many fulfill their New Year’s resolutions to be healthier, leapt 10 positions to #38.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the January Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 92.9 percent of Americans online, followed by AOL Advertising (85 percent), Yahoo! Network Plus (84.8 percent), ShareThis (82.4 percent) and AT&T AdWorks (82.3 percent).
Table 1
| comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)January 2012 vs. December 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix |
| |
Total Unique Visitors (000) |
| Dec-11 |
Jan-12 |
% Change |
Rank by
Unique
Visitors |
| Total Internet : Total Audience |
220,439 |
220,154 |
0 |
N/A |
| IRS.GOV |
5,044 |
16,259 |
222 |
107 |
| ED.GOV |
5,201 |
9,160 |
76 |
185 |
| Pinterest.com |
7,516 |
11,716 |
56 |
148 |
| Travelocity |
4,869 |
6,957 |
43 |
241 |
| Kayak.com Network |
5,851 |
8,087 |
38 |
210 |
| ChaCha.com |
9,151 |
12,279 |
34 |
138 |
| Orbitz Worldwide |
8,965 |
11,868 |
32 |
141 |
| Info.com |
5,883 |
7,740 |
32 |
219 |
| Dominion Enterprises |
9,622 |
12,650 |
31 |
131 |
| Indeed |
12,928 |
16,985 |
31 |
103 |
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in January 2012. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to tagging through unified digital audience measurement.
Table 2
| comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)January 2012 vs. December 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix |
| |
Total Unique Visitors (000) |
| Dec-11 |
Jan-12 |
% Change |
| Total Internet : Total Audience |
220,439 |
220,154 |
0 |
| Business/Finance – Taxes |
6,685 |
30,715 |
359 |
| Retail – Computer Software |
41,616 |
54,081 |
30 |
| Travel – Transactions |
2,913 |
3,730 |
28 |
| Career Services & Development – Job Search |
19,098 |
24,209 |
27 |
| Career Services & Development – Training and Education |
11,979 |
14,679 |
23 |
| Travel – Car Rental |
5,079 |
6,197 |
22 |
| Travel – Hotels/Resorts |
28,035 |
33,213 |
18 |
| Career Services & Development – Career Resources |
46,145 |
54,398 |
18 |
| Entertainment – News |
100,121 |
116,229 |
16 |
| Travel – Ground/Cruise |
12,164 |
14,097 |
16 |
Table 3
| comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)January 2012
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix |
| Rank |
Property |
Unique
Visitors(000) |
|
Rank |
Property |
Unique
Visitors(000) |
| |
Total Internet : Total Audience |
220,154 |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Google Sites |
187,368 |
|
26 |
Twitter.com |
38,410 |
| 2 |
Microsoft Sites |
179,220 |
|
27 |
ESPN |
38,296 |
| 3 |
Yahoo! Sites |
177,249 |
|
28 |
Technorati Media |
38,227 |
| 4 |
Facebook.com |
163,505 |
|
29 |
LinkedIn.com |
36,848 |
| 5 |
Amazon Sites |
109,997 |
|
30 |
NetShelter Technology Media |
34,954 |
| 6 |
AOL, Inc. |
107,085 |
|
31 |
Tribune Interactive |
34,517 |
| 7 |
Ask Network |
93,954 |
|
32 |
AT&T Interactive Network |
33,780 |
| 8 |
Glam Media |
90,895 |
|
33 |
Disney Online |
32,708 |
| 9 |
Wikimedia Foundation Sites |
88,527 |
|
34 |
iVillage.com: The Womens Network |
31,942 |
| 10 |
Turner Digital |
84,041 |
|
35 |
Alloy Digital Network |
30,782 |
| 11 |
CBS Interactive |
81,631 |
|
36 |
Yelp.com |
30,668 |
| 12 |
Apple Inc. |
81,536 |
|
37 |
Fox News Digital Network |
30,283 |
| 13 |
New York Times Digital |
80,161 |
|
38 |
Everyday Health |
30,208 |
| 14 |
Viacom Digital |
76,254 |
|
39 |
Netflix.com |
29,777 |
| 15 |
eBay |
71,554 |
|
40 |
Superpages.com Network |
28,971 |
| 16 |
Federated Media Publishing |
70,260 |
|
41 |
Break Media |
28,252 |
| 17 |
Demand Media |
61,344 |
|
42 |
The Washington Post Company |
27,602 |
| 18 |
VEVO |
59,000 |
|
43 |
Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. |
27,580 |
| 19 |
Weather Channel, The |
58,643 |
|
44 |
Verizon Communications Corporation |
26,763 |
| 20 |
craigslist, inc. |
53,431 |
|
45 |
NBC Universal |
26,546 |
| 21 |
Comcast Corporation |
52,890 |
|
46 |
Target Corporation |
26,142 |
| 22 |
Gannett Sites |
46,620 |
|
47 |
Cox Enterprises Inc. |
25,529 |
| 23 |
Answers.com Sites |
44,377 |
|
48 |
Discovery Digital Media Sites |
25,265 |
| 24 |
Wal-Mart |
41,462 |
|
49 |
Internet Brands, Inc. |
25,263 |
| 25 |
Adobe Sites |
41,451 |
|
50 |
Myspace |
25,124 |
Table 4
| comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)January 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix |
| Rank |
Property |
Unique
Visitors (000) |
% Reach |
|
Rank |
Property |
Unique
Visitors (000) |
% Reach |
| |
Total Internet : Total Audience |
220,154 |
100.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Google Ad Network** |
204,468 |
92.9 |
|
26 |
CPX Interactive** |
124,089 |
56.4 |
| 2 |
AOL Advertising** |
187,109 |
85.0 |
|
27 |
Adconion Media Group** |
120,144 |
54.6 |
| 3 |
Yahoo! Network Plus** |
186,587 |
84.8 |
|
28 |
Undertone** |
118,198 |
53.7 |
| 4 |
ShareThis |
181,372 |
82.4 |
|
29 |
Traffic Marketplace** |
116,903 |
53.1 |
| 5 |
AT&T AdWorks** |
181,247 |
82.3 |
|
30 |
AOL, Inc. |
107,085 |
48.6 |
| 6 |
Google |
179,685 |
81.6 |
|
31 |
Meebo |
98,130 |
44.6 |
| 7 |
Yahoo! Sites |
177,249 |
80.5 |
|
32 |
Technorati Media** |
97,287 |
44.2 |
| 8 |
ValueClick Networks** |
176,229 |
80.0 |
|
33 |
Bing |
95,661 |
43.5 |
| 9 |
24/7 Real Media Global Web Alliance** |
176,227 |
80.0 |
|
34 |
Smowtion Ad Network** |
95,226 |
43.3 |
| 10 |
Microsoft Media Network US** |
174,276 |
79.2 |
|
35 |
Ask Network |
93,954 |
42.7 |
| 11 |
Tribal Fusion** |
170,715 |
77.5 |
|
36 |
Glam Media |
90,895 |
41.3 |
| 12 |
Facebook.com |
163,505 |
74.3 |
|
37 |
Amazon.com* |
90,774 |
41.2 |
| 13 |
Casale Media – MediaNet** |
162,269 |
73.7 |
|
38 |
Rocket Fuel** |
89,373 |
40.6 |
| 14 |
AdBrite** |
162,088 |
73.6 |
|
39 |
Wikipedia.org |
88,224 |
40.1 |
| 15 |
PulsePoint** |
154,100 |
70.0 |
|
40 |
Kontera** |
86,005 |
39.1 |
| 16 |
Specific Media** |
153,336 |
69.6 |
|
41 |
Monster Career Ad Network (CAN)** |
78,243 |
35.5 |
| 17 |
Collective Display** |
151,427 |
68.8 |
|
42 |
Windows Live |
74,579 |
33.9 |
| 18 |
AudienceScience** |
149,336 |
67.8 |
|
43 |
Federated Media Publishing |
70,260 |
31.9 |
| 19 |
Cox Digital Solutions – Network** |
146,632 |
66.6 |
|
44 |
Dedicated Media** |
67,243 |
30.5 |
| 20 |
Vibrant Media** |
143,793 |
65.3 |
|
45 |
About |
62,480 |
28.4 |
| 21 |
interclick** |
139,508 |
63.4 |
|
46 |
Demand Media |
61,344 |
27.9 |
| 22 |
Burst Media** |
133,900 |
60.8 |
|
47 |
Weather Channel, The |
58,643 |
26.6 |
| 23 |
YouTube.com* |
126,279 |
57.4 |
|
48 |
MTV Networks Music |
53,932 |
24.5 |
| 24 |
MSN |
125,561 |
57.0 |
|
49 |
Redux Media Network** |
52,684 |
23.9 |
| 25 |
AdBlade Network** |
125,421 |
57.0 |
|
50 |
Apple.com |
49,689 |
22.6 |
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in January. For instance, Yahoo! Sites was seen by 80.1 percent of the 220 million Internet users in January.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.
Tags: Amazon, AOL, AOL advertising, Apple, AT&T adWorks, comScore, Demand Media, Disney Online, ESPN, Everyday Health, facebook, Fox News Digital Network, Google ad Network, LinkedIn, Microsoft sites, NetShelter Technology Media, New Times Digital, online advertising, ShareThis, Technorati Media, top 50 web sites, Tribune Interactive, Turner Digital, twitter, Viacom Digitalk, Village.com, Yahoo! Network Plus, Yahooo, Yelp
Posted in Amazon, Analytics, Apple, Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Apple and other high growth companies share five key behaviors. A survey of 500 C-suite executives worldwide conducted by global brand consultancy Wolff Olins has revealed that, although companies recognize the important factors required to generate long-term growth, many are not investing resources and energy into them.
“Traditional ways of doing business are not generating growth and global economies are suffering without it,” said Karl Heiselman, CEO of Wolff Olins.
“We believe there are very clearly identifiable actions or behaviors associated with high-growth companies such as Amazon, Google, Nike and PayPal that other businesses can use to thrive. Change is daunting, but the opportunities for businesses that adopt these new ways of doing business are enormous.”
Wolff Olins identified five key behaviors associated with high-growth companies, which the consultancy calls “Game Changers,” who are successfully responding to rapid changes in consumer demand and technology-driven services.
The survey was designed to determine whether other leading organizations recognize the importance of these characteristics and if and how they are adopting similar behaviors within their own companies.
These behaviors include:
- Purposeful: having a clear purpose that is shared with customers
- Useful: enabling customers to do things better
- Experimental: constantly innovating and being comfortable living in perpetual beta
- Boundary-less: fostering collaboration internally and externally
- Value-creative: adds value by creating new business models and businesses
The survey results showed:
- On average, 42% of respondents said that each Game Changer behavior would deliver significant growth (of 11% or more). Twenty-two percent thought they would deliver growth of more than 20%.
- Useful (enabling customers to do things better) was rated by respondents as potentially making the biggest contribution to growth. Forty percent believed this activity would contribute more than 20% growth. Twenty-four percent said that it would contribute to growth between 11-20%.
- Companies that are Experimental (constantly innovating) were seen as having the next most significant contribution to growth. Nineteen percent said it would deliver growth of more than 20%.
- The perceived value of behaving like a Game Changer varies greatly across sectors. Banking, energy, FMCG and hospitality sectors are the most enthusiastic. Professional services, non-profit and property companies are least likely to associate Game Changer behavior with growth. Others are divided. Tech and telecoms see growth in creating new value and experimenting but less in being Purposeful or breaking down boundaries.
There is a gap between what people believe is important and what they are actually doing. This is shown in several ways. Across all behaviors most likely to be associated with growth, the top three were all in the category of being Useful to customers:
- ‘Enable customers to create personalized versions of your product’ was the behavior/action most associated with growth, yet only 22% said their business was doing this
- ‘Enable your customers to use your product in flexible and adaptable ways’ came in second, with only 32% stating their business was doing this
- ‘Involve your customers in your product development process’ was the third behavior/action most associated with growth, yet just 31% thought their business was doing this
Most respondents did think, however, that their companies were acting in a socially responsible way, although they are not connecting it to strategic growth. For example, ‘Consider transparency to be part of your business’ was perceived to be the least valuable to growth, but 47% stated their companies did this anyway, followed by ‘Participate in social good’, which 46% said their business did.
Global uncertainty having short-term affect
In follow-up qualitative interviews with respondents, Wolff Olins found that the global economic uncertainty is affecting growth projections for companies in the short-term, with the majority only willing to project single-figure growth this year. As one respondent commented, “There is no such thing as a company being too big to fail.”
There was also significant emphasis placed on the importance of building a meaningful relationship with the customer: “If you become a more valuable business to your customers, you become a more valuable business generally.”
Innovation was recognized alongside customer-focus to be a key driver of growth. Having the right people in place to drive innovation was identified as critical: “You can have the best people and even if the market is heading the wrong way, you’ll be growing.” It also presents a challenge: “You can’t force people to be innovative. You have to allow them to take risks and fail. When things are going down, people just want to protect their jobs. Ask them to take risks and they won’t.”
Heiselman adds, “Game Changers emerged from our desire to understand the new generation of companies enjoying phenomenal success. If these companies and organizations act differently, what is it that they do and are they signs of a healthier future for other companies who want to copy their success but aren’t necessarily in a position to replicate their business? By identifying the activities in which high-growth organizations invest, we can help businesses embrace totally new ways of thinking and doing business so that they not only survive these challenging times but find growth.”
Game changing companies named
 The following companies are recognized by Wolff Olins in the Game Changers report as exemplars of the five behaviors of high growth companies who are successfully responding to rapid changes in consumer demand and technology-driven services:
- (RED), charitable giving pioneer
- Amazon, multinational online retailer
- Apple, multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics
- Facebook, social network and website
- Google, multinational internet search engine
- Grameen Bank, pioneer of microfinance in Bangladesh
- Intuit, US-based accounting software company
- Lego, construction toys
- M-Pesa, a branchless banking service available in Kenya, Afghanistan and Tanzania
- Nike, sportswear and equipment retailer based in the USA
- PayPal, online transaction service
- Tata Docomo, cellular service provider
- Tesco, global grocery and general merchandise retailer
- Zipcar, vehicle sharing company
- Zopa, UK-based company providing an online money exchange service
Tags: Apple, Best Practices, facebook, Google, Grameen Bank, Intuit, Karl Heiselman, key behaviors of high growth companies, Lego, M-Pesa, Nike, PapPal, RED, Tata Docuom, Tesco, Wolff Oliins, Zipcar, Zopa
Posted in Amazon, Apple, Best Practices, Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Apple continues to lead Dell and HP in customer service quality for phone-based technical support, but Apple’s support satisfaction among surveyed customers dropped significantly over the past 18 months, according to the latest study conducted by Vocal Laboratories Inc. (Vocalabs).
In telephone interviews immediately following a support call, 54% of Apple customers were “Very Satisfied” with the experience during the last six months of 2011, compared to 44% of Dell customers and 49% of HP customers.
Apple’s satisfaction score is down 19 points from the first half of 2010, while Dell and HP have generally held steady over the past two years.“But where Apple used to be well ahead in nearly every measure of service quality, there are now areas where Apple is tied with, or even behind, its competitors.”
Looking at common complaints in 2011, less than 1% of Apple customers surveyed complained about the language skills of the support technician; much fewer than the 8% of Dell customers and 10% of HP customers with similar issues.
Many customers also complained about the extra cost of out-of-warranty tech support, but Apple saw fewer complaints here, too. About 1% of Apple customers volunteered a cost complaint in this study, as compared to 6% of Dell customers and 6% of HP customers.
“Despite its significant decline, Apple continues to lead our survey in overall tech support quality,” said Peter Leppik, CEO of Vocalabs.
“But where Apple used to be well ahead in nearly every measure of service quality, there are now areas where Apple is tied with, or even behind, its competitors.”
About This Research
The National Customer Service Survey (NCSS) tracks customer service quality in several industries, using telephone interviews conducted with a customer immediately after a customer service experience. Statistics in this press release are based on 4,852 surveys completed between May 2008 and December 2011. The NCSS is underwritten and conducted by Vocalabs, independently of any of the companies covered.
Download the Executive Summary by visiting www.Vocalabs.com/published-research.
Tags: Apple, customer service quality survey, Dell, HP, tech support quality, Vocalabs
Posted in Apple, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech Culture, TechLife | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
 Only four technology vendors deliver excellent customer experience, according to new research report published by Temkin Group, 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors, rates the customer experience of 60 large technology providers.
The research, which is based on a survey of 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual sales, shows that only four technology vendors deliver excellent customer experience: Microsoft business applications, Cisco, IBM SPSS, and Microsoft servers. The research also shows a strong connection between customer experience and the purchasing plans of large companies.
“Tech vendors that deliver a better customer experience will capture more IT spending from large companies,” states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.
The Temkin Experience Ratings are based on analyzing customer interactions in three areas:
- Functional: Can customers do what they are trying to do?
- Accessible: How easy is it for customers to do what they want to do?
- Emotional: How do customers feel about those interactions?
While four of the companies earned overall “excellent” ratings, nine others led by Compuware, Capgemini, and Fujitsu received “very poor” ratings.
The research also examined purchase momentum - the net percentage of companies that plan to buy more from a vendor in 2012 – for each of the 60 companies.
The technology vendors with the highest purchase momentum are SAS Institute, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft business applications and Microsoft servers. At the other end of the purchasing spectrum, Compuware, Alcatel-Lucent and Sybase have the lowest purchase momentum.
Temkin Group charted the Temkin Experience Ratings and the purchase momentum data for all 60 companies. This analysis uncovered a strong connection between customer experience and future purchase plans.
According to Temkin: “The tech sector has a long way to go in delivering great customer experience, but there’s loyalty at the end of the rainbow.”
This report can be accessed from the Temkin Group website at http://www.temkingroup.com or from the blog, Customer Experience Matters, at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com.
Tags: Alcatel-Lucent, Apple, Capgemini, Cisco, Compuware, Fujitsu, IBM, Microsoft servers, SAS, SPSS, SyBase, Temkin Group
Posted in Cisco, Internet/New Media, Microsoft | Comments Off
Friday, January 20th, 2012
 Guests say their favorite in-room amenity is the use of iPads for guest services, local information and personal use. The overwhelming majority of customers are highly positive in their views on tablet PCs as expressed on the internet.Social media research specialist DigitalMR measured thousands of comments for slate devices across September-October 2011.
Over two thirds (68%) of all views measured were positive with only 32% negative.
Apple recorded a 33% share of all positive comments but more worryingly a 46% of the smaller pool of negative ones.
Next placed is Amazon with 19% of positive mentions and only 13% of negative, followed by Samsung with 15% of positive mentions and 18% of negative ones.
Apple’s upgrade may have caused negative comments
The high percentage of negative Apple comments is likely to be related to problems that users faced in upgrading to Apple’s new iOS 5 software in October.
 At $199, we think the Kindle Fire is a good buy for the money Personally, we’re more than happy with our $199 Kindle Fire tablet. It has its eccentricities, but they all do. For what it is, though, a way to play games, listen to music, read, surf the net, even watch videos, it’s handy, fun, and easy to use. We didn’t like larger tablets such as the Galaxy Tab nearly so much.
Results are based on comments posted by consumers on the major tablet models made by: Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Blackberry, HTC, LG, HP, ASUS, Sony and Amazon across September-October 2011.
DigitalMR’s analysis (powered by SocialNuggets) is based on comments posted via a range of relevant websites and open access social media platforms. It measures, not only the number of comments posted by consumers on the internet, but also their sentiment – whether posts are positive or negative in nature.
Managing Director of DigitalMR, Michalis Michael commented: “Apple’s high negative score shows they may have become a victim of their own success with iOS 5. The free upgrade caused a spike in demand, leading many users to complain on forums that they kept getting error messages and that the download was taking too long.”
All the brands measured, achieve a positive Net Sentiment Score (NSS) for Sep-Oct. NSS provides an overall percentage score of net positive posts. A positive score means a tablet attracts a higher proportion of positive than negative posts.
The average NSS taken across all brands measured is 36% which is very high compared with other industry sectors. This is good news for the tablet industry as it shows that generally customers and very satisfied with their products and are happy to spread the word online.
However Apple achieves the lowest NSS of 21%, just below Motorola with 22%. The best NSS scores are achieved by newer entrants to the market achieve. Sony is top with 87% (although this is based on a relatively low number of mentions overall) followed by Asus with 73%.
DigitalMR measured thousands of customer posts across Sep-Oct regarding the features that tablets offer. The most talked about features (both positively and negatively) are “operating system” (18% share of positive comments vs 30% negative) and “application” (20% positive vs 21% negative).
Click here for more data
In their words –customer comments sample for models with the highest and lowest Net Sentiment Scores
Sony:
“I have been using my Sony Tablet S for a couple of days and it’s awesome”.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-1243670.html
Motorola:
“This morning is the second time that my Motorola Xoom has frozen up on me since I received it back from Motorola after the 4G LTE upgrade. Has anyone else had problems with this? I never had any problems whatsoever with this tablet prior to the upgrade”.
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/60568
Apple:
“I agree with previous two reviewers – IPAD that worked perfectly, now doesn’t work at all since upgrade, a total waste of money. More than the money, disappointment at being unable to send photos home to loved ones.
http://store.apple.com/uk/reviews/MC531ZM/A
Click here for further customers comments and more about the web listening report
Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple iPad, Asus, Blackberry, consumer comments about tablets, DigitalMR, HP, HTC, Kindle Fire, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony
Posted in Amazon, Apple, Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, January 13th, 2012
 A Samsung Android phone Smartphones from Samsung, HTC, and Motorola running Google’s Android operating system are the most mentioned brands — accounting for tw0-thirds (68%) of all measured customer comments says DigitalMR, a social media research firm.
Samsung models drew the highest share of positive comments (30%).
DigitalMR analysed over ¼ million customer comments about smartphones across September-October 2011. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of these customer views are positive, compared with 38% negative.
Android models are the most mentioned smartphone brands. Samsung attracts the most mentions with a 30% market share of all positive comments and a 31% share of the smaller, negative comments group. Next placed is HTC with 22% positive mentions and 19% negative, followed by Motorola with 17% positive and 15% negative.
Together, the three Android brands account for two thirds (68%) of all measured online customer comments regarding smartphones.
Although Apple has fewer overall mentions it attracts more negative mentions than Motorola with a 17% share of all negative comments. This may well be related to customers experiencing teething problems when switching over to the new iOS operating system in October.
Results are based on comments posted by consumers on the major smartphone brands: Apple, Motorola, Samsung, RIM (Blackberry), HTC, LG, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Kyocera and HP across Sep-Oct 2011.
Established smartphone models from Apple and RIM (Blackberry) only account for 14% and 7% of total customer comments respectively.
DigitalMR’s analysis (powered by SocialNuggets) is based on comments posted via a range of relevant websites and open access social media platforms. It measures, not only the number of comments posted by consumers on the internet, but also their sentiment – whether posts are positive or negative in nature.
Managing Director of DigitalMR, Michalis Michael commented: “The march of the Androids continues with their increased sales and market share gains being matched by consumers’ conversations online.”
All the brands measured, achieve a positive Net Sentiment Score (NSS) for Sep-Oct. NSS provides an overall percentage score of net positive posts.
The average NSS taken across all the brands measured is 24%. This shows customers are generally very happy with their devices and are sharing the good news online.
Of the three most talked about brands on the web, HTC had a NSS of 31%, followed by 29% for Motorola and a slightly below par score of 23% for Samsung.
The highest NSS is achieved by HP with 50% (although this is derived from a relatively small base number of mentions) followed by Nokia (47%) with the lowest NSS recorded by Sony Erickson (4%) and Apple (6%).
Click here for further data
Tags: Apple, DigitalMR, HP, iPhone, Kyocerra, Motorola, Nokia, online comments about smartphones, RIM Blackberry, Samsung android smartphones, Sony Ericsson
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech Culture, TechLife | Comments Off
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
 E-retail giants Apple and Amazon are head and shoulders above the competition in a study of customer satisfaction with top retail mobile sites and apps released today by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee.
ForeSee was able to collect enough data to produce statistically reliable mobile satisfaction scores for 16 of the largest e-retailers inthe United States. Apple and Amazon, which scored 85 and 84, respectively, on the study’s 100-point scale, topped the list by a wide margin.
| Website |
Satisfactionwith MobileExperience |
Satisfactionwith WebExperience |
| Store.Apple.com |
85 |
83 |
| Amazon.com |
84 |
88 |
| Dell.com |
78 |
80 |
| Netflix.com |
77 |
79 |
| eBay.com |
77 |
80 |
| BestBuy.com |
76 |
78 |
| Staples.com |
76 |
78 |
| Avon.com |
75 |
83 |
| BN.com |
75 |
81 |
| HomeDepot.com |
75 |
78 |
| VictoriasSecret.com |
75 |
81 |
| Toysrus.com |
74 |
75 |
| Blockbuster.com |
73 |
75 |
| Target.com |
72 |
76 |
| Walmart.com |
72 |
79 |
| Sears.com |
71 |
75 |
Shoppers like traditional web sites better than mobile versions
According to the research, shoppers are generally more satisfied with traditional websites than they are with their mobile counterparts. The average mobile satisfaction score for the 16 retailers measured in the report is 76, compared to 79 for the same companies’ websites.
However, a few companies had comparable performance on mobile and web: Apple (a standout with a mobile score two points higher than its web score), Toys “R” Us, Best Buy, Staples, Netflix, Dell, and Blockbuster. Others reveal large gaps between the website and the mobile experience, including Avon (satisfaction 8 points lower on mobile) and Walmart (7 points lower).
Plenty of room for improvement in mobile commerce
“As the adoption of smartphones increases, more consumers are using them to access retailer websites,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee. “More and more, there is expectation that companies will address the mobile environment in ways that are effective and user-friendly. Mobile commerce is still relatively new and there is a lot of room for innovation and improvement.”
In addition, the ForeSee study shows that satisfaction with the mobile experience has a significant cross-channel impact. Mobile shoppers who are highly satisfied with their mobile experience are 54% more likely to consider the company next time they want to make a similar purchase, and twice as likely to buy from the retailer’s mobile channel again.
“Customers use mobile apps to research and make decisions, both in-store and out, and it’s not always in the retailer’s favor,” said Eric Feinberg, mobile industry director at ForeSee. “One proven way for retailers to hold on to customer’s loyalty and increase likelihood to buy is to ensure customers are satisfied across all channels.”
Other findings from the research show the growing role mobile is playing in the retail experience:
- A third of online shoppers (34%) used their mobile phones to research products while 15% made a purchase directly from their phone, up from 11% last year.
- One in five online shoppers (19%) used a mobile phone to compare prices or products while shopping in a retail location.
- 19% of all online shoppers are now using mobile phones to compare prices while shopping inside a store.
“The smartphone is a powerful shopping tool and a double-edged sword. Consumers will use it to research products and check a retailer’s own site while they’re in the store, but they’ll also use it to compare prices and check out the competition,” added Freed.
“The gap between mobile experience and web experience is an opportunity for retailers as much as it is a liability. We know consumer expectations will only continue to grow, and right now Amazon and Apple are setting a very high bar.”
About the Research
Mobile scores are based on more than 3,000 responses from visitors to the mobile sites and apps of the top 40 e-retail websites according to sales revenue as reported by Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide.
Data for online shoppers is based on more than 8,500 responses from visitors to the traditional websites of these retailers. Survey responses were collected via FGI Research’s Smart Panel. ForeSee utilizes the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to calculate the scores. The ACSI is the national standard for customer satisfaction, and this measure has been shown to have a direct link with stock prices and other measures of financial performance.
Tags: Amazon, Apple, Avon, BestBuy, Blockbuster, BN.com, customer satisfaction with e-tailer mobile sites, Dell, ebay, ForeSee, HomeDepot, mobile retail sites, Netflix, Sears, Target, Toysrus, VictoriaSecret.com, Walmart
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
 The way we shop is rapidly being influenced by scores of innovative young companies who are helping retailers, brands and consumers fundamentally reshape how goods and services are bought and sold. A new report says mobile, online and in-store shopping are quickly converging and startups are disrupting the traditional retail ecosystem.
Architect Partners, the M&A advisory firm exclusively focused on Internet, mobile and digital media clients, today published “The Evolution of Shopping“. ”Shopping is at the early stages of profound change,” according to Eric Risley, managing partner of Architect Partners.
“Our newest report, The Evolution of Shopping, highlights why this evolution is happening, offers a framework to describe a very complicated ecosystem and features some of the most innovative companies making things happen.”
Consumer centric strategies emerging
“Retailers and brands are leveraging these changes to devise and implement strategies that are more consumer-centric. An entire infrastructure is emerging to support their efforts,” according to Dr. Phil Hendrix, Director of IMMR, a research consultancy and contributor to The Evolution of Shopping.
“We stepped back to the fundamentals to help us understand the innovation we’re seeing,” explained Steve Payne, Partner with Architect Partners. “We crafted a seven step framework describing how products are bought and sold. We then mapped over 300 companies against this framework.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. retail sales exceeds $4 trillion annually. Much of this spending is likely to be influenced by this evolution.
Incumbent suppliers to retailers and brands such as SAP, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, NCR, Epicor, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and many others have major stakes in the outcome.
Disruption is emerging from a new set of competitors such as eBay, Amazon, Salesforce.com, Google and Apple. Many emerging companies will also be important disrupters.
“Marquee M&A transactions have already occurred within this area, according to Tom Brehme, principal with Architect Partners. “I’d highlight eBay’s M&A appetite which has included the acquisitions of Hunch, Zong, Magento, WHERE and GSI Commerce for a total of over $3 billion just in the past year.
“We’re aware of over 75 significant M&A transactions under the theme, evolution of shopping, announced since the beginning of 2010.”
Entering the holiday shopping season tangible signs of this evolution are clear. IBM’s Cyber Monday Report 2011, demonstrated online shopping continues to register strong growth, up 33% from 2010. Also, mobile device initiated purchases are beginning to become meaningful, representing 6.6% of Cyber Monday 2011 sales.
Access to The Evolution of Shopping presentation is available on Architect Partners’ website.
Tags: Amazon, American Express, Apple, Architect Partners, Bay, Epicor, Eric Risley, Evolution of Shopping report, Google, IBM, M&A activity, Mastercard, Microsoft, NCR, Oracle, Salesforce.com, SAP, Tom Brehme, Visa
Posted in Acquisitions, Amazon, Apple, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
 Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, (CIRP), which provides securities research to the investment community using advanced market research strategies, methods, and analysis has released, “Apple’s iPhone Launch – October 2011,” with the first detailed analysis of consumer trends for Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 4S and related models.
The report reveals a number of important findings since the October 14, 2011 launch:
- High-end iPhone models selling well
- Mobile phone carrier (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) shares shifting
- Significant online sales
- iPhone is the “gateway” to Apple product ecosystem
- Women buy the white iPhone more.
CIRP surveyed customers that purchased an iPhone since October 14, 2011, the launch date for sale of the new Apple iPhone 4S and for new aggressive pricing for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS models.
From an initial response of 4,632 subjects, CIRP surveyed 504 qualified subjects for the analysis. “This report represents the first analysis of the Apple iPhone 4S results since the October launch date,” noted CIRP Partner and Co-Founder Josh Lowitz.
Said CIRP Partner and Co-Founder Mike Levin, “The most expensive and presumably highest margin iPhone 4S – 64 GB model accounts for 23% of all iPhone 4S sales.
30 percent of iPhone 4S buyers upgraded
A surprising 30% of iPhone 4S buyers upgraded from the iPhone 4, which is just over a year old.
And, in the first three weeks since the launch, 43% of the customers bought their new phones online, at the Apple website, the carrier websites, or other retailer websites such as Best Buy Online.
Only 25% of iPhones were sold through Apple owned channels – the approximately 245 Apple Stores and the Apple website – and 75% sold through the carrier stores and websites, and multi-line retailers such as Best Buy. “
Tags: Apple, AT&T, CIRP, high end iPhones selling well, iPhone4S, Sprint, Verizon
Posted in Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech Culture, TechLife, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, November 28th, 2011
For the holiday season-to-date, $12.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year, according to digital measurement firm comScore.
Black Friday (November 25) saw $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2010. Thanksgiving Day (November 24), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 18-percent increase to $479 million.
2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. |
|
Millions ($) |
| 2010 |
2011 |
Percent Change |
| November 1 – 25 |
$11,093 |
$12,737 |
15% |
| Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) |
$407 |
$479 |
18% |
| Black Friday (Nov. 25) |
$648 |
$816 |
26% |
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November 26, 2010)
“Despite some analysts’ predictions that the flurry of brick-and-mortar retailers opening their doors early for Black Friday would pull dollars from online retail, we still saw a banner day for e-commerce with more than $800 million in spending,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it’s clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels. We now turn our attention to Cyber Monday, a day that Shop.org says will see eight-in-ten retailers running special online promotions. Last year, Cyber Monday was the heaviest day of online spending ever, with sales exceeding $1 Billion, and we fully expect to see another record set this year.”
Black Friday Bargains Boost Web Browsing Behavior
As the online channel increasingly influences offline shopping behavior, consumers turned to Black Friday sites on the web to conduct research in advance of the day’s events. comScore analyzed several Black Friday deal sites for the five days ending Black Friday (Nov. 21-25, 2011) compared to the corresponding days last year, finding that bfads.net led the pack with 3.9 million unique visitors, up 51 percent versus last year. TheBlackFriday.com followed with 3.2 million visitors while also posting the strongest year-over-year growth at 137 percent.
Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring Black Friday Deals
Nov. 21-25, 2011 vs. Nov. 22-26, 2010
Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. |
|
Unique Visitors (000) |
| Nov. 22-26, 2010 |
Nov. 21-25, 2011 |
Percent Change |
| bfads.net |
2,607 |
3,926 |
51% |
| theblackfriday.com |
1,364 |
3,234 |
137% |
| blackfriday2011.com* |
1,612 |
1,854 |
15% |
| blackfriday.com |
668 |
621 |
-7% |
| blackfriday.fm |
399 |
532 |
33% |
| gottadeal.com |
270 |
424 |
57% |
*Site was known as BlackFriday2010.com in 2010
Amazon Ranks #1 Among Online Retailers on Black Friday
Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 35 percent versus year ago. Each of the top five retail sites achieved double-digit gains in visitors vs. last year, led by Amazon. Walmart ranked second, followed by Best Buy, Target and Apple.
Most Visited Retailer Properties on Black Friday
Excludes Auction Sites (e.g. eBay)
Black Friday 2011 vs. Black Friday 2010
Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. |
| Retail Property |
| 1 |
Amazon |
| 2 |
Walmart |
| 3 |
Best Buy |
| 4 |
Target |
| 5 |
Apple |
“Each of the top online retailers generated significantly greater Black Friday activity compared to last year,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “Amazon.com once again led the pack, with 50 percent more visitors than any other retailer, while also showing the highest growth rate versus last year. However, it is telling that the top multi-channel retailers also showed strong growth in visitors, demonstrating the importance of the online channel to the retail industry as a whole.”
Tags: Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Black Friday 2011, online retailers, online sales, Target, Walmart
Posted in Amazon, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Amazon has purchased Charlotte-based speech-recognition firm Yap, according to a report in The Atlantic. Citing an SEC filing, the magazine notes that neither company announced the merger of Yap with Dion Acquisition Sub, which lists a Seattle Amazon building address.
The magazine says that “The acquisition is particularly interesting given the prominence of Apple’s voice efforts and the depth of Google’s.’” It speculates the acquisition may be Amazon’s step into the voice control field. Amazon has steadily moved from being primarily a retailer to being a tech company selling ereaders, tablets and cloud services.
Yap’s technology, which goes beyond the voicemail-to-text service it shutdown recently, may be Amazon’s first move in developing a rival to Apple’s Siri on the new iPhones.
Yap, which presented at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference and was profiled here, raised a $6.5 million A financing round from SunBridge Partners in 2008. The sixth annual SEVC is just around the corner, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA.
“Yap is truly a leader in freeform speech recognition and driving innovation in the mobile user experience,” said Paul Grim, general partner at SunBridge Partners in a statement following the funding. “It is increasingly clear that the fastest, easiest, and safest way to interact with services on a mobile device is using your voice, and Yap makes this both possible and intuitive.”
Founded in 2006 by brothers Igor and Victor Jablokov, the company raised $1.5 million from individual investors in May 2007.
Tags: Amazon, Apple, iPhone, mergers, SEVC, Siri, Southeast Venture Conference, speech recognition, Yap
Posted in Acquisitions, Amazon, Carolinas, IT, North Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, November 7th, 2011
 Can mobile reading devices such as tablets, e-readers, and other devices give the ailing magazine and newspaper industry a boost? Magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and Canada are becoming more confident in their strategic mobile plans as they diversify their offerings and discover new ways to derive revenue.
If free online access to news and the content of many of other publications killed some traditional media outlets and continues to put a strain on others, mobile devices are offering publishers another shot at monetizing the digital world, and this time, they’re not sticking their collective heads in the sand.
According to a new survey from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and ABC Interactive, “Going Mobile: How Publishers Are Maturing and Monetizing Their Offerings,” the number of publishers who say they have a well-developed plan for the mobile market rose to 59 percent, up from just 28 percent in 2009.
And 67 percent said it was important to their strategic future to earn revenue from both ads and subscriptions.
This is the third annual mobile survey from ABC and ABCi. The accumulated data provides a unique glimpse into the evolution of the mobile market from the perspective of print publishers who are hoping to capitalize on new platforms.
The 2009 version of the survey provided a hint of publishers’ initial reactions to smartphones and the 2010 results indicated a growing preference for tablets.
How they’re dealing with the fragmented device market
This year’s survey gives yet another update on publishers’ diverse array of consumer offerings and how they’re dealing with a fragmented device market and competition from other mobile content creators.
 “With three years of data to analyze, the ABC/ABCi mobile surveys offer a behind-the-scenes look into the workings of magazines and newspapers as they address the promises and challenges offered by the rise of the personal mobile device,” said Neal Lulofs, executive vice president and general manager, ABC Interactive.
“This year’s survey results show the great strides publishers have made during the last two years and how they are preparing for a future where smartphones and tablets are a ubiquitous part of everyday life.”
Survey Highlights:
- Eighty-five percent of survey respondents said they currently have mobile content for smartphones, e-readers or tablet devices, up from 76 percent last year. Newspapers (88%) were most likely to have mobile initiatives in place, followed closely by consumer magazines (83%) and business publications (79%). Publishers cite development and maintenance costs as the primary reason they did not have a mobile presence.
- Many believe that e-readers and tablets will be the biggest boon to their business. Seventy-three percent said readers are most likely to consume their content on e-readers or tablets compared to 60 percent who said the same thing about smartphones. In Canada, the gap was even wider. Fifty-seven percent said e-readers and tablets had the brightest future compared to just 34 percent for smartphones.
- Publishers in the U.S. and Canada are investing in optimized mobile websites. Eighty-one percent of U.S. publishers and 65 percent of Canadian publishers said this was an important part of their strategic plans. Respondents said mobile websites often account for up to 15 percent of their overall website impressions.
- When it comes to developing apps, most publishers are focusing their efforts on Apple products. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they have an iPhone app and fifty-four percent said they have an iPad app. Of those publishers with apps, 45 percent said they charge for their iPad apps, followed by 35 percent collecting payment for iPhone apps and 34 percent earning revenue from Amazon’s Kindle.
- While most publishers were optimistic about Apple’s new Newsstand offering, many still expressed frustration with the company’s fees and consumer information policies. Just eight percent said they thought Apple’s tactics were favorable to publishers. Forty-two percent said the publishing industry needs to develop an alternative to Apple to be successful in the future.
- Two-thirds of survey respondents said publishers need to focus on two equally important revenue streams—advertising and subscriptions. Publishers believe mobile offers many potentially successful advertising opportunities, including search (67%), store locators (65%), banner (64%), sponsorship (62%) and video (62%).
- Publishers had mixed feelings about how to best charge consumers for accessing content on multiple platforms. Forty percent said readers should pay one price and receive access to all platforms—print, web, mobile—while another 40 percent said readers should pay more for each additional platform.
There was more agreement regarding buyers’ expectations from mobile advertising. Seventy-four percent of U.S. publishers and 70 percent of Canadian publishers said advertisers would demand more accountability as they spend more money on mobile buys.
Two-thirds of publishers said the industry needs to report more detailed mobile metrics, such as access rates and time spent. And 72 percent said multimedia reports like ABC’s Consolidated Media Report will become increasingly important as their portfolios diversify.
Tags: ABCinteractive, Amazon's Kindle, annual ABC survey, Apple, Apple Newstand, Audit Bureau of Circulations, ereaders, how publishers are coping with digital devices, iPad, publishing apps
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, November 4th, 2011
 By Allan Maurer
Google has already had to deal with one of its own employees posting a rant about its redesign of Google Reader that looks as if it were done by someone who never actually uses Google Reader. Now, it has just introduced its new look for Gmail – an equally stark redesign that blinds you with white LED light if you view it on a desktop.
More LED light flooding screen-weary eyes is not something we needed.
This is a classic case of fixing things that are not broken and making them worse in the process. It would be wise for Google to provide a way for users to keep the old looks if they prefer them – and we suspect we’re only one among many who find the changes make things worse rather than improving them.
For one thing, creating such a stark look that glows like something radioactive is not just hard on the eyes, it is if anything, less effective functionally (the appearance, not the features). You could light a room with Gmail open on a desktop screen.
You have to ask, did Google do any usability design testing before making these sweeping changes? Why did the company think them necessary?
Nothing wrong with simple
We just interviewed Marshall Brain, founder of How Stuff Works, who will be doing a session at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 16 on when fashionable design is necessary and when it’s not. Often, Brain tells us, simple works for certain audiences as well or better than all the bells and whistles designs.
Top sites such as The Drudge Report or Craig’s List make do with the most basic sites possible. (Look for our interview with Brain next week. He retired from HowStuffWorks this past summer and is up to new things).
But we’re not dissing the simplicity of Google’s new designs. It’s more human engineering we’re thinking about. What works best. Human engineering is something too many tech companies have ignored to their later dismay.
Years ago, we wrote a story for the late, still-missed OMNI magazine in which a human engineering expert noted that most nuclear power plant control rooms looked as if someone had put all dial, controls and switches in a box, then thrown them against the wall and placed them where they landed. We feel that way about the design of numerous tech devices we have used or tested, from smartphones to tablets and operating systems.
One of the reason’s for Apple Inc.’s great success, as most commentators noted after Steve Jobs recent death from cancer, is of course, its attention to design – and not just beauty, but in a pragmatically useful sense as well.
Google says its Gmail changes include improvements to search and other functions and that may be. But the design changes are almost a backward step.
If they represent the way new CEO and company co-founder Larry Page is approaching things, it does not bode well for Google going forward.
We’re not alone
Now it’s normal for people to dislike change when they’re used to something, and perhaps everyone will just get used to the new look on Gmail, Google Reader and its other products, but we doubt it. We’re not opposed to change on principle by any means. And, generally, we like Google’s products, which we use daily, including both Reader and Gmail.
Famously, one of Google Reader’s former Project Managers Brian Shih post calling the Google Reader design a terrible decision got lots of press.
We’re not alone in disliking the changes. Andy Beal over at Marketing Pilgrim hated the Google Reader changes.
Peter Smith at IT world reports that the buzz on the Google changes seems universally negative for Google Reader but find the Gmail changes ok. He likes some of those changes.
Personally, we’ve already send comments to Google via its feedback button telling them how much we dislike the Gmail changes. How about you? Have you experienced Google’s new look? Do you find it better? Worse? Neither?
Tags: Apple, Craig's LIst, design, Drudge Report, gmail, Google, Google Reader, Howstuffworks, human engineering, Internet Summit, Larry Page, Marshall Brain, NC, nuclear power plan control room design, OMNI magazine, Raleigh, Steve Jobs
Posted in Apple, Google, Internet/New Media | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Apple iPad3s Consumer comments about tablet computers on Internet sites are “overwhelmingly positive,” according to a web listening report from UK-based DigitalMR.
Positive comments account for 75 percent of those measured and Apple garnering the lion’s share for its iPad, at 38 percent.
DigitalMR measured thousands of comments for slate devices across July-August 2011. Three quarters of all views measured were positive with only 25% negative. Apple recorded a 38% share of all positive comments and 33% of the smaller pool of negative ones. Next placed is HTC with 17% of positive mentions and 22% of negative.
Results are based on comments posted by consumers on the major tablet brands made by: Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Blackberry, HTC, LG, HP, ASUS, Archos and Fusion Garage, across July-August 2011.
DigitalMR’s analysis (powered by SocialNuggets) is based on comments posted via a range of relevant websites and open access social media platforms. It measures, not only the number of comments posted by consumers on the internet, but also their sentiment – whether posts are positive or negative in nature.
 Managing Director of DigitalMR, Michalis Michael commented: “Apple is still the main player in the tablet PC online space. It will be interesting to see if some of the new entrants can emulate the smatphone market and implement successful strategies to increase their online share of voice.”
All the brands measured, achieve a positive Net Sentiment Score (NSS) for Jul-Aug. NSS provides an overall percentage score of net positive posts.
A positive score means a tablet attracts a higher proportion of positive than negative posts. The average NSS taken across all brands measured is 50% which is very high compared with other industry sectors.
This is good news for the tablet industry as it shows that generally customers and very satisfied with their products and are happy to spread the word online.
Apple has an NSS of 55%, slightly above average, but given its dominant position in the market customer expectations are likely to be higher. Newer entrants to the market that achieve the highest NSS are Archos 75% and Asus with 71%. Brands that are performing significantly below the average NSS of 50% are HTC with 39% and Motorola with 37%.
It will be interesting to see how Amazon’s Kindle Fire will fare in the tablet market. It’s lower price point (Amazon is selling the units for $199, less than cost).
Personally, we were not crazy about the larger tablet sizes we tried. We’ll let you know what we think of Amazon’s Kindle Fire after we try it out.
Tags: Amazon Kindle Fire, Android, Apple, Apple iPad, Archos, Asus, Blackberry, comments on tablet computers, DigitalMR, Fusion Garage, HP, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, SocialNuggets
Posted in Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
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Apple’s iPad accounts for nearly half of negative online comments about tablets
Friday, January 20th, 2012Guests say their favorite in-room amenity is the use of iPads for guest services, local information and personal use.
The overwhelming majority of customers are highly positive in their views on tablet PCs as expressed on the internet.Social media research specialist DigitalMR measured thousands of comments for slate devices across September-October 2011.
Over two thirds (68%) of all views measured were positive with only 32% negative.
Apple recorded a 33% share of all positive comments but more worryingly a 46% of the smaller pool of negative ones.
Next placed is Amazon with 19% of positive mentions and only 13% of negative, followed by Samsung with 15% of positive mentions and 18% of negative ones.
Apple’s upgrade may have caused negative comments
The high percentage of negative Apple comments is likely to be related to problems that users faced in upgrading to Apple’s new iOS 5 software in October.
At $199, we think the Kindle Fire is a good buy for the money
Personally, we’re more than happy with our $199 Kindle Fire tablet. It has its eccentricities, but they all do. For what it is, though, a way to play games, listen to music, read, surf the net, even watch videos, it’s handy, fun, and easy to use. We didn’t like larger tablets such as the Galaxy Tab nearly so much.
Results are based on comments posted by consumers on the major tablet models made by: Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Blackberry, HTC, LG, HP, ASUS, Sony and Amazon across September-October 2011.
DigitalMR’s analysis (powered by SocialNuggets) is based on comments posted via a range of relevant websites and open access social media platforms. It measures, not only the number of comments posted by consumers on the internet, but also their sentiment – whether posts are positive or negative in nature.
Managing Director of DigitalMR, Michalis Michael commented: “Apple’s high negative score shows they may have become a victim of their own success with iOS 5. The free upgrade caused a spike in demand, leading many users to complain on forums that they kept getting error messages and that the download was taking too long.”
All the brands measured, achieve a positive Net Sentiment Score (NSS) for Sep-Oct. NSS provides an overall percentage score of net positive posts. A positive score means a tablet attracts a higher proportion of positive than negative posts.
The average NSS taken across all brands measured is 36% which is very high compared with other industry sectors. This is good news for the tablet industry as it shows that generally customers and very satisfied with their products and are happy to spread the word online.
However Apple achieves the lowest NSS of 21%, just below Motorola with 22%. The best NSS scores are achieved by newer entrants to the market achieve. Sony is top with 87% (although this is based on a relatively low number of mentions overall) followed by Asus with 73%.
DigitalMR measured thousands of customer posts across Sep-Oct regarding the features that tablets offer. The most talked about features (both positively and negatively) are “operating system” (18% share of positive comments vs 30% negative) and “application” (20% positive vs 21% negative).
Click here for more data
In their words –customer comments sample for models with the highest and lowest Net Sentiment Scores
Sony:
“I have been using my Sony Tablet S for a couple of days and it’s awesome”.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-1243670.html
Motorola:
“This morning is the second time that my Motorola Xoom has frozen up on me since I received it back from Motorola after the 4G LTE upgrade. Has anyone else had problems with this? I never had any problems whatsoever with this tablet prior to the upgrade”.
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/60568
Apple:
“I agree with previous two reviewers – IPAD that worked perfectly, now doesn’t work at all since upgrade, a total waste of money. More than the money, disappointment at being unable to send photos home to loved ones.
http://store.apple.com/uk/reviews/MC531ZM/A
Click here for further customers comments and more about the web listening report
Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple iPad, Asus, Blackberry, consumer comments about tablets, DigitalMR, HP, HTC, Kindle Fire, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony
Posted in Amazon, Apple, Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off