November 30, 2010

Kindle Feels iPad’s Heat, Sees E-Reader Lead Going Up in Smoke

According to a new survey from ChangeWave, the iPad has doubled its share of the e-reader market since August and is now just 15 percentage points shy of the Kindle.

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Which Retailers Did Mobile Users Checkin To The Most On Black Friday?

Trendrr and AdAge have released data showing the number of mobile checkins received by large retail brands on Foursquare based on Black Friday.

Target garnered nearly a quarter of all checkins, followed by Walmart, Best Buy and Toys “R” Us. Target received a total of 17,872 checkins on Friday, with Walmart capturing 12,639 and Best Buy capturing 10,565.

It’s interesting to mention that the report excluded non-retailers from the list, or otherwise Starbucks would have been the clear leader with over 25,000 checkins on Friday alone.

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Survey: 9 Out Of 10 Mobile Shoppers Use The Mobile Web While In-Store

New research commissioned by Nielsen and Yahoo! gives more insight into the role of mobile technology in brick and mortar stores, with the new “Mobile Shopping Framework” study finding that 9 out of 10 mobile web users have logged on while in a store.

Data shows that 50 percent of users in-store mobile web activity is shopping related and, for just over half (51 percent), in-store mobile research has led to a purchase.


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BlackBerry App World Reaches 15,000 Apps

RIM's BlackBerry App World has grown at a drastically slower rate than its Apple- and Google-run competitors. The store launched in March 2009 and reached the 10,000 app mark in early September of this year. The good news is, App World added 5,000 apps in the last 13 or 14 weeks.

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Millennial: Android Ad Requests Grow 65% in October

Impressions increased 34 percent month-over-month in October 2010 across the Millennial Media mobile advertising network, according to their latest Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting report.

Android requests grew 65 percent month-over-month, with the platform experiencing 2182 percent growth since January. Ad requests across Apple's iPad tablet increased 112 percent last month, with requests originating via Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones growing 43 percent.

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November 29, 2010

Opera: Generation Y Favors Mobile Web Over Desktop

More Opera Mini browser users ages 18 to 27, also known as"Generation Y,"use their mobile phones to browse the web than they do their desktop or laptop computer, according to Opera Software's latest State of the Mobile Web report.

Here are some other interesting facts from their report:
>Almost 90 percent of U.S. respondents aged 18 to 27 have used their phones to share photos.

>Forty-four percent of U.S. respondents have asked someone out on a date via SMS.

>Generation Y users in the U.S. and China share a mutual disdain for printed newspapers. Fifty-three percent of U.S. respondents and 57 percent of Chinese respondents rarely or never read physical newspapers.

>Over 10 percent of U.S. Gen Y respondents say it's always okay for friends to browse or send text messages during a restaurant meal--close to 30 percent say it's usually okay, a little over 30 percent feel it's generally impolite and about 25 percent don't care either way.

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eBay Mobile Sales Nearly Double Black Friday 2009

Digital marketplace eBay reports that Black Friday sales in the U.S. across its suite of mobile applications almost doubled over the previous year, with the company's worldwide mobile sales on track to nearly triple over 2009. According to eBay, mobile bidding on Black Friday increased 30 percent over the previous Friday, with peak mobile buying hours taking place between 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm ET. eBay expects to top $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year--since the introduction of its first mobile application in July 2008, on-the-go consumers have bought or sold nearly 30 million items.

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Mobile Advertising Meets Classic Cars & Hot Rods

Las Vegas based advertiser AdRods has an interesting new idea – take classic Hot Rod cars, and put mobile advertising on them. The ads include mobile direct response mechanisms including short codes and photo redemption campaigns.

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iPad, Smartphones Dragging Down PC Sales

Gartner has lowered its 2010 and 2011 global forecasts for PC shipments, saying sales will be lower than expected due to growing interest in Apple's iPad and other tablet computers. The research firm said Monday that PC makers are on track to ship 352.4 million units this year, up 14.3% from 2009. Gartner had predicted in September a 17.9% increase.

Gartner also lowered its 2011 forecast to 409 million units, a 15.9% increase from this year. The firm's earlier estimate was for an 18.1% increase.

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November 23, 2010

Nielsen: 13% of Households Use Mobile Banking

Only a small portion of U.S. consumers are banking via mobile phone, but that group is starting to grow to become a measurable presence, according to a new study from Nielsen. The research firm found that 13.2 percent of households accessed their bank account through a mobile device in second quarter 2010 compared 20.8 percent who accessed their account using the bank’s customer service call center. The mobile share is up from 11.6 percent in first quarter while call center access has remained relatively flat quarter-over-quarter.

Mobile bankers tend to higher average balances ($64,303) versus ($48,384) for the average customer and greater net worth ($341,017) versus their online banking counterparts ($313,346) or the market average ($281,263). Nielsen identifies the largest proportion of people banking through cell phones as “mobile office workers”, who are aged 35 to 54 and also the largest smartphone-owning group.

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$5 Billion Mobile Advertising Market in 2015

Mobile advertising specialist Smaato is predicting that the U.S. mobile advertising market will hit $797.6 million in 2010 and grow to $1.24 billion in 2011. By 2015, the company is projecting a $5 billion mobile ad spend.

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Millennial Media: Android ad impressions pull even with Apple’s iOS

For the first time, Google’s Android tied with Apple’s iOS as the largest smartphone OS on Millennial Media’s mobile ad network, with an 8 percent increase month-over-month and 37 percent impression share overall.

According to Millennial’s October 2010 Mobile Mix report, Apple, the leading device manufacturer on its network for the last 13 months, also accounted for a 37 percent share of impressions. Those numbers are another indication of how quickly Android’s market share is growing.

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November 19, 2010

More Than Half Of U.S. Consumers Plan to Use Their Mobile Phone for Holiday Shopping

Mobile Consumer Briefing, MMA's monthly survey of U.S. adult mobile phone users (mobile consumers) about their mobile marketing behaviors and opinions. Available exclusively to MMA members, the new survey found that 59 percent of mobile consumers plan to use their mobile phone for holiday shopping and planning holiday celebrations, not including making phone calls.

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Consumer Reports: Android Pulls the Smartphone Grand Slam

Consumer Reports' latest smartphone ratings show the Android handsets are the most highly regarded across all major U.S. carriers. On AT&T, the iPhone 3GS comes in after the Samsung Captivate (Android OS). Ratings included voice quality, camera quality, ease of use and battery.

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For more, watch NOW partner KWCH's story.

 

November 3, 2010

Industry Trends Spur Big Mobile Ad Spending

US mobile ad spending is set for dramatic growth, with eMarketer forecasting more than $1.1 billion in spending next year. Although cautious corporate optimism about economic recovery will play a part, growth in 2010 will be spurred primarily by the injection of a new dynamic in the mobile space.

Much of this new dynamic is attributable to the entrance of Google and Apple and the ways both companies have sought to redefine the mobile device and advertising markets.

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November 1, 2010

Nielsen: Smartphones Now 28% of U.S. Cellphone Market

The Nielsen Company today reported that as of the third quarter of 2010, 28 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers now have smartphones, cellphones with operating systems resembling those of computers.

The growing popularity of smartphones like Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry devices and a variety of Google Android-based models on the market, has accelerated the adoption rate. Among those who acquired a new cellphone in the past six months, 41 percent opted for a smartphone over a standard feature phone, up from 35 percent last quarter.

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