Tablets
Nielsen: Connected Devices: Does the iPad Change Everything?
The growing popularity of connected devices – especially Apple’s iconic tablet computer, the iPad – are starting to change the how people consume media. And with sales of these devices expected to be a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster holiday shopping season, everyone, be they media companies, publishers, apps developers, advertisers, device manufacturers and wireless carriers are all trying to understand how to leverage this emerging segment.
The Nielsen Company recently surveyed more than 5,000 consumers who already own a tablet computer, eReader, netbook, media/games player, or smartphone to get a better sense of who is using these devices and how they are using them. Download a summary of the findings or contact us for information about acquiring a full copy of Nielsen’s Connected Devices Playbook.
Non-PC Smartphones and Tablets to Flourish in 2011, Says IDC
IDC has released its predictions for 2011. It predicts that mobile computing – on a variety of devices and through a range of new applications – will continue to explode in 2011, forming another critical plank in the new industry platform. Smartphone sales will increase 22 percent next year with 330 million to be sold.
IDC expects shipments of app-capable, non-PC mobile devices (smartphones, media tablets, etc.) will outnumber PC shipments within the next 18 months, and there will be no looking back. IDC reported that the media tablet sales will reach 42 million in 2011 with Apple’s iPad leading the market. IDC predicts that half of the 2.1 billion people who regularly use the Internet will do so using non-PC devices.
While vendors with a PC heritage will scramble to secure their position in this rapidly expanding market, another battle will be taking place for dominance in the mobile apps market. The level of activity in this market will be staggering, with IDC expecting nearly 25 billion mobile apps to be downloaded in 2011, up from just over 10 billion in 2010. Over time, the still-emerging apps ecosystems promise to fundamentally restructure the channels for all digital content and services to consumers.
App Store Tops 300,000 Applications
Today, Apple released iOS 4.2 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Consequently, most attention surrounding the release has been directed toward the slate of new bells and whistles that have found their way to the full breadth of the popular iDevice line.
As a result, it’s easy to understand how a small but significant piece of information can be almost entirely overlooked in the process.
In Apple’s official press release on its website today, Apple revealed that customers have now downloaded more than seven billion apps from the App Store and more than 300,000 apps are now available in 90 countries. Over 125 million iOS users can now choose from this swelling inventory of apps in 20 categories.
Incredibly, more than 40,000 of those apps are native iPad apps – an impressive reality when one considers how new both the iPad and its corresponding app store are.
With the Mac about to receive its very own dedicated app store, many industry analysts predict that the number of apps to be available at the end of 2011 could span between 500,000 and 750,000.
The biggest Apple news of the day, however, is that iOS 4.2 update is available to download to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch by syncing the device with iTunes 10.1. iOS 4.2 is compatible with iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, second and third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) and new iPod touch.
Some features may not be available on all products. For example, Multitasking requires iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) or later.
Retailers Embracing Mobile Check-Out
Will retail sales clerks be roving the aisles this holiday season, ready to ring up your purchase with an iPad? Don’t count on it, but a new study suggests retailers are interested in the Apple tablet’s potential as a handheld register.
“Retailers have longed for moderately priced handheld devices for their sales associates and store managers to enhance the consumer experience,” according to the report by research and consulting firm IHL Group working with RetailConnections, which operates retail industry events. With the debut of the $500 iPad and other devices, some retailers are looking to eliminate point-of-sale (POS) or checkout locations in stores altogether.
Staff at Apple’s own stores carry iPod touch devices outfitted with a hard plastic case for scanning barcodes and swiping credit cards. They also have a stylus attached for customers to sign for credit charges. In my experience, it definitely beats standing in a long line to check out, especially during the holidays.
Barnes & Noble, Victoria’s Secret and Urban Outfitters are among other companies that have moved to equip in-store salespeople with handheld devices for speeding up the check-out process. Nearly 20% of specialty retailers plan to replace traditional POS with mobile check-out in the next two years.
The study also found retailers are warming to adoption of the iPhone among managers. While only 19% of retailers today support executives’ use of the Apple device for work, that proportion is expected to triple to 60% in the next 12 months. Similarly, iPad adoption is forecast to jump from 5% to 47% in the next year.
A survey last month of 200 companies in the U.S. and the U.K. by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. found that 74% allow workers to use devices other than BlackBerrys.
On the consumer side, IHL Group found both the iPhone and Android-based phones taking center stage in the smartphone world. More than 56% of smartphone users are seriously considering an iPhone and 44% an Android device for their next phone. By contrast, only 24% are seriously looking at getting a BlackBerry, and only 10% a Windows smartphone.
“The iPhone is quickly replacing the BlackBerry in the mindshare of consumers and the executive office for many retailers,” noted Greg Buzek, president of IHL.
Among mobile-commerce findings, the study said 35% of smartphone users have received or redeemed a coupon received via text message and 41% have checked competitive prices while in a retail store using Amazon, Red Laser, or another comparison shopping tool.
And more than half (54%) of retailers surveyed indicated they’ll be able to scan customer coupons directly at the point-of-sale from a user’s mobile phone screen. Toys “R” Us, for instance, announced today that its stores nationwide now have the ability to scan mobile coupons and e-gifts at check-out.
The IHL/RetailConnections findings were based on a survey of 570 consumers and 66 retailers.
by Mark Walsh, Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 3:15 PM
Nielsen: Tablets Drive Premium App Sales, 32% Of iPad Owners Don’t Download Apps
Posted on 22 October 2010
New research from Nielsen into the tablet ecosystem reveals some interesting findings in terms of how users interact with the new segment of devices and how they engage with applications.
Tablet devices in general are driving an influx in premium app downloads, according to the research, meaning more revenue for developers. Beyond the iPad, the most iconic tablet device around, Nielsen recently surveyed more than 5,000 consumers who already own a tablet computer, eReader, netbook, media/games player or smartphone to get a better sense of who’s using these devices and how.
Focusing on the iPad, games top all paid download categories, being downloaded by 62 percent of all premium app consumers. Books follow at 54 percent, trailed by music (50 percent), shopping (45 percent) and news (also 45 percent). Nielsen adds that 5 percent of iPad owners download only free apps, and — very surprisingly — 32 percent have yet to download any applications at all.
Taking advantage of the iPad’s increased screen real-estate, print and video content is a top priority for downloads — with research showing 39 percent of iPad owners regularly access books, 33 percent screen TV shows and 32 percent view movies. By comparison, 13 percent of iPhone owners regularly read books on their smartphones, 11 percent check out TV programming and 12 percent watch movies.
Worried About Tablets the FCC Gets Serious About Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission is planning the equivalent of a take back the airwaves campaign in order to address a perceived shortage in spectrum that will hit by 2013 thanks to skyrocketing broadband demand. The FCC released a paper showing that demand for mobile broadband will rise by 35 times today’s demand by 2014 caused by the boost in mobile broadband usage on smart phones, but also the increase in video and media consumption on larger devices like the iPad. There is also a growing need for spectrum to provide machine-to-machine connectivity.
With forecasts of rising demand stuck in their heads the regulatory agency released a paper detailing how much demand for mobile broadband would grow and how soon the nation would run out of airwaves with which to sate that demand. The FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski also said the agency will do the following things at its next meeting in November in order to address the coming spectrum crunch:
- Issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at getting access to about 120 MHz of spectrum currently used by broadcasters. The proposal will create the regulatory framework for a new type of auction that will allow broadcasters to give up spectrum while sharing in the proceeds the government earns from the licensing of the spectrum. Called an incentive auction, it requires Congressional approval as well as the FCC to create rules. As part of enabling broadcasters to give up spectrum, the FCC’s proposal will also change the rules broadcasters follow, enabling them to share channels.
- Issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand the agency’s experimental licensing program, which allows for the testing of new protocols and technologies such as White Spaces broadband to make it to make it easier to try them out and see if they work. Changes would include easing testing restrictions on universities, research organizations, and other institutions that are developing new services and devices that utilize spectrum.
- Ask for ideas on how to use spectrum to its fullest capacity via technological and financial means. Such ideas could include spectrum sharing databases, secondary markets for spectrum, spectrum sensing technologies and others.
These are important starts in order to bring more spectrum online quickly, but as we’ve said before it’s not going to be easy. Because spectrum is such a crucial advantage for wireless carriers, they are incredibly involved in any process aimed at making more of it available. There are also the nation’s broadcasters which are likely to fight the good fight to keep its spectrum for delivering over the air television, but also services such as mobile TV that they can control. While offering those broadcasters a carrot in the form of sharing in the licensing auction wealth and changing some of the rules they must follow, I’m not sure broadcasters in urban areas where the need for spectrum is the greatest will find the incentives enough.
The National Associaiton of Broadcasters released a statment saying:
NAB looks forward to working with policymakers to ensure that efficient spectrum deployment matches actual spectrum demand, and that America’s leadership in providing the finest free and local broadcasting system in the world is not compromised.
Once the FCC has the spectrum freed up the real fight will begin as carriers and technology companies jockey to place rules on the auction process that will lead to the largest advantage for them. In the 700 MHz auction in 2008 Google did a stand out job of pushing for rules that opened up the types of devices carriers must deploy on networks using that band. The rules governing the auction will help determine the winner and accordingly how that spectrum is used. So far, there’s nothing in here about unlicensed spectrum, such as the frequencies currently used to deliver Wi-Fi or the proposed Super Wi-Fi (also known as white spaces). Should the FCC release more spectrum, only to auction it all off for licensed use, the nation will likely miss an opportunity for spurring innovation as well as for increasing competition faced by the largest carriers.
RIM introduces Playbook tablet
This week’s unveiling of RIM’s PlayBook raises the question, are tablets just expensive playthings for bored executives or do they have serious business uses?
Oliver Bussmann, SAP’s CIO is pretty clear.
“We believe the tablet is a business tool”, he says. And to prove the point, he keeps his own iPad clean of any distracting games.
Apple has stolen a march on its rivals–such as Cisco’s Cius, HP’s Slate, Dell’s Streak,Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and now the PlayBook–which are running to play catch up. In the meantime organizations are cashing in on the cachet of the iPad.
Waldorf-based SAP has been quick to capitalize on the freedom tablets afford. The company bought 1,500 iPads for its sales, marketing, and development teams.
“The information on our systems is available anytime, anywhere. The iPad is always on – accessibility is absolutely critical.”
But the shock of the new isn’t just for global giants.
“Without a doubt tablets are changing how you sell,” says Alex Emmons, senior Client Services Manager for ec2i, a color management and pre-press company based in Southend-on-Sea. They own just the one iPad, which is equally games free.
“I don’t have to rely on printed material, or having a client just watch as I go through a demo. I can hand them the device and they do the demo themselves. Straight away they are engaged. As a salesman, what is better than that?”
But Mr. Emmons reckons part of the attraction is novelty.
“Not a lot of people have them so if you turn up with one, people want to play with it. Once that novelty has worn off, then it will be just another way of demonstrating your product.”
While the iPad may be stealing the applause, there are certainly opportunities for others. Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler, on his blog, that tablets will be huge, but there is work to be done.
“Microsoft’s Office business will have to be device-agnostic to avoid getting displaced on it,” he wrote. “Today, I have to use [Apple’s] Keynote to make a presentation. But I’d rather use PowerPoint. Until we get that, iPad will never replace a laptop.”
Nielsen: Who owns tablets
The growing popularity of connected devices, from tablet computers like the Apple iPad to smartphones, portable games players, and eBook readers like the Kindle and Nook, is already changing how some consumers engage with media. It is also creating new opportunities and challenges for a broad range of companies. Publishers, media companies and application developers are eager to know whether they should optimize their content for particular devices. Advertisers want to understand how these devices might eventually fit into their overall marketing plans. Carriers want to know how to evolve their business models in a multi-connection world. And device manufacturers need to understand how consumers are using connected devices so they can improve their products, fine-tune their marketing and win the battle for market share.
Nielsen’s new Connected Devices Playbook surveys more than 5,000 consumers who already own a tablet computer, eReader, netbook, media player or smartphone – including 400 iPad owners. Below are some of the findings of the Playbook shared today at Advertising Week.
Who owns connected devices?
- iPad owners skew younger and more male. Sixty-five percent of them are male and 63 percent of them are under the age of 35.
- Kindle owners tend to be wealthier. Forty-four percent of them make more than $80,000/year compared to 39 percent of iPad owners and 37 percent of iPhone owners. They also tend to have more education: 27 percent of Kindle owners have Master’s degrees or doctorates.
How receptive are they to advertising?
- iPad owners are more receptive to advertising on their touchscreen tablet than owners of other devices.
- Thirty-nine percent of iPad owners say ads on their connected device are new and interesting, compared to 19% of all connected device owners. And 46% say they enjoy ads with interactive features compared to 27% of all connected device owners.
- Perhaps most important to advertisers, iPad owners are also the most likely to have made a purchase as a result of seeing an ad on their connected device.
