Thursday 31 October 2013

Daily Facebook usage is falling among younger teens

"Facebook may be feeling the pinch from teen-focused, mobile-first social networks like Snapchat, as CFO David Ebersman said on today’s earnings call that Facebook “did see a decrease in daily users specifically among younger teens,” though he prefaced that saying “usage of Facebook among US teens overall was stable from Q2 to Q3.” This is the first time Facebook has reported real trouble with teens."
Source:  TechCrunch, 30th October 2013

49% of Facebook's advertising revenues come from mobile

"Facebook, Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2013.
"For nearly ten years, Facebook has been on a mission to connect the world," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "The strong results we achieved this quarter show that we're prepared for the next phase of our company, as we work to bring the next five billion people online and into the knowledge economy."
Third Quarter 2013 Operational Highlights
- Daily active users (DAUs) were 728 million on average for September 2013, an increase of 25% year-over-year.
- Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.19 billion as of September 30, 2013, an increase of 18% year-over-year.
- Mobile MAUs were 874 million as of September 30, 2013, an increase of 45% year-over-year. Mobile DAUs were 507 million on average for September 2013.
Third Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights
Revenue – Revenue for the third quarter of 2013 totaled $2.02 billion, an increase of 60%, compared with $1.26 billion in the third quarter of 2012.
- Revenue from advertising was $1.80 billion, a 66% increase from the same quarter last year.
- Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 49% of advertising revenue for the third quarter of 2013.
- Payments and other fees revenue was $218 million for the third quarter of 2013"
Source:  Facebook's Q3 earnings statement, 30th October 2013
Earlier -
41% in Q2
30% in Q1

Wednesday 30 October 2013

20 million people downloaded the BBM app for iOS and Android in one week

"More than 20m people have downloaded and used BlackBerry's BBM messaging app on iPhone and Android smartphones in the week since it launched.
BlackBerry announced the milestone today, revealing that after 10m downloads in its first 24 hours, the newly cross-platform app picked up another 10m in the following six days.
The company says that BBM now has 80m monthly active users, with 60m on BlackBerry smartphones and 20m across iPhone and Android.
That's jumping the gun somewhat: while anyone who tries BBM in its first month on the new devices technically counts as a monthly active user, the real test will be if they stick around for longer. BlackBerry appears well aware of that."

Google Plus has 540 million active users

"At a Google+ event in San Francisco, Google’s VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra took the stage to discuss the promise of the company’s social network. But before it began to talk about its future, Gundotra decided to share more about where it’s going now.
Now two years old, the social network has seen a new version published nearly every day — nearly 20 launches in the last 4 months such as sync’d notifications and translations.
So how is the social network doing? There are more than 540 million active users worldwide with 300 million active users in the stream alone. There are 1.5 billion photos being uploaded to Google+ too each week."
Source:  The Next Web, 29th October 2013
Note - There is some dispute over what an 'active user' is - e.g. you're counted if you 'like' a YouTube video or '+1' a page
How the 300 million people who have posted, shared, or commented in the stream in the last 30 days is very impressive
Update - A good analysis of the definitions here on WSJ

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Soundcloud has 250 million active listeners

"Today at Disrupt Europe, SoundCloud co-founder and CEO Alexander Ljung took the stage to share two new updates and share his thoughts on the music industry, music startups and more. Back in July, SoundCloud announced that it has reached 200 million active listeners (monthly active users). But since then, the startup has grown substantially as it now reports 250 million listeners."
Source:  Techcrunch, 29th October 2013
Note - You don't need to be a registered user to listen, and my interpretation is that this isn't registered users

250 million smartphones were sold in Q3 2013



Click to enlarge

Source:  Data from Strategy Analytics, reported by CNet, 28th October 2013

Apple sold 33.8m iPhones and 14.1m iPads in Q4 2013

"Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter ended September 28, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.5 billion, or $8.26 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37 percent compared to 40 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 33.8 million iPhones, a record for the September quarter, compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.6 million Macs, compared to 4.9 million in the year-ago quarter."
Source:  Press release from Apple, 28th October 2013
Q3 Results - 31.2m Phones, 14.6m iPads & 3.8m Macs

Monday 28 October 2013

Relentless.com redirects to Amazon.com

"“Bezos and his wife grew fond of another possibility [as a name for their commerce site]: Relentless.com,” Stone writes. “Friends suggested that it sounded a bit sinister. But something about it must have captivated Bezos: He registered the URL in September 1994, and he kept it.”
Source:  AllThings D, 15th October 2013
Try it:  www.relentless.com


Time spent using mobile phones by American children under 8 years old has tripled in 3 years

"Common Sense Media today announced the release of "Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America 2013," the second in its series of national surveys of children's media use in America. Most notable among the findings is the dramatic increase in children's access to mobile media devices in just two years. Among families with children eight and under, there has been a five-fold increase in ownership of tablets (from 8% to 40%), and the percent of children with access to some sort of smart mobile device at home has jumped from half (52%) to three-quarters (75%).
"Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America 2013" is based on a large, nationally representative sample of respondents and replicates methods from 2011 to gauge how media environments and behaviors have changed over the past two years. The study is the only one of its kind, tracking young children's use of new mobile media devices and apps along with older media platforms such as television, computers, and books.
Among the key findings:
- There has been a huge increase in use of mobile media by young children over the past two years:
- The average amount of time children spend using mobile devices has tripled, from five minutes a day to 15 minutes a day (the average daily use among all 0- to 8-year-olds);
- The number of kids who've used mobile devices has nearly doubled (38% to 72%);
- 38% of toddlers and infants under 2 have used a mobile device, compared to 10% in 2011.
- The average time spent with "traditional" screen media (TV, DVDs, computers, and video games) has decreased by more than a half-hour a day (though overall screen time is down by 21 minutes, with mobile time up 10 minutes). However, TV viewing on a TV set still makes up half of all screen time.
- Access to mobile media among poor and minority children is much higher than it was two years ago, but a digital divide persists. Twenty percent of lower-income kids have a tablet compared to 63% of higher-income ones; and 35% of lower-income parents have downloaded educational apps for their kids, compared to 75% of higher-income ones.
Despite the dramatic changes of the past two years, television still reigns supreme in children's media lives, though new ways of watching now make up a large portion of viewing. It is the medium children use most frequently, by far: nearly six out of 10 children (58%) watch TV at least once a day, compared to 17% who use mobile devices on an everyday basis, 14% who are daily computer users, and 6% who play video games every day.
Even among infants and toddlers, screen media use dwarfs time spent reading. In a typical day, children under 2 spend more than twice as much time watching television and DVDs (55 minutes) as they do reading or being read to (19 minutes)."
Full research here
Note - Caveat Emptor - The research conveniently backs up the agenda of the issue group with commissioned it

Share of time spent with types of digital content in the US - mobile vs desktop



Click to enlarge

Source:  Chart from Statista & Mashable, using August 2013 data from comScore, 24th October 2013

Friday 25 October 2013

Two million Instagram posts are tagged #ForSale each year

"Many people have taken to selling their stuff on Instagram—every year there are almost 2 million pictures with the hashtag #forsale. However, the social app is constantly being bombarded with all sorts of hashtags, making it difficult to search for something specific."
Source:  DesignTaxi, 22nd October 2013
Note - No actual source given - let me know in the comments if you know of one.

There are more than a million apps in the iTunes app store

"Apple has just kicked off its annual iPad event, and as usual Tim Cook is on stage talking numbers, just as he did at the start of last month's iPhone 5S and 5C launch. Cook says that more than 1 million apps are in the App Store, up from 900,00 at WWDC in June. More than 60 billion total apps have been downloaded, up from the big 50 billion milestone Apple announced back in May. That puts Apple about on par with the Android stats Google announced back in May at Google I/O. Those downloads have resulted in a total of $13 billion being paid out to developers over the years."
Source:  The Verge, 22nd October 2013

If the iPhone were a company it would be the 25th biggest company in the S&P 500

"Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has taken plenty of flack for running a company that is supposedly well past its glory days—and the iPhone smartphone franchise is sometimes dismissed as a spent force, losing ground to more innovative brands such as Android and Samsung. Well, here’s a little perspective for the Apple-haters.
The iPhone 5s and 5c sold a record 9 million units during the first weekend after its launch. Consider this: The brand’s sales haul over the last four reported quarters eclipses that of such companies as Home Depot, Microsoft, Target, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, PepsiCo, Comcast, Dell, Google, Pfizer, and UPS.
If this single product were its own company in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, IPhone Inc. would outsell 474 of those companies—ranking between Wells Fargo ($90.5 billion) and Marathon Petroleum ($84.9 billion). The iPhone’s $88.4 billion in annualized revenue tops 21 of the 30 component companies in the Dow Jones industrial average—it would be the ninth-biggest stock in the Dow 30:
One more fun fact: The majority of Apple sales comes from this one product—iPhone sales ($88.4 billion) are greater than the sum of Apple’s remaining products—including the iPad, Mac laptops and desktops, and iTunes—combined ($81 billion)."

Thursday 24 October 2013

Pinterest is valued at $3.8 billion

"According to several sources, Pinterest has completed another enormous funding, this time nabbing $225 million with late-stage investor Fidelity Investments in the lead.
The new infusion of cash — which comes on the heels of a very recent and massive funding in February of $200 million that valued the social scrapbooking company at $2.5 billion — pegs the latest valuation of Pinterest at $3.8 billion."

iTunes radio has 20 million listeners

"Apple said its new streaming music service iTunes Radio has about 20 million listeners, the company revealed during today’s big media event in San Francisco.
The listener numbers have nearly doubled since the last time Apple shed some light on the streaming service’s usage just a week after launching back in September.
iTunes Radio functions quite a bit like Pandora, the leading streaming radio service in the U.S. You create smart radio stations based on a song or artist that’s already within your music library. For perspective, however, Pandora currently has 72.7 million listeners — and is actually able to generate revenue from the service from advertising."
Source:  VentureBeat, 22nd October 2013
Also - 1 billion songs played in just over 1 month
Note - It's only available in the US so far

Monday 21 October 2013

The free mobile game Despicable Me: Minion Rush was downloaded 100m times in 3 months

"Following the incredible success of Despicable Me 2 in theaters worldwide, the game companion based on the franchise, "Despicable Me: Minion Rush," has been an epic hit on the App Store and Google Play.  The free-to-play title has been downloaded over 100 million times since its release less than three months ago.
Thanks to close collaboration between mobile and social game developer Gameloft (GFT.PA), Universal Partnerships & Licensing and Despicable Me creators Illumination Entertainment, "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" has become a major sensation.  That success is due in no small part to the polished look and feel of the game, which is infused with the genuine heart and soul of the franchise.
[...]
Gameloft remains dedicated to keeping the "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" universe well populated.  The first update to the game added a full new environment, El Macho's Lair, including the new film's villain El Macho and the purple Evil Minions.  There will continue to be more content in future updates, where fans can expect new areas and Minion costumes from the movies.
The new update to the game is now available on Google Play and soon on the App Store. It includes a full new environment: The Minion Beach from Despicable Me 2, with tons of fun and cute Minion moments!  There are also beach themed costumes like the Snorkeler Minion and Surfer Minion. In addition, more variety has been added in all locations, including new lanes for more fun in each run!
Since its release in June 2013, "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" players played more than 260 million hours, collected 2,000 billion bananas, performed 55 billion Despicable Actions!"

Six companies worth over $100bn whose revenues grew more than 15% in the past year

"Here is the list, drawn from S&P Capital IQ data, of companies with enterprise values over $100bn and revenues that grew faster than 15 per cent over the past year (without significant help from acquisitions): Google, Facebook, Qualcomm, Amazon, Samsung Electronics and (surprisingly) Honda. For Facebook and Amazon one pays a multiple of earnings that would give a mountain goat vertigo. Samsung’s growth is slowing quickly and, like Qualcomm, it is right in the middle of the viciously competitive mobile device market, where (as Apple investors have discovered) growth can be fleeting. Honda is an interesting stock but is getting help from a weak yen and its growth is flattered by easy comparisons. Google, as a company, has strong organic growth and high barriers to entry. "

35% of Americans own a Tablet



Source:  Pew Internet & American Life Project, 18th Oct 2013

The growth of online bookselling



The Global Transition to Online Bookselling -- Presented by Russ Grandinetti, Vice President for Kindle Content, Amazon
At Publishers Launch Frankfurt, Frankfurt Book Fair, 8 October 2013

Friday 18 October 2013

Over 40% of US mobile users now report daily usage of a second screen device while watching TV

"64% of smartphone owners and 70% of tablet owners multi-task while watching TV several times a week or daily
The average consumer is watching over 5 hours of video per day, an increase of 1 hour per week (+4%) in 2 years
40+% of mobile users now report daily usage of a second screen device while watching TV; 29% of viewers report looking up program-related information and 20% report looking up ad-related information while watching TV."
Full report here

How mobile is transforming business in China


31% of American online adults upload or post videos online

"A national survey conducted in July 2013 shows the percent of American adult internet users who upload or post videos online has doubled in the past four years, from 14% in 2009 to 31% today.  This figure includes online adults who do at least one of the following:
Upload a video to the internet so others can watch or download it—27% of adult internet users have done this.
Post videos to any website online that they, themselves, have taken or created—18% of adult internet users have done this.
Younger adult internet users are twice as likely to post and share videos online than their older counterparts.  Fully 41% of 18-29 year-old internet users and 36% of 30-49 year-old internet users post or share videos online, compared with 18% of internet users age 50 and older. Online adults living in higher income households (annual income of $75,000 or more) are also particularly likely to post or share videos online when compared with those in households with annual incomes below $50,000."

250 million additional people came online in 2012

"250 million additional people came online in 2012
Republic of Korea tops ICT ranking for 3rd year in a row
By end 2013 40% of the world will be online – but 1.1 billion households – or 4.4 billion people – remain unconnected
Mobile broadband is now more affordable than fixed broadband
Almost the whole world is now within reach of mobile cellular service
30% of the world’s young population are ‘digital natives’
Broadband is getting faster; 2Mbps now most popular basic package
Telco operator CAPEX peaked in 2008; despite economic upturn investment levels have not returned"

Amazon has more than 215 million active customer accounts

"“Amazon has more than 215 million active customer accounts,” Tom Taylor, Vice President, Amazon Payments says in a release today. “Login and Pay with Amazon enables companies to make millions of our customers their customers by inviting online shoppers with Amazon credentials to access their account information safely and securely with a single login.”"
Source:  TechCrunch, 8th October 2013
Note - The iTunes app store has 575m

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Looking at food pictures on Instagram 'can curb your appetite'

"First there's the picture of what you made for breakfast ... then pictures of your latest food truck obsession ... then pictures of the martini you had at happy hour. The phenomenon might be a form of social media narcissism, but according to a recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, it could actually be a diet-friendly form of narcissism.
Marketing researchers at Brigham Young University found that as people were repeatedly shown pictures of food, they became more satiated and less interested in eating the same kind of foods. Turns out, looking at your friend's food-centric Instagram feed (or the like) can spoil your appetite "by making you feel like you've already experienced eating that food," according to the researchers.
"In a way, you're becoming tired of that taste without even eating the food," said Ryan Elder, one of the study's co-authors. "It's sensory boredom -- you've kind of moved on. You don't want that taste experience anymore."
In the study, 232 subjects looked at pictures of common food items. Half the group was shown only pictures of sweets (such as cookies and chocolates), while the other half was shown only pictures of salty foods (such as chips and pretzels). Afterward, both groups were given salted peanuts as a snack and asked to rate how much they enjoyed the snack.
The group that viewed the salty foods was found to enjoy the peanuts less, even though the participants never looked at pictures of peanuts. In their minds (and their stomachs), they had already consumed all the salt they could handle."

Monday 14 October 2013

Online ad spend grew to over $20 billion in the US in H1 2013

"Internet ad revenues surged to a landmark $20.1 billion, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC US. This represents an 18 percent increase over last year’s first-half ad revenues of $17 billion.
Maintaining the trend, second quarter 2013 internet ad revenues also saw an 18 percent year-over-year increase, reaching $10.3 billion, up from $8.7 billion in Q2 2012.
Report highlights include:
Mobile revenues soared to $3 billion in the first half of 2013, representing triple-digit growth at 145 percent, from $1.2 billion in the same period last year
Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, took in $1.3 billion in revenue during the first six months of 2013, an uptick of 24 percent over the first half of 2012 at $1.1 billion
Search revenues in the first half of 2013 totaled $8.7 billion, up 7 percent from $8.1 billion in the first half of 2012
Display-related advertising revenues in the first half of 2013 totaled $6.1 billion, accounting for 30 percent of revenues in the time period, up 9 percent from $5.6 billion in the first half of 2012
The top three advertising verticals accounted for 46 percent of advertising revenue, including Retail at 20 percent, Financial Services at 14 percent and Automotive at 12 percent
 “Digital has steadily increased its ability to captivate consumers and then capture the marketing dollars that follow,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Mobile advertising’s breakneck growth is evidence that marketers are recognizing the tremendous power of smaller screens. Digital video is also on a positive trajectory, delivering avid viewership and strong brand-building opportunities.”
“This report not only confirms that brands are making a greater commitment to interactive, but also points to the fact that mobile and digital video are being identified as integral elements of the marketing mix,” said David Silverman, a partner at PwC US. “Internet advertising’s ability to impact and engage is evident across digital screens, whether big or small.”
“Consumers are embracing new screens, new content and transforming how they shop, communicate and consume content at an accelerated clip,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics and Measurement, IAB. “And, in response, marketers are turning to those same interactive arenas just as quickly.”"
Source:  Data from the IAB & PwC, reported in a press release, 9th October 2013
Note - full breakdown over time and by format in the full press release

Mobile accounts for over 20% of UK display ad spend

"Advertisers spent a record six-month figure of £3.04 billion in the first half of 2013.
Entertainment and social networks/blogs account for over one third of UK internet time
Digital ad spend up 17.5% to record six-month high of over £3 billion or £66 per person online
Mobile now accounts for 14% of total digital spend; 20% of digital display
Consumer goods overtakes entertainment/media as biggest mobile display advertiser
British consumers average 43 hours a month online – 1 in every 12 waking minutes¹ – and advertisers spent a record six-month figure of £3.04 billion to attract their attention, according to the latest Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB) Digital Adspend report, conducted by PwC, with UKOM-approved comScore consumer data.
UKOM/comScore reveals that 22% of all UK internet time across computers, tablets and mobile phones is now spent enjoying entertainment online. Social networks and blogging now account for 12% of internet time or one in every 7 minutes. Together, these activities account for over one third of Britons’ time online.
IAB/PwC data shows that advertising on the internet and mobile phones increased, like-for-like*, by 17.5% to £3.04 billion in the first half of 2013 – up £435 million from £2.61 billion in the first half of 2012. Over 46.1 million people are active online, according to UKOM/comScore, equating the £3.04 billion advertisers spend to about £66 per head of the online population over the six month period.
Mobile’s share of ad spend doubles in a year
Fuelled by smartphone ownership reaching over two-thirds (68%) of the UK population in June 2013², mobile advertising grew like-for-like by 127% to £429.2 million in the first half of 2013 from £188.1 million in the first half of 2012. Mobile now accounts for 14.1% of all digital advertising spend – nearly double the 7.2% for the same period last year.
As 4G networks begin to roll out, mobile video advertising grew sharply, up 1,260% from £1.7 million in the first half of 2012 to £23.0 million in the first half of 2013.
“Nothing illustrates the internet as an entertainment platform better than the fact that over one in five minutes online is accounted for by entertainment, and that advertisers spent almost 1,300% more on mobile video than a year ago,” says Tim Elkington, Director of Research & Strategy at the Internet Advertising Bureau. “With smartphone penetration crossing the two-thirds landmark and the successful roll out of 4G, 2013 could be the year when advertising spend on mobile crosses the £1 billion threshold.”
Consumer goods becomes biggest spender as mobile display hits the big time
Total mobile display advertising (including video) increased like-for-like by 195% to £150.5 million in the first half of 2013. Thus, mobile now accounts for 20.4% of total digital display advertising.
For the first time, consumer goods became the biggest spender on mobile display, almost doubling its share in a year – from 14.5% to 26.8% in the first half of 2013. It overtook the long-time number one category, entertainment & media, whose share stayed at 22.9%.
Driven by mobile display and video, the consumer goods sector extended its dominance over the finance sector as the biggest spender on digital display advertising, overall – accounting for 18.2% in the first half of 2013 compared to 15.8% a year earlier. Finance’s share dropped from 15.8% to 13.7%. Consumer good’s share has more than doubled in four years (from 8.1% in the first half of 2009).
Anna Bartz, Senior Manager at PwC, says: “The fact that consumer goods – such as food, clothing and jewellery – account for over one quarter of mobile display advertising shows how important brands regard smartphones as key to consumer buying behaviour. Mobile has moved on from being a communications or entertainment device to a bona fide retail one. It’s an interesting contrast to how dominant entertainment has become on ‘fixed’ devices such as computers and laptops.”
Digital advertising formats
Display advertising across the internet and mobile, boosted by video and social media, grew above the overall (17.5%) digital rate at 23.0% on a like-for-like basis to £737.9 million, representing a 24% share of digital ad spend in the first half of 2013.
Video advertising grew an impressive 86% year-on-year to £135.2 million. In the last three years, video ad spend has increased almost six-fold (487%). In the last year, video’s share of online and mobile display has grown 50% from 12% to 18% in the first half of 2013.
Social media advertising grew 53% to £242.5 million. In the last three years, social media spend has increased almost three-fold (285%).
Paid-for search marketing increased 18.9% on a like-for-like basis to £1.81 billion – a 59% share of digital ad spend. Within these figures, mobile search grew like-for-like by 101% to £271.0 million – accounting for 63% of mobile advertising.
Classifieds including recruitment, property and automotive listings, grew 6.6% like-for-like to £452.7 million – accounting for 15% of digital ad spend.
Tablets: among media owners who submitted revenue figures to the IAB and PwC, designated ad spend on tablets³ is estimated to be at least £10.5 million in the first half of 2013; up from at least £2.4 million in the first half of 2012."
Source:  Data from IAB UK and PwC, reported in a press release, 7th October 2013

Over 1 million years of music has been streamed on Spotify in 5 years

Thursday 3 October 2013

Visa processed over 51 million contactless payments in UK in 12 months

"Contactless payments appear to be growing in popularity with UK consumers, after Visa revealed that more than 51 million purchases were made in the last 12 months using the NFC-enabled technology.
The global payments company also said that monthly contactless spend had increased five-fold to £45.2 million in June 2013 when compared to the same period last year.
Some £338 million has been spent on contactless Visa cards since June 2012, with an average purchase value of £6.65.
Starbucks introduces contactless payments to 550 UK stores M&S completes contactless payments roll-out Boots taps into contactless payments
Visa has unveiled a string of deals with retailers in recent months, with the likes of Starbucks and Marks & Spencer opting to roll-out the technology in-store. However, there have been complaints from consumers about duplicate payments being made accidentally in stores and concerns that the banks aren't making it easy to opt-out of receiving cards with the NFC technology enabled."

Marks & Spencer process nearly 250,000 NFC payments a week in the UK

"Posh retailer Marks & Spencer is accepting nearly a quarter of a million contactless payments a week, with a bonk of plastic replacing the rattle of coins.
At M&S Finsbury Pavement (it's a London street, not a food-enabled paving slab) one in three payments under £20 are contactless these days, as shoppers save valuable seconds off their transaction times.
The supermarket group processes 230,000 contactless payments a week, which make up one in 20 of its transactions for £20 or under. In the food hall and at the self-service tills, that number rises to one in four transactions.
The numbers make M&S the largest UK processor of bonking payments, which is all the more remarkable considering that the contactless tills have been in place for less than a year."
Source: The Register, 9th May 2013

The number of kids aged 5-15 in the UK with a mobile phone is falling

"Despite the rise of mobile phones across almost every demographic of UK society, it seems the number of children who own their own handset is going down.
A new report from Ofcom reveals that the number of 5 to 15-year-olds who own a mobile phone has fallen from 49% in 2012 to 43% in 2013. The reason? They’re rejecting basic ‘feature phones’ and getting their parents to buy them tablets instead, with uptake this year tripling – up to 42% from 14% in 2012.
More specifically, the percentage of younger children (8-11) who own a basic feature phone rather than a smartphone fell to 15% this year, from 28% last year. Of this age group, 18% own a smartphone, and the same proportion own a tablet, with ownership growing four-fold since 2012.
Among slightly older children, smartphones still remain more widely used than tablets with roughly 62% of 12 to 15-year-olds owning a smartphone, with 26% now possessing a tablet, up from 7% last year. A little more than a quarter of infants aged 3-4 now use a tablet at home too."
Full 220 page Ofcom report is here

The final episode of Breaking Bad was illegally downloaded >500,000 times in 12 hours

"The season finale of Breaking Bad has resulted in a record number of pirated downloads for the popular TV-series. Just 12 hours after the first copy appeared online more than 500,000 people had already downloaded the show via various torrent sites. Most downloaders come from Australia, followed by the United States and the UK, where thousands of file-sharers prefer unauthorized copies over legal alternatives.
bbOne of the main motivations for people to download and stream TV-shows from unauthorized sources is availability.
If fans can’t get a show through legal channels they often turn to pirated alternatives.
However, the series finale of Breaking Bad shows that there are more factors at play. Despite the availability of legal options, in many countries there are those who still prefer to download a copy from unauthorized sources.
Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that 12 hours after the first copy of the episode appeared online, more than half a million people has grabbed a copy through one of many torrent sites. Never before have so many people downloaded a Breaking Bad episode, making it a strong contender for a top spot in our most-pirated TV-shows of the year chart."

The final episode of Breaking Bad had 10.3 million TV viewers in the US

"AMC’s Breaking Bad capped its historic run last night, delivering a series-record 10.3 million viewers, including 6.7 million adults 18-49. Ratings for the final episode were up 300% over last year’s finale, demonstrating the remarkable growth of this iconic series. An expanded one-hour Talking Bad after show delivered 4.4 million viewers, including 2.9 million adults 18-49.
“Breaking Bad is simply unique,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “It all starts with Vince Gilligan who really only ever asked for one thing – the opportunity to end the show on his own terms. That is exactly what Vince did last night and, as always, brilliantly so. Congratulations to Vince and to every single person involved in this remarkable journey. We’re proud that AMC will forever be known as the birthplace and home of this iconic show and, at the same time, we tip our Heisenberg hat to the fans who made this a truly shared experience.”
Key Nielsen Highlights for the Breaking Bad series finale
9 pm airing – 6.5 HH rating with 10.3 million viewers
9 pm airing – 6.7 million Adults 18-49
9 pm airing – 5.6 million Adults 25-54
Key Nielsen Highlights for the Talking Bad finale
10:15 pm airing – 2.9 HH rating with 4.4 million viewers
10:15 pm airing – 2.9 million Adults 18-49
10:15 pm airing – 2.4 million Adults 25-54
Source:  Nielsen Media Research fast nationals, L+SD 9/29/13.
The Breaking Bad series finale set new records for the show on Twitter, with 1.24 million Tweets from 601,370 unique users during the live broadcast window of both the EST and PST telecasts. The show hit a peak of 22,373 Tweets-per-minute just as the final episode began in the East, and a Bryan Cranston Tweet, “Well, this is it… Thank you for sharing this ride with me…” has generated more than 51,000 Retweets and nearly 34,000 Favorites so far. Over the course of the night, Worldwide and United States trending topics on Twitter related to the show included #GoodbyeBreakingBad, #AMC, #BreakingBad, #BreakingBadFinale, #Heisenberg, #HelloGretchen and #GoodbyeLydia."
Source:  Blog post from AMC, 30th September 2013
Note - This clearly only includes people watching it on TV, not online, or through illegal means
Note - Torrent data here - >500,000 downloads in 12 hours

Wednesday 2 October 2013

The UK digital population for PC, mobile & tablet use is 46.2 million people

"The MMX Multi-Platform tool launched today shows the total UK digital population for PC, mobile and tablet use is 46.2 million people. Until now, ComScore has measured 44.66 million PC and Mac users, and 30.8 million mobile users, and is for the first time now reporting a UK tablet audience of 12.8 million people.
The product combines PC / Mac, tablet, and mobile browsing and app data and mobile wifi browsing and app data. It will add mobile and tablet app dwell time in the first quarter of 2013, with mobile and tablet video to follow in the second quarter.
Meanwhile the 55+ age group has a higher percentage of tablet ownership than the market as a whole and their use of smartphones has increased by more than 20 per cent year on year, according to the research.
However, it also revealed the post PC era is strongest for the 25-35 year old bracket with 86 per cent using multiple platforms or just mobile or tablet."
Source:  The Drum, 1st October 2013

All of UK ecommerce growth is coming from mobile devices

"New figures from IMRG and Capgemini* reveal a tipping point has been reached in online retail as the digitisation of the consumer has resulted in all online growth now coming from sales via mobile devices (smartphones and tablets).
For the first time, IMRG and Capgemini have been able to strip out all mobile data from overall online retail sales, revealing that since Q1 2011, whilst total online retail has averaged around 15% growth, figures excluding mobile have seen a steady decline, flat-lining in Q2 2013**. It also reveals that 23% of all online retail sales in Q2 2013 came from mobile devices.
In January, IMRG and Capgemini predicted the Index would record annual growth of 12% in 2013, however, driven by the strength of m-retail and its penetration of the UK online retail sector, they have reforecast their prediction upward to 15%.
The findings represent a significant change in consumer behaviour, as UK online shoppers migrate from desktops and laptop computers to smartphones and tablet devices. During a roundtable session on Thursday, IMRG and Capgemini presented their findings to a host of leading UK retailers and discussed possible contributing factors to the emerging trend. Those include:
- Convenience: fast and easy to shop online – one click of the button and shoppers are online and browsing. The ease of using a tablet device means that shoppers can casually browse online whilst engaged in other activity, such as watching television –typically, visits via a tablet result in a higher number of pages per visit due to the leisurely nature of the interaction.
- Confidence: shoppers are becoming increasingly confident in m-retail, particularly as retailers improve their mobile sites and user experience.
- Interestingly, whilst tablet devices account for 85% of mobile sales year-to-date, smartphones have seen a greater rate of growth, year-on-year increasing 210% compared with 130% for tablets during Q2 2013 over Q2 2012. The retailers reported that in terms of defining mobile technology, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred as tablets become smaller, smartphones are getting larger and laptops can be converted to tablet devices.
Notes - 
* Worked out using KPIs from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index and the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Index 
** Retail quarter, Q2 period is May to July