Amazon
Android topped tablet share in Q1 at 57 percent, Apple led manufacturers
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/idc-tablet-share-q1-2013/
We were expecting a changing of the guard among tablets given the rise of several competitors throughout in 2012, and we’ve seen just that in IDC’s market share estimates for the first quarter of 2013. The research firm shows Android having almost reversed the share it held a year ago, claiming the top spot at 56.5 percent; Apple’s huge spike in year-over-year iPad sales wasn’t enough to keep it from dipping to 39.6 percent. Microsoft’s estimated performance tells a more complex story, however. Its second quarter of Windows 8 and RT sales involved a big year-to-year jump as well, but it was also starting largely from scratch — the combined Windows platform was still tiny at 3.7 percent.
The pecking order remained mostly the same among individual manufacturers, although the charts here explain just why OS share shifted so much in the winter. While Apple remained comfortably in front with its 39.6 percent, just about every rival made a dent: Samsung, ASUS, Amazon and Microsoft all gained at least a small amount, even if no one manufacturer posed a major threat. IDC is providing shipping numbers that don’t necessarily reflect the on-the-ground sales, especially when everyone beyond Apple declines to report official numbers, but they suggest that tablets like the Nexus 7 and Surface Pro have found at least a small audience.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, ASUS, Google, Amazon
Source: IDC
Paid subscriptions have doubled to four million in past year
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/30/hulu-plus/
Hulu’s future ownership may be in question, but the video streaming site is apparently doing fairly brisk business on the paid subscription front. During an advertiser event this morning, the site announced that it has managed to double its Hulu Plus accounts in the past year, up to four million. The site’s revenue also hit a record for the first quarter of the year, though Hulu’s not giving out any numbers. As with rivals Netflix and Amazon, the company’s making a big bet on original programming, with a number of exclusive series, including the animated The Awesomes and western Quick Draw.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Hulu Blog
I Just Realized How Zealously Facebook Tracks Me And Sells That Info To Advertisers (FB)
Even without using PII (personally identifiable information) advertisers can track you in “creepy” ways and try to sell you stuff.
The point is whether consumers will revolt at some time in the future and not let advertisers collect anything and everything they want and trample individuals’ privacy at will.
See my related slideshares:
Social Logins Are Bad For Consumers Privacy
Facebook Default Privacy Settings History
ORIGINAL BLOG POST FROM BUSINESS INSIDER BELOW
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/i-didnt-know-facebook-tracked-me-2013-4
“Earlier this week, I decided to buy a fossil.
This was a pretty impetuous decision.
I had never demonstrated any interest in fossil acquisition.
I knew nothing about the market.
The decision to buy a fossil stemmed from some combination of:
- Seeing a guy hawking fossils in Union Square on Sunday
- Going to a dinner party earlier this month at a fossil collector’s home and subsequently thinking the host was outrageously cool.
So Tuesday I started looking into the market.
I decided I wanted a trilobite — for all intents and purposes, a common, early Cambrian cockroach — as it seemed like a good, inexpensive specimen to begin amassing a collection.
After thoroughly checking out the market — Etsy, EBay, a handful of specialty sites — I realized that pricing was pretty confusing and I’d revisit it later.
Then yesterday — one day after the initial search — I start seeing these ads everywhere on Facebook:
That’s Etsy trying to sell me a trilobite, one day after I spent an evening Googling trilobites. Creepy.
But most importantly, we can ascertain a couple of things:
- Facebook knew I went to Etsy
- Facebook knew I wanted a fossil, specifically a Trilobite.
- Facebook somehow coordinated with Etsy to produce a picture of a Trilobite on the ad for Etsy.
I’m not a tech writer, so this was news to me. I’m told that Google, and Amazon, and others track my behavior.
Anyway, it was a pretty big wake-up call to the extent that Facebook tracks my activity and hawks it to advertisers.
Also, if anyone knows a reputable fossil salesman feel free to contact me.”
Samsung mulls sale of Dutch e-ink display subsidiary to Amazon
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/22/samsung-mulls-liquavista-sale/
It’s not often that we hear of Samsung suffering from buyer’s remorse, but it looks like it should have kept e-ink manufacturer Liqavista’s receipt in the box-file marked “Important.” Bloomberg’s Person Familiar With The Matter(TM) believes Samsung is trying to flog the Dutch electrowetting display outfit it bought two years ago — back when such technology was the holy grail of screens. Now the Korean giant is looking for a sub-$100 million sale to Amazon, which might be able to use the tech in future iterations of the Kindle. When asked, a Samsung spokesperson said that the acquisition didn’t meet its expectations, which makes us sad for the future of e-ink devices beyond e-readers — now the folks at YotaPhone are our only hope.
CBS tries multi-stage syndication for The Good Wife on Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and TV
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/cbs-tries-multi-stage-syndication-for-the-good-wife/
Almost by definition, TV syndication in the modern era leads us to wonder just where and when we’ll get to see a show online. For CBS’ The Good Wife, streaming on third-party services will be a cornerstone of an uncommon, multi-step syndication strategy that puts the internet first. The drama will be available for Amazon Prime Instant Video subscribers starting March 14th, expanding beyond its existing availability for purchase. Hulu Plus members, meanwhile, will get their own turn at streaming in September. Traditional TV will still be around, but it’s notably pushed to the back of the queue — Hallmark won’t have airing rights until January 2014, and most other broadcasters will be denied until a year after Hulu. The new approach another sign that CBS’ one-time cold shoulder to some forms of digital distribution is growing warmer and warmer.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Amazon
Reiterating Bearish Thesis on Pinterest
Bearish Thesis on Pinterest
- growth was driven by PR hype (and some unscrupulous social tactics); the PR has died off (Source: Pinterst Followed 274 of My Facebook Friends and Notified Them BEFORE Telling Me)
- “Pinterest drives more traffic than Twitter” is misleading because at 1.8% of traffic, it is still an order of magnitude lower than Search (41%) or direct traffic (20%) for commerce sites (Source: The Pinterest Myth)
- Pinterest is a “feature” that others can copy or have already copied — e.g. Facebook curated “Collections” (Source: http://bit.ly/Facebook-collections )
- leading affiliate marketers confirm the Pinterest referral potential has been limited at best so far. Amazon researchers published study that shows Pinterest does not generate much sales (Source: http://go-digital.net/blog/2012/08/uh-oh-amazon-researchers-say-pinterest-doesnt-generate-a-lot-of-sales-amzn/ )
- Pinterest does not own or have ANY content — all of the content is linked to and served by other content owners, who could decide to disallow Pinterest’s further use of the content by blocking hotlinking.
- Pinterest’s original value (carefully curated content) has been obliterated due to the tidal wave of content that has been posted on the site — the value of curation has been lost and it is now no better than Flickr or just a Google Image search
- Pinterest’s top categories are “Food & Drink” and “Outdoors” which may not easily translate into online sales. Source:
NOTE: The point is that Pinterest may not find a real business model and revenues may never amount to much. But this does not mean that it won’t be bought by some other larger company that wants access to its user base and their activities on the site for other purposes such as ad targeting.
Amazon Has An Estimated 10 Million Members For Its Surprisingly Profitable Prime Club (AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-10-million-members-morningstar-2013-3
Amazon hasn’t disclosed how many people have signed up for its Prime program, which offers free two-day shipping, a Netflix-like video service, and other perks for a $79 annual fee.
Now Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy has come out with a report that pegs membership at more than 10 million, and suggests that the program contributes about a third of Amazon’s operating income.
After a slow start, Prime got a huge boost in when Amazon started including a 30-day trial membership with its Kindle Fire tablet in the fall of 2011. Trial programs for moms and students have also helped.
Prime members are great customers for Amazon. In 2012, they were about 4 percent of Amazon’s 182 million active customer base. But they accounted for nearly 10 percent of purchases, because they spend more than twice as much as non-prime customers—$1,224 a year versus $505.
After estimating the cost of providing shipping and licensing videos and e-books versus the marginal profit , Hottovy found that Amazon made about $78 per Prime member in 2012.
While Amazon breaks even on the free shipping and other extras it provides Prime members, the subscription fee is almost pure profit, in other words.
By Hottovy’s calculations, that could grow to 25 million by 2017. Depending on how much they spend, those members could contribute anywhere from $3.2 billion to $9.6 billion in incremental operating profits.
Of course, Amazon CEO ! Jeff Bez os has been known to plow its profits back into new products and lower prices, so shareholders may not see that cash hit the bottom line.
But Hottovy’s research suggests that Amazon’s grand strategy of linking its hardware business—Kindle Fire tablets—with its services—Prime, Instant Video, and its Kindle libraries—are paying off for its core e-commerce business.
In H2 2012, Google Shopping Proved More Cost Effective Than Amazon Product Ads
Recent research has shown Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) to outperform text ads, and new data from CPC Strategy demonstrates that since moving to PLAs, Google Shopping has performed far better when compared to Amazon Product Ads. In the second half of 2012 (H2), Google Shopping proved 32.8% more cost-effective for advertisers than Amazon Product [...]
The iPad Business Is Collapsing (AAPL)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-the-ipad-business-is-collapsing-2013-2
The strength of Apple’s iPad business is collapsing as lower priced, smaller tablets eat into sales, says Citi’s Apple analysts in a new note this morning.
The 9.7-inch iPad’s unit sales were only up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter, says Citi, citing IDC data. In developed markets like Apple and Japan, unit sales were actually down quite a bit.
The bigger iPad is being replaced by Apple’s iPad Mini, as well as the 7-inch tablets sold by Samsung and Amazon.
People Now Think Amazon Is Better Than Apple
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/people-now-think-amazon-is-better-than-apple-2013-2
Harris Interactive released its 14th annual poll. It asked 14,000 people what they think of the top 60 corporations in America.
Last year, Apple had the best reputation ranking. This year, it fell Amazon.
Harris Interactive asked about six different things to determine each company’s reputation: social responsibility, emotional appeal, financial performance, products and services, vision and leadership, and workplace environment.
Although Apple was named the top corporation in terms of financial performance and vision and leadership, it wasn’t enough to beat out Amazon overall.
Here’s how the results turned out:
If you followed Apple’s and Amazon’s latest earnings calls, the results of this survey may seem puzzling. Amazon missed while Apple meet Wall Street’s expectations. Amazon’s pile of cash is minuscule compared to Apple’s. Yet Amazon’s stock has been soaring while Apple’s is tanking.
What’s going on, and is the public mad?
Here’s a possible explanation at length.
In short, some feel Apple’s best days, with rapid revenue growth and sky-high margins, are behind it. Meanwhile, Amazon leads a hot e-commerce sector which has a huge barrier to entry. And while Amazon’s profit margin is low, it seems to be increasing.
That said, t! he norma l, non-investors who made up the bulk of this survey probably don’t care what Wall Street analysts think or how much cash Apple has in the bank. Their preference for Amazon over Apple may be more superficial.
“Our results show that Amazon has managed to build an intimate relationship with the public without being perceived as intrusive,” Robert Fronk, Harris Interactive’s EVP of Reputation Management, says. “And as the company that is so widely known for its personal recommendations, more than nine in ten members of the public would recommend Amazon to friends and family.”
Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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