The mobile computing market is abuzz with
Apple announcing yesterday they have sold 3 million iPads in just 80 days, Google's press conference today on
Droid X and the shipment of the iPhone 4. With each release devices are getting smaller (well maybe not the Droid X), faster and smarter. Prices are also dropping as the competition continues to heat up. Smartphones, which were once just used by the business traveler are much more mainstream and now marketed to consumers thanks to the iPhone and
Verizon's buy one get one free promotions.
So with all these changes to the mobile landscape we thought we would ask both consumers and our own IT decision maker panel to find out if they plan to swap one device for another. (See today's press release on the findings)
What we found was that businesses were more open to swapping out one computing platform for another than consumers. The biggest drivers for making the switch were not surprisingly cost and form factor, but what was a bit surprising was that close to twice as many IT decision makers than consumers are willing to ditch the notebook for a netbook the next time around. The netbook, which started out as a low cost computer targeted at consumers is seeing new life and new opportunity in the B2B market.
There has been a lot of hype around the iPad killing the netbook, but netbooks will see new life in the B2B market as long as manufactures research, recognize and capitalize on these shifts in the mobile market.
Posted by Don Ryan. Don is a senior consultant for CMB's technology practice. Don is an avid tennis player and enjoys reading political commentary and spy novels.
Despite the media focus on new, cool technological devices, content seems to be what is really on consumers' minds these days. In today's CMB press release: Consumers Are More Excited About Content Than Devices we shared some very interesting insights collected earlier this year about which of the recently hyped technologies consumers are most excited about. I expected to see the iPad or Droid phones at the top of the list, but content was king with movie rentals via the internet topping the list and internet via TV also ranking relatively high.
Even many of the new features and enhancements for the iPhone 4 seemed to be all about content. From video conferencing and editing to streaming movies via the new Netflix app, it's no wonder AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans. This could be a slippery slope for consumers as they now need to become more educated on their data consumption, but that's a whole other discussion.
In a recent Ad Age article Michael Learmonth talked about the new Netflix iPhone app which streams movies either over the AT&T network($$$) or Wifi. I have to say Netflix always seems to be one step ahead of consumers, from DVD's by mail to delivery to the Wii and now streaming movies on the iPhone, they are in a great position to take advantage of this segment of the market. The presentation below shows that they have staked their claim and are clear and deliberate about their focus and their slice of the content pie.
In 2010 Netflix is expecting their subscriber base to grow to over 17 million. Although DVD-by-mail movie rentals are expected to continue to grow over the next few years, Netflix expects it to peak in 2013 and then steadily decline, eventually being replaced by online streaming. Hey why walk to the mailbox when you don't need to leave your couch!
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Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's Director of Communications, a mother of two, and is seriously debating making the switch to AT&T for the new iPhone 4
Not only does HP continue to acquire companies whose time is running out, but they are also extending their product lines to offer their customers more. 3Com may not have been the first networking company one would choose to acquire, but it did fill in gaps from HP's Procurve business. Similarly, Palm complements HP's iPaq phone line (new OS, touch screen technology, etc). What HP is showing is that
an acquisition does not have to be the best, but rather it needs to provide more scope within a growing market and new technology platforms from which they can build new products.
In fact, the HP acquisition may not be as much about the smartphone business as it is about other mobile devices like netbooks and tablets. There's no question about the importance of developing Web OS applications for all mobile devices. (See WSJ article for acquisition analysis).
In a recent Bloomberg News interview with Michael Cuggino, portfolio manager for The Permanent Portfolio based in San Francisco, he talks about the Palm acquisition being about much more than the smartphone business and thinks maybe HP can "unlock the real value of the Web OS and fill a hole in their product line." Cuggino also talks about the importance becoming an integrated entity and the breadth of product lines...
In the mobile device space it is becoming table stakes to have a full product line that spans device types, user interfaces and operating systems. The importance of having a robust product line is consistent with technology research CMB recently conducted on consumer electronic device preference and usage. One of the things we asked among a group of approximately 700 US consumers was which device would you replace your current device with when you make a new purchase.
What we found is that there is a fair amount of substitution especially between netbooks and notebooks and tablets and netbooks. Not surprisingly, most smartphone users would likely replace their existing smartphones with a new smartphone, but we did see that 15% will say they will replace their smartphone with either a tablet or netbook.
These shifts underscore the importance of a vendor having a full line of products to maintain overall device market share as consumers switch from one device to another. What HP has recognized is that it is not as critical what the brand is that they acquired, but rather having a new brand in the first place that offers consumers a viable choice when they do decide to switch.
I will presenting more of these findings at the Netbook Summit taking place May 24th- 25th in San Francisco. We hope to see you there!
Posted by Don Ryan. Don is a senior consultant for CMB's technology practice. Don is an avid tennis player and enjoys reading political commentary and spy novels.
An article recently in Information Week caught my interest. Titled Global CIO: Oracle, SAP, And The End Of Enterprise Software Companies, it underscores the shift in thinking from the enterprise line of business and from IT executives on all enterprise applications. I would argue that heavy lift application implementation is increasingly becoming an anomaly due to difficult implementation and high investment cost. To quote Bob Evans from Information Week in the article: "It also means the days of big, blunt, mega-purchases of software are for the most part behind us--and for SAP and Oracle to continue to grow, they therefore need to step aggressively into new revenue streams other than software to keep investors happy."
The recession has fundamentally and forever changed the way enterprises will acquire applications and for that matter many other parts of their IT infrastructure. What has saved the server business in the near term is the dramatic ten-fold increase in cost per processing unit productivity due to lower server prices, virtualization and improved processing power. Although, I think the long term outlook holds marginal upside for on premise servers given the rapid deployment of in-house and cloud computing.
No cost savings breakthroughs in delivery have taken place or are foreseen for legacy enterprise applications. Conversely, web based, cloud delivered applications have a strong value proposition based on cost savings and administration efficiencies. The following chart summarizes the relative position of specific vendors based on recent research which CMB did with enterprise IT managers. Not surprisingly, some of the newer entrants like Google and Salesforce.com have a place in the more favorable quadrant.
This shift to applications through a services delivery model and the increasingly important role of implementation and management services through integrators, managed service providers and VARs will take place faster not slower than people think. A sea change among IT executives has already happened on acquisition and management of applications. The great news for application providers is that their core business benefit and functionality can be provided through these new delivery platforms and the vendors can still profit and thrive by adopting these new variable cost business models. The only question is which legacy companies can take the lead to acquire first mover status? In my mind the jury is still out.
To learn more download the full CMB Tech Pulse Report: Shifts are Starting in the Applications Status Quo
Posted by Don Ryan. Don is a senior consultant for CMB's technology practice. Don is an avid tennis player and enjoys reading political commentary and spy novels.
Once again my hopes and dreams for an iPhone have been squashed right along with the rumor that Verizon was getting the iPhone by the end of the year. Mashable reported this week that AT&T has the iPhone exclusively until 2012. This isn't the first time my hopes have been dashed and I am debating joining the Android camp, which Marketing Daily reports is taking a bite out of Apple .
The NPD Group reports Google's Android OS edged out Apple's OS for the number-two position behind RIM in the first quarter of 2010. So I'm not the only one getting tired of the wait, and quite honestly I'm not sure what I'm waiting for anyway. After all, Droid Does have a lot of apps.
So, are consumers willing to switch carriers to get the mobile device they want? Recently, in our online Consumer Pulse we asked over 1500 consumers "How likely is it that you will switch carriers to access a device that your current carrier does not offer?" While 72% said a switch is not likely, 28% reported they are either moderately or very likely to switch carriers for a specific device. Personally, I think I fall into the 72% camp. And in a different set of research we conducted in March using Toluna's phone-based omnibus we found only 13% of the 1004 US consumers surveyed said they would pay the fees related to switching carriers to get a specific mobile device.
I don't think I'm willing to switch carriers. Maybe all the Droid Does marketing is working. I'm becoming convinced that I can do everything I want with a Droid that I could have done with an iPhone.
What do you think? Would you switch carriers for a specific mobile device?
Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's Director of Communications, a mother of two, and loves mobile technology.
When I Google the term "netbooks" I get close to 16 million results. 16 million results for a new market entry!
The netbook market is growing rapidly for consumers, but we are also seeing growth in the enterprise. Similar to how smartphones slowly infiltrated the enterprise market, growth is slow but steady as the consumerization of IT continues.
In our CMB Tech Pulse Netbooks in the Enterprise we asked over 150 IT decision makers about their interest in netbooks, deployment strategies, as well as current and future use.
The findings from our netbook research shows a lot of interest with close to 40% considering deployment of netbooks in their organization and 20% already using netbooks in some capacity.
- 20% are already using netbooks in the company for a handful of selected people
- 38% have not deployed them yet, but are considering it
- 29% do not currently have any netbooks deployed and have no plans to do so
- 13% do not have any deployed, but have it in their budget to do so
Not surprisingly, we also see a trend that has heavier deployments in those organizations with a highly mobile workforce and in those companies that are using cloud computing applications.
Learn more by downloading our report or seeing us at the Netbook Summit taking place May 24th- 25th in San Francisco. We will be presenting our research and sharing our insight with many other thought leaders.
Posted by Don Ryan. Don is a senior consultant with CMB's technology practice.
In a
Google blog post about the new OS, Google stated
"It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be". We all know what happens when Google starts to re-think what something "should be", they reset the expectations and create a new standard. Just look at what they did in the browser/search market, they made Google a verb. Could they be on their way to doing the same thing in the OS market? It's too early to make that call, but it's worth noting they are in the game and when they play it's usually to win.
In our initial CMB Tech Pulse research we found Microsoft is off to a good start with Windows 7, but Google Chrome is something we should all keep our eyes on. We asked IT decision makers about the strengths and weaknesses of all the operating systems from Windows XP, Vista, and 7 to the Mac OS, Linux and Google Chrome. Our panel rated each OS in areas such as competitive licensing costs, security, ease of use and administration. The results were clear, we saw strong messages about the capability of each OS and we expect to see further divergence as newer solutions like Windows 7 and Google Chrome become more established. To see how each OS ranked among our panel download the free report Windows 7 Uptake Plans. One thing is clear, the concerns with high licensing costs may drive some companies towards open source OS alternatives like Google Chrome. It will be interesting to watch how Google Chrome impacts the 38% of our IT decision maker panel who stated they plan to standardize on Windows 7 for netbooks over the next 2 years. How will Google Chrome impact the netbook OS market? Stay tuned, we plan to keep a close eye on that.
Subscribe to the CMB blog to keep up to date with the latest trends. For more information on the Windows 7 Uptake Plans download the full report free.