Hulu’s willingness to be bought, announced earlier last quarter, has raked in numerous bids. To sweeten the pot for the buyer, Hulu recently reported improved viewership statistics, increased market reach and an expanded library offering. But recent news suggests that despite their success, selling Hulu may not be all that easy.
While the consumer social networking market has grown phenomenally, reflected in the more than 750 million Facebook users, the enterprise social networking market is only marginally tapped. LinkedIn is the largest professional network with more than 120 million members, yet it does not fall in the enterprise social networking segment. IDC estimates that the enterprise social business software market will be worth $10.3 billion by 2013. Palo Alto–based Jive Software is one company targeting this segment. Other companies include Salesforce.com with their Chatter product, and a startup called Yammer.
According to Mobile Gaming – U.S. – May 2011, published by researcher Mintel, annual mobile phone and tablet gaming sales in the U.S. have more than doubled over the past five years to reach $898 million in 2010. The market estimates the revenues to double again in the next five years to reach $1.6 billion by 2015. Finland-based Angry Birds developer Rovio is counting on this market growth.
Adobe yesterday announced several major initiatives targeted at tablets including a cloud service and web design tools. It also announced the acquisition of web typography innovator Typekit and its agreement to acquire Nitobi, creator of PhoneGap. The shift in focus toward Web technologies is a welcome development especially in the wake of Microsoft joining Apple in not supporting Flash on tablets. Let’s take a closer look.
A recently released study by IDC, “U.S. BPO Contract Analysis 2006–2010 by Vertical,” revealed that during the five-year period, BPO contract values soared in 2008 and have since declined because of the recession. However, the situation should improve in the coming years. Gartner’s projections state that the ITO market will grow 6.9% over the previous year to end 2011 with revenues of $313.2 billion. The industry is also expected to grow at a compounded rate of 4.6% over 2010–2015. Market leader Accenture is already witnessing such growth.
NPD Group estimates that U.S. retail video game sales fell 20% over the year in July to $707.7 million because of a significant drop in console gaming revenues. The researcher estimates that retail video game full-year revenues to fall 2% over the year. In July, sales of video game hardware, which includes hand-held game systems and gaming consoles like the Wii and Xbox 360, fell 29% to $223 million. Software sales fell 17% to $336.2 million, while sales of game accessories fell 8% to $127.8 million. Declining console gaming revenues are making game developers focus on social and mobile games instead.
Thomson Reuters data shows that 21 Chinese companies with VC backing raised $2.2 billion last year when they went public in the United States. From 2000 to June 2010, mainland Chinese companies raised $188 billion in 495 deals on leading global stock exchanges, including the NYSE, Nasdaq, LSE, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. During the same period, worldwide there were 1,114 deals raising $366 billion. Ernst & Young estmates that China will lead the IPO market in the coming years. Beijing-based Internet player Qihoo 360 Technology, is one recent entrant to the NYSE who raised $200 million as part of their IPO funding round. Read the full article »
According to research firm Analysys, China’s online video revenues grew 148% over the year to RMB 621 million (~$96 million) in Q3 last year. Youku, which has been called the YouTube of China, is the leader with over 22% of the market share, followed by Tudou with 16% share and Sohu with 13%. Youku launched an IPO in the U.S. in December 2010.
