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HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Technology Stocks
eBay Eyes China’s E-Buyers
According to Gartner research, the number of consumers who use mobile devices for payments is estimated to have grown 38% in 2011 to more than 141 million users. The volume of transactions over mobile devices is estimated at $86.1 billion, compared with $48.9 billion reported in 2010. Gartner believes that retail shoppers will drive the adoption of mobile payment services. Online marketplace eBay is focusing on this segment to help ensure growth in the coming quarters.
IBM Reinforces Focus on Analytics
Earlier this month, Gartner issued their revised estimates for Q1 worldwide IT spending, and the numbers seem to be improving. The researcher now expects overall global IT spending growth in Q1 of 2012 to have been a mere 2.5% over the year compared with earlier estimates of 3.7%. But the lower figure was on account of the U.S. dollar strengthening over other currencies. Excluding telecom services, Gartner now projects annual average growth of IT spending to be 5.3% in current dollar terms and 5.9% in constant dollar terms from 2011 through 2016. For the current quarter, on a constant currency basis, Gartner now expects worldwide IT spending to grow 5.2% compared with 4.6% projected earlier. Growth during the current quarter is expected to be driven by telecom equipment, which is projected to grow at 10.3% over the year. Computing hardware, which includes PCs, mobile devices, and tablets, will account for 7% growth during the year, and software is projected to grow 7.3% over the year.
Google vs. Facebook: Ad Wars
According to researcher eMarketer, online ad spending in the U.S. will grow 23.3% this year to $39.5 billion. Double-digit growth is projected to continue till 2014, when online ad spending in the country is projected to reach $52.8 billion. The researcher estimates that by 2016, online ad spend will account for $62 billion. The ad spending boom is already stirring up an ad war among online giants.
Twitter: Phenomenon, Yes. But A Sustainable Business?
Facebook’s IPO may be round the corner, but that is definitely not pushing Twitter into IPO mode. For now, Twitter seems to prefer to watch the market’s reaction to Facebook’s going public and focus on expanding their capabilities. Twitter has made several acquisitions as it builds up momentum for their own IPO expected next year.
Workday Challenges Oracle and SAP in Talent Management
Software-as-a-service based enterprise business services provider Workday is expected to hit the market with an IPO this year. A few analysts believe that Workday’s IPO may be more worth their while than that of other Internet giants like Facebook. I certainly believe this is an organization to watch. Workday operates in the cloud computing and SaaS markets, which are both high-growth areas. According to Forrester Research, cloud computing is projected to grow to $240 billion by 2020 from $40.7 billion in 2010. Gartner estimates the worldwide SaaS market will grow 17.9% this year to $14.5 billion and to $22.1 billion by 2015.
INRIX Riding High on Apps Using Traffic Data
According to a market research report released last year, World GPS Market Forecast to 2013, from 2011-2013 the shipment of global positioning system (GPS) devices is projected to grow at more than 20% to 900 million units. Growth is fueled by technology convergence that is enabling GPS services in smartphones and other consumer electronics such as cameras. The report estimates that the number of subscribers to GPS-enabled location-based services (LBS) will translate to a market opportunity of $10 billion by 2013. Within GPS devices, there is also strong growth among the number of navigation systems that receive traffic data. Strategy Analytics believes that the number of traffic-data-receiving navigation devices will grow from 8.5 million units in 2010 to 37.6 million in 2018.
Zulily Rides High on Flash Sales Trend in Kids Category
Many analysts believe that the future of e-commerce retail lies in flash sale shopping. The model was pioneered by Vente Privee in Europe and has gradually been adopted by e-commerce players worldwide. In a flash sale, an e-retailer offers products at big discounts for a limited time and at limited quantities. According to Experian Hitwise, within the U.S., visits to flash sales sites last year grew 109% over the year. In the U.S., the flash sales market is dominated by a mom-and-kid focused e-retailer, Zulily. Data show that Zulily.com leads the pack with a 16% share.
LivingSocial Looks Scattered
Last December, LivingSocial raised $176 million in a round of funding that pegged their valuation at $6 billion. Investors included Lightspeed Ventures, Amazon, and possibly JP Morgan Digital Growth Fund. Despite the injection of money, I maintain my skepticism about their outlandish valuations. The recently revealed Amazon results, which cite LivingSocial’s performance, do little to change my opinion.