categories
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
Dolby’s Market Cap Takes A Hit
During its third quarter earnings call, Dolby (NYSE:DLB), the industry leader in audio technology, announced that Microsoft will not be including Dolby’s technology in Windows 8. Dolby says this would affect its licensing revenue only in 2013, but its shares have plunged 30% since the announcement. Let’s take a closer look.
Google Continues To Dominate Search Advertising
Media researcher MagnaGlobal estimates that search-based advertising will grow 23% over the year in 2011 to reach $37.7 billion. The researcher further estimates that Internet ad spending will climb 20% this year. comScore data for September indicates that within search in the U.S., Google’s market share continued to rise to 65.3% from 64.8% a month ago, with Yahoo following at 15.5% and Microsoft at 14.7%.
Leapfrog Enters Tablet Market
NPD’s Kids and Entertainment Content – 2011 Edition, reports that for every dollar children aged 2 to 14 spent on entertainment content, 79% was directed toward physical format content, while 21% was spent on digital content. In 2009, digital content represented 15% of each dollar spent by children on entertainment. Seventy-two percent of the content purchased comprises music and is followed by movies, video games, television shows, books, and apps. Over the past two years, digitally acquired content has grown the fastest for games at 17%, followed by music’s growth of 14% and movie download growth at 13% annually. Digital growth is driving gaming companies to focus on improving their digital solutions.
Vistaprint Continues Steady Growth
According to a survey of 750 micro business owners in the U.S., 64% of respondents indicated that they were planning to invest in marketing and business promotion expenses during the year. Eighty-eight percent of owners are planning to increase spending over with the previous year, and 34% suggested they would expand the use of social media/networking during the year. Increasing marketing spending by small and micro businesses is helping to drive growth among online print supplies and services provider, Vistaprint (NASDAQ:VPRT).
Brightcove’s IPO Prospects
Market reports estimate the outsourced online video platform market to be worth $5.8 billion by the year 2015. For 2011, the market is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion. A study by Cisco Systems revealed that Internet video will amount for 40% of all consumer Internet traffic worldwide during the year. By 2015, that percentage is expected to grow to 62%, making the online video market a booming one.
Bazaarvoice’s IPO Prospects
Within the U.S. alone, Forrester estimates social media marketing to be worth $3.1 billion by the year 2014. The market was worth $0.72 billion in 2009, which makes for a projected annual growth rate of 34%. Texas-based Bazaarvoice is a leading marketing company that is helping more than 1,200 brands tap into the social media market.
Xilinx Positioning Itself As A One-Stop-Shop
Last month, both Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) cut their guidance for the third quarter. Earlier in the year, Xilinx was on an acquisition spree, buying AutoESL, Omiino, Modelware, and Sarance Technologies. Let’s take closer look at the recent performance of programmable logic device (PLD) market leaders, Xilinx and Altera.
As Enrollment Declines, Apollo Group And DeVry Look For Expansion Strategies
Driven by the tighter government regulations, declining student enrollments in the for-profit education sector continued to be a cause for concern. A quarter since the gainful employment regulation came into being, new student enrollment has fallen by more than 15% over the year. To help drive growth, the industry’s players are looking out to acquisitions.