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Netflix snatches 9 millionth subscriber, says Watch Instantly still not profitable
While snagging 500,000 Blu-ray subscribers is admirable, the big picture helps to explain Netflix's dominance even more. Sometime during the third quarter of 2008, the rental giant managed to secure its nine millionth customer. Needless to say, the DVD rental portion of the business is doing just fine, but CFO Barry McCarthy confessed that its Watch Instantly digital delivery aspect was still "a tax on the P&L." Essentially, he reiterated that it was an investment in the future, noting that if it didn't start it, someone else would have. He also proclaimed that more content could easily be added to its library of online-accessible titles, but that it wouldn't come free. At present time, we suspect Watch Instantly isn't really hurting for users, which means you could very well be hurting for a new wave of content for some time to come.
Internet leaders peg phones as leading medium for internet use by 2020
A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts -- which undoubtedly included one Kim Jong Il -- found that by 2020, the leading method for accessing the intarwebz will not be highly potent Alienware gaming rigs, but cellphones. Granted, the finding isn't all that shocking considering just how ubiquitous mobiles are in comparison to full-fledged PCs, but it's still a rather astounding hypothesis. Comically enough, these very "leaders" couldn't come to an agreement on whether the widespread access along with other tech advances would "lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives." Ah well, we've only got a dozen years to find out, no need to spin your wheels now.[Via mocoNews]
Nokia and Motorola dominate China's smartphone market
Really, it's not even fair. A recent look at Q3 2008 smartphone sales in China has found that together, Nokia and Motorola encompass around 90% of all handsets sold in the nation (real ones, we presume). The CCID Consulting report also points out that Nokia's share alone is a dominating 69.3%, with its wide range of choices spanning from low-end to ultra-luxurious helping it to hook consumers from all walks of life. Picking up the silver is Moto with a respectable 19.9%, while Dopod snags the bronze with just 4.7%. Overall, handset sales in China were practically flat from Q2, which -- in today's world -- isn't particularly awful. For the number lovers out there (you know who you are), check the read link for even more statistics.[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of SymbianWebBlog]
AT&T hits goal of one million U-verse TV subscribers
Just a day after announcing that U-verse TV was lit in select areas of Raleigh and Orlando, AT&T has reached its long-time goal of securing one million U-verse TV subscribers before the end of 2008. And yeah, the outfit's chief executive of telecom operations totally called this last week, but we're willing to bet he had access to some pretty confidential (and telling) figures. At any rate, the milestone has been hit less than 2.5 years after the service first launched, reaching some 79 major markets in 16 states. Kudos AT&T -- now how's about you get those expansion efforts moving forward at a frantic pace? You know you want two million by July.
Wireless HDTV products backed with cash, still barely available
ABI Research definitely put its thinking cap on for this one, as it recently found that wireless HDTV vendors are still pouring cash into products, yet few are available for consumption in North America. It's a trend we've watched develop, and we cringe to think that it's not getting better. Chances are we'll see a new wave of cord-free HD products at CES 2009, all while we wait patiently for cord-free wares from CES 2008 to make it out of the testing phase. Sadly, the report doesn't actually mention anything we didn't already know -- companies are still out there trying to prove their format is superior, all while actual manufacturers dillydally around and miss one opportunity after another. And really, with prices like $1,499 for the Belkin FlyWire, we wonder if there's any mass market appeal even if the shipments do begin to flow.
Motorola's ride at the top nearly over, or so says likely accurate research
Back in November, Apple's iPhone 3G overtook the almighty RAZR as the best-selling handset on US soil, and merely a week later, analysts pinpointed Motorola (and Sony Ericsson, in fairness) as being handset makers that could have a tough time "weathering the storm." Now, a new piece of research from MultiMedia Intelligence has it that Motorola's market share dominance is about to end, and end quickly. If forecasts are accurate, rivals LG and Samsung will surpass Moto in 2009 (in America), and with RIM and Apple selling their fair share as well, it's doubtful Motorola will be able to simply swipe away users of other handsets without something revolutionary on the table. Hear that Moto? Revolutionary? We love to be surprised, you know.[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of SynergyGroup]
AT&T operations chief says it'll hit one million U-verse TV subs next week
It had its doubters, and this economy didn't help matters, but AT&T will reportedly convince its one millionth convert that fiber is the best way next week. According to the outfit's president and chief executive of telecom operations John Stankey, it will hit its goal of having one million U-verse TV customers by the end of the year. He was quoted as saying that "operationally, [the firm] has hit its stride," noting that it was slated to make the fiber-based programming service available to some 17 million American homes before 2009. Kudos on (almost) reaching a milestone, AT&T -- now, when's the next big wave of expansion?
Analyst finds DVD sales down, Blu-ray trends "encouraging"
As the year 2008 draws to a close, we're seeing report after report talking about Blu-ray sales and / or adoption. The latest to focus on the former comes from Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield, who has reportedly stated that new DVD release sales are down "almost double digits," even despite respectable performance in the first half of the year. Said figure may help explain why the rental business is doing so well, but we digress. Greenfield also notes that DVDs are slowly but surely losing floor space to BDs, and given that not nearly as many folks are buying the high-def format just yet, it's not exactly helping the DVD cause. Beyond all that, he notes that Blu-ray trends are "encouraging," with titles that appeal to gamers (and thus, PS3 owners) doing particularly well. Then again, it's easy to look good during the holidays, but how will things look when everyone's third home equity loan is dried up in March?[Image courtesy of BusinessWeek]
Standalone Blu-ray player sales triple over Black Friday
Black Friday sales overall may have been weak this year, but high-def sales were something special. HDTVs were up, and judging by the latest DisplaySearch numbers, so were Blu-ray players. Not including Sony's PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Disc player revenue during the week of Thanksgiving in the US and Black Friday "more than tripled from a year earlier after Sony and Samsung dropped their prices of entry-level machines below $200." Over $30 million was generated on sales of 147,000 Blu-ray decks, and overall prices averaged $200 compared to nearly $400 just a year ago. Of course, we can't say that the momentum will carry now that prices are hovering back up, but at least the BDA will have one particularly bright spot to brag over when it looks back at 2008.
Blu-ray recorders surpass 50% market share for all DVD recorders in Japan
Okay, so having half of the DVD recorders in Japan be of the Blu-ray variety is pretty impressive in and of itself, but considering that this same statistic sat at 30% in late October (with players included), we can't help but be floored. Going back to October 2007, BD recorders made up just 10% of the market, and perpetually falling prices are thanked for the rapid increase over the past year and change. Additionally, new research has found that "Blu-ray Disc recorders are replacing DVD recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD recorders replaced VHS recorders," and not surprisingly, the availability of low-cost HDTVs is credited with helping to speed the transition. Just imagine these figures post-Christmas.
Netflix acquires its 500,000th Blu-ray subscriber, is quite pleased
No one really blinked when Netflix announced that it would begin implementing a $1 per month fee for the right to rent Blu-ray Discs, but quite a few folks took notice when it said it hoped to have half a million of these very customers before 2009. Here we are just weeks from next year, and Netflix has already surpassed its goal. The outfit's CFO stated today that the rate at which it was signing up new BD subscribers was actually quicker than anticipated, and chief content officer Ted Sarandos confessed that it would begin "promoting Blu-ray inside its mailing envelopes next year." No surprises here, really -- the first thing we'd do after coming home with a $128 Blu-ray player and no overpriced films would be to fire up a new account to get the rentals flowing.
The Man can't hold HTC down as it sees highest revenues ever
For the vast majority of mobile makers, the past few months have been ones they'd love to forget. For HTC, it could actually throw a party in remembrance. The outfit responsible for the Touch Pro / Diamond, Touch HD and T-Mobile G1 (among others) has reportedly witnessed its revenues skyrocket to a record high of around $528.6 million in November, which is up nearly 11% sequentially and 22.1% on the year. Oh HTC, just think how much higher that figure would be if you'd loose the Touch HD on US soil...[Via WMPowerUser, image courtesy of CNET]
High-def found to increase ratings in sports programming
Go ahead, pick your jaw up off of the floor. We'll wait. On the real, you can't possibly be surprised to hear that high-def makes sports entirely more palatable, and a recent Nielsen study on the matter has found that HD broadcasting of sporting events has increased ratings on those very events by quite a margin. The numbers show that at least 22% of US households receive HDTV programming (up from 10% in September 2007), and its ratings for TV sports are 20% higher than the US overall. Even though we know the answer (or, so we think), we'll pose the question to you -- are you more inclined to tune to sports if an event is in HD?[Via SED-HDTV]
Sony's BD-Live network closes in on one million visits
We're not so sure if this proves folks are interested or disinterested in Blu-ray-based interactivity, but Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is suggesting its the former. According to the Sony VP of new business development Rich Marty, the studio's BD-Live network is just about to reach one million visits worldwide since launching Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story back in April. At first glance, it's easy to assume that one million hits is a lot, but without a real benchmark to go by, it's hard to accurately judge the impressiveness of the milestone. At any rate, we're glad to see that BD-Live isn't being implemented in vain, and we have all ideas the interactive chat with The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan will likely set the all all-time record for simultaneous BD-Live logins. Speaking of, will you be there?
Poll: Do you rent or buy your Blu-ray Discs?
Look, we're as tired of hearing about "the economy" as you are, but even disregarding that, Blu-ray Discs are expensive. Darn expensive if we should say so ourselves. We get the feeling that they'll start falling to line up more evenly with Blu-ray hardware, but given that most flicks are still quite a bit at retail, we're curious to see the ratio of renters to buyers. Also, we're pretty sure most everyone would gladly answer this with "Both!," but we're concerned with what you do most. The majority of the time, are you a renter or a buyer? Has that changed since your days with DVD?[Image courtesy of Parislemon] %Poll-23404%
MultiChoice sees 26% increase in South African subscribers, eyes more HD for next year
Things may not be all peaches and cream for every programming provider out there, but we'd say the cards are playing out just fine for Africa's MultiChoice. The carrier has just recently reported a 26% increase in subscribers over the past year, bringing its total installed base to 830,000 in South Africa. Of course, bigwigs are already looking for ways to get that figure up even higher, and expanding high-def is obviously on the brain. Eben Greyling, CEO of MultiChoice Africa has noted that more HD should be seen around September of next year once the outfit has "migrated to a new satellite which supports the HD format," and it'll also be bringing video-on-demand with it in 2009. Atta way to show 'em how it's done, MultiChoice.
Smartphone numbers are in: iPhone sales exceed Windows Mobile sales for first time
Gartner's latest and greatest analysis of the global smartphone industry is in, and there are quite a few interesting nuggets tucked within all those percentages. For starters, the sector still managed to grow 11.5% in Q3 2008 compared to a year prior, but that increase is the smallest since it began tracking. Of course, given the current economic climate, we'd say it's a win to see any number not in the negative. Moving on, we see Nokia maintaining its numero uno status with 42.4% market share, though it did recognize a rare decline in sales of 3% year-on-year; as for RIM, its BlackBerry phone sales increased an amazing 81.7% in Q3. We're also clued in to why Apple was rumored to be hacking its iPhone production some 40% in Q4, as the company has some two million units of inventory built up in the supply channel. Finally, we're told that "for the first time (meaning in this quarter), iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America," and beyond that, "open-source initiatives like Android and Symbian Foundation [are set to] challenge Windows Mobile's licensing model in the short-term." Need we really reiterate how badly WinMo 7 is needed?
Palm's preliminary quarter-end results show drooping revenues, bleak outlook
Remember when we used to write about Palm in order to talk about its devices and / or operating system(s)? Man, those were the days. Now, it just seems like one sadness-filled report after another, and just days after hearing that it would be cutting an undisclosed amount of employees in order to trim operating expenses, in comes even more doom and gloom courtesy of its preliminary Q2 (fiscal year 2009) results. The company is expecting to record revenues ranging between $190 million to $195 million, far short of the $331 million Wall Street had been counting on. The shortfall was blamed on "a difficult economic environment [which had] greatly intensified the negative impact on product sales." Of course, the visionary Ed Colligan (CEO) still maintains that by reducing its cost structure it can "launch next-generation products as planned," but seriously, why should we believe that line now? Time to put up or shut up, Palm.[Via CNET, image courtesy of PalmFocus]
Beijing Olympics, DTV transition to thank for skyrocketing STB adoption in China
While we doubted ABI Research's assertion set-top-box shipments would peak in just over three short years, new data from the house of CCID Consulting sure helps substantiate that very notion. The outfit has taken a cold, hard look at STB adoption in China, and what it found was that citizens were snapping 'em up this year like never before. The numbers show that sales were up 83.4% for the first three quarters of 2008 compared to the same window a year ago, and a couple of main occurrences were to thank. First off, the drive towards ditching analog signals in favor of digital has increased adoption and awareness, and also, many locals picked up boxes in order to either catch the Beijing Olympics more clearly or in high-definition. The takeaway? If China's already buying in big to set-top-boxes, maybe that 2012 prediction isn't so off base after all.
BDA gives European update: Blu-ray lookin' good across the pond
Despite the general lameness of the economy at large, Blu-ray seems to be faring at least decently well overseas. We already heard that Blu-ray Disc sales were up 396% in the UK year-to-date, and we're getting even more positive vibes from a BDA European Promotions Group seminar held in Amsterdam this month. According to Frank Simonis, chairman of the aforesaid group, [Blu-ray] is "experiencing strong and solid growth in every national territory [in Europe]," even with the economic situation taken into consideration. Also in attendance was FutureSource Consulting's Jim Bottoms, who boldly predicted that "in Europe, by 2012, about one-quarter of homes will have a standalone Blu-ray Disc player." 'Course, that's just wild speculation at this point, but at least we've a target to look back on and see just how accurate this fellow was / wasn't. [Warning: PDF read link]
