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The Art of Wushu: Winning in market PvP
Last time on the Art of Wushu, I promised I would write on how to sell production crafts. Crafting is a big deal in Age of Wushu, so it seemed like a reasonable topic to cover. However, I realized doing so would probably be a mistake. Why? If you followed my advice from two weeks ago, congratulations. You probably noticed a huge nosedive in a few markets: hemp, ramie, iron, and mint all took a huge hit. It's a bit flattering to see how I can write a post on what to sell and readers like you guys take it to heart, flooding the market with supply and crashing the value of these commodities. If I gave advice on production crafting, the same thing would happen. Instead, this week I'm going to talk about real market strategy. Pointing out things that sell doesn't help you if the market takes a nose-dive. Understanding supply and demand curves, market equilibrium, and the importance of market diversity are all long-term tools that will help you regardless of what you're selling.
Report: Customer retention is a major factor for the App Store
Yes, the conclusion of this report might be a little obvious to anyone who's been following the App Store closely, but it's true: Flurry's latest writeup of App Store stats suggests that keeping users playing a game or using an app can be a major factor in that app's success. Flurry filed the apps it follows into a set of four categories, based on star systems. Black Holes feature low amounts of monthly users, and low amounts of retention over a couple 30-day periods. Shooting Stars have put a lot of users together quickly, with high user numbers, but relatively low retention. Red Dwarfs have lots of user retention, but low numbers overall -- these are cult favorites, used by a smaller amount of very loyal people. And finally, Supernovas have it all, in Flurry's estimation: Lots of users that stay with the app for quite a while. When you take those categories over to the average number of minutes of usage per month (in the chart above), then things get really interesting: As you can see, the more retention an app has, the more engaged its users are (and whether you're talking about premium apps or apps that use in-app purchases, more engagement usually means more money made). So this is where Flurry gets its conclusion: User retention is extremely important. Even if an app doesn't take off right away in terms of user numbers (if it's not a Shooting Star, with a lot of users who don't stick around), keeping those users over a longer period grows the user base and that user base stays loyal over time. In the past, a lot of developers have aimed for that Shooting Star status -- they push on big launches, and try to put a huge number of users together very quickly after an app's release. But this report shows that there's another market on the App Store, one that moves a little more slowly (and doesn't collect as many users as quickly), but that can become very large and engaged indeed, sometimes over a matter of months or even years.
Apple starts iPhone payment plans, makes retail deals to grow India's smartphone market
China is no longer an emerging market at this point. It's now the top market in the world for smartphones, and Apple has worked hard to get a foothold in early. So now that China is covered, where's Apple headed to next? India seems to be the answer, as Apple has slashed prices and implemented payment plans in that country, aiming to get the brand there before the market reaches full maturity. India has long been watched by the tech industry as an emerging opportunity. Salaries are rising as smartphone and other technology get cheaper, which makes for a lot of people with money to spend are looking for tech to buy. And so Apple has been making big plans there, adding local distributors, making deals with retailers and providing a big marketing push designed to move people up from cheaper cell phones into the mid-level smartphone market. iPhone shipments to India have tripled over the last quarter or so as well, so the company is definitely expecting an increase in sales. Apple CEO Tim Cook says, however, that India isn't the first country on Apple's list as an emerging market. Still, you take opportunities where you can get them, and it certainly seems like India is on the verge of becoming a real smartphone market juggernaut.
iOS, Android grab 92% of smartphone shipments
The smartphone market is quickly boiling down into a two-party system, so to speak, with both iOS and Android picking up a whopping 92 percent of smartphone shipments over the last quarter of 2012. In 2011, 32 percent of smartphone shipments consisted of other operating systems, like Windows Phone, RIM's Blackberry or Symbian. But in the last year that number has shrunk, to the point where only 7 percent of smartphones shipping are not iOS or Android, and it seems unlikely to rise again. In the same time period, about 20 percent of smartphones shipped were iOS devices, as compared to 70 percent of devices shipped being Android. That may make it seem like Apple is losing a lot of market share, to Google's operating system. And that may be true, but let's not forget why: not only do Android phones tend to be cheaper (which means device makers can make and sell more), but there are also dozens of Android devices available from nearly as many companies, as opposed to Apple's relatively small (and, of course, exclusive) product line. As a platform, Android is shipping more smartphones than Apple is. But comparing the two isn't necessarily the best comparison, especially as a factor of Apple's success in the smartphone market. Regardless, this report shows that the smartphone market in general is more mature than ever: there are currently two big players in terms of smartphone operating systems, and it's going to be harder and harder for anyone else to gain a foothold in the future. [via TMO]
DCM Dealer software platform mines social media for stock sentiment, Wall Street licks its chops
In this episode of "What could possibly go wrong?!", allow us to introduce you to DCM Dealer. Billed as an "online trading platform," this here project was whipped up by the same London-based investment outfit (DCM Capital) that went belly-up after losing some $40 million in assets in just one month during the summer of 2011. Granted, that was a pretty tough time in the market, and it did manage to squeeze out a 1.9 percent gain in the period it was open, but it's still worth keeping in mind. Now, the firm is hoping to catch a second wind with a tool that mines Twitter, Facebook, and the whole of social media in order to pick up clues about the public's view on a stock. Reportedly, it'll spit out real-time ratings from 0 (negative) to 100 (positive), giving investors yet another "leading indicator" on what to invest in flip for a quick buck. Founder Paul Hawtin confesses: "This is not some kind of holy grail of buy-sell signals that's guaranteed to make you money. This is an additional layer of market information...markets are driven by greed and fear, so if you can understand fear and quantify it in real-time, you could use that to protect yourself." We'll leave it to the 99 percent to comment on the idea below.
HTC exec lauds licensing agreement with Apple
Ray Yam is the president of HTC China, and he recently said in an interview with the Economic Observer of China that the company's recent licensing agreement with Apple will "pay off" sometime this new year in 2013. HTC and Apple, you may remember, finally settled a longtime patent disagreement back in November, and Yam says the company is ready and eager to move on. In the interview, he called the lawsuits "a sword hanging over our heads," and said that being free of the disagreement will open up the company to "take broader steps" and "put more energy into innovation." Analysts agree, saying that HTC's access to the licensed part of Apple's patent library means the company has a much better chance at navigating the market of new smartphones going forward. Previously, says one analyst, the company would have to have spent money on workarounds and coming up with alternative solutions to these patents, but now, HTC can move forward onto new innovations rather than trying to remake the past. That's good news for HTC, obviously, and it's good news even for us Apple fans, as it means more competition on innovations in the future. Apple certainly hasn't shared every secret it knows, but at least this agreement means an end to the back-and-forth accusations this case had running in the past. [via BGR]
Chitika: iPad usage still far outweighs tablet competitors
Mobile ad network Chitika has released a report that says the iPad is still far, far ahead in terms of web usage over any other tablets out there. All you need to really know here is that the iPad isn't even on the chart above -- the chart above shows average impressions on tablets per 100 impressions on the iPad, which means that the highest figure up there, from the Amazon Kindle Fire, has only 4.88 impressions per every hundred impressions on the iPad. That's pretty crazy -- the iPad isn't just winning in terms of tablet usage, it's very much dominating. These competing tablets are growing in terms of usage (the Kindle Fire rose by about 20 percent since earlier this month, and Samsung's Galaxy line rose by about 0.3 percent). But those growth rates, in terms of numbers, are tiny compared to the huge audience that's browsing the web on the iPad. And while the numbers have yet to come out, of course, there's no question the iPad mini has only made that audience even larger this holiday season. Apple has a huge lead in the tablet market at this point, and while it certainly can't last forever, it will likely be around for a while. [via Mashable]
NPD: Windows 8 not yet providing boost to slow PC market
Microsoft is pretty happy about how Windows 8 is doing, but 40 million license sales isn't exactly translating to a boon for the PC market. According to NPD, sales of Windows-powered devices are 21 percent lower than they were during the same time period last year -- October 21 through November 17. Of course, Windows 8 didn't actually hit shelves until the 26th, which may have skewed the numbers a bit as consumers held out for the latest and greatest from Redmond. The weakness of the desktop and laptop market are partially to blame, but while license sales for Windows 8 are outpacing its predecessor, there is some cause for concern. Specifically that, after a few weeks, the touch friendly revamp of the OS is only shipping on about 58 percent of new machines. Four weeks after the launch of Windows 7, it was preloaded on 83 percent of new hardware. Worse yet, according to the NPD, tablet sales "have been almost non-existent." Of course, things could pick up as we enter the holiday season, but it's not entirely clear that Windows 8 will be able to lift the sagging PC market on its back. The full PR awaits you after the break.
iPhone now said to be top selling U.S. smartphone
Reuters reports that brisk iPhone 5 sales pushed the iPhone's market share over Android's in the three months ending October 31. This information was shared at the Kantar World Panel today. Apple's share of the market has doubled from a year ago to 48.1 percent. That's very close to the record 49.3 percent Apple pulled off earlier this year. Android's US share dropped to 46.7 percent from 63.3 percent over the same period. Apple is less dominant in Europe, where Android has a 74 percent market share in Germany and 82 percent in Spain. However, iPhone market share in Europe is showing share gains in four major European countries. The iPhone has a 32.7 percent share in the UK. Dominic Sunnebo of Kantar World Panel says, "Apple has always managed to maintain loyalty levels far above the competition, and this has clearly played a part in driving sales of its new device. An impressive 92 percent of existing Apple owners in the US said they will choose an iPhone the next time they upgrade. While loyalty is clearly key, it is also important to make sure that new customers are attracted to your brand. With roughly 60 percent of US iPhone 5 sales coming from existing customers and 40 percent from new consumers, Apple is achieving this at the moment -- a clear sign of the strength of the brand in the US marketplace." Kantar uses consumer panels and market monitoring as the basis for its research.
Pew Research finds 22 percent of adults in US own tablets, low-cost Android on the rise
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that more Americans than ever now own tablets, but if you'd ever wanted some quantifiable data to go along with that homespun wisdom, then the Pew Research Center is glad to help. According to its latest report, 22 percent of US adults now own a tablet of some form. While the iPad remains the dominant player in the space with a 52 percent market share, this figure starkly contrasts the 81 percent share that Pew reported in 2011. As you might expect, Android tablets have made significant inroads and now account for 48 percent of the overall tablet space. Leading the Android charge is the Kindle Fire, which alone accounts for 21 percent of all tablets sold. It's worth pointing out that Pew's survey was conducted before the release of either the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD, which means that even the most recent information is a bit behind the curve. You'll find a press release after the break that provides a much broader take on Pew's latest findings in the mobile space, but those who want to go straight to the meat should hit up the source link below.
Isis mobile payment system primed for September launch, supported devices revealed
You've known it was coming, but Isis has been so quiet on the mobile payments front in the past few months that you might've forgotten the score. Now, the joint venture backed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon has announced that it'll debut its system in Austin and Salt Lake City next month. At least part of the delay is attributed to its shift in strategy, when Isis shelved its plans to process payments through the carriers themselves and instead work with MasterCard and Visa. Isis representatives have declined to elaborate on future expansion plans. Coinciding with the recent update that enabled Isis support for T-Mobile's Galaxy S II, MasterCard has come clean with a list of devices that'll receive similar treatment. Specifically, those in the US can expect the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, One X, Amaze 4G, Galaxy S III to gain Isis support. Naturally, the possibility remains open for other devices as well, and if you'd like to see the complete list of candidates, make sure to check out the PDF below.
Updated Google Play app reveals gift card support, wish list coming soon?
If the images and link settings Android Police has dug up from the most recent (v3.8.15) Google Play APK that's rolling out are correct, we could see a coupe more features coming to the Android app and media store soon. First up are very fleshed out menus for the redemption of Play Store gift cards, perfect for users that aren't enthused about putting their credit card info out there and would rather purchase a few bucks prepaid and then spend them as they will. Also contained within the APK but not activated or accessible by default is some sort of wish list functionality. Hit the source link for all the images and screens that have been found so far, well have to wait and see when these pop up in a future updated or get activated later on. [Thanks, Cullen]
NPD: Apple, Samsung control 55 percent of the smartphone market, prepaid sales up 91 percent
According to NPD Group, Apple and Samsung control more than half of the American smartphone market. The second-quarter figures reveal that while contract phone sales are flatter than month-old soda, those for pre-paid handsets have shot up by 91 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The upswing is credited to last year's flagship handsets falling down the price ladder, snaring lower-income customers who were unable to afford to be early adopters. Cornering that element of the market has helped the battling duo increase their sales by 43 percent, leaving the rest of the technology pantheon scraping around for crumbs. Speaking of which, HTC is a distant third, having 15 percent of the market, while Motorola (12 percent) and LG (six percent) round out the top five.
Editorial: HTC's departure from South Korea proves a tough fight for foreign brands
HTC's closure of its South Korean office may seem yet another blow to the company this year, but don't be alarmed: we saw it coming. It's a given that Peter Chou's gang is cutting back in response to its recent weak performance, but the more interesting takeaway here is the fact that the South Korean smartphone market is one tough nut for foreign brands to crack open. Just walk into any carrier shop in Seoul and you'll see the shelves dominated by devices from Samsung, LG and Pantech. If you're lucky, you may spot the odd Sony, Motorola and HTC phones cowering in a corner. So why is that the case? Let's take a look at the how it all started.
EVE Evolved: Four things MMOs can learn from EVE
New MMOs are released every year, and we often see them repeating the same mistakes as previous games or releasing without tried-and-tested mechanics. It just seems like common sense to learn from the years of mistakes and successes of other companies and previous titles, but it isn't always clear how to apply game mechanics or lessons from dissimilar types of game. EVE Online is as dissimilar from the typical MMO as you can get, but there are lessons to be learned from its turbulent nine-year history that can be applied to all MMO development. EVE has helped prove that you can start small and grow rather than raking in huge launch sales and then fading away. The past year has also shown conclusively that iteration on existing features can trump big expansions. EVE's market system and single-shard server have both been commended countless times over the game's nine-year history, and yet in all that time, few games have tried to replicate those features. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at four lessons learned from EVE Online that could easily be applied to other MMOs.
The Daily Grind: How do you prefer to get your money in-game?
No matter what game you're playing, you need money. Luckily, pretty much every game on the market also has multiple options to earn that money. There are things to beat up and quests to be done, but usually there are other options beyond that. Playing the auction house in World of Warcraft, running teleportation services in Final Fantasy XI, or any number of business ventures in EVE Online allow you to make your money however you see fit. Some players find that manipulating auction house prices and playing a virtual stockbroker is the most fun path to riches. Others prefer to just make their money through quests, and if they wind up a bit poorer for it, so be it. So how do you like to make money when you're playing a game? Is it more on the intricate market manipulation side of things, or is it a fairly straightforward practice of just clearing content? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Gartner: mobile phone sales fell two percent last quarter, Samsung confirmed as numero uno
Gartner's latest dispatch reveals a wobbly global trade in mobile phones. Although our love of smartphones continued to blossom, with sales of that subcategory up nearly 45 percent, it wasn't enough to stave off a two percent overall decline compared to the same quarter in 2011. A total of 419.1 million handsets were sold, representing the first hiccup after nearly three years of growth and leading analysts to point fingers at a slow down in the Asia / Pacific region as well as a lack of product launches at the start of the year. Meanwhile, these figures also confirm what was already gleaned from IDC's shipments data: Samsung has knocked Nokia off its 14-year-old perch to become the padrone of the mobile phone market, with a cut of over 20 percent. It also replaced Apple as the number one smartphone vendor, claiming ownership of almost half of that segment. Damn, it feels good to be a pebble.
Samsung shuns point-and-shoot cameras, switches factory to pricier mirrorless types
Samsung's main camera plant in China is being converted to produce high-end mirrorless cameras instead of cheaper compacts. That's a steel-and-concrete sign that the manufacturer is trying to boost digital imaging profits by focusing on cameras with higher margins, and it implies a level adaptability that other companies can only dream of. To drive the point home, Samsung's imaging chief Han Myoung-sup told the WSJ that "low-end compact camera offerings will gradually be reduced" to make way for the "mirrorless segment." A wise move? Well, Sammy's latest NX range of interchangeable-lens (ILC) mirrorless models start at around $700, which is at least twice the going rate for a decent point-and-shoot. While that higher price point may seem off-putting, demand for mirrorless cameras is actually expected to explode by 60 percent this year, according to IDC projections -- while sales of compacts are retreating in the face of ever more powerful smartphone snappers. Ultimately, Samsung's business plan could be good news for us end-users too, if a newly expanded NX range brings the entry point for ILCs down by $200 or so -- although that could just be wishful thinking on our part.
IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles
Research firm IDC predicted there would be a steep drop off in tablet shipments during Q1 of 2012. Following the surge of sales during the holiday season, a fall of 34 percent, while certainly staggering, is hardly surprising. But there's bad news: shipments failed to meet even those bleak predictions. Shipments fell by 38.4 percent, thanks in large part to Android slates stumbling dramatically. After a reasonably impressive holiday season, IDC expected Android would continue to make inroads in the market. Instead, the number of units moved dropped drastically, allowing Apple to not just maintain its position at the top of the heap, but assert an unquestionable dominance not seen since the early days of Honeycomb. After accounting for 54.7 percent of all tablet shipments in Q4 of 2011, the iPad opened up an impressive lead, claiming 68 percent of the market in Q1 of 2012. What's more, after catapulting to the number two spot by shipping 4.8 million units at the end of last year, Amazon fell to number three -- accounting for only 4 percent of tablets shipped, a precipitous fall from 16.8 percent last quarter. That's good news for Samsung, however, which reclaimed its place as first runner up slate wars. For more, check out the PR after the break.
HP reclaims top spot in PC sales, market as a whole climbs 21 percent
Well, Apple's reign atop the list of the world's top PC makers was short lived. After clawing its way into the lead, if you counted the iPad as a PC, HP is back atop the heap -- even with Cupertino's tablet-inflated numbers. According to Canalys, the Palo Alto company shipped 15.8 million units in the first quarter of 2012, barely sneaking passed Apple by 40,000 computers. Of course, remove Apple's 11.8 million iPads, and it's not even a competition. Lenovo, Acer and Dell rounded out the top five, with the total market shooting up 21 percent over the same time last year. However, there is plenty of reason to believe we won't see client PC fly out the door at such an incredible rate. Amazingly, according to Canalys, tablets accounted for 40 percent of all PC shipments in the US. For more details check out the PR after the break.
