Category Archives: earnings

83 Per Cent of Facebook’s Daily UK Users are Mobile

In a bid to bring on more advertisers to add to the 1m plus on board already, Facebook has for the first time revealed daily and monthly users in the UK and US, as well as how many active mobile users there are in each country. Further country-specific data, promised at regular intervals, is also on the way, according to a spokesperson. We’ve pulled together all of the latest stats from Facebook to give you an idea of how mobile usage is growing worldwide, in each country and as a share of advertising.

Global user stats Q2, 2013

Monthly users: 1.15bn = +3.6 per cent q/q and +21 per cent y/y
Daily users: 669m = +5.1 per cent q/q and +26 per cent y/y
Monthly mobile users: 819m = +9 per cent q/q and +51 per cent y/y
Daily mobile users: 469m = +10 per cent q/q
Mobile-only: 219m = 20 per cent of total monthly users, more than Twitter has in total
No. of mobile page impressions: 65bn per day
Ad revenue: $1.16bn = 88 per cent of $1.81bn total revenue
Mobile ad revenue: $656m = 36 per cent of total revenue, +10 percentage points q/q
No. of advertisers: +1m worldwide

US user stats Q2, 2013

Monthly users: 179m
Daily users: 128m
Monthly mobile users: 142m = 79 per cent of monthly users
Daily mobile users: 101m = 78 per cent of daily US users and 20 per cent of total global daily mobile users

UK user stats Q2, 2013

Monthly users: 33m
Daily users: 24m
Monthly mobile users: 26m = 78 per cent of monthly UK users
Daily mobile users: 20m = 83 per cent of daily UK users

Other

Facebook for Every Phone users: 100m

Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/83-cent-facebooks-daily-uk-users-are-mobile#9v1GseSETCLd3Vjk.99

3 to go 4G in Q4

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3 has reported a record £1bn revenue for the first half of 2013, with operating profit more than tripling from the same period last year, up to £86m from £26m.

The company has added 697,000 customers during this time – 168,000 of them in Q2, 2013 – with many opting for the operator’s all-you-can-eat 3G contracts.

Revenue from calls, texts and data reported in the company’s H1 earnings remained flat at £667m – despite CEO David Dyson revealing in June that data usage per person had increased from 1.1GB to 1.8GB every month – but handset revenue increased 30 per cent to £321m in H1.

In a bid to offer greater transparency, 3 has changed the way it measures its customer base, for the first time counting only active accounts used in the last 90 days, of which there are 7.5m, as opposed to the number of people registered with the company in total. This might give the impression that the operator has lost 1.7m customers since it reported Q1 results in March – but these are likely to be prepaid customers who are no longer using their SIM.

Going 4G

The UK’s newest mobile operator, which struggled from 2003 until 2010 to turn a profit, will be shifting its attention to using 4G spectrum allocation by the end of this year. “We’re on track to launch in Q4 and we will offer 4G at no extra charge,” said Guy Middleton, head of corporate communications at 3. “When we switch on our 4G network well over a million of our customers will already have a 4G device, so they will get automatic and hassle-free access in 4G areas without the need to change plans or SIM cards. Everyone on 3 with a 4G device will be able to enjoy our 4G services as we roll out the network across the country to add capacity to what is already the UK’s fastest 3G network.”

The company says its dual carrier 3G network is already 100 times faster than it was when it launched in the UK and claims that its customers might already see speeds in excess of 20MBps. Ofcom considers speeds above 6MBps as a 4G experience. 3’s CEO stated in June that the operator is looking to ensure it has enough capacity rather than headline speeds when its 4G service goes live.

Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/3-go-4g-q4#1QMoJgblFZDXKdkl.99

Analysis: Yahoo’s Q2 Results and Mayer’s First Year as CEO

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Yahoo’s Q2 earnings call is something of a judgement on Marissa Mayer’s first 12 months in the job – as she took over as CEO almost exactly a year ago – but the mixed picture shows that much of the hard work is still to be done.

GAAP revenue stood at $1.14bn (£750m), a seven per cent decrease on a year ago, but on a brighter note, profits increased by 46 per cent to $331m, largely as a result of Yahoo’s investment in Chinese eCommerce site, Alibaba. If you take revenues minus traffic acquisition costs (the money internet companies pay out to affiliates and other third parties who drive traffic to their sites), revenues are down just 1 per cent from $1.08bn to $1.07bn, and remain flat from the previous quarter. Yahoo’s display revenue was $472m, a 12 per cent decrease compared to a year ago, and search was down nine per cent to $418m.

Reacting to the results, Karsten Weide, IDC’s program VP of digital media and entertainment, told Mobile Marketing: “Yahoo’s stock price has gone up by 70 per cent since Marissa Mayer took over, and that has made a lot of people happy. However, most of that growth was due the perceived value of Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba. Alibaba will soon go public, and people think it is going to send a lot of money Yahoo’s way, and theirs.

“In terms of Yahoo’s core business, not much has happened that would justify this increase in stock price. Display advertising has been weak lately. For one, that’s because a lot of display advertising now goes mobile, and Yahoo is weak on the mobile platform. For another, a lot of advertising agencies now want to buy advertising automatically and in this new, so-called ‘programmatic trading’ segment, Yahoo is weak, while Google and Facebook are strong.”

Acquisitions

Yahoo spent a net $1bn in cash for acquisitions during the period, $970m of this on Tumblr. Mayer counts eight buyouts, including Astrid, GoPollGo, MileWise, Loki Studios, Tumblr, Playerscale, Ghostbird and Rondee, plus Summly, although this closed late in Q1 and was announced in the previous earnings call. Eight of these had some mobile element to them, everything from the Summly news aggregator to Astrid’s popular productivity apps and location-aware gaming from Loki Studios.

“Generally, companies of their size are buying mobile start-ups – they need the talent, especially user interface and user experience, along with audience and ideas,” said Julie Ask, VP and principal analyst at Forrester. “Consumers’ time is increasingly spent on mobile devices – whether a phone or a tablet or other. Yahoo and others who depend on ad revenue need large, engaged audiences there – not only for growth, but also to maintain a revenue base.”

While six of these ‘acqui-hire’ companies have closed and been rolled into Yahoo’s mobile teams out of NYC and California, including putting Summly centre stage in the new Yahoo app, Tumblr and cross-platform back-end gaming service Playerscale have remained intact, with Astrid, which had 4m users in September last year, to remain in operation for 90 days from 1 May.

Yahoo believes that the combination of Tumblr and Yahoo will grow its audience to more than 1bn monthly visitors from 300m in Q1. Although a great deal has been made of Yahoo’s aggressive acquisition strategy, totalling 12 for the first half of this year, Google has actually made almost 150 acquisitions in its 12-year history, compared to Yahoo’s 83 in 16 years.

Marcos Sanchez, VP Global Corporate Communications at App Annie, is positive about the work being done to change Yahoo’s fortunes. “From all accounts, Mayer has been doing a great job of breathing life back in to Yahoo, from re-focusing, to improving company morale to revamping products with a definite mobile bent,” he said.

“The mobile products have been streamlined and she’s put a focus on usability, which is likely to be a contributing factor to the apps at least not losing ground. From an acquisition standpoint, don’t forget, there are many reasons for an acquisition, and not just for a technology. Mayer has proven savvy even here, shuttering some, keeping a few alive, but maintaining teams that are focused on bringing yahoo back to its’ glory days.”

Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/analysis-yahoos-q2-earnings-and-meyers-first-year-ceo#pGVPFJh7WI2b55Gf.99

Microsoft Promises Cheaper Windows 8 Tabs in Q3 Earnings Call

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Microsoft has announced revenue of $20.49bn for its third quarter ended 31 March, an increase of 18 per cent year-on-year.

The Entertainment and Devices division, which includes Windows Phone devices and with games console, posted revenue of $2.53bn, an increase of 56 per cent from a year earlier. The Windows division, including Surface tablets and PCs, saw a year-on-year revenue increase of 23 per cent to $5.7bn.

Windows Phone ‘momentum’

Although Windows Phone is trailing far behind Android and iOS, Steve Ballmer, CEO, said on an earnings call that he is happy with its performance so far: “Momentum with Windows Phone continues to build. The device is now available in a broad range of price points. We’re receiving great reviews and carrier support continues to grow.

“We now have over 10 per cent share in several countries, but realise there is still a lot of work ahead to break through in some key markets. The growing awareness of Windows Phone has sustained innovation from our hardware partners, and we feel well-positioned to continue our momentum.”

The company’s CFO, Peter Klein, who is stepping down at the end of the financial year, said he expects the final quarter revenue growth in the Enterainment and Devices division to be in the mid-teens. In the Windows division, he said that manufacturer revenues will be hit by declining sales of PCs but it will be working to increase its tablet share.

Low-end Windows 8 tablets
Asked how Microsoft intends to increase its share of the tablet market, Klein said that Microsoft has already increased distribution on Surface to 22 countries and 70 retailers, “and we’ll continue to look to expand that. Not just expanding, but improving the experience. And that’s true not just for Surface, but for broadly Windows 8 devices. So we’ll be investing against that for both Surface and a broader array of Windows 8 devices at multiple price points, including lower price points going forward.”

“The biggest thing we’re doing is helping OEMs develop new and improved user experiences across the board, across size, across price point and deliver a really compelling Windows 8 experience,” Klein said. “And it’s not just the devices. It’s chips, it’s the apps, it’s the buying experience, it’s the user interface. So we’re really focused on all five or six of those dimensions going forward.

“As we look towards the future, we have a solid foundation of products and services in market, and our leadership team is collectively focused on advancing every one of our businesses. You can expect to hear more about the specific actions we are taking over the next few months.”

Written for and first published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/microsoft-promises-windows-8-tablets-lower-price-points