The spatial computing ecosystem is on the uptick with the wider availability of head mounted devices (HMD). Apple and Meta’s commitment to developing HMDs is existential to conquer the enormous technical hurdles these devices continue to face. 

Apple has chosen to maroon the Vision Pro with a lack of controllers and other design choices making it reliant on mostly passive entertainment. In total contrast, Meta’s deep engagement in gaming and 3D experiences showcases the potential for the HMD category.

Live sports is the outstanding use case for TV experiences on VR headsets, with exclusive NBA VR programming on Quest bringing new levels of immersion and presence, while gaming, and its developers, will still remain the dominant driver for VR and MR for the rest of the decade.

The CMA's provisional findings on the Vodafone/Three merger reiterate its concerns around the impact on the retail and wholesale market but its previous issues regarding mobile towers sharing with BT/EE have been satisfied 

Crucially, the CMA seems somewhat dismissive of structural remedies, although hasn't ruled them out entirely. Remedies sought in the form of network and pricing commitments seem somewhat unnecessary, but nonetheless workable 

We now expect the Vodafone Three merger to gain approval in December, with remedy detail negotiated over the coming months—a very significant positive development for the sector 

Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox unit sales crashed in the last quarter, despite promotional discounting. Neither company appears able to reverse a clear consumer shift away from fixed consoles. 

Nintendo Switch outsold Xbox and nearly matched PlayStation sales, even with the Switch 2 set to launch in 2025. 

A radical change in hardware strategy and leadership will be the best solution for Microsoft to demonstrate a growth narrative following its acquisition of Activision. Gamescom this month may provide more clues.

VMO2 survived the hammer blow of lower inflation-linked mobile price increases in Q2 with substantially unchanged revenue and EBITDA growth, helped by improving broadband ARPU

However, both mobile contract and broadband subs suffered declines, likely driven by issues with serving existing customers as well as attracting new ones, and these trends have to improve for the company to return to top and bottom line growth

Guidance implies that EBITDA growth will worsen in H2, but this would be good news in our view if it is driven by expenditure to support improved subscriber growth across broadband and mobile 

Vodafone/H3G/VMO2 have announced a spectrum-trading and towers-sharing deal, allaying potential spectrum concerns around the proposed Vodafone/H3G merger, although BT may argue that it is short of some critical spectrum bands.

The towers sharing agreement incorporates H3G spectrum into the VMO2/Vodafone Beacon agreement and appears to expand the agreement onto some of H3G's current sites.

We estimate a c.70% increase in VMO2 capacity from this deal and 5% for the industry as a whole (in addition to the 25% from the Vodafone/Three merger). BT/EE made a strong argument for spectrum reallocation in its merger objection, and some validity to that argument may or may not remain post-trade

Retail media, a ‘new’ form of advertising, is growing the overall advertising market with a highly personalisable and attributable offering, as other targeting mechanisms are threatened by the deprecation of third-party cookies.

Omnichannel retailers are ramping up third-party ad sales to boost margins, alongside less visible but significant growth opportunities for sales of first-party customer data for ad targeting elsewhere.

Long led by Amazon in the UK, the retail media is now shifting the broader advertising ecosystem: competition and innovation are rising as retailers seize growth opportunities, with incumbents threatened by disintermediation.

On 4 June 2024, Enders Analysis co-hosted the annual Media and Telecoms 2024 & Beyond Conference with Deloitte, sponsored by Barclays, Salesforce, Financial Times, and Adobe.

With over 580 attendees and over 40 speakers from the TMT sector, including leading executives and industry experts, the conference focused on how new technologies, regulation, and infrastructure will impact the future of the industry.

This is the edited transcript of Session Two, covering: Sky’s strategy; audience engagement with sport; the role of AI in journalism; and Amazon’s UK business and philanthropy. Videos of the presentations are available on the conference website.

On 4 June 2024, Enders Analysis co-hosted the annual Media and Telecoms 2024 & Beyond Conference with Deloitte, sponsored by Barclays, Salesforce, the Financial Times, and Adobe.

With over 580 attendees and over 40 speakers from the TMT sector, including leading executives and industry experts, the conference focused on how new technologies, regulation and infrastructure will impact the future of the industry.

This is the edited transcript of Session One, covering: the evolution of streaming models, and public service broadcasting in the digital age. Videos of the presentations will be available on the conference website.

Starlink’s compelling consumer broadband proposition has become the clear front runner in the satellite space, with an attractive cost to serve the 100k UK homes in very hard to reach areas relative to fibre alternatives

The latest developments allow full mobile coverage via satellite with existing handsets, a service the mobile operators could charge a premium for, and which might ultimately take pressure off mobile network coverage

The threat of full substitution is extremely limited given the 50-100x cost differential involved, but Starlink could still launch a retail product as a part-MVNO, putting pressure on the mobile operators to launch satellite-assisted retail services first