Despite the hype, systems based on the technology underlying bitcoin are a poor match for most use-cases
The term 'blockchain' is nowadays applied to technologies with shared aims and ideals rather than technological unity; few – if any – of these aims require true blockchain, any many are double-edged swords
The promises of blockchain are seductive in the context of programmatic online advertising, but are over-sold
Last month’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco was a triumphant showcase for crossover technologies and ideas designed to attract and engage new customers; ideas coming soon to all parts of the digital entertainment industry
Google and Facebook launched new “Instant App” technologies for game developers on their platforms, which will eventually have a significant impact on mobile app curation and discovery for not just games but the broader entertainment sector
Universal Pictures showed how media and entertainment companies should be working with indie developers to drive franchise development, utilise creative IP, and bring new ideas to market quicker
European mobile service revenue growth was unchanged this quarter at 0.3% growth, despite an easing of the European roaming cuts impact. This was due to intensified pricing competition in Italy and Spain, and EE’s unexpected poor performance in the UK. France and Germany were the only countries to improve their growth, but the improvement in France was largely due to a revenue-boosting VAT loophole
More-for-more price increases continued during the quarter, but their implementation is increasingly dependent on market conditions. Zero-rated streaming offers have continued to launch, but remain the exception rather than the rule. Given the long implementation periods required for innovative new products at most operators, this may be temporary
Looking forward, overall the outlook looks finely balanced with boosts from the reduced MTR impact in Germany in Q1 2018, an easing in Spain’s retail pricing pressure and EU roaming impact annualising out by Q3 2018. This is countered by France closing its VAT loophole, steep MTR impact in Spain in Q1 2018 and continuing intense competition in Italy given Iliad’s impending launch
In this report we develop a rough segmentation of the adult population by level of online use: offline (10% of adults), shallow online (10%), deep online (80%). We examine how online services seeking to reach new audiences increasingly face the obstacle of missing demand rather than a lack of consumer skills or access
The app economy still relies on a limited consumer pool, but ecommerce is now reaching almost all of the deep online. Bridging the current gap between occasional and frequent online buyers is a clear opportunity and we are still in the early days of evolving buying services into shopping services
The only industry monetising all online users is advertising. Ad platforms, led by Google and Facebook, also play a critical role expanding the ranks of the deep online and online immersed. But offline brand display media, led by broadcast TV, remain critical for online brands wanting to expand their audience
Subscription fashion retailer Stitch Fix has gone public, revealing a rare example of a new, private, technology-based company capable of making a profit.
Stitch Fix relies on the ‘mixed intelligence’ of algorithms and human stylists to offer its customers a curated fashion “Fix” of clothing and accessories, aiming to cut through some of the chaos of ecommerce.
Though Stitch Fix’s success is not guaranteed, there is much to be learned from its approach of focusing on building a solid business and generating positive earnings early, rather than growing users at any cost.