Mobile ReportAPRIL 2013

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A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF MOBILE NEWS, VIEWS,

EVENTS & DEVELOPMENTS LOCALLY AND ABROAD

HOW TO USE THIS REPORT

This report is intended as an easy-to-reference tool

It is a resource that allows you to easily flip through in your own time – and not to necessarily read it from

front-to-back

CONTENTS

» Executive Summary

» Section 1: Mobile Landscape

» Section 2: Mobile Networks

» Section 3: Social Networks

» Sources and Contacts

Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY» It was exactly 40 years ago that first phone call was made from a mobile phone.

» For the first time in history, smartphones are outselling feature phones.

» Absa, the last of the big four banks in South Africa, released its mobile banking application. This was hot off the heels of Investec who also launched their own mobile banking app.

» 22Seven debuted an iPhone application in response to customer requests.

» As mobile money booms across Africa, FNB and MoneyGram partner to bring a new mobile money transfer service.

» SAARF released its results for AMPS data in 2012 showing that all media channels are relatively stable, while the Internet has seen improved usage figures for LSM 5 and up.

» With awards season around the corner, a workshop held by the DMMA provided insights and tips on how to win an award.

» Mxit released the number of the top 20 brands on Mxit. SuperSport is the most followed brand overall and for sports, while Standard Bank is the top banking brand and Spar the top retail brand.

Mobile LandscapeSECTION 1

THE CELLPHONE TURNS 40

» Mobile phones, and their promise of unprecedented connectivity, have altered the way we live. And it all started 40 years ago on April 3rd 1973

» That's when Martin Cooper, a vice president at Motorola, stepped onto a New York City sidewalk and made the first known cellphone call in history.

» In midtown Manhattan, Cooper called Joel Engel — head of rival research department Bell Labs — saying "Joel, this is Marty. I'm calling you from a cell phone, a real handheld portable cell phone." The call was placed on a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, which weighed 2.5 pounds, a far cry from today's 4-ounce handsets.

» We knew that someday everybody would have a (cell) phone, but it was hard to imagine that that would happen in my lifetime," Cooper said to CNN last year. "And now we've got almost five billion phones in the world. Wow.”

» It would take 10 years for a version of that DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) phone to hit the market, for a hefty $3,900.Source: CNN , 4 April 2013

In this image from 1972, a model demonstrates a "portable radio-telephone" by Pye Telecommunications at a London exhibition called "Communications Today, Tomorrow and the Future."

SMARTPHONES OUTSELL FEATURE PHONES FOR THE FIRST TIME

» For the first time in history, smartphones have outsold feature phones.

» The main force driving the smartphone surge is the emergence of cheap Android handsets from the likes of Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE, something which has seen them displace traditionally strong players such as HTC and BlackBerry at the top of the smartphone ladder.

» According to research company IDC, smartphone vendors shipped 216.2-million units in the first quarter of 2013, which marked the first time more than half (51.6%) the total phone shipments in a quarter were smartphones. The market grew 41.6% compared to the 152.7-million units shipped in the same quarter in 2012, but 5.1% lower than the 227.8-million units shipped in the previous quarter.

» Samsung remains the chief beneficiary of those sales, with Apple trailing it in second place. One interesting move was the re-emergence of LG as a top five player.

Source: Memeburn, 26 April 2013

COKE DITCHES TV ADVERTISING FOR DIGITAL

» If there's one company known for going all-out for television advertising, it's Coke.

» It’s latest campaign - tagline 'The Ahh Effect' - will be the first to include no TV commercials at all, relying purely on its digital reach, and in particular targeting smartphones.

» In a campaign masterminded by Wieden+Kennedy, the soft drinks giant has bought up 61 URL’s containing the word 'ahh', with an increasing number of added 'h's - ahh.com; ahhh.com, ahhhh.com and so on. The umbrella site is www.aah.com, and this URL will be imprinted on the inside of 16oz and 20oz bottles of Coke.

» Rather than one centralised video or message, each of the domains will host a variety of 'snackable' content, including online games, animated GIFs and funny videos, in an attempt to appeal to a new teenage market.

» But nothing has been set in stone; content will be added and removed on a trial and error basis to the 61 'Ahh' sites depending on its popularity.

Source: Creative Bloq, 25 April 2013

TOYOTA GOES TABLET-FIRST FOR NEW TOYOTA.COM

» Toyota has redesigned its home page, Toyota.com, and made scalability to different mobile devices a priority. The redesign, for example, includes a new iPad app, which, per the company, is intended to expedite purchase decisions.

» The automaker also says the site is especially designed to appeal to consumers who are between the ages of 40 and 60, and that the company's research suggests these people are among the fastest-growing demographics online, and are adept at toggling back and forth between screens -- mobile or otherwise. 

» Among changes to Toyota.com are long-form pages that scroll not just vertically, but also horizontally, which makes sense if you are using your fingers to swipe pages. There's also a "Shop Assist" feature  highlighting local specials, inventory and dealers -- easing the vehicle shopping process. 

Source: MarketingDaily, 8 April 2013

WHY BITCOINS MATTER

» According to the Wall Street Journal, CIO’s are watching the evolution of the digital cryptographic currency curiously, wary of being “blindsided” by such an alternative to traditional government-issued paper money, and receptive to the opportunities that a convenient, low-fee, cross-border electronic payment method may present to their businesses.

» Already, many online businesses, and some real-world firms, accept payment in bitcoins, and if anything, this trend seems to be accelerating.

» It’s appeal lies in the fact that it is a true alternative currency, backed by computing time and protected by cryptography and a complex trust network. Like cash, it is fairly anonymous, and transactions cannot be reversed once committed, except by a deliberate counter-transaction to which both parties agree.

» “Bitcoin is to banks what e-mail was to post offices,” the editor of Bitcoin magazine, Mahai Alisie, told the BBC, in a video insert that casts its creators as shifty squatters with pimples, no jobs and an anarchist gleam in their crazy eyes.

Source: ITWeb, 22 April 2013

THE RISE OF THE CONSTANTLY CONNECTED TRAVELLER » A global survey released today from BuzzCity, the global mobile

advertising network, shows that consumers are now constantly connected and heavily reliant on their mobiles when travelling, with the majority (60%) regarding their mobiles as indispensable.

» The latest edition of The BuzzCity Report shows how much consumers interact with their mobiles when on the move, revealing that phones are the highest priority item for people to take with them as they leave the house (60%). The majority of consumers are using their mobile phones to stay constantly connected and updated - in real time - wherever they are - around two thirds (65%) check their emails both before and during travel. Almost three quarters (69%) use their daily commute to listen to music, watch videos or read emails, tweets and status updates from friends via their handsets.

» Many regard their mobile as more important than money (39%), keys (29%) or food (16%), and almost half of leisure travellers (49%) use their mobile for travel-related activities such as checking routes (17%), researching public transport schedules (7%) or finding local attractions, amenities or general tourist information (25%). A quarter of respondents (25%) use their mobiles to make last minute bookings and reservations.

Source: BuzzCity, 16 April 2013

MOBILE MONEY BOOMING IN AFRICA

» GSMA’s Global Mobile Money Adoption survey for 2012 revealed that 224 million transactions, totalling $4.6 billion, were processed on mobile money platforms in four African countries in one month.

» The survey by GSMA analyses the state of the mobile money industry in 2012, and shows considerable growth in the number of active mobile money users.

» More than 30 million people undertook 224.2 million transactions totalling $4.6 billion during the month of June 2012 alone. This exceeds the 196.3 million transactions performed by Paypal customers on average each month during the third quarter of 2012.

» The survey does not give the total amount and value of mobile money transactions for the full year 2012.

» Looking at the mobile money industry in South Africa, there is a vast difference in adoption, with figures reflecting the contrast with other African nations. SA’s strict banking regulations have been cited has one of the biggest hurdles for mobile money to achieve success in the country.Source: ITWeb, 25 April 2013

ABSA UNVEILS BANKING APP

» Absa, South Africa’s largest bank by client numbers, has launched its long anticipated banking app for mobile and tablet.

» Absa said the app would be the first real, native financial services app for smartphones and tablets in South Africa, available for both retail and business customers.

» It is currently available for Android and Apple devices with support for BlackBerry devices expected to be released soon.

» “Our app is optimised for smartphone and tablet screens and encompasses a visually rich interface,” said Arrie Rautenbach, Absa head of retail banking.

» “The new technology, which also integrates seamlessly with all other Absa digital banking channels incorporates many aspects of traditional transactional services, whilst combining smart device features such as your GPS location to allow for easy and instant search to the closest Absa branch or ATM,” Rautenbach said.

Source: BusinessTech By MyBroadband , 10 April 2013

INVESTEC'S MOBILE APP TO MAKE RICH RICHER

» Specialist bank and asset manager Investec launched a mobile banking application, an initiative that will enable the bank's South African customers to trade shares in real time while having access to their global portfolios using a single platform. The new application is available to non-Investec clients, but access is limited to research and insights and delayed-time market data.

» The mobile application for Apple's iPad is expected to be rolled out to Android and BlackBerry phones later.

» It should give Investec an opportunity to cross-sell its products to those clients who only know the company as a private bank rather than a wealth and investment manager.

» Investec's private banking unit has about 70,000 customers. An estimated 40% of these clients already use the bank's online platforms for their banking.

» Investec Private Bank head of banking Ryan Tholet said the mobile application was aimed at giving customers flexibility. The bank would not prescribe to clients which platforms to use.

Source: Bizcommunity, 10 April 2013

22SEVEN DEBUTS IPHONE APP

» Personal financial management (PFM) service 22seven is now available as a mobile app on what CEO and founder Christo Davel says is its customers’ preferred platform – the Apple iPhone.

» The local start-up, a centre of debate in the local banking industry last year, yesterday announced its new app – “a work in progress” – is available as a first edition, with more features to be added in future, followed by an Android version of the app.

» The PFM service, which launched in public beta in January last year and came out of beta about four months later, says it has “huge ambitions for mobile”. Earlier this year, when Davel announced the iPhone app was in testing phase, he said there had already been pressure to roll out a mobile platform for 22Sseven users.

» The decision to build an iOS app first, said Davel, was based on research into which platform was the most popular among 22seven’s user base.

» 22seven says it is working on the Android app and users will be able to use the iPhone app free of charge for the month of May.

Source: ITWeb, 23 April 2013

10 MINUTE MONEY TRANSFER SERVICE LAUNCHED IN SA

» MoneyGram and First National Bank (FNB) have launched their first mobile money transfer service in Africa, giving FNB account holders throughout South Africa the option of sending and receiving international money transfers using their mobile devices.

» The service features an advanced data encryption system that protects account holder information. Transactions sent from a mobile device are available for collection within 10 minutes, subject to an agent’s hours of operation and local laws and regulations.

» “In less than a year into our relationship with FNB, we have extended our product services to offer a mobile service in Africa,” said Carl Scheible, MoneyGram executive vice president for Africa and Europe.

» According to the World Bank, South Africa is the third largest recipient of African migrants in the world, estimated at 1.8 million people. Close to 900,000 South Africans living abroad send money back to their families. Almost 50% of all remittance users remit funds once a month.Source: Mobile Money Africa, 9 April 2013

STABILITY IS THE OVERALL TREND FOR SOUTH AFRICA

» The South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) has released the 2012 results of the All Media and Products Survey. AMPS Dec 2012 shows few significant audience movements, with stability the overall trend for South Africa’s media products.

» The internet as a medium posted significantly improved usage figures, gaining users from a wide section of society, from LSM 5 right up to 10.

» On an average day, 15.7% of adults go online, up from 13.4% in the previous AMPS release; that’s an increase of just over 800 000 users, bringing daily internet audience figures to 5,484-million. Growth came from LSM 5 and up.

» Weekly usage rose from 19.0% to 21.5%, or 7,513-million users in total.

» Internet usage across four weeks increased from 22.2% in the previous survey to 24.6%, with 8,600-million users.

Source: Advantage Magazine, 12 April 2013

SA FAILING TO ADAPT TO DIGITAL MARKETING

» A new study by eMarketer has revealed that US companies spend about 35% of their budgets on online marketing, with 71% of businesses expecting to increase their digital spend in 2013.

» In comparison, South African companies spend only 2% of their budget on digital marketing, 63% on broadcast and another 30% on print mediums.

» Breaking down the South African online user’s needs, a recent survey by the Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMMA) revealed that 59% of users found adverts placed on websites most relevant to their needs, followed by social networks (36%), with mobile applications (3%) and mobile sites (2%) being least relevant.

» Grant Shippey, CEO at Amorphous, says South African companies have simply failed to adopt the shift to digital, and local firms continue to place too much emphasis on traditional marketing channels.

Source: ITWeb, 10 April 2013

HOW TO TAKE HOME A TROPHY

» With awards season upon us, the DMMA held a workshop on how to submit an award-winning entry, from The captains of our industry gathered in Sandton to share their tips on how to win awards.

» Why are awards good? They help lift the creative standard, they give us international standing and most importantly, according to research by Andrew Human (CEO of the Loeries), creatively awarded work is 11% more effective at generating market share.

» As expected, there are no golden rules or magical recipes and if someone has it, they’re certainly not going to let the cat out the bag. But what can be said is that it all starts with a great idea and no amount of gift wrapping and spritzing can make a bad idea brilliant. As Fran Luckin, so aptly pointed out, “You won’t survive awards shows until you have a great idea.”

» The event ended with a pertinent reminder of Graham Warsop’s challenge to the industry. Of our total winnings since 1990, we’ve only won 2 Cyber Lions. Warsop ended by saying that he is passing the baton on to the digital agencies and the next agency to win a Cyber Lion gets to toast the award with a case of Bollinger, courtesy of the Jupiter Drawing Room.

Source: NATIVE, 29 April 2013

Mobile Networks

SECTION 2

BROADBAND AND CELLULAR PRICES IN SA

» The World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Information Technology Report 2013, showing that South Africa’s ranking on mobile cellular and broadband affordability is at an all-time low.

» The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest results of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), offering an overview of the current state of ICT readiness in the world.

» South Africa currently ranks at number 117 out of 144 countries when it comes to the affordability of mobile cellular tariffs.

» Looking at fixed broadband affordability, South Africa ranked 89th out of the 144 countries in the report.

» The Global Information Technology Reports over the last 5 years shows South Africa is less competitive than it has ever been. The graph shows South Africa’s cellular affordability relative to the other countries which formed part of the reports. The graph indicates where South Africa ranked relative to the middle/average country in the report.

Source: MyBroadband, 22 April 2013

EYE-OPENING MOBILE PORTING NUMBERS

» Cell C says that around 8 times as many people port from Vodacom and MTN to Cell C than the other way around. This is despite a very ineffective porting system.

» Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig told MyBroadband that around 6,000 people port to Cell C every week, and that it is a large net receiver of subscribers through mobile number portability (porting).

» However, this number could be much higher, the operator said. Knott-Craig said that porting should be a very quick and simple process, and should not take more than an hour.

» MyBroadband has received reliable information about South Africa’s porting numbers for the first quarter of 2013, which showed that Cell C was the biggest net gainer through porting. According to the information received, Cell C gained just over 15,000 subscribers over the last three months.

» In comparison, Telkom (8ta) gained 800 new users while Vodacom lost 5,000 subscribers and MTN lost 11,000 users.

Source: BusinessTech, 4 April 2013

BEST AND WORST TELECOMS STORES IN SA

» The South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SACSI) has released its mobile telecoms retail outlets report, showing that Vodacom and MTN’s retail stores are the best in the country.

» SACSI is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in South Africa.

» In the latest SACSI research, customers gave the mobile telecoms retail stores industry an average satisfaction score of 74.8 out of 100. Vodacom scored 4.1% higher than this average and MTN scored 1.7% higher.

» Cell C scored on par with the industry average, whilst Telkom Direct and Altech Autopage Cellular both scored below par at 6.6% and 12.8% below industry average respectively.

Source: MyBroadband, 10 April 2013

VODAFONE SHIFTS RESOURCES TO HIGH-GROWTH MARKETS IN AFRICA

» Vodafone Group , the second- largest mobile service provider, is boosting investments in its African businesses as higher growth rates promise relief from stagnant earnings in Europe.

» Vodafone’s biggest African partner and South Africa’s largest wireless carrier, Vodacom Group Ltd., said full- year earnings per share rose at least 25% as the company expands into new countries on the continent.

» Vodacom represented the second-largest pool of subscribers for Vodafone at the end of last fiscal year with 57.3 million customers.

» Vodafone is relying increasingly on Africa as profit from its 65% stake in Vodacom surpassed that from the Newbury, U.K.-based company’s British unit in 2010 and outpaced the Spanish division the following year. Photographer: Nadine Hutton/Bloomberg

» Africa will be the mobile-phone industry’s fastest-growing region by subscribers over the next five years as companies build advanced networks and customers switch to broadband, according to consultant AT Kearney Inc.

Source: Bloomberg, 24 March 2013

MTN HITS 195M SUBSCRIBERS

» JSE-listed MTN has boosted its subscriber base by another 6.1 million in the first three months of the year and says it is on track to add a total of 21 million new subscribers by December 2013.

» The group issued a statement noting that revenue grew 42.2% year-on-year and its capital expenditure programme is on track. At year-end, MTN, which has operations in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East, said it would spend R28.2 billion on capital items this year.

» MTN president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa says MTN “started the year strongly, increasing subscriber numbers by 3.2% quarter-on-quarter, to 195.4 million. This supported growth in traffic volumes and local currency revenue.”

Source: ITWeb, 25 April 2013

CELL C CUTS DATA RATES AGAIN

» Cell C has again chopped mobile data prices, this time on a three-month promotional basis, cutting the cost of 500MB of monthly data to R39/month for contract customers.

» The move, the operator says, is meant to send a “clear message” to its customers and its competitors. “With these new rates, we are telling our customers that Cell C is willing to compete to provide the best offerings on the market,” Knott-Craig says.

» “Cell C has always provided customers with the best data propositions and is determined to continue offering the best value products available to data users in the South African mobile market,” says Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig in a statement.

» Under the promotional prices, which run until the end of June, Cell C contract customers can get 1GB/month offering for R69/month, or 7c/MB. A 10GB monthly package costs R499/month and 20GB R999/month

Source: TechCentral , 9 April 2013

Social Networks

SECTION 3

TOP 20 SOUTH AFRICAN BRANDS ON MXIT

» Mobile social network, Mxit, has released its list of most followed South African brands. Supersport is in the number one spot having had 1,824,129 Mxit users add the app to their contact roster.

» The numbers of followers on Mxit often eclipse the numbers brands achieve on other social media. For example, SuperSport has 206,458 likes on Facebook and 130,240 followers on Twitter.

» Vincent Maher, CMO of Mxit, says, "Mxit users are quick to interact with apps that keep their content fresh, have high levels of user engagement and stay relevant. Looking at the top 20 brands it's easy to see what South Africans are into - sport, phones, food, and fun and a little bit of banking. What all of these brands have in common is that they keep their content updated, entertaining and focused.”

Source: Bizcommunity, 17 April 2013

Category Brand Numbers

Top Mobile brand

Cell C 460 778

Top Banking brand

Standard Bank 319 076

Top financial services brand

1life 322 572

Top sporting brand

Nike Football 438 589

Top media brand

SuperSport 1 824 129

Top retail brand Spar 423 698

THE FACEBOOK PHONE IS HOME

» The "Facebook Phone" is finally here, but it's not what you think. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new way to integrate its network on Android devices. Called Facebook Home, it represents a rethinking of how Facebook exists on Android phones, Zuckerberg said, putting people first instead of apps.

» "You're going to be able to turn your Android phone into a great social device," Zuckerberg said at the unveiling. "Our phones today are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around.”

» Facebook Home will put updates from the social network right on the home screen via a feature called Cover Feed. Content from Facebook takes up the entire screen, with no navigation or "chrome" whatsoever, and users can navigate through updates simply by swiping. Apps are still there, accessed through a launcher that appears via swiping up.

Source: Mashable, 4 April 2013

FACEBOOK’S NEW TOOLS FOR MOBILE

» Facebook announced three new products, including Open Graph for mobile, to boost its presence in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet markets.

» The company said in a blog post and at its mobile developer conference in New York that along with making it easier to implement Open Graph on mobile, Facebook also is improving Facebook Login and is releasing a new SDK 3.5 for iOS.

» In addition, Facebook also announced a new partner programme to help developers integrate Facebook on a variety of mobile platforms. Some early partners include C# SDK for Windows 8 by Microsoft, Corona SDK by Corona Labs, and Kinvey.

» Facebook has been touting its new "mobile first" strategy for some time, with all engineers tasked on first figuring out how a product works for smartphones and tablets and then moving to the web version. That led to the creation of Facebook's Home app, as well as other features.

Source: CNET, 18 April 2013

THE TRUTH ABOUT SA FACEBOOK STATS

» Reports that Facebook users in South Africa are in rapid decline are greatly exaggerated, according to Arthur Goldstuck, the MD of local research firm World Wide Worx.

» Citing data from SocialBakers, it was reported that 922,940 users had left the popular social networking service in the past three months.

» Goldstuck explained that while the data from Facebook’s ad planning tool does show a dramatic decrease in registered users over the last three months, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

» While some of the account closures reported by Facebook are users deciding to leave the service and deleting their accounts, the majority are not, Goldstuck said.

» The anomaly occurred because Facebook was culling accounts that were duplicates, fake, or used for spamming, Goldstuck explained.

Source: BusinessTech by MyBroadband , 9 April 2013

Sources and Credits

SOURCES

» Advantage Magazine

» Bloomberg

» BuzzCity

» BusinessTech by MyBroadband

» CNET

» CNN

» Creative Bloq

» DMMA

» IDC

» ITWeb

» MarketingDaily

» Mashable

» Memeburn

» MobileMoneyAfrica

» MyBroadband

» NATIVE

» SAARF

» SACSI

» TechCentral

» The Verge

» WEF

CONTACT US

Vuyisile Sisulu | Mobile Technologist[tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 679 5415 [fax] 0867210884 [email] vuyilisle@native.co.za[twitter] @Vuyisile_Sisulu

Tracy Aberman | Mobile Strategist[tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 754 6111 [fax] 0867210884 [email] tracya@native.co.za[twitter] @TracyInSA

Angus Robinson | Director: Mobile & Innovation[tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (83) 635 4400 [fax] 0867210884 [email] angus@native.co.za[twitter] @angusrobinson

Have a look at all previous Mobile Reports and other mobile work on our site - http://www.native.co.za/home?keyword=mobile

Should you have any mobile insight, strategy, campaign or solution requirements please contact any one of us.

The end.