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How many Americans will do their Christmas shopping on mobile?  How many Android open source project handsets have shipped in emerging markets? And what is the global mobile eye-tracking market thought to be worth from 2015 to 2020?

You’ll find the answers to these and many more mobile data related questions in this week’s MEF market stats round up…

39 per cent of Americans will shop via mobile this holiday season

There will be a small rise in the numbers of US consumers buying from their phones this Christmas. A new study by INSIDE Secure says 39 per cent of US shoppers will shop inside mobile sites and apps as the gift buying season warms up. 33 per cent did so last year. It also reveals that the 17 per cent who did not make holiday purchases with their mobile phone last year, will do so in 2015.

Other findings were:

  • In store mobile payments are most popular with people aged 18-44. Sixty-four per cent versus 36 per cent of consumers aged 45 or older.
  • 45 per cent of iOS users will make an in-store mobile payment. 26 per cent for Android users
  • 51 per cent of mobile payment holiday shoppers would prefer to use an app from their bank instead of third-party services like Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay.

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360 million Android Open Source Project handsets to ship this year

The mobile OS space might is utterly dominated Apple and Google. But that doesn’t mean other platforms have disappeared. In fact, a new report by ABI Research more than 360 million Android Open Source Project phones will ship in China and other emerging markets in 2015.

The key reason for this is that official Google services are often blocked in these markets. Also, some alternative OSes focus on specific functions in the major platforms, such as security, or on the business needs of certain groups such as carriers. Finally, there’s the emergence of non-phone connected devices, like cars and TVs. Shelli Bernard, Research Analyst at ABI Research, said: “Corporations are working to enable web-based offerings, with one of the most notable being Mozilla’s Firefox OS. While smartphones and tablets are an obvious focus within this space, the growing capabilities of devices such as smartwatches, TVs and in-car entertainment systems are expanding the selection of devices that can utilize these types of advanced OSes.”

“Independent OSes allow OEMs to move away from the influence of larger corporations and have more input and control over the design of their products. Online retailers also benefit from building their own OSes, as it is a welcome solution to help expand their offerings while more seamlessly targeting their services to consumers.”

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Mobile banner ad engagements rose 14 per cent in Q3

Never mind the ad blockers, mobile ad engagement is up across all formats, says a new study by Centra. Banner engagement was up 14 per cent in Q3, with interstitials eight per cent higher. Expandable banners grew 0.87 per cent. Celtra believes the improved engagement rates can be explained by the emergence of bigger screens and smarter marketing.

Matevz Klanjsek, co-founder and chief product officer at Celtra, told eWEEK: “Higher ad engagement rates are the result of marketers recognising the importance of creative and message in their advertising – taking full advantage of the HTML5 capabilities and creative technology to build creatives that are engaging, fun and offer a good user experience.”

The report also measured performance by vertical. The Entertainment sector led at 19 per cent of all requested impressions. For standard banners, the best-performing sector was CPG (1.6 per cent).

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Two in three Brits think the PIN will die by 2020

Can the combination of contactless payments and mobile eradicate the PIN from card transactions?

A good proportion of UK shoppers thinks so. A study by Intelligent Environments revealed Brits are losing faith in the PIN as a way to ID themselves during transactions. 67 per cent of UK consumers think the four-digit PIN will be obsolete within five years. Instead, they’ll be using ontactless cards and mobile wallets. The UK Cards Association recently revealed contactless transactions nearly doubled in the last year to more than £758 million. Meanwhile Apple Pay is now live in the UK, with Samsung and Android Pay coming soon. The report also found that basic PIN security is not being observed by many Brits, with 32 per cent admitting they have never changed their PIN while just 37 per cent have kept their PIN secret.

David Webber, managing director of Intelligent Environments, said: “Innovative alternatives to the PIN are not only possible, they’re preferable, since they not only make accounts more secure, but they enhance the banking experience for the customer.”

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Mobile data traffic set for 10x increase – mostly because of video

A dramatic rise in smartphone ownership and rampaging demand for mobile video services will deliver a huge demand for mobile data over the coming six years. Ericsson’s twice-yearly Mobility Report just raised its forecast for mobile data traffic. By 2021, monthly smartphone data consumption per active subscription in North America will be 22 GB, in Western Europe 18 GB) and in oAsia Pacific 7 GB. Overall, the report Ericsson predicts a tenfold surge in mobile data traffic globally between 2015 and 2021. The main reason? Video, which should increase its share of total mobile traffic by 2021 to 70 percent, up from around 50 per cent in 2015. YouTube currently accounts for up to 70 percent of all video traffic in many mobile networks, while Netflix’s share of video traffic can reach up to 20 per cent in markets where it is available.

The Mobility Report also projects 6.4 billion smartphone subscriptions in use by the end of 2021, up from 3.4 billion in 2015. It says LTE subscriptions are currently at 850 million.

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The mobile eye tracking market was worth $183.3 million in 2014

What are you looking at? Your mobile wants to know, so it can deliver better services to you – and maybe to advertisers. It’s why a new report by Markets and Markets says the sector will grow at a CAGR of 35.2 per cent between 2015 and 2020. The growth is down to better miniaturisation of the eye tracker devices and new application areas of the technology. Test usability of websites, software, computer games, interactive TV, digital map interfaces, and mobile devices are some of the more common applications currently driving the market.

The key players is the space include Tobii Ab (Sweden), SensoMotoric Instruments (Germany), SR Research Ltd (Canada), Eye Tracking Inc. (U.S.), Applied Science Laboratories (U.S.), LC technologies Inc. (U.S.), EyeTribe (Denmark), Mirametrix Inc. (Canada), SmartEye (Sweden), IMotions (U.S.), and EyeTech Digital Systems, Inc. (U.S.).

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Teenagers post 38 per cent more on SnapChat than Facebook

Kids are all over the self-destructing mobile messaging service SnapChat, according to a study by market research firm Wildness. However, it also suggests that ‘millennials’ between 12 and 24 are not helplessly addicted to social media. It reveals that seven out of 10 have deleted applications, with 21 per cent saying they deleted Facebook at some point.

Other findings include:

  • Respondents post 38 per cent more on Snapchat on a daily basis than on Facebook
  • 66 percent of check other social platforms daily beyond Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Yik Yak, Vine and Pinterest.
  • Nine out of 10 view videos on YouTube daily.
  • 62 per cent have posted original videos to social media

Read more…

MEF