Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

The worst nightmare for any corporate IT department is a security breach. Most companies have erected firewalls to keep the bad guys from breaking into their network and stealing consumer data or other proprietary information. But there’s another threat to IT security and it comes from within. These days, more employees are using personal mobile devices to get the job done and they’re also accessing unauthorized applications via the company network.

According to Gamer Segmentation 2010, from The NPD Group, the Extreme Gamers segment, which represents 4% of the total U.S. gaming population, spend 48.5 hours a week playing games. When looking at the number of hours gamers spend per week playing video games, hours spent playing both console and PC games showed a marked increase over last year’s study, with console games increasing 9% and PC games increasing 6%. “With these kinds of shifts in the composition of the gaming consumer and changes in gaming behavior, it’s clear that the need to understand gamers and their purchase patterns remains critical information to those that develop, market and sell games,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.

The Android operating system (OS) continued to shake up the U.S. mobile phone market in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems, according to The NPD Group. Carrier distribution and promotion continue to play a crucial role in determining smartphone market share. “Recent previews of BlackBerry 6, the recently announced acquisition of Palm by HP, and the pending release of Windows Phone 7 demonstrates the industry’s willingness to make investments to address consumer demand for smartphones and other mobile devices,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future.”

The landscape of consumer technology in the U.S. has shifted toward products that offer richer entertainment experiences and simplicity, according to a new study by The NPD Group. E-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, one of the high points of the 2009 holiday are increasing in penetration and are now in 5% of U.S. households. “Consumers are flocking to products that offer slim profiles and access to digital content,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD. “Devices such as Blu-ray players, netbooks, and e-readers are being used to enable rich, connected experiences.” Portable navigation devices have found their way into nearly 40% of U.S, households up from 30% in 2009.

What happens when a company gets too dependent on existing customers? Sales can stall. To make matters worse, companies in every sector, especially technology, suffered during the recent recession. To boost growth rates, investors will often press management to look for acquisitions that can provide speedy access to new product lines. This situation is currently playing out in the high tech universe.

As the economy continues to improve, consumer demand for HDTVs continues to increase. Two-thirds of U.S. households now own a high-definition television, and more Americans plan to buy one in the coming months as the economy begins to recover, according to a report from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Consumers are also buying HDTVs as secondary sets. The average household now has 1.8 high-definition televisions, up from 1.5% in 2009. Nearly a quarter of Americans (23%) plan to buy an HDTV in the next 12 months.