Anuj Agrawal

Can The Has-Been Handset Makers RAZR the iPhone?

We all remember how cool the RAZR was when it came out with its super-thin design and “Back in Black” theme song in the commercials. It was the phone that changed consumer expectations on how small a mobile phone could be.  Since then, things have gone downhill for Motorola, while the new 800-pounders are in Silicon Valley redefining how users interact with the web, play games, and socialize with their friends on their pocket sized iPhones and Android devices.

Now it may soon be Nokia’s turn to be the future "has-been" of dominant handset providers as they are steadily losing share to smart phones.  What will they do to protect their turf?  They still have a big lead worldwide as the graphic below shows, but clearly their growth is flattening as people move to Apple and Android based handsets.

The Changing Landscape Of Online Video - What's Next?

With Hulu’s pending launch of their premium service, let’s take a step back and theorize how the video content industry is changing.  It is incredibly hard to get people to start paying for something that was previously free.  While Hulu’s idea is to provide access to older episodes as part of the premium model, they are still asking people to pay to consume video online.  In my view, the only way you can charge for content is to have access to some type of exclusive content that is not available on every other video aggregation site.  Rather than trying to change consumer behavior to pay for online content, the more likely structural change will need to be on the advertising side of the equation, since consumers are already used to seeing ads. 

Right now consumers create value in 2 ways: they pay a cable/satellite TV bill (the access fee), and they view ads. Online, they pay no access fees for video, and they significantly fewer ad spots. So of course more people are moving online, it’s basic consumer behavior!  However, as this deteriorates the industry’s value, the structure of the business will need to change.  Think about the value chain players:  content creators, providers, distributors, and consumers.  Providers ultimately get paid for ads, but those ads need to be seen by people, thus, the newfound power of the cable distributors to command higher fees from the networks.  While there is a shift in consumer usage from the TV to a variety of online devices (PCs, gaming consoles, mobile devices), at some point content creators need to continue to be paid to actually be incented to create the content.  But if people continue to cut their cable cords and too much value is taken out of the traditional distribution model, more expensive or higher volume advertising inventory will need to be created within online video streams.

Kindle In Retail - Finally, But Is Amazon's Choice Off-Target?

With iPad stealing all of Kindle’s well deserved thunder, let’s not forget that it is still the top selling SKU on Amazon.  However, it is clear the quickly evolving e-reader market has forced Amazon to tweak its selling philosophy for the Kindle.  I had always found it hard to believe that consumers would be willing to shell out $300+ (its price for most of its lifetime) for a device that not only is a brand new product category in the industry, but also one that consumers could not demo prior to purchase!  

I get that Amazon isn’t in the business of promoting retail sales, but if they are…were…serious about consumer electronics, they had to have retail distribution, even if only very limited.  While I am happy to finally see them go the retail route, I do find the choice of Target to be somewhat surprising.  When you think of the upscale brand image associated with the Kindle, it seems to clash with it being sold exclusively through Target, no?  My guess is that the primary outlet for this, Best Buy, had already nailed down its e-reader partners for the time being, including their recently announced deal to sell the Nook.  

Social Matchbox DC Spring 2010 - Recap

Earlier this week in DC was the Spring installment of Social Matchbox, an event that brings together promising startups in the community to present their business ideas, seek funding, and gather feedback from a crowd of passionate digital media fans.  It was an impressive roster of presenting companies with a heavy emphasis on consumer facing concepts.  I fully expect at least a few of these companies to get funding.  In particular, here are the ones who stood out:

 

 

Love this concept.  I walk around with CVS, Barnes & Noble, and grocery store loyalty cards in my wallet, and each time I visit these places, I need to empty out my entire wallet to reach them.  CardStar takes the hassle out of managing each card and makes the card available on your phone by re-creating the bar code associated with the card.  The best part is that beyond the simple convenience factor, this allows retailers to push down special, personalized deals to your phone.  This app is going to make my wallet seriously thinner...literally.