Author: stu

Internet and smartphone growth have slowed, Mary Meeker reports

Mary Meeker’s 2018 report on the state of the internet, via ReCode

In her annual state-of-the-internet report, Mary Meeker sizes up changes last year and emerging trends for next year. Here are a few of many takeaways. Review all of the slides below.

  • Smartphone and internet growth have slowed. With more than half the world online, there are fewer people left to connect. Time spent online, however, is still increasing.
  • Voice-controlled products like Amazon Echo are taking off.
  • Tech companies are facing a “privacy paradox.” They’re caught between using data to provide better consumer experiences and violating consumer privacy.
  • E-commerce growth is accelerating; physical retail sales are continuing to decline.

    • Who owns the digital pipelines?

    Charter Time Warner Cable Bright House Networks mergerThe defections continue from pricey U.S. cable TV bundles to internet-based TV. As the cable/broadband industry consolidates, three major players — Comcast, Charter (merged with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks) and AT&T — control most of America’s digital pipelines. Broadband internet subscriptions from these companies are holding their own.

    Subscribers to U.S. video and internet services (Q2 2018 or as noted)

     

    Company Digital TV Internet
    COMCAST 21,074,000 24,440,000 Q2-2018 company reports: Household video subs decreased by 136K in Q3; high-speed internet added 260K subs; total 10,213,000 voice customers
    CHARTER  17,300,000 19,400,000 Q1-2018 reports: Household video subs fell by 112K; high-speed internet subs grew 331K; total 10,375,000 telephone subs. (Merger of Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks closed in 2016)
    ATT (includes DIRECTV) 21,800,000 12,900,000 Q2 reports: DirecTV lost 286K subs, online DirecTV Now added 342K, ATT WatchTV launched; 76K added household internet; 54,700,000 consumer wireless customers. Merger with Time Warner closed 2018;
    VERIZON FIOS 4,560,000 5,959,000 Q2-2018 reports: 116,500,000 wireless customers; acquired AOL and Yahoo!, renamed Oath
    COX 4,500,000 6,000,000 estimates
    ALTICE approx 4,600,000 approx 4,600,000 approx 4,600,000 voice customers. Acquired Suddenlink (2015) and Cablevision (2016)
    DISH 13,150,000  595,000 Q1 2018 reports: Includes 2.3 million Sling TV subscribers.