Mobile Report August 2012 Highlights

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MOBILE NEWS,
VIEWS, EVENTS &
DEVELOPMENTS
LOCALLY AND
ABROAD
2 NATIVE MOBILE REPORT FOR AUGUST 2012

CONTENTS
» Section 1: Mobile Landscape
» Section 2: Mobile Handsets & Operating Systems
» Section 3: Samsung vs. Apple
» Section 4: Mobile Networks
» Section 5: Mobile Banking
» Section 6: Social Networks
» Section 7: Summary & Credits

SECTION 1

MOBILE LANDSCAPE

4

MOBILE IS A KEY TREND SHAPING
DIGITAL MARKETING
» Speaking at the Google Think 2013 Summit, Google's
director of government and local markets, Sam
Sebastian said that “Going forward, the big question is
on the mobile side – where will it all go?”, adding that
mobility answers the question of how to connect the
unconnected
» Speaking of monetisation concerns, Sebastian said the
sheer pace of mobile growth is a concern for Google. “I
believe the industry, as a whole, hasn't taken
advantage enough of the utility of the mobile phone for
advertising, so this is a top priority for Google.”
» Watch Google’s video titled “The Time for Mobile is
Now”: http://youtu.be/9GalBu_cEkM

ITWeb Africa, 22 August 2012


WORLD WIDE WEB CELEBRATES ITS
21ST BIRTHDAY
» 21 years ago, a modest British scientist launched his
new invention. At the time, almost no-one noticed, but
it has since revolutionised our lives. Tim Berners-Lee
called his invention the "world-wide-web”
» The web has evolved into something far more than
Berners-Lee could have imagined, with the likes of
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,
Yahoo, Amazon etc. being created
» Our entire industry may not have existed if it not for the
WWW, and for that we thank Tim Berners-Lee
» The world's first website can still be visited today,
more than two decades after its creation:
http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

BBC, 6 August 2012 Memeburn, 6 August 2012


GOOGLE UPGRADES MOBILE SEARCH
» Google has now made searching on mobile even
better. The search giant has announced a host of
new features to make Googling on your cellphone
or tablet more visual and interactive to make sure
you get the answers you’re looking for as easily on
mobile as you do on a desktop computer
» Areas include finance, currency conversion, unit
conversion, dictionary definitions, local time
lookup, and holiday and sunrise times… the things
you’d actually use the most on mobile devices
» Now you’ll see all the graphs and quick responses
at the top of your search results page, just as you
would on the desktop version

Memeburn, 10 August 2012


FLIPBOARD HITS 20 MILLION
USERS
» Flipboard’s efforts to increase availability on different
mobile operating systems has contributed to its
continued growth hitting 20 million users and reaching
over 3 billion flips per month
» 1.5 million users log in daily, and they spend, on
average, 86 minutes per month in the app
» 75% of readers connect their social networks in
Flipboard, and perform a total of 14.5 million social
actions (favouriting, liking, sharing, etc.) in the app per
month.
» The top day for tablet reading is Sunday
» The top day for smartphone users is Thursday with top
reading hours being from 10-11pm

TechCrunch, 28 August 2012


SONY TO ROLL OUT PLAYSTATION
MOBILE
» Sony has pinned its long-term growth on mobile
and gaming devices. Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. will roll out its PlayStation
Mobile cross-platform gaming service in the
coming months - offering application software
and other content across devices like the
handheld PlayStation Vita and Xperia
smartphones and tablets
» Previously branded the PlayStation Suite, it will
provide a platform for third-party software
developers and publishers to create new content
such as games for Sony’s portable devices

MyBroadband, 15 August 2012


MCDONALD’S TESTS MOBILE
PAYMENTS APP
» Fast food giant McDonald’s is testing a new mobile
payments service with PayPal that lets consumers
order their favorite meals at participating
restaurants in France
» Through the service, consumers can order food
either online or through the McDonald’s mobile app
and checkout via PayPal. From there, consumers
can pick up their meal from a separate line
» McDonald’s is following in the footsteps of
companies such as Burger King, Starbucks and
Dunkin’ Donuts who have all implemented their
own mobile payments systems

Mobile Commerce Daily, 21 August 2012


QR CODES TO DETECT FAKE HP
PRODUCTS
» Multinational hardware and software
company, Hewlett-Packard, plans to roll-
out a verification code-technology that
could help some African consumers
detect fake ink, cartridges or toners
» The verification mechanism takes the
form of a Quick Response (QR) code that
consumers can use to verify if the
equipment is genuine



TOP BRANDS IN THE SA TECH
SECTORS
» The Sunday Times published its annual 'Top Brands'
supplement for 2012, dividing the winners up into
consumer and business categories.
» Top cellphone brands-
– Consumer: Nokia(1), Blackberry (2), Samsung (3)
– Business: iPhone (1), Blackberry (2) Nokia (3)
» Top telecoms brands-
– Consumer: Vodacom (1), MTN (2), Cell C (3)
– Business: Vodacom (1), MTN (2), Nashua Mobile (3)
» The survey also revealed a new category for the computer
tablet/e-reader with the iPad coming first, followed by
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab

ITWeb, 13 August 2012


STUDY SHOWS SOUTH AFRICAN'S HAVE
CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR PHONES
» Time Magazine and global telecoms company
Qualcomm, conducted a poll to determine how the
global mobile industry is affecting the everyday lives
of people
» The poll shows South African cellphone users are
almost constantly connected to their devices, with
63% of checking their phone at least once every 30
minutes and 42% conceding they check it at least
once every 10 minutes
» 61% say they browse the Internet on their wireless
mobile device at least a few times a week, up from
only 27%, five years ago
» Almost double the global figure, 43% of SA's
motorists use their devices while driving (compared
to 26% globally)


SYNOVATE RELEASES IPSOS
SOCIALOGUE
» The ebook is full of infographics and commentary
on trends and behaviours that define peoples lives
in todays social media age
» Some insights include:
– 57% of online South Africans have read an ad
on their mobile phone
– 53% of South Africans have recommended a
brand they “like” or follow on a social
network
– 29% of people open emails from retailers on
their mobile phones
» To see the full report go to:
http://www.synovate.co.za/IpsosEBook/

Synovate, 28 August 2012


EDCON LAUNCHES MOBILE
SHOPPING APP
» Edcon‚ owner of Edgars‚ Legit and Jet‚ launched its
SmartShop mobile application‚ aimed at delivering a
"multi-layered retail experience" for in-store
shoppers
» The app allows customers to use their phone's
camera to scan and read the barcode on a product,
check the price and look up stock in real time to see
what sizes are currently available in all stores‚ and
view their account details, as well as Facebook
integration - allowing users to upload details of
specific items to the social network
» The Edcon SmartShop application is available for
free download from the Apple‚ Android, Windows
Phone and BlackBerry app stores

Bizcommunity, 2 August 2012


SA’S NEW MUSIC STREAMING SERVICE
» Simfy, the R60/month music streaming service, with
more than 16m tracks, 2m albums and 650 000 artists,
was launched in SA on 27 August
» South Africa’s first homegrown music streaming
operation is a partnership between the European
streaming provider, Simfy, and local digital content
company eXactmobile
» Simfy Africa has a Web version and mobile applications
for Android, BlackBerry and iOS. Ryan Birkin, Simfy
Africa’s chief business development officer, says these
were viewed as the most important platforms for the SA
market
» Users are able to pay by credit card or electronic funds
transfer, or using their mobile airtime

TechCentral, 20 August 2012


IS ITUNES COMING TO SOUTH AFRICA?
» Speculation is rife that the Apple iTunes Store will
become available for South African users in
September 2012
» The announcement was made by Yoel Kenan,
(founder and CEO of Africori, a licensing platfrom
for African music) at the Mobile Entertainment
Africa 2012 Conference
» Asked about the launch of iTunes in SA, Core
Group, local distributor for Apple products said:
“There has been no announcement from Apple and
we have no further information”
» While the move will be welcomed by many it
remains to be seen what quality of content will be
available for South African Apple Fans

MyBroadband, 29 August 2012 Memeburn, 29 August 2012


ROLLING STONE SA GETS AN
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) COVER
» In the upcoming September issue of Rolling Stone South
Africa, people will be able to scan the front cover to get a
free music video
» The AR app Layar allows readers real-time access to watch
former Springbok Nude Girls singer Arno Carsten’s new
music video, “Two Dogs” as well as preview its interview
with him. They’ll also be able to share the story with friends
on Facebook and Twitter
» Although this is a first for Rolling Stone, it is far from the
first AR magazine cover in the country. As early as April
2011, motoring magazine Car launched an AR issue,
which included a track test video of a BMW M3



WI-FI IN GAUTENG HIGH COURTS
» LexisNexis SA and Law Credit have joined forces to
furnish the Johannesburg and Pretoria High Courts
with WiFi facilities
» “Visitors simply need to purchase data bundles and
follow the step-by-step instructional material, visible
throughout the corridors of the court, which explains
the connectivity process to users,” says LexisNexis
» “Providing significant value to all visitors, the WiFi
facility will, in particular, benefit legal professionals
who can now access their My LexisNexis accounts, an
online research platform for the legal industry, to view
law reports and statutes while at court.”



BIZCOMMUNITY.COM TURNS 11
» August 2012 marks 11 years of Bizcommunity.com,
and since its inception in 2001, Bizcommunity has
expanded from a single marketing and media
portal with a South Africa focus to a total of 35
industry-specific portals each with various
categories of defined interest, including mobile
» The company has grown to become one of South
Africa's best-loved online media brands by
marketing and media industry professionals,
companies and communities

We wish Bizcommunity a very happy 11th birthday!

Bizcommunity, 1 August 2012


SECTION 2

MOBILE HANDSETS &
OPERATING SYSTEMS

21

GLOBAL SMARTPHONE SALES UP
42.7% IN Q2
» Gartner says while worldwide sales of mobile phones
declined 2.3% in the second quarter of 2012, smartphone
sales surged 42.7%, led by demand for Samsung’s Galaxy
S3
» Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached
419 million units in the second quarter of 2012, with
smartphone sales accounting for 36.7% of total mobile
phone sales.
» Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner said,
“The challenging economic environment and users
postponing upgrades to take advantage of high-profile
device launches like the iPhone 5 and promotions
available later in the year slowed demand across
markets.”

Memeburn, 14 August 2012 BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 17 August 2012


CHINA PREDICTED TO SURPASS U.S. AS
SMARTPHONE LEADER
» The latest figures out from IDC confirm that this is
the year that China will overtake the U.S. as the
world’s biggest smartphone market with its 25.5%
share, a significant lead over the U.S.’s 17.8%
» The tipping point has been a long time coming with
China the world’s most populated country, but the
trend has accelerated in the last couple of years
with the rise of cheap sub-$200 devices built for
Android
» This trend will continue to drive growth at China,
too, which will see its share expand at a rate of
26.2%



MICROSOFT GETS REBRANDED
» With a serious spate of major product releases
coming up, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8
and the Surface Tablet, Microsoft has updated its
logo. “It's been 25 years since we've updated the
Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a
change”
» There is a common look and feel across the new
products providing a familiar and seamless
experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs, “It
represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo
should evolve to visually accentuate this new
beginning”
» Microsoft also created a YouTube video about the
logo change titled “Microsoft unveils new look”:
http://youtu.be/OzkZWvAJUr0
CNET, 23 August 2012


IPHONE WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF
MICROSOFT
» One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five
years ago, has higher sales than everything
Microsoft has to offer
» More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows
Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has
created since 1975
» In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales
of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion
» If we break down Apple’s performance as a whole we
are able to see what Apple makes in a second, hour,
day, month:

Forbes, 19 August 2012


APPLE EDGING TOWARDS A GOOGLE
FREE IPHONE
» Apple confirmed that the latest version of its mobile
software will not come with YouTube preloaded
» This comes after Apple also announced that Google
Maps will be dropped
» The move follows Apple’s decision to launch its own
mapping application this fall as the standard part of
iOS 6
» There should be no doubt that this manoeuvre was
all about Apple removing Google from a key part of
its devices



GOOGLE’S PLANS FOR MOTOROLA
» Almost exactly a year ago, Google shocked the
industry by buying Motorola for $12.5 billion
» Google appears to be remaking Motorola rather than
burying it. It is getting Motorola out of the feature-
phone market where margins are very low and it is
already underperforming
» Motorola likely will be tasked with creating a series
of high-end smartphones to challenge the iPhone
and Samsung Galaxy series
» “Just like Nokia and RIM, Moto is being forced to
concentrate on its core growth areas, and not try to
compete for business at the low end where it can’t
win," said industry analyst Jack Gold with J. Gold
Associates

ReadWriteWeb, 13 August 2012


GOOGLE PLAY STORE ADDS PERSONALISED
APP RECOMMENDATIONS
» One thing that Google has continued to work on since
the launch of the then-Android-Market is app
discovery. Even with thousands of great apps ready to
download and install, they are useless if no-one can
find them
» Google started making things personal last month
with a “Recommended for You” section on the web-
based Play Store. This feature is now coming to the
Play Store app as well
» It takes into account factors like which apps your
Google+ friends enjoy and the general geographical
area in which you live

Mashable, 30 August 2012


ADOBE FLASH PLAYER EXITS
ANDROID GOOGLE PLAY STORE
» Adobe is pulling its Flash Player plug-in from
Android's Google Play store, following a decision to
halt development of the software for mobile devices
» Smartphone owners who had upgraded to the latest
Android version, known as Jelly Bean, should
uninstall the Flash Player if it was already on their
device because it was likely to exhibit
"unpredictable behaviour”
» Adobe will continue to develop the player for PCs. It
will also support Air - a tool which lets developers
turn web-based applications using Flash into
standalone mobile apps

BBC, 15 August 2012


HUAWEI FOSTERS AFRICAN LTE
» LTE, commonly referred to as “4G”, provides
download speeds of more than five times those of
the incumbent 3G networks
» Global ICT solutions provider Huawei has been
selected to provide its IP microwave solution for a
number of early commercial long-term evolution
(LTE) networks in Africa
» Huawei announced it would deploy its “advanced”
IP microwave solution for the next-generation
backhaul networks of Movicel, in Angola, and
Mobile Telecommunications, in Namibia – the first
two operators in Africa to provide commercial LTE



AFRICA’S BEST SELLING
MOBILE HANDSETS TO DATE
» Information on the best-selling devices in Africa is
scarce, so IT News Africa reviewed a number of the
top rated mobile handsets on the continent and found
that while smartphones occupy a large portion,
feature phones are just as important for everyday
communication as they were years ago
» The list includes:
1. Nokia XpressMusic 5130
2. Samsung E250
3. Nokia 2700
4. Nokia 3310
5. Huawei Ideos U8150
6. BlackBerry Curve 8520

IT News Africa, 27 August 2012


SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES DUAL-SIM
PHONE FOR AFRICA
» Samsung is introducing the low-cost dual-SIM
Samsung Chief Hero to the African market
during September
» The Samsung Chief Hero will allow users to
automatically switch between two SIM cards
without having to carry an additional handset,
or turn off the phone to swop out a SIM,
addresses a critical need, Samsung said
» The Samsung Chief Hero has dual-band GPRS
support and claims 11-hour talk time with 550
hours standby time on its 1000mAh battery



LENOVO ENTERS MOBILE HANDSET
MARKET IN SA
» The company is set to release a dual-SIM, low-
cost, Android, smartphone in SA before the end of
the year, a move that could annoy operators while
delighting consumers
» Jack Lee, Lenovo’s vice-president and GM for the
Middle East and Africa, says the company has
decided to go “beyond the PC” and its strategy
involves the “four screens” of smartphones, smart
TVs, PCs and desktops, and laptops
» The Lenovo S880 — called “LePhone” in some
markets — should be available in SA by the 4th
quarter of this year. Lee says the dual-Sim, 5-inch
“phablet” retails in China for the equivalent of R2
000 but the SA price has yet to be set



THE PHABLET IS A GROWING TREND
» One trend – some are calling it a fad – is the push for
larger smartphone displays
» The average smartphone screen size has grown nearly an
inch over the last two years, from roughly 3.8-inches to
around 4.7-inches
» We have seen some phones breach the 5-inch barrier,
like the Galaxy Note at 5.3-inches and the LG Optimus Vu
at 5-inches even
» These phone-tablet hybrids were originally conceived as
very niche devices
» These giant smartphones – appropriately
dubbed phablets – overcame insurmountable adversity
and have actually become relatively popular since the
original launch of the Galaxy Note

Phonedog, 16 August 2012


SECTION 3

SAMSUNG VS. APPLE

35

THE TRIAL THAT HAS BEEN
SHAKING UP THE MOBILE HANDSET
INDUSTRY
» Apple and Samsung have been going at heads in a
patents dispute, mirroring a struggle for industry
supremacy between two rivals that control more
than half of worldwide smartphone sales
» The U.S. company accused Samsung of copying the
design and some features of its iPad and iPhone,
and was asking for a sales ban in addition to
monetary damages. The Korean company, which is
trying to expand in the U.S., said Apple infringed
some of its key wireless technology patents
» The vast majority of patent disputes settle before
trial, particularly between competitors. In this case
though, the stakes were just too high – and the two
companies ultimately had very different views

ITWeb, 27 August 2012 ITWeb, 13 August 2012


THE PRESENTATION THAT ULTIMATELY
LED TO SAMSUNG’S DEMISE
» It became very clear that Samsung had a case
of iPhone envy when Apple released a 132 page
evidence document to the court, which was
then released to the public
» Titled “Relative Evaluation Report on S1,
iPhone”, this document by Samsung’s Product
Engineering Team in 2010 gave some pretty
harsh criticism to the Galaxy S’s interface, and
compares it step by step to the iPhone
» Was this simply part of a thorough product
comparison procedure, which is pretty standard
in any research and development environment,
or did it prove Samsung copied the Apple look
and feel?

Bandwidth Blog, 8 August 2012


APPLE WINS LANDMARK CASE
AGAINST SAMSUNG
» A U.S. court has ordered Samsung to pay Apple
$1.05bn in damages for infringing intellectual
property
» The jury decided several Samsung devices had
infringed iPhone-maker Apple's software and design
patents, the jury said, but rejected counter-claims by
Samsung
» Whether damages will be tripled is a decision for the
judge in the coming weeks
» Apple and Samsung are far from settling their
differences and we could see the patent wars carry
on indefinitely
» Apple will now seek import bans on several of its
rival's products. Samsung has said it will appeal
» And no, Samsung did not pay its fine to Apple in
nickels…
ITWeb, 27 August 2012 TechCentral, 27 August 2012


WHAT DOES THE RULING REALLY
MEAN?
» To competitors: Microsoft seems happy with the
ruling with Microsoft senior director of Windows
Phone marketing Bill Cox posting on Twitter:
“Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now”
» To consumers: Now the consumers can decide if
they want to pay a premium for Apple’s products
or pay for the similar Samsung product which
generally would cost less. However, consumers
may have to now pay more for products that have
to license Apple patents
» To Samsung: The $1bn that Samsung has to pay in
damages could be seen as small change, only
$1,5% of its annual revenue – not much to become
the 2nd biggest smartphone player in the world



WHAT DOES THE COURT RULING
MEAN FOR GOOGLE?
» In response to the verdict, Google has already said
the court of appeals would review both the
infringement and the validity of the patent claims
» “Most of these don’t relate to the core Android
operating system, and several are being reexamined
by the US Patent Office,” Google said
» This clearly indicates that Google is trying to
distance itself from the ruling and is not, at this
point, coming directly to the defense of
manufacturers using Android.
» The statement also points out that the rulings in
their current form do not directly affect Android. The
company would probably have responded in a vastly
different manner if this was the case

BBC, 25 August 2012


SECTION 4

MOBILE NETWORKS

41

DO SOUTH AFRICAN’S WANT DUAL-SIM
CARDS?
» While many emerging markets have seen sales of dual-
SIM mobile phones flourishing, the market for dual SIMs
in SA remains negligible
» The operators are often blamed for failing to offer dual-
SIM devices on their networks, fearing that consumers
will route their calls over the cheapest network at any
given time, but it appears a lack of demand may be
playing a larger role for the lack of take-up
» Liza De Wet, marketing director for Hauwei devices in SA
thinks this may change when the feature is added to
higher-end devices
» Zunaid Dinath, Vodacom’s managing executive for the
consumer market, agrees saying “In SA, the market
uptake has been slow due to the fact that these handsets
have fewer features and are more expensive


STUDY SHOWS SOUTH AFRICAN’S ARE
UNHAPPY WITH CELLULAR PROVIDERS
» A new study commissioned by inMobi, has revealed
that a massive 70% of South Africans are unhappy with
their cellphone providers
» The majority of complaints are the following:
– 17% percent of cellphone consumers are
unhappy about the price of the service
– 25% of people are not happy with only limited
data coverage
– 8% are frustrated about hidden charges
– 7% are not happy with customer service
» The network that came out on top with users
is Vodacom, scoring 57% for customer service, 60% for
network coverage, and 42% for value

News24, 1 August 2012


CELL C LAUNCHES NEW CALLING PLANS
» Cell C has announced that it is cutting call rates to a
further 177 countries after introducing a 99c/minute
rate to 50 countries in recent months
» The operator has grouped countries into 5 different
zones based on different call rates. The rates will be
available to all Cell C customers, whether they are
prepaid, hybrid or postpaid
» All calls will be billed on a per-second basis and the
new rates will be applicable to fixed-line and mobile
numbers in the respective countries



CELL C CHANGES HOW A2P SMS MESSAGES
ARE TERMINATED (SENT)
» A recent change in how Cell C is terminating
application-to-person (A2P) SMS messaging is
shaking up the local mobile messaging industry
» For years, all incumbent mobile network operators
had a “gentleman’s agreement” not to compete on
A2P SMS messaging traffic, which has resulted in
higher SMS prices for A2P SMS messages, benefiting
the network operators and the WASPs, but negatively
impacting on the communication costs of businesses
» Recently, Cell C began allowing all WASPs to
terminate A2P SMS messages onto other networks
» This could have a major impact on the revenue of
Vodacom and MTN, and it may need to be an issue
addressed by the Independent Communications
Authority of South Africa (ICASA)


ALAN KNOTT-CRAIG SENDS
WARNINGS
» Cell C CEO, Alan Knott-Craig sent a warning to his
cellular rivals, saying that the cellular battle has
not started yet and that “when we get into the ring,
be careful. Someone is going to get hurt”
» Speaking to Business Times, Knott-Craig said that
he has “not been taking jabs at his rivals yet,
despite announcing new specials weekly”
» Knott-Craig seems to be preparing the company
for a high volume, low margin environment where
data will play an increasingly important role

BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 13 August 2012


VODACOM NOT SHOWING SIGNS OF
DEFEAT
» Vodacom’s new chief consumer officer, Phil Patel said
that, despite the lower prices from Cell C and 8ta, they
are not losing market share to these two companies
» Patel highlighted that, while pricing is important, it is
not the only consideration. He said that issues like
network quality and service availability are also
important considerations to consumers
» Despite the fact that Vodacom is still showing strong
growth in the data market, Patel said that they will
continue to ensure that their pricing remains
competitive, and may even go to 15c per MB like Cell C
if they “have to”
» However, Patel said that there is currently no need for
Vodacom to match Cell C’s 15c per MB to remain
competitive


VIRGIN MOBILE SA TAKES FOCUS
OFF MASS MARKET
» Virgin Mobile SA is looking to build its brand and
enhance the customer experience within a
particular set of demographics, rather than chasing
mass market share
» This is according to Jonathan Marchbank, the new
CEO, who took the helm at the South African
operation earlier this month
» In terms of market share, Marchbank says the
MVNO is aiming for a humble 2%, or one million
customers
» Marchbank says that “Whereas the incumbents are
competing on tariff and handsets, he says, VMSA is
targeting brand affinity and customer engagement



INCREASED SUBSCRIBER
BASE FOR MTN
» Africa's largest cellular operator, MTN, says it
“delivered a satisfactory set of results” for the first 6
months of the year to June
» The group grew subscribers 6.9% to 176
million compared with its base at the end of
December
» Data, excluding SMS, contributed 10% to revenue,
increasing 69.6% to R6.7 million. “This was mainly
attributable to strong data growth in South Africa and
Nigeria, which contributed 46.8% and 28.4%
respectively to total group data revenue,” it says



BOOSTING MOBILE BROADBAND IN
SA
» Cellular network operators in South Africa are
ready for Long Term Evolution (LTE), a high speed
mobile broadband technology, but they have all
expressed a dire need for additional spectrum to
roll out LTE
» The Independent Communications Authority of
South Africa (ICASA) was to assign spectrum ideal
for the use of LTE, but withdrew its invitation to
apply (ITA) pending a “policy direction” from the
Minister of Communications
» Forging ahead in spite of spectrum limitations,
MTN recently revealed its plans to launch
commercial LTE services on a refarmed spectrum
during Q4 2012



RIM INTRODUCES BLACKBERRY
BUDDIES
» Research in Motion (RIM) has introduced a human
element into the support structure for its
BlackBerry devices with “BlackBerry Buddies”
» BlackBerry Buddies is a group of people based in
shopping malls across SA, who are dedicated to
helping BlackBerry users understand, manage and
get the most out of their BlackBerry devices
» The BlackBerry Buddies are based at designated
stands in the following shopping centres: Sandton
City in Johannesburg, Menlyn Park in Pretoria,
Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein, Canal Walk in Cape
Town, and Gateway Shopping Centre in Durban



TELKOM FINED R499M
» The Competition Tribunal has fined Telkom R449m for
abusing its dominance in the telecommunications
industry over a five-year period between 1999 and 2004
» “The tribunal concluded that Telkom leveraged its
upstream monopoly in the facilities market to advantage
its own subsidiary in the competitive value-added
network service (Vans) market,” the regulatory body says
in a statement
» Half of the penalty is to be paid within six months of the
tribunal’s decision while the balance is payable within 12
months thereafter. However, Telkom has the right to
appeal against the decision
» Telkom has since filed a notice of appeal against the
R449 million penalty



SECTION 5

MOBILE BANKING

53

MXIT AND STANDARD BANK PROVIDE
GATEWAY TO THE UNBANKED
» Standard Bank and Mxit have partnered to bring
real money transactions through a new mobile
commerce platform
» Mxit has long-served as a platform for
transactions involving Moola – Mxit’s native
currency – and has now extended the platform
to facilitate online payments for real-world
purchases
» The new mobile commerce platform makes use
of Standard Bank’s Instant Money services,
which is an electronic currency used between
people (where one or both parties are
unbanked) without the need for credit cards or
bank accounts



NEDBANK RELEASES APP
SUITE FOR ANDROID
» Nedbank has released its banking app to the public
but its only available on Android for the time being
» The bank says it intends rolling out apps for Android
tablets, Apple’s iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry
handsets and feature phones before the end of the
year, with support for Windows Phone planned for
the first quarter of next year
» “The Nedbank App Suite is unique in that it will be
available on smartphones as well as a wide range of
feature phones. It is our intention to provide an easy
to use app that is safe, convenient and available to
as many South Africans as possible,” says Nedbank
CEO Mike Brown



CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS GO
MOBILE
» FNB has launched cross-border payments to
Swaziland and Lesotho through its Pay2Cell service
» Pay2Cell was launched by FNB in September 2011,
and allows the bank's mobile phone banking
customers to make payments directly into FNB
accounts using only the recipient's mobile number
» "Offering cross-border payments from a cellphone
allows our customers to send and receive money
instantly. In addition to this, the use of only the
recipient's cellphone number makes the payment
process extremely simple for our customers” said
Chief Operating Officer for Cellphone Banking, Dione
Sankar

Sainfo Reporter, 15 August 2012


CELL C, FNB PARTNER FOR
BUNDLES
» FNB Cellphone Banking customers are now able to
buy Cell C SMS and data bundles via the bank's
USSD channel and mobile application
» Until now, the only Cell C product that was offered
via cellphone banking was prepaid airtime. Cell C
says FNB is the first, and currently the only, bank to
enter into a partnership with the operator to enable
its customers to purchase bundles
» Karin Fourie, Cell C's executive head of
communications, says the operator's aim is to
leverage the current growth in the data market and
form partnerships with relevant industry players



FRUSTRATED DEV MAKES OWN
ABSA APP
» Having read that Absa would not be making an official
banking application available until the end of the year
or early in 2013, Johannesburg-based developer and
entrepreneur Tyler Reed, frustrated at the time it is
taking the bank to develop the app, has opted to make
his own
» Reed essentially built a “wrapper” for Absa’s mobile
banking portal, and has no plans to release the app to
the public
» Christo Vrey, Absa’s managing executive for digital
channels, says the bank acknowledges that some of
its customers are anxious for a full-fledged mobile
app but suggests that the final product, when it is
eventually released will be worth the wait



BARCLAYS TO LAUNCH MOBILE
BANKING APP IN KENYA
» The app, which was unveiled six months ago in
the UK, has already achieved over one million
downloads in that country
» And Kenya marks the first international rollout
of the Pingit app, even ahead of a planned roll-
out in European countries in 2013
» The app will allow Kenyans in the diaspora to
send money to recipients via their mobile
phones at no cost
» Barclays plans to unveil the service also in
Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania,
Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Seychelles
and Mauritius by the end of 2012



IS GOOGLE WALLET THE FUTURE OF
MOBILE PAYMENT?
» A new way to pay has emerged from search giant,
Google, piggybacking on the growing availability of NFC
» Smartphones like the Google Nexus S or Samsung Galaxy
Nexus, allow you to download the Google Wallet app and
link it up to your accounts, subsequently using your
phone to buy goods and services when you are out and
about
» NFC terminals attached to tills of various shops and
outlets let you tap your handset against them and your
account is then charged the amount that is required to be
covered in a given transaction

Tech Talk Africa, 24 August 2012


IS SA READY FOR A
CASHLESS SOCIETY
» A study conducted by Visa reveals that South Africans
are the top cards-over-cash adopters in the world
(along with the Koreans), with 61% preferring to use
cards instead of cash
» SA has already had big developments in mobile
payments, with a number of financial services and
products available for use with mobile phones
» This year’s Oppikoppi, the South African music festival
held in rural Limpopo, saw the introduction of a new
cashless “tap-‘n-go” payment system from Standard
Bank

BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 28 August 2012 MyBroadband, 16 August 2012


EXPECT SLOW ADOPTION
OF NFC
» According to Tim Walter, executive head of
marketing at Nashua Mobile, South African banks
and retailers are likely to be slow to adopt near-
field communications (NFC) technology
» The reason for this, Walter told BusinessTech in
April, is due to the high costs of installing point-of-
sale terminals and other enabling infrastructure
» “Most of the major handset manufacturers are
bringing NFC to market in the latest models of
their mid to high-end smartphones,” Walter said.
“Yet we are still a long way off from the critical
mass that would really justify massive investment
in the technology by banks and retailers.”

BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 28 August 2012


SECTION 6

SOCIAL MEDIA

63

FACEBOOK, TWITTER GROWTH
DRIVEN BY SMARTPHONES IN SA
» The number of Facebook users in South Africa grew
by 500,000 people, or 11%, to 4.9 million users in
2012, with the rapid rise in smartphone ownership
fueling most of that growth
» LinkedIn is the no. 2 social network in the country,
with 1.8 million users (35.3%), narrowly ahead of 3rd
place Twitter (1.2 million users, 17.1%), which has
also seen rapid growth in the past 12 months
» Google+ has 460,000 users (6.54%)
» Some 20% of South Africans now own a smartphone,
and more than 80% (4 million) have accessed
Facebook from their mobile phones. Curiously,
Nokia and Blackberry account for 87% of all
smartphones in the country, with the iPhone Strategy Worx
controlling a share of just 3%
Media Bistro, 28 August 2012


LINKEDIN Q2 RESULTS BEATS
ANALYST PREDICTIONS
» Revenue in Q2 was $228.2 million, which is up
89% from a year ago when LinkedIn announced
$121 million in Q2 2011 revenue. Analysts were
expecting revenue of $216 million for the
quarter
» LinkedIn’s a user base now consists of 175
million people. That figure was 150 million 6
months ago when LinkedIn announced its Q4
2011 financials
» LinkedIn’s stock price has also jumped 48.5%
since the beginning of the year

Mashable, 2 August 2012 Marketing Land, 2 August 2012


PINTEREST RELEASES APPS FOR ANDROID
SMARTPHONES / TABLETS AND IPAD
» Pinterest, a pinboard-style photo sharing website can
now be used as mobile apps for Android smartphones
and tablets, as well as the Apple iPad
» Pinterest’s mobile apps have the same set of
features on all platforms such as browsing through
other people’s profiles, re-pinning their items,
creating new pins (with your camera, if you want to),
and follow other people / brands
» The smartphone app uses a two-column layout
whereas the tablet version makes use of all the extra
space by giving you double the columns and more
information upfront

Redmond Pie, 15 August 2012


FACEBOOK TAKES A “BIG STEP
FORWARD” FOR MOBILE
» Facebook has released a new native Facebook app for
iOS
» According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg,
the application was completely rewritten from the
ground up in order to focus on speed
» Facebook engineer Jonathan Dann says: “The
development of this new app signals a shift in how
Facebook is building mobile products, with a focus on
digging deep into individual platforms”..
» With the iOS app revamped, Facebook's next priority
is its Android experience.



FACEBOOK UNVEILS MOBILE AD
UNIT TO PROMOTE APPS
» Facebook has launched another ad unit, this time
designed to help mobile app developers market
themselves
» The units drive users to new apps. If a user clicks on
an ad and they don’t have the app already, they’ll be
directed to the App Store or Google Play to download
it
» This ad unit fully trackable as you can use Facebook’s
analytics tools to assess its performance
» The introduction comes after
Facebook introduced Sponsored Stories for the News
Feed in June

Mashable, 7 August 2012


INSTAGRAM PURCHASE IN THE
CLEAR FOR FACEBOOK
» The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared
Facebook's acquisition of Instagram
» The move frees Facebook to complete its
purchase of the mobile photo application maker,
the biggest acquisition in its history.
» Under the terms of the deal, Facebook will
acquire Instagram for $300 million in cash and
roughly 23 million shares of Facebook common
stock
» The deal also ensures the fast-growing mobile
app, which said it had 80 million users in July, will
not fall into the hands of a Facebook rival such as
Twitter or Google



THE WORLD’S FIRST REAL-MONEY
FACEBOOK GAME LAUNCHES IN THE UK
» Bingo Friendzy is a new Facebook game from
online gambling operator Gamesys, which gives
users the opportunity to play with and win real
money in 90 ball bingo games. No, not Facebook
credits - actual money
» It may be the first of its kind, but other online
gaming companies are reportedly working on real
money versions of its own games too. According to
the BBC, Zynga could roll out real cash games as
early as next year
» It’s not a world-wide launch — different countries
have different laws regarding online gambling (for
example, it’s illegal in the United States), so the
use of app is restricted



GOOGLE ACQUIRES WILDFIRE
» Wildfire, the social media startup that’s making
huge strides in online marketing, has just been
snapped up by Google for an undisclosed price
» Google wants to own (and eventually integrate) the
online marketing experience. It wants to have a
single destination where a brand marketing
manager can go to create and control all online
campaigns, from search marketing to Twitter CRM
to Facebook campaigns
» Wildfire co-founder and CEO Victoria Ransom, said
when it came to Google+, marketers weren’t as
interested due to the (real or perceived) lack of
richness in content and interaction on the newer
social network

Venturebeat, 31 July 2012


MXIT WANTS TO BE A SOCIAL PLATFORM
» Mxit is planning on shifting from an instant
messaging platform to a fully-fledged social
platform
» Speaking at the Mobile Entertainment Africa 2012
conference, Mxit’s Head of Product Development,
Peter Matthaei said that the instant messaging
platform is working on improving discoverability
through sharing, user recommendations and
applying algorithms to social networking
» Despite increased competition from other mobile
messaging services such as BlackBerry Messenger
(BBM) and WhatsApp Messenger, Mxit has become
the largest mobile social network in Africa

TechLoy, 29 August 2012


MXIT STORY AVAILABLE ON THE
SOCIAL NETWORK
» Mobinomics, the book by Alan Knott-Craig and
Gus Silber on Mxit and Africa’s mobile
revolution, has been published to the social
network. This is the first time a printed book,
available in national book stores, has been
distributed via Mxit.
» The publishing of Mobinomics on the social
media network is part of a bigger strategy to
increase access to books by creating pricing and
distribution models that make sense to the
broader South African population and eventually
the entire African continent
» To read Mobinomics please go onto
Mxit> Tradepost> Mxit Reach> Mobi books>
FunDza
She’s the Geek, x August 2012


SECTION 7

SUMMARY & CREDITS

74

We are seeing more and more mobile products being rolled
The uptake of smartphones is increasing with every
out by brands globally and locally
quarter, and we may reach a tipping point with
The disconnect between marketers and consumers is
emerging overtaking emerged markets after the
getting smaller
month of September

The price wars between South Africa’s networks
are heating up with Cell C disrupting every area of
the business The rate and scale of change is accelerating all the
time. Mobile payment technologies like NFC are
Key trends in however two or three years away from adoption in
mobile for South Africa
August 2012
With the success of dual-SIM mobile handsets in the
rest of Africa, the jury is still out as to whether there is
enough demand in South Africa, and if network
operators will open up to the idea
In the meantime, banks are looking for
alternative ways of bringing banking to the
people of South Africa

We will soon witness, and even experience the
ripple effect of the Apple and Samsung trial
Growth of social networks in South Africa and
Africa is being driven mostly by mobile users

75

CREDITS
» Altimeter Group » TechCrunch » News24
» BBC » TechLoy » ReadWriteWeb
» Bandwidth Blog » TechSmart » Redmond Pie
» Bizcommunity » Tech Talk Africa » Venturebeat
» CNET » Today’s iPhone
» Forbes » Marketing Land
» IT News Africa » Mashable
» ITWeb » Media Bistro
» ITWeb Africa » Memeburn
» Sainfo Reporter » Mobile Commerce Daily
» She’s the Geek » MyBroadband
» TechCentral » MyBroadband BusinessTech


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

Angus Robinson | Director: Mobile, Content, Community & Media
[tel] +27 (11) 555-3800

INSERT VIDEO HERE
[cell] +27 (83) 635 4400
[fax] 0867210884
[email] angus@native.co.za
[twitter] @angusrobinson

Tracy Aberman | Mobile Strategist Vuyisile Sisulu | Mobile Technologist
[tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800
[cell] +27 (82) 754 6111 [cell] +27 (82) 679 5415
[fax] 0867210884 [fax] 0867210884
[email] tracya@native.co.za [email] vuyilisle@native.co.za
[twitter] @TracyInSA [twitter] @Vuyisile_Sisulu


Mobile Report August 2012 Highlights

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