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Tag: NPD Group

  • Video Gaming Increasing Across All Age Groups

    Video Gaming Increasing Across All Age Groups

    In further evidence of the impact the pandemic is having on everyday life, video gaming has seen a significant uptick across allage groups.

    With more people staying home and avoiding in-person contact, alternative forms of entertainment and socialization have been on the rise. Video gaming, in particular, has become a popular option. Rather than being a solo experience, modern video games often provide a high level of social interaction.

    According to Mat Piscatella, Video Game Industry Analyst, The NPD Group, video games are rising in popularity across age demographics, and specifically among middle-aged and older groups.

    https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1333452885422587912?s=20

    Interestingly, the biggest jump in video game usage was in the 45 to 54 year-old age group. This impact of the pandemic is sure to open up new opportunities for enterprising companies to better engage with potential customers.

  • ‘Titanfall’ Tops March Game Sales; PS4 Outsells Xbox One

    March video game sales estimates for the U.S. have been released by market research firm NPD and it appears that Microsoft’s investment in the highly-marketed Titanfall has paid off – for publisher EA, that is.

    The March sales estimates show that Titanfall sales for Xbox One and PC combined to be the best-selling title of the crowded March release season. Sony’s InFAMOUS: Second Son for the PlayStation 4 was the runner-up followed by South Park: The Stick of Truth, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Dark Souls II. Titanfall, just one month from release, is now the second-highest selling Xbox One title since that console launched in November.

    Though the relentless marketing campaign for Titanfall has made the game the top-selling title for March, the game’s success may not have been the Xbox One-selling phenomenon that Microsoft had hoped. By NPD’s estimates Sony still managed to sell more PlayStation 4 consoles in the U.S. than Microsoft did Xbox One consoles in March. This is despite the release of a Titanfall Xbox One bundle that essentially gave the game away with the purchase of the console and despite the fact that many U.S. retailers have been seen discounting the price of the Xbox One.

    Just after the NPD numbers were released Microsoft announced that five million Xbox One consoles have been shipped to retailers since November. This puts Microsoft’s console two million in sales behind Sony’s PlayStation 4. Sony announced earlier today that seven million PS4s have been sold-through as of April 6.

    The widening gap in sales between Sony and Microsoft’s new platforms aside, hardware sales for the video game industry are looking up. Year-over-year U.S. hardware sales are up 78% according to NPD. Though software sales are down 28% from the same month last year, the quickly-growing install base of the Xbox One and PS4 puts the console market on solid ground for the years to come.

  • Netflix And The Like Gain Ground Against Premium TV Channels, Says Disputed Report

    Netflix And The Like Gain Ground Against Premium TV Channels, Says Disputed Report

    Update: HBO says the NPD report is incorrect, and that it’s not losing subscribers. Both HBO and Cinemax have shown “significant” growth over the past two years, according to the company. Meanwhile, NPD appears to have pulled the report.

    It appears that premium cable channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz are losing subscribers as online streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus are gaining them.

    Research from the NPD Group has come out (via Variety) indicating that U.S. premium TV channel subscriptions declined by 6% From March 2012 to August 2013, while subscriptions to the streaming services grew by 4%.

    32% of homes in the U.S. had premium cable subscriptions while 27% had subscriptions to online services. According to NPD Group, Netflix leads these, but the others are seeing big growth.

    HBO has been making its online video service HBO Go more accessible. News of its arrival on Playstation consoles just came last week. It also recently gained Chromecast support. Still, you have to subscribe to the TV channel to access it, which remains a major barrier to much more significant growth for that.

    Netflix has certainly established itself as a major force in original content. Its shows have now won Emmys, a Golden Globe and a People’s Choice Award, and it now even has an original documentary nominated for an Oscar. The service has a ton more original content on the way over the next year.

    Image via Netflix

  • Tablet Owners Prefer to Multitask With TV, Shows Survey

    A new survey by NPD DisplaySearch has shown that 88% of tablet owners use their tablet while watching TV. 82% of smartphone owners also multitasked online while watching TV. The analyst firm’s “Quarterly Multi-Screen Usage Study” found that the most common tasks device owners perform while watching TV include email, texting, Facebooking, and just surfing the web.

    “The rise in connected mobile devices has changed the way consumers view TV and online content,” said Riddhi Patel, research director at DisplaySearch. “For many people around the world, multi-tasking with apps on smartphones and tablets while watching TV has forever changed the traditional TV-focused viewing experience.”

    In addition to those that use mobile devices while watching TV, the majority of tablet and smartphone owners also use their devices to watch content instead of watching it on a TV. According to the survey, 65% of smartphone owners and 85% of tablet owners now admit to watching online content on devices rather than TV, citing the mobility and personal nature of the devices as reasons.

    The survey also found that tablet and smartphone owners in emerging markets (BRIC nations) were more likely to to watch content on mobile devices instead of on TV. Patel pointed out the survey shows that owning mobile devices can affect the purchase of smaller TVs, but not larger ones that may be found in more “mature” markets such as the U.S.

  • Facebook Dominating Android Says NPD Report

    Google, or at least Matt Cutts, may be congratulating Facebook on going public, but they are still rivals. They both want to connect the world in ways that allows them to service customers and sell ads. Google may think it has the home field advantage in specific areas, but Facebook has taken at least one Google property – Android.

    The NPD Group released a study yesterday on the eve of the Facebook IPO that found over three-fourths of all Android users use their phones to access Facebook. That’s more than any other social networking service which makes Facebook king of Android. The reach doesn’t just extend to the Facebook app, but also mobile Web access.

    Facebook’s app and Web reach are both sitting anywhere between 70 and 75 percent. That’s a massive number and one that the other social networking sites can’t even come close to matching. It was found that Twitter is sitting at second with only 23 percent reach in Web and 18 percent reach in apps. Google’s own service, Google+, has been lagging behind for the past nine months with only 16 percent reach in Web and 10 to 15 percent reach in apps.

    Facebook is also dominating the amount of time people spend on apps. Users spend roughly 15 minutes a day on Facebook via Android devices which translates to 470 minutes a month. The amount of people spend on Facebook is second only to games, but NPD points out that Facebook is used more often with the average user opening the app six times a day.

    “Ultimately, Facebook’s mobile success rests on delivering compelling mobile app and web experiences, and monetizing on these experiences,” said Linda Barrabee, research director, NPD Connected Intelligence. “In order to do this, Facebook needs to ensure that monetization efforts via advertising enhance and do not disrupt the mobile social consumer experience; and with Facebook’s IPO looming and trading expected to begin on May 18, all eyes are on the company.”

    Facebook has taken this lesson to heart as Mark Zuckerberg has recently commented on the Facebook mobile experience. He says that the rise in mobile use has led Facebook to rethink their strategy of how they utilize mobile. There are not as many ads in the mobile Facebook experience so they’re losing out on all that delicious ad revenue when so many people now access the site via mobile applications.

    While Facebook may be dominating the Android platform, Google can rest easy in the fact that they’re currently trading at $600 compared to Facebook’s $38. Sure, it may not seem fair to compare a company that’s been trading for years to one that just started trading, but all’s fair in love, war and tech IPOs.

    [h/t: MediaPost]

  • Study Finds iPads Aren’t Replacing PCs

    Study Finds iPads Aren’t Replacing PCs

    New research from the NPD Group indicates that nearly 90% of initial iPad sales are incremental and are not cannibalizing the PC market. 

    "Contrary to popular belief, the iPad isn’t causing cannibalization in the PC market because iPad owners don’t exhibit the same buying and ownership patterns as the typical consumer electronics customer," the group says. 

    NPD found that only 13%t of iPad owners surveyed bought an iPad instead of a PC, while 24% replaced a planned e-reader purchase with an iPad. 

    An a more obvious note, the group also found that iPad owners tend to own more Apple products, and are early adopters of other new technologies. 

    iPad availability expanding

    "Early adopters, like iPad owners, follow a traditional pattern of consumer behavior; they purchase products because they want them, not because they need them," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. "However, as Apple increases iPad distribution and consumer interest peaks, the profile of an iPad owner is much more likely to mirror the overall tech population. When that does happen other tech products with similar usage profiles as the iPad, such as notebooks, netbooks, and e-readers will come under increased pressure from the iPad. Until then, however, most iPad sales are likely to be incremental additional technology devices in the home, rather than a one-for-one replacement of a planned purchase."

    There’s no doubt that iPad sales will continue to climb, as will similar offerings from other manufacturers, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be replacing the PC anytime soon. 

    50% of the first wave of iPad sales came from people who own Apple computers. That number dropped to 45% among later sales, the group says. 

  • Report: Android on 1 in 3 U.S. Smartphones Sold

    The NPD Group has released a new smartphone report, finding that Motorola and HTC have driven Android to the lead in the U.S. Android is installed on one in three smartphones sold, according to the group.

    Meanwhile, for the first time since 2007, RIM has slid to the number 2 position, as Android took the lead.

    While Android accounted for 33% of all smartphones purchased in Q2, RIM accounted for 28%. Apple came in third at 22% with the launch of the iPhone 4.

    BlackBerry Torch with BlackBerry 6 "For  the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among U.S. consumers," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "While the Google-developed OS took market share from RIM, Apple’s iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4 launch."

    This week, BlackBerry unleashed its new BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6. It remains to be seen what kind of an impact this will have on the market.

    "Blackberry 6 will soon offer features that have been popular in recently launched Android handsets, such as support for capacitive touchscreens and a WebKit-based browser. However, the Blackberry Torch lacks the large screen allure that has characterized the best selling Android devices at its price point, including the Droid Incredible and EVO 4G," Rubin said.

    The top 5 Android smartphones sold were:

    1. Motorola Droid
    2. HTC Droid Incredible
    3. HTC EVO 4G
    4. HTC Hero
    5. HTC Droid Eris

    Android still has tablets and Google TV to look forward to as far as attracting more users.

  • U.S. Consumers Reportedly Go for Android Over iPhone in Q1

    It’s been quite clear that Android usage has been growing steadily, but a report from the NPD Group finds that in the first quarter of 2010, Android devices actually outsold iPhones (still behind RIM) in the U.S.

    Here are the market share numbers for sales in the first quarter according to the report:

    RIM: 36%
    Android: 28%
    Apple: 21%

    Droid Eris from Verizon"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," says Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."

    Such offers have been available for devices like the Droid, Droid Eris (pictured), and BlackBerry Curve.

    As far as carriers, AT&T accounted for 32% of smarthone sales, with Verizon accounting for 30%, T-Mobile accounting for 17% and Sprint accounting for 15%.

    "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," says Rubin. "Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future."

    In considering the data from the report, it’s important to keep in mind the methodology behind it. It was compiled from 150,000 completed online customer research surveys. The figures don’t include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.