Wine is fine, but beer isn’t quite so cool anymore, especially among older people. And that’s just what the sales figures for alcohol consumption will show in four years time, says a new report, Consumers’ Alcoholic Drinks Preferences: New Trends and Future Perspectives.

The new report predicts that beer sales in Europe are likely to nose-dive, the sale of spirits remain as they are and only wine sales are expected to climb. A similar trend is also visible in U.S. markets as well, suggesting that the market for alcohol consumption is largely listless, the sole exception being the climbing sales of wine.

Continue reading “Wine is Fine. But Changing Drinking Patterns Slow ‘Pint’ Sales” »

In Stockholm, Sweden you will get free parking and free congestion charge when your car runs on biofuels. There are 800 service stations in Sweden providing biofuels and more starting to do so every year.

Maybe that’s the reason to why Volvo-cars are seen lined up on the streets, or perhaps, people have been fed up with the highest petrol prices in Europe.

Continue reading “Swedes drive Europe’s biofuel usage” »

Global Mergers and Acquistions (M&A) activity reached record levels for the first half of 2007. Recent data from Dealogic has revealed a 50% surge in activity, with deals totalling some $2,780 billion. KPMG, meanwhile, has warned that, as the credit markets continue to struggle, the M&A frenzy is set to peak and the volume of deals will slow. So what does this mean for the cash rich, global pharmaceutical sector, which itself underwent frenzied M&A activity around the turn of the century but has subsequently slowed down?

Continue reading “Will the M&A boom cause mega-mergers in the cash rich pharmaceutical sector?” »

A growing number of diabetics in the US will be instrumental in pushing the home care health market past the $10 billion mark in the next four years. A report on the home care health product market says that diabetics and other people who suffer from chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases are shifting from being treated in hospital to being treated at home. The relatively cheaper home care options leads to regular investment in home testing and monitoring products.

Continue reading “Diabetics Will Drive Home Care Product Market Over The $10 Billion Mark” »

Smart Meters are being hailed as the next new must have. With pundits saying they can revolutionise the way household energy is consumed, and lower energy consumption by up to 10%, it looks like they’re here to stay.

A new report, Smart metering in the Energy and Utilities sector, predicts that the smart metering industry will experience an estimated 41% increase in Europe and 89% in North America in the next five years.

Continue reading “Summer Sunshine Could Mean Big Bills, Unless You Have Smart Meters” »

Those involved in the m-applications, especially those with a marketing background, can intuitively recognise the enormous opportunities that exist, but they don’t necessarily understand the complexities of the industry. For the last decade most of them have been banging their heads against a brick wall – the operators – and they have finally given in. Dozens of these companies who have given up after years of trying. They are all disillusioned about the industry, and rightly so, as most of them had the right ideas, the right concepts and the right business models.

Continue reading “Mobile Phone Operators should Stop Meddling in Marketing Affairs” »

The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has warned that planned wireless broadband technologies pose a significant threat to the Asia Pacific satellite industry’s C-band services, if not the entire industry itself. According to CASBAA officials, if regional administrations allocate C-band spectrum to WiMAX services, the impact of a ‘spectrum grab’ by Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) technologies could be disastrous.

At the same time, CASBAA noted, in addition to WiMAX, various 4G mobile telephony initiatives have been targeting the entire range of C-Band spectrum in meetings of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Continue reading “Frequency Threat to Hit Asian Satellite Industry Body” »

The existing advertising agencies will be with us for a long time to come.

However studies show that the biggest growth for the next ten years will come from the digital media, and this will most certainly involve massive changes for the traditional ad agencies. It will also mean that those who build up a good digital business will profit from the new trend; they will have a chance to dominate this market segment, and they will eventually also dominate the total market, as the traditional business becomes a smaller slice of the pie.
Continue reading “Traditional Advertising Agencies under Threat as Mass Media Takes Over” »

There are some early signs that mobile operators are changing their business models. This would, after ten years of hype, finally produce a breakthrough in the use of mobile services.

Over the last decade the vendors and mobile operators have continually bombarded the market with announcements about their fabulous mobile data products and services. But the reality is that, apart from Japan and Korea, no mass markets have been developed for mobile data, beyond SMS. Only ringtones and wallpaper can claim some victories, with music following at a distance. In the business market we have seen a recent spurt in the uptake of mobile email, and this is set to continue, independently of the mass market business models.

Continue reading “High Speed Packet Access threat to SMS” »

Even in the USA, entertainment country of the world, PVRs (personal video recorder) seem to have a limited appeal – after close to a decade the market is still struggling to reach a 10% market penetration. Of course TiVo is the grandfather of the current wave of developments. Again, the service has appeal, and generates an enormous amount of interest, but in reality the uptake remains far below expectations.

Continue reading “The Personal Video Recorder is it all too little too late?” »