The rise of Microblogging

"It's a blog... but it's an sms... kind of strange mix, actually"

What an interesting thing, I said. It's going to be a complete failure, I thought. But, as you can see in Twitter, maybe micro-blogging and me just had a bad first impression.

But... what is really with it? A strong business model? A fantastic interface? Something revolutionary? Well... it's not more than redesigning the ancient concept of communication, actually... Just another perspective and another possibility that people have to keep in touch with their beloved ones (or the hated ones ;-) )

Professor Enrique Dans writes about Twitter it in its early stages (sorry, in Spanish; a good English introduction is in MediaShift). It is really a different thing, in which you can not only express you opinion about something, but keep in touch with someone that is far away (as I do with my girlfriend), let your mum what you are doing ;) or inform about something (BBC or NYT in journalism, Los Angeles Fire Department informs you in twitter: LAFD). So... what's all this buzz about?

The incredible thing is that, while laughing at their lack of business model, we have witnessed how it has grown more than anyone had expected. Communication in one way, asynchronous, primitive. But an easy way to communicate, an open door to express what you need when you need in less than 30 secs...

And... you know what? Tell me how many competitors are trying to copy you, and you will tell me how successful and how many possibilities (as well as threats, of course) are in front of you. And taking a look at:

Rejaw (with a Chat included)
koornk (personal shouting)

Utterly (with photos and media)

kwippy (thoughts)

BrightKite (where are you)
identi.ca (free software)
Jaiku (geographical microblogging)
Twingr (microblogging communities)

And what about its Spanish counterparts? Xmensaje and Khaces

Amazing. Maybe it's worth to take a close look at it... and wait until the discovery of the business model... or the new funding round!!!!

Virgin Mobile & US Mobile Industry Data in 2008

Hi all! I have made a little research of the US mobile Industry market in 2008 for Advanced Marketing. I hope you enjoy it!

The penetration rate has grown up to 86.1%, what means that there were 261.5 million subscribers in total. For the sake of the explanation (and lack of time), data from US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are left out.

Virgin Mobile US, owned by Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel Corporation, has experienced a steady growth since it was created, reaching 5.38 million subscribers, or a 2.05% market share (December 2008). It has to be taken into account that Helio's clients are being counted (Helio is a $39M acquisition made in June 2008).

Virgin is still partnering with Kyocera offering its phones, although LG, Samsung and UTStarcom phones have been introduced. Another interesting breakthrough has been the addition of text messaging packs and an unlimited plan (between Virgin mobiles and to every mobile in non-peak hours).

Nowadays, Virgin is the 7th mobile operator by number of subscribers in the US. To fully understand its position, nevertheless, is essential to show data from the 6 biggest players in the US industry:

1. Verizon Wireless (including Alltell): 83.7 million subscribers. 32% market share.

2. AT&T Mobility (currently acquiring Centennial Communications): 77 million subscribers. 29.45% market share.

3. Sprint Nextel (includes Sprint Network, Nextel Network, Boost Mobile Prepaid): 50.7 million subscribers. 19.38% market share.

4. T-Mobile: 32.8 million subscribers. 12.54% market share.

5. TracFone Wireless (includes NET10): 11.2 million subscribers. 4.28% market share.

6. US Cellular: 6.17 million subscribers. 2.36% market share.

Apart from this 6 companies and Virgin Mobile, there are only two mobile operators that have more than a million subscribers: MetroPCS (similar numbers to those of Virgin) and Cricket (3.84 million subscribers).

Online resources used:

American Operators (Wikipedia)

Virgin Mobile (Wikipedia)

Virgin Mobile USA (Wikipedia)

Virgin Mobile USA

GSM World

And the winner is... Spain!!!!

No more regrets, no more "what ifs". This time we were determined to win. We have taken all the steps to cross the line well ahead... and we got it.

We are always used to see Americans as the best ones. When things go well, they outperform everyone, and when things go bad, they situation is even worse. Not this time. Not in this moment. Can you hear it, my friends? Can you smell it? SPAIN IS HERE!!!!!

We're not longer afraid of your "impressive" unemployment data. 598.000 jobs lost in January, 3.7 million jobs lost since December 2007,unemployment rate of 7.6% (the highest in 16 years). But... are we supposed to be amazed?

No way. 198.838 job lost in January, 1.28 million jobs lost in 2008 (Encuesta de Población Activa), unemployment rate of 14.4% and even better perspectives for the future make us worldwide leaders!!!

We worked (or not) so hard to get it... that don't even dare to think we are going to stop here, we are going to mantain the lead. European Comission says we are going to have an unemployment rate of 18.7% in 2010. 

Don't be surprised, dear world. A country that doubles unemployment rate of the eurozone (especially "funny" is the rate in younger than 25: 29.5%), a country that adds up to 3.1 million unemployed to the total eurozone of 12.4 million is a complete champion.

Be prepared to surrender, World.