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IDC: Worldwide Tablet Shipments Increase by 20.4% in Q3 2024, Reaching 39.6 Million Units

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Worldwide tablet shipments grew 20.4% in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), totaling 39.6 million units, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

Jitesh Bhayani RVP, Worldwide Telecommunications Services

Jitesh Bhayani — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:00:00 GMT

On October 23^rd of 2024, AT&T announced its third quarter 2024 financial earnings. Top line revenues were $30.2B, a YoY decline of 0.50%. However, AT&T’s Mobility and Consumer Broadband revenues in the US continued their growth momentum, in line with the first half performance. While the company’s operations in Mexico also contributed to its growth. The postpaid phone net adds declined from a YoY perspective, while churn continued to improve. The company also achieved free cash flow of ~$5.1B this quarter, down by $0.1B YOY, but higher by $2.4B YTD when compared to the same period from a YoY perspective.

The major negative for AT&T continues to be its decline in Business Wireline operations, an 11.8% YOY revenue decline, which is partially offset by growth in fiber based products and other advanced connectivity services.

Mobility

AT&T’s Mobility group recorded another good quarter with 403,000 postpaid phone net additions. This was a decline of approximately 3.9% quarter over quarter. Postpaid phone churn was 0.78%, a 1 BP improvement from the year-ago quarter. The postpaid phone average revenue per user (ARPU) rose as well during the quarter to $57.07 compared to the previous quarter ARPU of $56.42 and up by almost $0.65 sequentially and 1.9% from a YoY perspective. The company said the ARPU increase was partially driven by the timing of certain administrative fees amounting to approximately $90 million of one-time revenues in the third quarter that benefited service revenues, but did not result in a price increase.

Overall wireless service revenues were up 4.0% YoY driven by subscriber and post-paid ARPU growth. When including equipment revenues, Mobility revenues grew ~$360 million YoY. The equipment revenue declined by 5.7% from a YoY perspective. EBITDA Service Margins improved by 150 basis points for Mobility for the quarter, reaching 57.4% for the quarter versus a 3Q 2023 margin of 55.9%.

This quarter, 403,000 postpaid phone net adds were recorded, reflecting approximately a decline of 13.9% from a YoY perspective, compared to 468,000 net additions in 3Q23. From a YTD perspective, the postpaid phone net adds decline was approximately 3.9%, which could be a concern if this trend continues.

Consumer Wireline

AT&T’s fiber broadband growth and efforts continue to be the highlight of its Consumer Wireline unit. The total fiber broadband net adds were 226,000 for Q3 2024. The newly launched AT&T Internet Air Fixed Wireless Access service has been growing quickly and already has almost 500,000 consumer subscribers at the end of this quarter, adding 135,000 net adds in Q3, 2024. The company now reports over 9 million consumer fiber broadband subscribers. Consumer fiber broadband services reported an ARPU of $70.36, a YoY ARPU increase of approximately 3.2% driven by customers coming it at higher ARPU plans. New connections are coming in at ~ $75 ARPU.

Overall total consumer broadband revenues grew YoY by 6.4%, while total consumer wireline revenues posted a 2.6% YoY increase. Both growth rates reflect the ongoing declines in AT&T’s legacy wireline consumer services, which is being offset by growth in fiber services. AT&T reported its Consumer Wireline unit reported a YoY non-fiber broadband revenue decline of ~ 9.3%.

Business Wireline

AT&T’s Business Wireline group had another challenging quarter. Total revenues were $4.6 billion, for a YoY decline of ~11.8%. The company reported it lowered operating expenses by 4.6% YoY for the quarter, driven by lower personnel costs and network access and customer support expenses.

Other Services and Expenditures

Mexico continues to be a bright spot for AT&T with its continued success in that market. For the quarter its revenues were $1.0 billion, a YoY increase of 3%. This growth was driven mainly by the growth in equipment revenues. Service revenues of $645 million were down approximately 4% YoY and equipment sales of $377 million were up 17.8% YoY.

AT&T also continues to make strong progress on cost minimization and optimization. During the earnings call, the company highlighted its success in balancing efficient growth with long-term investments in expanding converged network services and reducing debt. The company has reduced net debt by about $1.1 billion in Q3 24, despite a $1.3 billion FX headwind related to foreign debt. The company stated that it is on track to meet its target to be in the 2.5x range in the first half of 2025.

Additionally, by the end of the quarter, the company reached over twenty-eight million consumer and business locations with fiber. It remains on track to exceed thirty million fiber locations passed by the end of 2025.

Verizon has solid 3Q24 Earnings quarter. Postpaid and Broadband drive growth.

Courtney Munroe, Avinash Naga — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Verizon announced its 3Q24 financial results on October 22, 2024. Total consolidated operating revenue in 3Q24 was $33.3 billion, which was flat compared to 3Q23. However, Verizon reported 2.7% YoY total wireless service revenue growth during the quarter, driven by an increase in broadband subscribers, and the impact of pricing initiatives taken during past quarters, as well as the continued adoption of fixed wireless access. For 3Q24, Verizon reported earnings per share of $0.78 compared with $1.13 for 3Q23. EPS was $1.19 on an adjusted basis, compared with adjusted EPS of $1.22 in 3Q23. Overall net income for the third quarter was $3.4 billion, down from $4.9 billion in 3Q23.

The company reported slight growth in its adjusted EBITDA of $12.5 billion for the quarter, which was better than expected. Total consolidated revenue growth according to Verizon was primarily due to an increase in service and other revenue, offset by a decrease in wireless equipment revenue due to decline in total upgrade volumes by 8.1% year over year.

Augmented and Virtual Reality @Work, 2024: Benefits and Satisfaction

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines the benefits and satisfaction after having deployed AR or VR at their organization. We polled 306 commercial IT decision-makers about what they considered the greatest benefits AR and VR have brought to their company and their overall level of satisfaction with their ARVR solutions.

"Our participants cited multiple benefits from their ARVR deployment, and while no one or two benefit emerged as overall leaders, vendors should be quick to point out ARVR's versatility and the benefits that they can provide," says Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Augmented and Virtual Reality program. "What company would not be interested in higher productivity, efficiency, and safety? Both AR and VR can help enable these and others."

"While satisfaction among our participants was high, there is still room for improvement," adds Llamas. "More than three-quarters of our participants were at least somewhat satisfied with their ARVR solutions, and while that is a positive response to tout to customers, it also shows that vendors should investigate areas of development."

The Office Strikes Back: Hits and Misses of Workspace Transformations in EMEA

Gala Spasova — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective focuses on challenges faced by businesses and their employees following recent office redesign initiatives in EMEA. Organizations across the region are rapidly transforming their offices to accommodate hybrid work models. However, data from IDC's EMEA FoW Employee Experience Survey, 2024, suggests these initiatives often tend to fall flat shortly after implementation, leading to inefficiencies and employee dissatisfaction. Despite investments in spaces and technology, a lack of data-driven planning and stakeholder input often results in mismatched solutions. This document explores the key drivers behind these failures and provides insights into ensuring workspace investments truly enhance productivity and employee satisfaction.

"The biggest challenge in office redesign isn't just about changing the space, it's aligning it with how people truly work. The solution lies in designing adaptable, tech-enabled environments that foster focus and collaboration, creating a workspace that evolves with your team's needs," said Gala Spasova, senior research manager, IDC's Europe Smart Office and EMEA Content & Knowledge Management Strategies.

Virtual Reality @Work, 2024: Deployment

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines how companies came to deploy virtual reality (VR) in their organization. We polled 306 commercial IT decision-makers about what first made them consider virtual reality, what specific work-related challenges and problems that they thought VR could help solve, to whom they reach out to design their solution, what was the one thing that they considered "absolutely critical" to a successful VR deployment, and what were their biggest inhibitors to a successful VR rollout.

"Our participants' journey to deploy virtual reality was not unlike deploying other new technologies," says Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Augmented and Virtual Reality team. "This involved discovering how VR would fit into their organization and what problems it could solve. It also required them to identify who would design a solution for them. Along the way, they also identified important pieces — both to incorporate and to avoid — that can be translated into best practices. Altogether, these will provide guidance to vendors when working with potential customers."

Augmented Reality @Work: Deployment

Ramon T. Llamas — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines how companies came to deploy augmented reality (AR) in their organization. We polled 306 commercial IT decision-makers about what first made them consider augmented reality, what specific work-related challenges and problems that they thought AR could help solve, to whom they reach out to design their solution, what was the one thing that they considered "absolutely critical" to a successful AR deployment, and what were their biggest inhibitors to a successful AR rollout.

"The journey to deploy augmented reality involves numerous steps," says Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Augmented and Virtual Reality team. "Like any other technology deployments, our participants had to define its purpose and identify what problems to solve. Along the way, they also identified important pieces — both to incorporate and to avoid — that can be translated into best practices. Altogether, these will provide guidance to vendors when working with potential customers."

IDC Future of Workstyle Forum 2024, Japan：産業現場で深刻化する人手不足とデジタル化による働き方変革

Yoko Ono — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

本Web Conference Proceeding: Tech Buyerは、IDC Japan、Software & Servicesのリサーチマネージャーである小野陽子による講演の内容をプレゼンテーションスライドと音声ファイルによって提供するものである。

これまでICTの支援によってホワイトカラーの業務やコラボレーションは大きく変化してきた。一方、産業現場で働く人達の支援という観点では、ITの活用は必ずしも十分ではなかった。重労働や長時間労働、働き甲斐に注意が払われない職場、労働生産性の低い職場では人手不足が深刻化している。新たなデジタル技術は、産業現場の人々の働き方を変える大きなポテンシャルを持っている。本講演では、国内の産業現場における人手不足の状況を展望すると共に、AI（Artificial Intelligence：人工知能）、IoT（Internet of Thing）、デジタルツイン、5G、ロボティクス、AR/VR（Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality）などのデジタル技術が産業現場の人々の働き方に与えるインパクトを議論する。

Augmented and Virtual Reality @Work, 2024: Hardware

Ramon T. Llamas — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines what hardware commercial users have been deploying for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) at work. We polled 306 commercial IT decision-makers on their use of AR and VR hardware, specifically which type of hardware they use, what they plan to use next year, and in the case of AR, which channels they plan to use to acquire their headsets.

"Augmented reality and virtual reality are still in their initial stages in the United States," says Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Augmented and Virtual Reality team. "Most IT decision-makers have reported that their organizations prefer to use mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) for their ARVR needs but plan to shift to headsets in the near future. However, we caution against this abrupt switch as previous studies have shown little, if any, change toward headsets."

Among those who have acquired AR headsets, the hardware vendors emerged as the primary channel and their share looks to increase in the future. "Users have looked to hardware vendors in the past for their hardware needs, especially those that also offer software solutions. However, as needs change, other channels stand to gain ground, particularly with value-added resellers, systems integrators, and distributors."

Augmented and Virtual Reality @Work, 2024: Software and Platforms

Ramon T. Llamas — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines what software and platforms commercial users have been deploying for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) at work. We polled 306 commercial IT decision-makers about who developed their software solutions, and in the case of augmented reality, why they chose those particular software providers, and which experiences they use the most from their AR platform.

"Hardware vendors stood out as the most popular provider of both AR and VR software, similar to how they stood out as the most popular provider of AR and VR headsets," points out Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Augmented and Virtual Reality team. "This is set to change next year as organizations either seek multiple solutions from multiple vendors or develop solutions on their own."

Specifically for AR, several use cases have risen to the top: "More than half of AR users have been using "See What I See," training videos, and creating workflow instructions. Vendors would do well to continuously refine these into best-of-breed experiences."