63m console and pc games were bought in the UK in 2010

"Last year, 2010, was another strong year for the UK video games and interactive entertainment industry, with annual sales figures of £1.53bn (entertainment software, pc & console games).
Total sales of console videogame software amounted to £1.45bn, with growth in 2 formats, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3. The total revenue for console hardware sales amounted to £800m.
In terms of revenue the hardware market was headed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 generating £232m, closely followed by Sony’s PS3 with revenue of £229m. Combined hardware units for these 2 platforms was 2.3m, the same as the 52 comparable weeks of 2009.
In terms of revenue the software market paints a similar picture with Xbox 360 generating £538m and PS3 at No2 with £414m. In terms of units sold Xbox 360 is No1 with 18.2m and PS3 is No2 with 13.8m.
Overall, in 2010 UK consumers bought a total of 63 million console & pc videogames – which works out at more than one per person in the UK."
Source:  Press release from UKIE (The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment), 4th January 2011

Mobile web users tend to visit traditional sites rather than mobile-specific sites

"According to GfK, mobile internet traffic begins to grow rapidly each morning about 5am, and reaches a peak at 4:30pm. “The usage differs considerably during the day and sometimes even within the same hour. For example, 7.45am can have up to 30-40% more traffic than 7.15am on the same day.”
GfK also revealed several other interesting bits of information about the browsing habits of these 200,000 consumers, including:
- the average smartphone user makes up to 24 web sites visits per day
- a vast majority of the sites visited are to traditional websites and not mobile specific sites
- the Top 50 websites constitute only about 40% of all visits
One site which stood out because of its popularity is Facebook. In every country that GfK measured, they reported that the popularity of Facebook is “consistently remarkable”. In fact, they identified a identify a group of mobile users where Facebook is almost the exclusive site visited."

Source:  MobiAdNews, 29th January 2011

Methodology:

"GfK analyzed the mobile activity of over 200,000 mobile internet consumers in three European countries (note - it doesn't say which 3) using GfK’s unique ‘Network Intelligence Solution’ (GfK NIS). This new research tool analyzes a mobile operator’s IP traffic to determine the mobile internet browsing behaviour of large numbers of individuals.

Also, the NIS tool measures all websites visited using mobile internet regardless of the device; mobile phones, Smartphones, PC tablets and 3G Cards are all monitored."

Netflix accounts for more than 20% of downstream internet traffic during peak times in the US

"Netflix's roughly 16 million subscribers [update - now 20m] can access streaming content from a variety of devices - XBox 360, iPads, laptops (and that's just in my household). And that adds up to a substantial increase in demand. A recent study has found that Netflix makes up more than 20% of downstream Internet traffic during peak times in the U.S."
Source:  ReadWriteWeb, 21st October 2010

Netflix has more than 20m members in the US

"With more than 20 million members in the United States and Canada, Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] is the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. For $7.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed over the Internet to PCs, Macs and TVs. Among the large and expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix are Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PS3 consoles; an array of Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected TVs, home theater systems, digital video recorders and Internet video players; Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. In all, more than 200 devices that stream from Netflix are available in the U.S. and a growing number are available in Canada."
Source:  Netflix press information, retrieved 31st January 2011

Amazon.com sells more Kindle books than paperback books

""Thanks to our customers, we achieved two big milestones," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We had our first $10 billion quarter, and after selling millions of third-generation Kindles with the new Pearl e-ink display during the quarter, Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com. Last July we announced that Kindle books had passed hardcovers and predicted that Kindle would surpass paperbacks in the second quarter of this year, so this milestone has come even sooner than we expected - and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales.""

Source:  Amazon press release, 27th January 2011

Twitter made an estimated $45m in ad revenue in 2010

"Twitter could more than triple its ad revenue this year but will still trail far behind Facebook, a new report claims.
Market research firm eMarketer predicted today that Twitter will generate about $150 million in advertising revenue this year, up from the $45 million it made last year. The vast majority of this year's revenue--$140 million--will come from inside the U.S., the firm said. eMarketer expects Twitter ad revenue to reach $250 million next year."

Source:  eMarketer estimates, reported by Cnet, 24th January 2011

American consumers made a saving of over $17m in December 2010 as a result of using online coupons

"Online Savings in November / December
November Consumer savings* $15.1 million
November Average Discount 27%
December Consumer savings* $17.1 million
December Average Discount 26.8%
*Based on user submitted average savings.
[...]
November Online Coupon Sales

Sales generated through RetailMeNot.com in November Approx. $56 million
Year Over Year Change 27% ($43.8 million in Nov. 2009)
Top Online Coupon $5 off $50 at Target.com
Top Printable Coupon $5 off any purchase of $20 or more for breakfast at IHOP
December Online Coupon Sales
Sales generated through RetailMeNot.com in December Approx. $63 million
Year Over Year Change 26% ($50.2 million in Dec. 2009)
Top Online Coupon $20 Off Entire Purchase Online at Bath and Body Works
Top Printable Coupon Additional 30% OFF Already Reduced Prices at Coach Factory Store"

Source:  RetailMeNot, Janaury 2010

Note - I have no idea how comprehensive this study is.  

Click through on the link to see more coupon-related stats

The European micropayments market was worth an estimated €6bn in 2010

"Digital media distributors are seeking new ways to monetise their content offerings. The growth in penetration of high-speed fixed and mobile internet has created new distribution channels and an opportunity for content distributors to sell to new, larger audiences to offset falling advertising revenues. For the majority of content distributors, subscription-based business models remain the most appealing.  However, not all types of consumers are willing to enter into such regular financial commitments and are therefore only monetisable through individual transactions of small value. These transactions, or ‘micropayments’, are typically of €5.00 or under (equivalent to approximately 4.50 GBP (£) and 6.50 USD ($) in value).
Value Partners estimates the European micropayments market is currently worth €6bn, and is set to grow to over €15bn by 2015. This corresponds to a 15% compounded annual growth rate over the next four years; a rate that is unique to micropayments and unparalleled in most other industries, channels, or payment types."
Source:  Value Partners, Capturing the Micropayments Opportunity, January 2011

Sky has 3.5m HD TV subscribers in the UK

"Digital TV broadcaster Sky has ten million customers following a "strong" first half of its 2010-11 financial year, with high-definition (HD) TV one of the areas to experience growth.
Some 3.5 million people were signed up to the company's HD TV package at the end of December 2010, with growth over the preceding three months up 68 per cent on the same period in 2009.
In total, Sky attracted a net amount of 140,000 new customers over the quarter, while the soon-to-launch Sky Atlantic HD could provide a further boost to subscriptions."

Source:  Cable, 27th January 2011

The Asia Pacific region account for 70% of the world's virtual goods sales, down from 81% in 2007

"In 2007, the Asia/Pacific region accounted for more than 81% of the total worldwide virtual goods revenue. In 2010, North and South America regions accounted for nearly 20% of the revenue, with Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) accounting for 10%. The remaining 70% of worldwide virtual goods revenue remains in the Asia/Pacific region, says In-Stat (www.in-stat.com)."

Source:  Press release from InStat, 25th January 2011

Foursquare stats for 2010

Including:
3400% growth in 2010
318,876,305 checkins in 2010
Biggest event - Rally to Restore Sanity, with over 30,000 checkins
See the visualisation here
Source:  Foursquare, January 2011
Also - Foursquare now has more than 6m users

Facebook took an estimated $1.86bn in advertising revenue in 2010

"Facebook has long been a buzzword in discussions of new business models and the growth of new media, but in the wake of news that it is to float the business model it is coming under greater analysis. Some new advertising figures and user analysis provides more food for thought.
The social network now has more than 650 million global users and, according to eMarketer, it took $1.86 billion in advertising during 2010. That's an increase of 151% on 2009's figure of $740m. Most of the 2010 total, some $1.21bn, was earned within the US, which probably comes as no surprise.
What's more of a surprise is that 60% of 2010's ad revenue, some $1.12bn, came from smaller companies which used self-serve tools rather than dealing through media agencies. Major marketers such as Coke, Proctor & Gamble and Match.com generated $740m for Facebook."

Source:  Estimates from eMarketer, reported by Daily Finance, 24th January 2011

The BBC iPlayer received 145m requests for programmes in December 2010

Click to enlarge

Source:  BBC iPlayer Monthly Performance Pack, December 2010

10 billion apps have been downloaded from the iTunes App Store

"Apple® today announced that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store℠ by the more than 160 million iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™ users worldwide. The 10 billionth app downloaded, Paper Glider, was purchased by Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 10 Billion Apps, Gail Davis will receive a $10,000 iTunes® Gift Card.
“With more than 10 billion apps downloaded in just two and a half years—a staggering seven billion apps in the last year alone—the App Store has surpassed our wildest dreams,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The App Store has revolutionized how software is created, distributed, discovered and sold. While others try to copy the App Store, it continues to offer developers and customers the most innovative experience on the planet.”
The revolutionary App Store offers more than 350,000 apps to iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users in 90 countries around the world, with more than 60,000 native iPad apps available. App Store customers can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.."

Source:  Apple press release, 22nd January 2011

Social music game MXP4 has over 1 million active users

"MXP4, the first social music gaming studio, today announced that over 30 major artists are using MXP4’s first social music game for Facebook to engage fans, encourage viral distribution and increase purchases. Artists featuring MXP4’s Pump It app on their Facebook pages include Enrique Iglesias, David Guetta, Cheryl Cole, Tiesto, Nelly Furtado, Lloyd Banks, Adam Lambert, UnderOath, Duran Duran, Neon Trees, Ingrid Michaelson, 10 Years, Scorpions, iSquare, Tonic and more. In addition, Pump It exceeded one million active users in its first month with 40% sharing and competing against Facebook friends."

Source:  MXP4 blog, 20th January 2011

The Chinese eCommerce market was worth over RMB 4.5 trillion ($685 billion) in 2010

"The China B2B Research Center of e-commerce site Netsun Toocle (002095.SZ) has released its 2010 China E-Commerce Market Statistical Report, revealing that as of December 2010, China's e-commerce market value exceeded RMB 4.5 trln, up 22% YoY. B2B online transaction volume reached RMB 3.8 trln for 2010, up 15.8% YoY, while B2C/C2C transaction volume rose 97.3% YoY to reach RMB 513.1 bln.
The number of B2B e-commerce companies in China rose 21.3% YoY in 2010 to reach 9,200, with combined revenues up 35% YoY to reach RMB 9.55 bln. Alibaba held the largest market share with 63.5%, followed by Hong Kong-based Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) with 5.3%, Made-in-China.com with 3.4%, Netsun Toocle with 2.9%, and HC International's (8292.HK) HC360 with 2.5%.
In 2010 the sector raised USD 550 mln in capital from 42 investors, including 35 VCs, as well as two IPOs that raised a combined USD 389 mln and five mergers.
China had 15,800 B2C/C2C firms in 2010, up 58.6% YoY, with the number expected to exceed 20,000 in 2011. Market share among China's C2C e-commerce platforms broke down as follows: Taobao, 85.4%; Tencent's (0700.HK) Paipai with 11%; Tom Eachnet with 3.1%; and Baidu-Rakuten, a B2C e-commerce joint venture between Chinese internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, with 0.4% of the market."
Source:  Marbridge Daily, 21st January 2011
Note - I have assumed that 1 trillion = 1,000 billion (i.e. trillion has 12 zeroes), although in some countries trillion has 18 zeroes
Currency converted on Xe.com on 24th January 2011 - RMB 1 = USD 0.1519

YouTube 's revenues more than doubled in 2010

"Most of Google’s earnings call was overshadowed by the news of CEO Eric Schmidt’s imminent departure — so much so that online video site YouTube didn’t come up during the Q&A session. And while Google typically doesn’t break out financials for the online video site, CFO Patrick Pichette snuck in a little tidbit of information about YouTube at the very end of the call, saying that the unit’s revenue had more than doubled during 2010."

Source:  GigaOM, 20th January 2011

Google's paid clicks increased by 18% Y-o-Y in Q4 2010

"Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 18% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 11% over the third quarter of 2010.
Cost-Per-Click – Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 5% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 4% over the third quarter of 2010.
TAC - Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, increased to $2.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to TAC of $1.72 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 25% in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 27% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The majority of TAC is related to amounts ultimately paid to our AdSense partners, which totaled $1.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. TAC also includes amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $333 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Other Cost of Revenues - Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, amortization of intangible assets, content acquisition costs as well as credit card processing charges, increased to $877 million, or 10% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $688 million, or 10% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Operating Expenses - Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $2.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, or 30% of revenues, compared to $1.78 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, or 27% of revenues."

Source:  Google's Earnings Statement for Q4 2010, 20th January 2011

8% of German mobile internet users visited Amazon on their mobiles in December 2010

Click to enlarge

"We hypothesized that Amazon usage would increase in the month of December and the months leading up to it. In 2010, usage of Amazon went up dramatically in March and continued to stay at that level.
We saw that Amazon usage grew coinciding with the launch of Opera Mini for the Android platform and the iPhone shortly after. Another possibility is that Amazon itself may have become more mobile-friendly. Improved mobile platforms and sites that more strongly consider multiple screen sizes have helped users to further embrace mobile shopping.
In 2010 overall, Amazon usage increased almost every month and was highest in the October to December period. Usage in the United States and Germany grew particularly quickly. For Germany, the number of unique users visiting Amazon.com more than doubled from January 2010 to December 2010, from 3 percent to over 8 percent."
Source:  Opera's State of the Mobile Web report, December 2010, published 20th January 2011
Note:  Based on mobile users who use Opera's mobile browser