Glam Media’s Delayed IPO

IPOs of Web-based companies have not necessarily gotten the results that companies or their investors were hoping for. The biggest fall-outs have been from Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga, which had many hopes pinned on them but have seen their market values plummet since their public offerings. As a result, several other IPO favorites have decided to slow down their run-up to an IPO.

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Microsoft Counting on Nokia and Vice Versa

Nokia has managed to surprise the market this quarter by announcing better than expected financial results. However, its continuing decline in the smartphone market has done little to improve its market valuation. Analysts remain skeptical of whether Nokia will ever regain its market leadership again. A recent report saw Nokia fall to the 7th position in the global smartphone market, with Apple and Samsung maintaining their leadership in the segment. Gartner estimates that total smartphone sales grew 47% over the year to 169.2 million units, and they accounted for 40% of the mobile phone market. One player counting on Nokia’s regeneration is, of course, Microsoft. Last week, I was at the Churchill Club event with Steve Balmer jumping up and down about Windows 8 and the company’s phone strategy. Will Nokia deliver?

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UCWeb Eyes IPO on the Wings of the Mobile Web

Market data suggests that while there more than 1.2 billion computers worldwide, there are more than 6 billion cellphones, including smartphones, in the market. Analysts believe that because cellphones are less expensive than computers and access to the Internet is more easily available than fixed-line Internet, especially in emerging markets, there is an increasing adoption of mobile web browsers. In China, the number of smartphone users exceeds the number of smartphone users in the U.S., making that side of the world a high-growth market for mobile browsing technology. In the below graphic, courtesy of allthingsd.com, one can see how mobile Internet browsing has caught up with desktop browsing in the Indian market.

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Wireless Services Vendor Meraki Eyeing IPO

According to market researcher Infonetics the global wireless LAN equipment market rose to a record high value of $893 million in the last quarter of 2011, recording sequential growth of 1% over the Q3 value of $880 million. Analysts believe that continuing declines in equipment prices will lower the growth rate of the market over the next few years. But that hasn’t slowed the progress of wireless services provider, Meraki, which may be looking to fuel growth through an IPO.

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Groupon Continues With Business Model Experiments

In recent research, BIA/Kelsey increased its market projections for the daily deals market. The segment is expected to double in size this year to $3.6 billion. A year ago, the researcher had estimated the market to be worth $4 billion in 2015. Today, it projects that the market will grow to $5.5 billion by the year 2016. But as we saw with LivingSocial, U.S. daily deals market leader Groupon is also finding it difficult to maintain a strong business model despite this growth.

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LivingSocial Bleeding

According to research by BIA/Kelsey, U.S. consumer spending on online deals is projected to double this year to $3.6 billion. The researcher estimates that the market will be worth $5.5 billion by 2016. But increasing revenues are not guaranteeing a strong financial performance for the players in the sector.

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LinkedIn: Jewel of the Social Media Crown

Social media stocks, including giants like Facebook, may not have done well after listing on the stock market. But one social media company, LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), the largest online professional network, continues to outperform market estimates.

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Blue Nile and WebMD Seek Growth Overseas

According to a recent report, US Jewelry Market Report: Focus on Online Segment – 2012 Edition, consumers are continuing to shift to online options for buying jewelry. The U.S. market accounts for half of the global jewelry market. Increasing internet penetration, rising income levels, and continued growth in the amount of knowledge available online is helping shift the trend to online models. >>>

A Mixed Quarter for IBM

Gartner estimates that worldwide IT spending will grow 3% this year to $3.6 trillion. The researcher projects that number to grow another 4% in 2013 to surpass $3.7 trillion. IDC has more aggressive estimates and projects that current year IT spending will grow 6% over the year to $3.8 trillion. But while both researchers are predicting increased IT spending, the still weak economy continues to hurt the bigger technology players for now.

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Facing a Rough Patch, Zynga Shrinks Games Portfolio and Workforce

Transparency Market Research’s report on the social gaming market estimates that more than 200 million people play online games on social networking websites. The researcher believes that the social gaming industry will be worth $5.5 billion by 2015, driven by the increased adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices.

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