MMA SmartBrief: Europe, Middle East, & Africa Edition

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20 June 2012

News for mobile marketing professionals

Campaigns and Case Studies

More than 4 million users make mobile payments via Orange Money
With 300% growth in its user base over 18 months, France Telecom's Orange Money mobile payment service has passed 4 million users, mainly in the Middle East and Africa. The service was introduced in 2008, and France Telecom plans to roll it out in all 22 of its markets in those regions. Total Telecom Magazine (U.K.) (18 Jun.)

Italy's Anima SGR offers iPad app asset management
Anima SGR's new tablet application allows investors to manage their accounts according to pre-set plans. The Italian asset management service's Progettometro app also provides assistance in investment planning and allows for sharing via e-mail. InvestmentEurope.net (18 Jun.)

Somo app is bringing Yoko Ono's global smiles project to fruition
A participatory application from mobile marketing company Somo is helping Yoko Ono realize a longtime ambition to produce a film with a smiling image from every living person. The #smilesfilm app, developed with REVL8 Perfect Day, allows users to upload their images for the project via Instagram or Twitter. TheNextWeb.com (19 Jun.)

Industry News

Private equity group unit acquires Nokia luxury phone brand
Nokia's luxury mobile phone brand Vertu has been sold to EQT VI, a unit of a Northern European private equity group. In announcing the sale agreement, EQT VI noted Vertu's "strong brand [and] undisputed category leadership," including double-digit sales growth over several years. Inside Retailing Online (14 Jun.)

Market Trends and Research

Europe is seen as ripe for carrier consolidation
A lagging growth pace, the need for additional and faster networks and the benefits of economies of scale will spark a wave of buyouts and mergers among European mobile carriers, some analysts predict. "Fundamentally, there are too many network operators. Revenues are declining in the core services of voice and text, and the rise in data revenue is not making up for the shortfall," said IDC's John Delaney. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (17 Jun.)

More adult mobile phone users are playing games, study shows
Adult mobile phone owners in the U.K. and U.S. are warming up to games on their devices, with 44% in the latest survey reporting they'd played at least one game in the preceding month. That's up from 29% a year before, according to the study by Information Solutions Group for EA's PopCap Games. Telecompetitor.com (14 Jun.)

MMA-EMEA News

Google releases global smartphone consumer research: OurMobilePlanet.com
Google has released its 2012 global smartphone consumer research, available on thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet. The research shows that mobile is moving mainstream and is happening around the world as smartphone penetration rises rapidly. Businesses can learn about mobile consumer behavior across 40 countries, see year-over-year trends, segment by demographics and more by using the updated site tool which creates custom, presentation-ready charts of smartphone usage. Users can also dive deeper into the research by downloading the country-level raw data and executive summary reports for the countries in the 2012 research. OurMobilePlanet.com helps businesses win the moments that matter by providing free access to global smartphone consumer data so that businesses can make better decisions and grow faster with mobile. View the research.

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