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Samsung, HTC & Apple Fuel Smartphone Growth

2011-05-08T00:00:00

The worldwide smartphone market has grown 79.7% year-over-year, with smartphone vendors shipping a total of 99.6 million units in in the first quarter of 2011, market research firm IDC reports.

Although Nokia is still the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, with a 24.3% market share, its decline has been amazingly fast — in Q1 2010, Nokia held more than one third of the market, with a 38.3% share.

Although Nokia’s smartphone shipments have grown from 21.5 million units to 24.2 million, its competitors have been growing much faster. Samsung’s market share increased from 4.3% to 10.8%, while HTC has grown from 4.9% to 8.9%. Samsung’s growth has been particularly impressive, with shipments increasing 350% — from 2.4 to 10.8 million units.

Apple is also showing steady growth, having captured an 18.7% market share in Q1 2011, compared to 15.7% in the same period last year. Research in Motion is holding third place overall with a 14% market share, but, like Nokia, it’s been growing much slower than everyone else, having increased shipments from 10.6 million units to 13.9 million in Q1 2011.

VFI Interactive Annual Report 2010

2011-05-08T00:00:00

VisionFund International, the microfinance subsidiary of World Vision, has just launched a new and exciting Interactive Annual Report - in printed and online format.

View the engaging and innovative print design in 3D

The Interactive Annual Report is complete with videos, engaging content, full maps, and data, this application will allow you to dive into World Vision’s work in microfinance through VisionFund’s network of 40 microfinance institutions.View the interactive content online at http://www.buildingonsolidfoundations.org/

We have also developed an iPhone version - which is awaiting approval on the iTunes Apps Store.

WORLD FIRST. School iPhone Prospectus

2010-09-28T00:00:00

Woldingham School embraces Apple’s touchscreen technology with the launch of its interactive prospective app for iPhone and iPad. Believed to be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, the Woldingham iPhone Prospectus showcases Woldingham School to both current and prospective parents and students.

The touchscreen technology combines the text and imagery of the printed prospectus with embedded videos, streaming news, photo albums, registration form and integrated Google maps for easy navigation to the school. All of this is at the fingertips of prospective parents and pupils – and downloadable from any country in the world within minutes. Free of charge, the app is a natural extension to the school’s interactive website.

The creation of the school prospectus as an iPhone app and iPad app will help re-engage with the digital generation, and Woldingham is proud of the fact it is leading the way with this innovation, which closely follows the launch of the school’s groundbreaking website and their iPhone news app.

Woldingham realised that iPhone apps and iPad apps have taken the world by storm, and that it was important that schools were not left behind in their adoption. This up-to-the-minute technology enables schools to communicate more readily with modern parents and students. It is the immediacy and accessibility of a mobile telephone that delivers real value to audiences – and experts predict that apps will be 'bigger than the internet' by 2015.

Delivering a prospectus on the iPhone also integrates seamlessly with social media, and the power of 'viral' sharing. This sharing can be via email, Twitter or directly on a Facebook profile, really extending the reach and ease with which the prospectus can be circulated.

The app can be downloaded from Apple's App Store by searching on 'Woldingham'

Another School iPhone App developed

2010-09-21T00:00:00

Interactive Schools has launched the UK's first state school iPhone Prospectus for the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe.

The Royal Grammar School (High Wycombe) iPhone Prospectus App is for prospective parents and pupils to find out more about the school on their iPhone.

Functionality includes:

Prospectus Information
Live newsfeed from www.rgshw.com website school website
Updated photo galleries from the www.rgshw.com school website
Contact form
Directions via Google Maps
Social Media Sharing (Facebook & Twitter)

// Download the RGSHW iPhone Prospectus App on the iTunes Apps Store

Companies Failing to Exploit Internet

2009-11-27T00:00:00

Companies are failing to take advantage of the unique opportunities the internet offers for communicating with shareholders, in spite of lobbying long and hard for the privilege, according to a survey of FTSE 100 companies.

The survey found it was often difficult to search the information provided online by large companies.

Most FTSE 100 companies put their annual reports online in large PDF files that were slow to open or download. Only a minority used the interactivity of the internet to help users find information and to attract the interest of investors.

Jonathan Hynes of Smith Partnership, the business communications consultancy that carried out the survey, said companies had campaigned to be allowed to take advantage of the savings in paper and money.

"You'd think the long-awaited revisions to the Companies Act that allow them to supply their annual reports to shareholders via their websites would be embraced with enthusiasm and vigour. Not so, however."

The survey rated Aviva's online report as the best among the 94 FTSE 100 companies that have reported so far this year. The financial services group not only had the most "best practice" features recommended by the Investor Relations Society, but also engaged with readers in a compelling way.

BP, the energy group that was last year's winner, slipped to fifth place in 2006 because its consistent online presence had not advanced.

DSG International, owner of Currys and PC World, was rated bottom with "a numbing 128 pages in a single download". Second from bottom was BA which provided a single 110-page PDF file.

"Investors have told us that the way in which the annual report is portrayed online affects their image of the company," said Mr Hynes. "They don't want to give up the print versions yet, but they can be encouraged to go online if they can see the value of the interactivity possible on websites."

The survey found that in some cases it took several minutes to find information such as the chief executive's remuneration. Just 42 of the companies offered annual reports in the searchable HTML format and only 13 provided financial data that could be downloaded in spreadsheet format.

The IRS recommends that PDF files be provided for readers who want to download or print out the whole report. But the survey found only half divided them into convenient sections - in many cases it would have been quicker to thumb through the printed report.

In addition to rating the online annual reports on the IRS "best practice" features, the survey also assessed their design and layout to see if they reflected the different ways that users found information online.

Only a quarter of the companies provided encouraging navigation and just 20 used their brand to differentiate them from their competitors.

Mr Hynes said he could understand that after weeks of preparing the printed annual report, companies might be reluctant to reorganise the information for an online version. He said: "A simple PDF file, exactly as it was printed, is cheap, easy and does not have to be vetted all over again by the auditors. But the best companies are engaging their shareholders and using online reporting to present their side of the story in a different way. It's not that expensive to do."

FTSE 350 destroy over 55 acres of forest

2008-01-09T00:00:00

Annual reports produced by Britain’s biggest companies are directly responsible for destruction of forests the size of St James Park in London every year, according to a study released today. The research, conducted by The Interactive Annual Report Company [www.interactiveannualreports.co.uk] found each FTSE 350 company destroys 168 trees on average every year*.

Simon Noakes, managing director of The Interactive Annual Report Company: “In an age of environmental awareness it is an outrage that so many trees are needlessly destroyed. A small number of companies are doing a significant amount of damage, and the most frustrating thing is it’s so easily avoided.”

Increased focus on the environment [the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change] has put the spotlight on businesses and organisations. As a result, companies are waking up to the opportunities associated with reducing their carbon footprint for the good of the earth, as well as their corporate reputation.

“We are only scratching the surface of identifying poor environmental practices, particularly when it comes to paper wastage. Companies are producing more reports every year. Not just annual reports but interim reports, reviews and, ironically, corporate social responsibility plans. We need to start somewhere and the Annual Report & Accounts, being the flagship publication of these companies, is a very good place to start,” Noakes said.

Each annual report in the UK destroys an average of 168 trees. Increasingly, companies looking to do their bit and send a positive message to shareholders, customers and other relevant communities are turning to Interactive Annual Reports™, which leave a carbon footprint 60% less than traditional printed reports.

“As the global lobbying continues to attack Government policy on the environment, we will all soon be forced to do our part. Why not start now and benefit from the goodwill of your investors and shareholders - and give them something more to believe in?” Noakes said.

To highlight the effects Annual Reports have on the environment, the Interactive Annual Report Company has released a Tree Calculator (TreeCalc™) which organisations can use to see how many trees they are destroying by continuing to print their Annual Report (and for that matter any printed publication).

Accounting for Sustainability Report

2007-12-12T00:00:00

The Prince of Wales announced the findings of his Accounting for Sustainability project to an audience including Chancellor Alistair Darling and top business leaders, at St James' Palace on Wednesday 12th December.

The project has focused on developing systems to help organisations take into account, and report, the wider social and environmental costs of their actions.
With contributions from over 150 public and private sector organisations, the Accounting for Sustainability project has come forward with two practical and innovative tools to help organisations meet the challenge of the sustainable revolution.

The first, a website resource providing guidance, systems and examples of good practice, which went live on the 12th December at www.sustainabilityatwork.org.uk The website is a free resource for public and private organisations.

The second, a 'Connected Reporting Framework', proposes a new approach for reporting an organisation's sustainability more clearly, concisely and comparably. This framework, along with a detailed report on both the embedding and reporting of sustainability can be found as a download on the above website.

Sainsbury's are fully committed to using the new sustainability decision-making tool. Aviva, EDF Energy and HSBC have already used the connected reporting framework and BT is committed to using this in their 2008 reporting cycle.

We particularly welcome the broad approach to sustainability: economic, social and environmental, which more realistically reflects the impact that businesses can have on the world. The tool provides a methodology and a structure that will help us to evaluate the way we do business in a practical way - Justin King, Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc.

By combining related financial and non-financial information, the Accounting for Sustainability Project proposes a practical approach to reporting material sustainability impacts. Its widespread adoption will produce a useful consistency to the presentation of non-financial key performance indicators - Sir Michael Rake, Chairman of BT Group plc.

The recommendations of my Accounting for Sustainability Project are not intended to be an end, but a beginning to be built upon: to provide impetus for the development of corporate reporting and to change the focus of companies from making profits, and in addition trying to be sustainable, to making profits because they are sustainable - His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.

Further development of the Connected Reporting Framework is to be taken forward by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies continuing to work as part of The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project. The Sustainability At Work website will be further developed, enhanced and updated in 2008.

Click here to view the report.

Getting the Annual Report into an online world

2007-03-02T00:00:00

Printed annual reports may be on the way out. Where does that leave their web counterparts? Something that British companies should be asking themselves as a result of the announcement that they can now ask their shareholders if they really want a glossy paper document. And if they say yes, companies will still apparently have to give them only a summarised version.

Assuming similar thoughts are being had around the world, it raises very interesting possibilities for investor relations folk. Let's start by looking at the online annual report as it is now. It comes in four flavours, with rising levels of sophistication. The most basic and most common is a PDF (that is, printable facsimile) copy of the print version, which is cheap, does the business more or less, and saves money by offering something to which non-shareholders (especially students) can be directed. The next level comes from companies who want to offer more but still have a close eye on the budget (most of which has been absorbed by all the glossy paper). This is the hybrid report: it looks like a full web version but is not - it is in fact a collection of photographed pages cleverly held together by an indexing and search system. ExxonMobil (http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/) has an example.

The third level is the full web version - the annual report turned into a website. Look at Cadbury Schweppes (http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/EN) for a good example if this. Finally we have a few companies that have gone for web-plus, taking a web version but adding bells and whistles. This is where it starts getting interesting, because it is using the technology to provide benefits that would paper cannot match.

There is nothing original about providing spreadsheets on a site, but integrating them into the annual report is an extra. UBS (http://www.ubs.com/) goes a stage further, with an annual reporting section that includes an annual review, a financial report, a handbook and, good grief, a 'create your own report' option. Pull together text and numbers to get just the report you want.

As we go higher up this sophistication ladder, online annual reports move further away from the print version. They may never have the sensuality of glossy paper but they become, it seems to me, a lot more useful. And if we bring another web-only element, they can even have style. Look at Cisco (http://www.cisco.com/). Its latest annual report has a letter to shareholders from the CEO, John Chambers. Click on it and it's a not a letter, it's a video chat - Mr Chambers pops up to tell us just how well the company has done. He touches the senses too: lovely southern US accent he has.

So annual reports are in any case departing from the print version. What happens if they no longer have to exist? Will they just disappear? It seems to me they should divide and metamorphose in a way that makes them much better aligned with the needs of shareholders.

A problem with annual reports now is that they are trying to serve two audiences. First analysts and professionals, who might well find the nitty-gritty about risk factors and market environment very handy (especially if they do not follow the company closely). Second individuals, who really appreciate their glossy document, who think it means their company loves them, and who may even read bits of it.

What the loosening of rules should do is to allow individuals and professionals to be served quite separately. Without the need to produce this hybrid called the annual report, companies will be able to produce three things. First a slimmed down PDF version to meet regulatory needs. Second, an amazing set of interactive tools for professionals - covering annual, quarterly and any other reporting they need to do (maybe even environmental factors - wouldn't that be nice?). This would also force risk factors and the like on to the open web: too often they stay buried within the PDF annual report. Finally, something for individual investors that more than compensates them for the loss of gloss. Possibilities for making the annual review more exciting by using web technology are endless. Start with a video of the board doing a song and dance number, and go on from there.

David Bowen is a website effectiveness consultant for Bowen Craggs & Co (http://www.bowencraggs.com/03/index1.html). dbowen@bowencraggs.com