Strategy Analytics: Apple bucks downturn in digital media’s slowest ever quarter
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Aug 19, 2008 at 11:58am
According to Strategy Analytics’ Digital Media Index (DMI), revenue growth in digital media slowed to 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter (Q2) 2008, down from 3.3 percent in the previous quarter and 3.4 percent in the same period last year. Apple was the only one of the five largest companies in the index that went against the general trend.
On a trailing 12 months basis, Strategy Analytics’ Digital Media Index grew 5.8 percent in Q2 2008 to reach 153, equal to a 53 percent increase from the index base year, as of Dec. 31, 2006. Three companies managed to beat the quarterly index growth: Warner Music Group’s Digital Business, up 8.5 percent, Google, up 8.3 percent and Apple iTunes, up 7.3 percent.
“The global digital media economy continues to expand quickly with an annual growth rate of 31 percent, but we are now seeing a considerable slowdown in quarter-on-quarter growth across the board,” says Martin Olausson, director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics.
“It seems that not even an emerging sector such as digital media is immune to the global economic downturn,“ addsDavid Mercer, vice president and principal Aanalyst at Strategy Analytics. “Companies relying solely on digital revenues for growth may struggle in the second half of 2008, as consumers and advertisers alike tighten budgets.”
Other findings from Strategy Analytics’ Digital Media Index (GDMI) Q2 2008 include:
° Fox Interactive Media (FIM) was the fastest growing digital media company on an annual basis in the index with an impressive 55.6 percent growth in the last 12 months;
° Apple iTunes was down 7.0 percent quarter-on-quarter. However this decline is consistent with seasonality for iTunes, and is in line with a 6.9% drop in the same period the previous year.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
