January 2011 kicked off with the WikiLeaks furore, which questioned the very basics of freedom of speech. This appeared to be OK except when what was being said was about you. Come March, the Web’s first real example of freedom of expression on mobile phones and social media networks was being tested as repressed citizens prepared to risk everything as they sprung up to demand freedom in Tunisia, Egypt and beyond.
How we all wish that Britain’s own shameful uprising, which made use of the Blackberry -a device, which was once the stalwart of the men in suits they were rising up against -, could have been used for such commendable aims.
Apple continued its seemingly unstoppable rise to the top of the market capitalization charts with the April launch of the iPad 2 - which either delighted or infuriated fan and analysts alike with its faster, lighter, gyro, thinner camera mounted feature set. One thing sure was that once again the iPad 2 set the bar for the encroaching competitive set.
One such competitor that will write down 2011 as an annus horribilis is RIM. With evaporating Blackberry market share in the US and a share price to match RIM was desperate for some good news. But it didn’t come. It launched the PlayBook in April to negative reviews, which resulted in dramatic price reductions and an unsold inventory that could total 5 million units.
2011 was also a year when governments finally realised the power and importance of the Web to the global economy. Prime Minister Cameron discovered tech city and made great efforts to attract inward investment to silicon roundabout. President Sarkozy seized on the opportunity to enable the Internet and tech industry to interact with world leaders by creating the inaugural eG8 Summit in Paris. Having tea in the Palace of Versailles with Mark Zuckerberg may be considered cynical by some, but at the very least it underlined the impact on global GDP that the Internet has had in the last 5 years and what we need to do to ensure it continues.
From a financial perspective whether you believe we are in another bubble or not 2011 was another coming of age for the Web with deals, social, mobile and gamification leading the way. Funding rounds, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions are great bell weather for the economy and despite a rocky economic climate activity was full on.
Facebook started the year with around 500 million users and ended it with close to 800 million. Several funding rounds throughout the year have seen its value rise in proportion from $50bn to $100bn as it prepares for a 2012 flotation.
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn continued to dominate the digital landscape in 2011.
IPO-wise LinkedIn led the charge with the biggest Internet IPO since Google’s debut in 2004. This now makes it worth $6.92 billion. Pandora the personalized Internet radio station followed in June. Russia demonstrated its growing influence with the $1.435 billion IPO of its Google clone Yanex. And the year is not over yet with social gaming darling Zynga due to IPO in mid-December. However, investors should perhaps be cautious, only LinkedIn continues to trade above its offer price.
Tech acquisitions were equally strong with the $10.2 billion acquisition of the UK’s Automony by HP. All of the major players were active. Adobe’s acquisition of Typekit and Efficient Frontier reinforced its strategy to become a multi-channel digital marketing solutions business. It was a similar situation with Oracle’s acquisition of Endeca. Microsoft’s punchy $8.5 billion for Skype seemed excessive but enabling them to put video chat everywhere access Skype’s massive consumer base is justification enough. Google was top of the coop for acquisitions: it won the bidding war for Motorola, paying $12.5 billion to offer patent protection for Android as well as a whole treasure chest of as yet undiscovered patents.
From a UK tech perspective TweetDeck’s acquisition by Twitter for $40 million in May 2011 served to provide tangible evidence of the UK’s emerging tech startup sector. Whereas Alterian’s acquisition by TDL illustrated the continuing consolidation of the more established enterprise
The UK’s leading corporate finance shops had a very busy year with all reporting a strong appetite for digital acquisitions. Key drivers centred on scale and capability with a real focus on mobile and social. Digital agencies’ attempts to build out the more traditional direct marketing skills are further evidence of the ubiquity of digital.
Particular highlights included Experian’s acquisition of TechLightenment, one of the UK’s brightest social media marketing companies in January, confirmation of the importance of data-driven marketing. A statement of intent for Experian and Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) being snapped up by Velti for $59m were further strong evidence of this.
The major agency networks were equally busy with Publicis acquiring Chemistry, Holler and Airlock all within the space of three months. SapientNitro continued to acquire greater depth and breadth through its acquisition of direct specialists DAD for $40 million. LBi continued to bolster its global offering through the acquisition of US social media firm Mr Youth.
It’s hard to believe that all the above (and more) took place in just 12 months. I can’t wait to see what 2012 will bring.
I wrote this on a Mac while reading the biography of Steve Jobs. RIP Steve.
This article first appeared on Figaro Digital.