Myth Busting with Data: 15 Minutes at Techcrunch CrunchUp

Hello World, Just off the stage with Mr. Arrington at TechCrunch's CrunchUp conference. 15 minutes of data speak about globalization goes by quickly. If you missed it, you can see it at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8613992 or read about it here at http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/30/inmobi-data/. Or you can simply read the four sentences below to get the key takeaway.

1. eCPMs around the world do not vary as much as people think. If the average eCPM globally indexes at 100, the EU and US come in highest at 129 and 125 respectively while Africa sits lowest at 70. Beliefs that Asia and Africa are at 1/100th the US and EU are simply not correct. Mobile is a great equalizer - including in the world of advertising.

2. Developed markets will be challenged by emerging markets as thought leaders and innovators in mobile advertising. Main reason? Consumers. In emerging markets consumers have fewer media options, lower tech phones that challenge our creativity, and more per capital growth potential. Hence advertisers are pushed to engage them in the mobile channel at scale on a performance dimension. This combination - especially along the performance dimension of mobile advertising - will serve as a "forcing function" in emerging markets that does not exist in the US.We already see evidence of this in our top 10 eCPM market list.UK and US rank #9 and #10 while Malaysia, Thailand, and South Africa are all in the top 5.

3. Developers will be first to tackle globalization. Why? Today, even with less than 1% impression share outside the US and EU, ~40% of iPhone impressions are outside the US. As advanced phone penetration globally increases this number will surpass 50% within the next year. While brands and agencies remain in regional spending silos, developers will learn quickly to capitalize. In a true sense, they will be the first global media companies.

4. We tend to discuss the mobile advertising industry as "Android Vs. iPhone".When you zoom out to a global perspective, it's really Android going after Nokia which still holds a 40% share of impressions globally. Meanwhile iPhone is attacking the highest income consumer segments and RIM is caught in the middle.

Bottom line - the interesting data point to watch is Android and Nokia and not just iPhone and Android. As many of you know, this is just a teaser. Our plan going forward is to educate the market and research various issues, as InMobi is well positioned to do this. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter. We have lots to say and share with data. Until then, James