3FER: Retail postmortem, emerging market adoption & smart socks

For the mobile world, 2015 took off with a boom. Still glowing after a strong holiday showing, mobile is becoming firmly entrenched in retail. For emerging market consumers, 2015 will be the Year of Mobile. And, post-CES, we’ll look at what will likely appear on your 2015 holiday gift list.

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#1: Retail Holiday Postmortem & New Year Forecast

Holiday sales were up 3.9% over last year, but sales tied to mobile were up 27.2% and, according to IBM, accounted for 22.6% of all online sales. Smartphones and tablets were not only hot gifts – they also drove nearly half of all web traffic. Likely buoyed by these numbers, in 2015 retailers will continue to invest heavily in mobile – especially beacons and mobile messaging – to catch up with consumer behavior.

Here are some deeper takes on these numbers, some tech tips, and a taste of what to expect in 2015:

Holiday Retail Benchmark Report (IBM)

How Usage Of Retailer Mobile Apps Evolved In Holiday 2014 (Marketing Land)

Here’s how iBeacons can fit into the mobile customer’s buying journey (Venture Beat)

Kohl’s exec says beacons are surefire bet for greater personalization (Mobile Marketer)

Beacons Coming to the Apple Watch for Grocery Shopping (MediaPost)

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#2: 2015 is the Year of Mobile in Emerging Markets

We’ve all heard the claims, again and again: This is mobile’s year! But while marketers largely waited for that great year to arrive, consumers saw it come and go, and most brands are still scrambling to catch up. Meanwhile, the innovators have moved on to emerging markets.

Thanks to a bevy of affordable smartphones, billions of consumers in China, India and many parts of Africa are entering the online world at an exceptional pace. By early 2016, India will have more smartphone users than the U.S.

With the numbers below, it’s no surprise why brands like Facebook, Tesco and Uber are battling for emerging-market consumers:

Mobile is eating the world (Andreeson Horowitz)

Mobile Internet Soars In Developing World (MediaPost)

Mobile becomes medium of choice for consumers in emerging markets (PitchonNet)

Global Mobile Marketers Need To Hone Strategies, Localization Efforts (MediaPost)

In India, Mobile Phone Use is the Elephant in the Room (MMW)

What Traversing Africa by Road Can Teach us about Technology, Community, and Impact (Ushahidi)

Can Uber make it in India? (Financial Times)

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#3: CES was all about wearable tech

Much of what’s hawked at the Consumer Electronics Show will never hit the store shelves or make a dent in your Amazon shopping card anytime soon (if ever). That said, wearables made a big splash this year. Here are some standouts in the category:

Impecca Alert Band Wants To Stop Drivers Falling Asleep At The Wheel (Wearable World News)

VivaLnk shows wearable NFC thermometer (NFC World)

Hyundai’s smartwatch app points to growth of wearables in autos (Mobile Marketer)

These washable smart socks can reduce injuries from running (GigaOm)

Montblanc smartens traditional timepiece with wearable add-on (Luxury Daily)

Apple just lost the global smartphone war to Google.

Much has been reported about Apple’s biggest volume day to date — selling 4 million iPhone 6’s in 24 hours worldwide this past Friday. It’s a tremendous achievement for any company.

Less has been said on how Google will sell 2 million smartphones by years end in one country alone — and how it will beat Apple in the process.

Buried under of all of the iPhone 6 Kool-Aid media bacchanalia, Google launched a smartphone that can’t be bought in the US, in a country where most Americans can’t find on a globe and at a profit margin that made Wall Street boil.

It’s the Android One, it was just released in India, and it’s proof that Google gets the global smartphone game.

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The iPhone 6’s markets are saturated; the Android One’s markets are not.

Many pundits classify Apple as an “aspirational” brand. Basically, Apple thinks locally and applies it globally. So in their mind what works in Cupertino will also work in Beijing, Mumbai and Mexico City. That technique has worked for Hollywood and luxury brands like Rolex, and Apple has gotten away with it for nearly a decade, until now.

In Apple’s primary market—the US, it controls 42% of smartphone sales. That’s a problem because the US is saturated with smartphones–roughly 75% of Americans own one. Most developed economies have similar ownership levels.

Instead of adapting to price sensitivities within emerging markets, Apple’s iPhone 6 starts at $649 (without contract) and tops out at $949. That’s an impossible purchase when the average household income in India is just US$7,700.

While Apple’s CEO Tim Cook might claim that China is now its biggest market, the company gave up 30% of its market share in the last year to local competitors Huawei and Xiaomi. (This happened despite blistering iPhone sales.) After flubbing the iPhone 5C launch in China, he still has not set a release date for the 6 and 6 plus—despite it being manufactured there.

In Mexico, its share dropped by 50% in the last 12 months. If fact, Apple has lost ground in almost all major economies in that same time period. Apple has lost its global mojo.

Google’s Android One launched in India this week for just $105, and carrier subsidies will drive that price down into the $60s. Amazon.in massive inventory sold out in a matter of hours. Google understands what works in Mountain View might not in Mumbai or Manila.

[More on LinkedIn.]