CYCLES OF CONVERGENCE AND DYNAMICS OF GROWTH IN THE SMARTPHONE INDUSTRY

Over the last few years, with the definitive manifestation of the effects of the ‘digital revolution’, a convergence process has taken place and through which the boundaries of the Information and Communication Technologies industries have become increasingly ‘blurred’ and unstable. Amongst the ICT industries in which the convergence process has brought about the most relevant changes, there appears that of the mobile phones. This industry has been characterized by a series of cycles of convergence which have favoured the emergence of hybrid mobile devices, the smartphones. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totalled 1.2 billion units in 2014, a 29 per cent increase from 2013. Sales of smartphones in 2013 exceeded annual sales of feature phones for the first time. The work analyzes the effects of the process of digital convergence on the dynamics of growth of the smartphone industry. In particular, the paper: identifies the various cycles of convergence which have contributed towards the growth of the smartphone industry; analyzes, in relation to the various cycles of convergence, the main drivers of convergence, the overlapping industries and the types of convergence taken place; analyzes the impact of the various cycles of convergence on the development phases of the main industries affected by the convergence process

THE REGULATED INTERNET GAMBLING INDUSTRY IN ITALY: BUSINESS MODELS COMPARED

The use of the internet as a direct gambling distribution channel, regulated by Italian legislation in 2006, has introduced a considerable change into the competitive dynamics of the regulated gambling industry in Italy, and has brought about a rapid development in a new business segment, namely that of internet gambling, which in 2012 reached a total amount wagered in gambling of some 15 billion euro and a gross gambling revenue of 749 million euro.The possibility of reaching gamblers through the web has favoured a process of reconfiguration of the sector, which envisages a comparison with the model of the incumbent firms having operated for many years through the physical distribution network, that of specialized on line firms, who operate ‘at a distance’ through the Net.The present work aims at analyzing the development dynamics and competitive logics of the regulated real money internet gambling industry in Italy, by examining the various business models adopted by firms operating in this specific business segment.This work represents a first phase of a course of long-term research which has as its objective the validation of the theses proposed through the study of empirical cases

Structural Characteristics of Games and Online Consumer Behaviour: an Analysis in the Italian Gambling Market

The rapid growth of e-commerce over the last years has sparked a stream of research that has analysed the impact of Internet retailing on consumer behavior. This paper intends to offer a contribution, in the field of management studies, to the understanding of the reasons why the level of e-commerce use in a specific service sector, that of gambling, is different for different categories of services offered. In particular, the aims of this work is to analyze how the nature and specific characteristics of the different types of games could influence the customers’ decisions in terms of choice between digital and physical purchase channels. Thus, consequently, impacting the degree of development of online sales for the different types of gambling. This analysis is carried out in the context of one of the main national legal gambling markets in the world, the Italian one, in which Internet gambling is now a mature and consolidated industry. The results of the analysis have shown that for most of the traditional betting categories offered in Italy – Lotteries, Lotto, Totalisator numerical game, Bingo, Virtual bets – the nature and the distinctive characteristics of the game give little emphasis to the potential benefits usually associated with online gambling, and this has determined a reduced development of online sales. Only for Sports-based games (sports betting) the nature and characteristics of the game seem to have exploited a number of significant benefits that Internet gambling offers to players. This helps to understand why betting websites for Sports-based games have become the main channel of purchase in Italy. These results have interesting managerial implications for gambling operators, as discussed in this work

CYCLES OF CONVERGENCE AND DYNAMICS OF GROWTH IN THE SMARTPHONE INDUSTRY

Over the last few years, with the definitive manifestation of the effects of the ‘digital revolution’, a convergence process has taken place and through which the boundaries of the Information and Communication Technologies industries have become increasingly ‘blurred’ and unstable. Amongst the ICT industries in which the convergence process has brought about the most relevant changes, there appears that of the mobile phones. This industry has been characterized by a series of cycles of convergence which have favoured the emergence of hybrid mobile devices, the smartphones. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totalled 1.2 billion units in 2014, a 29 per cent increase from 2013. Sales of smartphones in 2013 exceeded annual sales of feature phones for the first time. The work analyzes the effects of the process of digital convergence on the dynamics of growth of the smartphone industry. In particular, the paper: identifies the various cycles of convergence which have contributed towards the growth of the smartphone industry; analyzes, in relation to the various cycles of convergence, the main drivers of convergence, the overlapping industries and the types of convergence taken place; analyzes the impact of the various cycles of convergence on the development phases of the main industries affected by the convergence process

CYCLES OF CONVERGENCE AND DYNAMICS OF GROWTH IN THE SMARTPHONE INDUSTRY

Over the last few years, with the definitive manifestation of the effects of the ‘digital revolution’, a convergence process has taken place and through which the boundaries of the Information and Communication Technologies industries have become increasingly ‘blurred’ and unstable. Amongst the ICT industries in which the convergence process has brought about the most relevant changes, there appears that of the mobile phones. This industry has been characterized by a series of cycles of convergence which have favoured the emergence of hybrid mobile devices, the smartphones. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totalled 1.2 billion units in 2014, a 29 per cent increase from 2013. Sales of smartphones in 2013 exceeded annual sales of feature phones for the first time. The work analyzes the effects of the process of digital convergence on the dynamics of growth of the smartphone industry. In particular, the paper: identifies the various cycles of convergence which have contributed towards the growth of the smartphone industry; analyzes, in relation to the various cycles of convergence, the main drivers of convergence, the overlapping industries and the types of convergence taken place; analyzes the impact of the various cycles of convergence on the development phases of the main industries affected by the convergence process

Structural Characteristics of Games and Online Consumer Behaviour: an Analysis in the Italian Gambling Market

The rapid growth of e-commerce over the last years has sparked a stream of research that has analysed the impact of Internet retailing on consumer behavior. This paper intends to offer a contribution, in the field of management studies, to the understanding of the reasons why the level of e-commerce use in a specific service sector, that of gambling, is different for different categories of services offered. In particular, the aims of this work is to analyze how the nature and specific characteristics of the different types of games could influence the customers’ decisions in terms of choice between digital and physical purchase channels. Thus, consequently, impacting the degree of development of online sales for the different types of gambling. This analysis is carried out in the context of one of the main national legal gambling markets in the world, the Italian one, in which Internet gambling is now a mature and consolidated industry. The results of the analysis have shown that for most of the traditional betting categories offered in Italy – Lotteries, Lotto, Totalisator numerical game, Bingo, Virtual bets – the nature and the distinctive characteristics of the game give little emphasis to the potential benefits usually associated with online gambling, and this has determined a reduced development of online sales. Only for Sports-based games (sports betting) the nature and characteristics of the game seem to have exploited a number of significant benefits that Internet gambling offers to players. This helps to understand why betting websites for Sports-based games have become the main channel of purchase in Italy. These results have interesting managerial implications for gambling operators, as discussed in this work

Characteristics of Games and Online Purchase Decisions: An Analysis in the Italian Gambling Market

This paper intends to offer a contribution, in the field of management studies, to the understanding of the reasons why the level of e-commerce use in a specific sector, that of gambling, is different for different categories of products offered. In particular, the aims of this work is to analyze how the nature and specific characteristics of the different types of games sold could influence the customers’ decisions in terms of choice between digital and physical purchase channels. Thus, consequently, impacting the degree of development of online sales for the different types of gambling. This analysis is carried out in the context of one of the main national legal gambling markets in the world, the Italian one, in which Internet gambling is now a mature and consolidated industry. The results of the analysis have shown that for most of the traditional betting categories offered in Italy – Lotteries, Lotto, Totalisator numerical game, Bingo, Virtual bets – the nature and the distinctive characteristics of the game give little emphasis to the potential benefits usually associated with online gambling, and this has determined a reduced development of online sales. Only for Sports-based games (sports betting) the nature and characteristics of the game seem to have exploited a number of significant benefits that Internet gambling offers to players. This helps to understand why betting websites for Sports-based games have become the main channel of purchase in Italy. These results have interesting managerial implications for gambling operators, as discussed in this work

responsible gambling strategies for internet gambling an empirical investigation into the italian gambling market

The aim of this study is to analyse, in the Italian sports betting sector, the impact of Internet gambling on the level of consumption of gambling products and the responsible gambling strategies adopted by the on line gambling operators. From the methodological viewpoint the research work has been organised into two phases. In the first phase, an empirical investigation has been carried out on a sample of Italian consumers directed towards measuring the impact that the use of the Internet has on the volume of bets made on sports events. In the second phase, an analytical work has been performed on the on line gambling websites of the main operators of the Italian sports betting market, directed towards examining the measures adopted for promoting responsible gambling. The results of the empirical research indicate, on the one hand, that in the Italian market, as has happened in other national gambling markets, the legalization of on line sports betting may determine an increase in the level of consumption of gambling products and, thus, in the potential risks of excessive gambling; and, on the other hand, that the normative approach adopted in the Italian gambling market, based on a 'concession model' which provides for a strong public control of the gambling operators, has favoured a widespread adoption by the on line betting companies of an articulated series of measures aimed towards harm minimisation in Internet gambling. Thus, the findings of this study contribute towards the economic-managerial literature on the theme of firms' social responsibility by providing important insights for gambling firms and public policy makers regarding the responsible gambling strategies for Internet gambling adoptable in the markets, such as the Italian one, in which on line gambling is fully regulated

Predicting limit-setting behavior of gamblers using machine learning algorithms: a real-world study of Norwegian gamblers using account data

Player protection and harm minimization have become increasingly important in the gambling industry along with the promotion of responsible gambling (RG). Among the most widespread RG tools that gaming operators provide are limit-setting tools that help players limit the amount of time and/or money they spend gambling. Research suggests that limit-setting significantly reduces the amount of money that players spend. If limit-setting is to be encouraged as a way of facilitating responsible gambling, it is important to know what variables are important in getting individuals to set and change limits in the first place. In the present study, 33 variables assessing the player behavior among Norsk Tipping clientele (N = 70,789) from January to March 2017 were computed. The 33 variables which reflect the players’ behavior were then used to predict the likelihood of gamblers changing their monetary limit between April and June 2017. The 70,789 players were randomly split into a training dataset of 56,532 and an evaluation set of 14,157 players (corresponding to an 80/20 split). The results demonstrated that it is possible to predict future limit-setting based on player behavior. The random forest algorithm appeared to predict limit-changing behavior much better than the other algorithms. However, on the independent test data, the random forest algorithm’s accuracy dropped significantly. The best performance on the test data along with a small decrease in accuracy in comparison to the training data was delivered by the gradient boost machine learning algorithm. The most important variables predicting future limit-setting using the gradient boost machine algorithm were players receiving feedback that they had reached 80% of their personal monthly global loss limit, personal monthly loss limit, the amount bet, theoretical loss, and whether the players had increased their limits in the past. With the help of predictive analytics, players with a high likelihood of changing their limits can be proactively approached

Gli effetti del processo di liberalizzazione sulle dinamiche di mercato nel settore delle scommesse sportive in Italia

Negli ultimi anni in molti Paesi il settore dei giochi pubblici è stato interessato da uno spostamento da un modello di regolamentazione che prevede la gestione diretta dei giochi da parte di agenzie governative in regime di monopolio, verso altri modelli di regolamentazione più ‘aperti’ alla concorrenza. Anche in Italia si è ormai affermato un modello di gestione dei giochi pubblici che, seppur controllato dallo Stato, è caratterizzato da un maggior coinvolgimento dell’imprenditoria privata rispetto al passato. Se si guarda nello specifico al segmento di gioco che, insieme a quello del Lotto, ha la più lunga tradizione in Italia, quello delle scommesse sportive, l’affermazione di un sistema di regolamentazione più aperto ai privati è la conseguenza di un profondo processo di liberalizzazione avviato negli anni Novanta del secolo scorso e intensificatosi a partire dai primi anni del nuovo millennio. Obiettivo generale del lavoro è analizzare gli effetti del processo di liberalizzazione sulle dinamiche di mercato nel settore delle scommesse sportive in Italia. L’analisi empirica svolta ha consentito di mostrare che in questo settore si sono verificati alcuni effetti tipici dei processi di liberalizzazione, quali l’aumento delle quantità e della varietà dei consumi, la riduzione dei prezzi medi di mercato, l’abbassamento delle barriere all’entrata e l’ingresso di nuovi operatori, e ha permesso di studiare l’effetto di tali cambiamenti sulle logiche competitive del business