The news in numbers
THE KEY FIGURES DRIVING THE LATEST ISSUES AND TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY.
2.8 million NUMBER OF U.S. USERS UNDER THE AGE OF 25 THAT FACEBOOK LOST IN 2017
Despite the stereotype of today’s youth being a rather social-media obsessed bunch, according to market research firm eMarketer, in the US Facebook actually lost 2.8 million users in the under-25 age bracket last year. While the firm had predicted a decline in this demographic’s userbase, the actual results were roughly three times more severe than they’d originally anticipated. Unfortunately for Facebook, eMarketer predicts much the same thing will happen again in 2018, with a further 2.1 million user decline in the under-25 age group — the first year-on-year decline the analysis company has ever predicted for this younger segment.
304 pages THE LENGTH OF AN EU-SUPPRESSED STUDY THAT FOUND THERE TO BE NO EVIDENCE OF PIRACY HARMING SALES
After spending €360,000 ($565,750) on a 2015 study that investigated the impacts of piracy on the sale of copyrighted movies, video games, music and books, the European Commission apparently never shared the 304-page document or its findings. Almost three years after it was originally submitted, that report has now been legally obtained from the EU by a member of the German Pirate Party. Among its other findings, it clearly states that “the results do not show robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online copyright infringements”.
#1 iOS HAS TAKEN OVER TOP SPOT FROM ANDROID AS AUSTRALIA’S PREFERRED MOBILE OS
According to research firm IDC, the launch of the iPhone X in November 2017 has helped iOS reclaim the lead from Android as Australia’s favourite mobile platform, and this is despite the comparatively lower sales figures for the device. The firm estimates that 1.76 million Apple devices were shipped to Australia in the last quarter of 2017, accounting for 56.2% of the Aussie handset market share, the company’s biggest quarter on record, compared with 1.37 million Android handsets (43.8%).
33 NUMBER OF JOYRIDES TAKEN BY A MAN WHO HACKED GOGET
In June 2017, Australian car-sharing service GoGet fell victim to a major hack, with users’ personal information — such as full name, driver’s licence details, and address — potentially vulnerable. It was only six months later that the company actually revealed the hack took place, although it claims there’s no evidence to suggest user data has been shared or misused. A man has been charged for the hack, along with 33 counts of ‘take and drive conveyance’, AKA taking free rides by hacking the vehicle loan system.
$3.23 billion AUSTRALIANS SPENT UP BIG ON VIDEO GAMES IN 2017
Australia’s Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) has released figures showing an overall increase in the purchase of video games in 2017 over that of 2016. A total of $3.23 billion was spent on interactive entertainment throughout the year, which represents a 9% increase over 2016’s sales. Despite the increasing prevalence and availability of digital copies of games, both digital and physical releases shared a similar increase in their sales.