24 million young Chinese are addicted to the internet

"The number of young Chinese addicted to the Internet leaped to 24 million last year, a survey showed, as state media and some Chinese parents fret over social ills said to be linked to the Web.
Online games are often seen as a main cause of Internet obsession among adolescents in China, and state media have blamed them for contributing to problems as wide-ranging as teen pregnancy and violent crime.
The number of Web-addicted youths was nearly double the figure from 2005, and accounted for one in seven young Internet users, the state-run newspaper China Daily said Wednesday, citing a survey by the China Youth Association for Network Development. Nearly half of the young people surveyed use the Web to play games, the report said."
Source: Survey by the China Youth Association for Network Development, reported by China Daily, and then by PCWorld, 3rd February 2010

The iPhone was the third best selling smartphone in 2009, with a 14.4% market share

"According to IDC's market report, Apple shipped 25.1 million iPhones in 2009 capturing 14.4% of smartphone market share. This represents a 81.9% year-over-year growth for iPhones. Apple's fourth quarter iPhone shipments stood at 8.7 million representing a market share of 16%. Nokia still holds the top spot with 67.7 million shipments, representing a 38.9% market share followed by RIM with 34.5 million shipments and 19.8% market share for 2009.
HTC and Samsung captured 4.6% and 3.3% smartphone market share respectively, while rest of the vendors represented 19% of the 174.2 million smartphones shipped in 2009."
Source: IDC, reported by A4AAPL, 5th February 2010

Bit.ly received 2.1 billion clicks on its links in November 2009

"“People shorten the URL, send it to their wife and say, ‘Hey honey, look at this product’,” said John Borthwick, chief executive of Betaworks Studio, which runs bit.ly, the world’s most popular address shortening website.
“Somewhere in the region of 10 per cent of the bit.ly links get an extraordinary number of clicks. Links to big stories, such as Tiger Woods stories get millions of clicks.”
Bit.ly received 2.1 billion clicks on to links created by its shortening service last month."
Source: The Times, 7th December 2009

Over 60 million Americans listen to some form of internet radio in a typical week

"Just over 60 million Americans listen to some form of Internet radio in a typical week. This includes both AM/FM simulcast streams and Internet-only radio (e.g. Pandora, AccuRadio).
84% of this group regularly listens for at least five minutes to AM/FM simulcast streams in a typical week.
62% of the total streaming group regularly listens for at least five minutes listening to Internet-only streams."
Source: Press release from Bridge Ratings, 2nd February 2010

The UK, Germany and France collectively account for 70% of all eCommerce spending in Europe

"UK consumers also topped the online retail spending tables in 2009 with an average annual spend of £1,102, compared to a European average of £774 on 20 items with an average cost per item of £39. The UK was followed by Denmark (£1,079) and Norway (£979). On average UK consumers purchased the greatest number of items in 2009 (37), whereas the Polish bought the least (10).
At £44, the average cost per item in France was 48% higher than in the UK, which at £30 was the lowest in Europe. Norway had the highest spend per item at £75.
The research also found that:
25% of UK shoppers are now prepared to spend £1,000 or more online in a single transaction
57% of UK consumers made online purchases — almost 20% higher than the European average of 38%
Poland, with a forecast growth rate of 36%, France (31%) and Spain (25%) will experience the fastest growth this year. As the most mature ecommerce market, the UK will grow the least (12.4%) to £42.7bn.
European online sales will grow by 20% to reach £153bn overall in 2010, accounting for 5.5% of overall European retail sales.
The UK, Germany (£29.7bn of sales in 2009) and France (£22bn) account for 70% of total online sales in Europe. The countries with the lowest overall online spend in 2009 were Poland (£2.2bn), Finland (£2.3bn) and Norway (£2.9bn).
The rankings of the ‘big online three’ (UK, Germany and France) have not changed since 2003, although during this period online sales in France have grown by 244%, compared to 171% in the UK and 183% in Germany"
Source: Research from the Centre for Retail Research, commissioned by Kelkoo, and reported by Internet Retailing, 2nd February 2010

Online sales now account for nearly 10% of total UK retail sales

"UK shoppers spent more online than anywhere else in Europe last year, accounting for almost a third of all European sales, research suggests.
UK consumers spent £38bn online in 2009, or an average of £1,102 per shopper, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).
Online sales now account for almost 10% of total retail sales in the UK, the centre calculates."
Source: Research from the Centre for Retail Research, commissioned by Kelkoo, and reported by BBC News, 1st February 2010

The Guardian's national newspaper division lost £36.8m in 2008-9

"Guardian Media Group today reported major losses of almost £90m as it complained that its national newspapers and websites were operating in the "toughest trading conditions seen for many years". The group's regional newspapers suffered plunging profits while the radio business made a significant loss.
In its annual report for 2008-2009, GMG, which publishes The Guardian and The Observer newspapers, reported a pre-tax loss of £89.8m, compared with a profit last year of £306.4m, on turnover which was down to £405.4m compared with £502.1m.
Guardian News & Media, the group's national newspaper division, reported an increase in operating losses to £36.8m, compared to £26.4m in 2008, on a reduced turnover of £253.6m compared with £261.9m."
Source: Official Guardian accounts, reported by The Independent, 31st July 2009
The figure of £36.8m loss equates to £100,800 per day.