20 July 2012: AU broadband penetration and ebook stats

In 2011, Australia fell three places to 21^st out of 34 developed nations for fixed line broadband penetration.  24.6 subscriptions per 100 citizens, below the OECD average of 25.6, and Switzerland in first place with 39.9. Australian in eighth place for wireless broadband access with 56.2 subscriptions per 100 compared to OECD average of 54.3, South Korea in first place at above 100.  NBN plans to have work completed or underway for 750,000 premises by the end of the year. [CR:I would be interested in numbers comparing growth in wireless and mobility, will we look back in ten years and see the investment in fixed broadband as a stop-gap?]

Australia shareholder returns at 2.5% over the past two years, compared with 8% in the UK and 15% in the US. [CR: I acknowledge the drive for profits, but I also look at the overall economies of those countries. Is greater shareholder returns always the best solution? I also wonder what the breakdown is between industry segments in our two-speed economy.]

Solicitor census shows there is one lawyer for every 400 people in Australia. That is 7000 more than GPs, four times as many dentists. NSW has 41% of the total lawyer pool. In  most large law firms, over half of senior associates are female, less than 20% of partners are female.

First State Super Fund gets out of tobacco. ($33 billion fund), caters mainly to public sector employees, has sold more than $150 million of shares in manufacturing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.  40% of fund members work in the health sector. [CR: Good to see member influence on fund investments.]

US BookStats survey of 2000 publishers shows ebook net revenue in the US doubled in 2011, reaching $US2.07 billion from $US 869 million in 2010. eBooks accounted for 15.5% of publisher’s revenue. Print sales dropped from $US12.1 billion in 2010 to $US11.1 billion in 2011. Total net revenue remained flat, increasing 0.5% from $US13.9 billion to $US13.97 billion. Children’s books grew 12% from $US2.48 billion  to $US2.78 billion. Bricks and mortar stores remained largest sales channels, but online sales increased from $US 3.72 billion to $US 5.04 billion. [CR: I will need to dig it up, but interested in comparison of growth of book digital sales to other industries.]