All in a day's work

Had some very interesting meetings and phone calls today.

Firstly, one of my mega-value contacts arranged to introduce me to management of a UK tech company, which recently re-evaluated its cellular phone spend and decided to opt for Skype wherever possible. Apparently, even after opening an overseas branch office, the company's overall telecom spend has gone down significantly relative to the levels it experienced when it was a pure UK operation. I hope to have a detailed piece on this in the near future.

Secondly, my colleague Kota Ezawa arranged a meeting with a major Japanese player in the consumer electronics value chain (I can't say who or what part of the chain), which revealed the following:

1) Parts of this company have embraced Skype wholeheartedly as a productivity tool, and love it.

2) Within the next year we will see relatively high-spec smartphones made by (apparently) unlikely (but well-respected) manufacturers at a price of around $50. I know it sounds crazy, but they were adamant, and I believe them.

Roll on, deflationary spiral...