Month: October 2013

How Big is the market for Online Social Gaming ?

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The Market of Scoial GamingSocial games are online games played through social networks, like Facebook, or on mobile phone applications (Apps). Social games are distinct from other video games and are more suited to casual game experiences. The design of the games encourages players to return frequently through various rewards and multi-player features. Revenue is driven by a small percentage of players paying for virtual currency that can be used for various game advantages such as additional game time or new levels.

What makes social casino games different from other forms of gambling in the eyes of regulators is that players never actually receive a payout for any game played. This critical difference allows social games to fall outside current interactive gaming regulation. Less regulation allows

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SK Telecom Battles KT on 4G-LTE Services for “The Best” in the World

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SK Telecom Battles for KT on 4G-LTE Services SK Telecom The most Advanced LTE Broadband Service Provider in the World Spoke to us and here is an excerpt from the interaction directly with the management of the SK Telecom.

What are your capex spending plans for Broadband LTE?
We have already been investing in the 1.8GHz bandwidth since 2012. So we will try to meet our annual capex guidance announced at the beginning of the year. However, since we have acquired this very competitive bandwidth, there may be
some need to pre-emptively invest in this bandwidth.

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Badiu’s Mobile Monetization Strategy Begins to Pay Off – Challenges Remain

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Baidu Mobile MonetizationChinese Internet Giant, Baidu is ramping up mobile monetization through mobile paid search, contextual ads, and mobile VAS (mostly games).

Baidu Mobile traffic + landing page optimization drive ads adoptions
Baidu’s mobile search volumes account for ~1/3 of Baidu’s organic search traffic, or 500 mn mobile search queries per day. Increasing mobile traffic would incentivize Baidu’s search customers to allocate more of their ads budgets to mobile vs. PC.

However, a key challenge for PC-based websites is to display web content on mobile devices, with the lack of mobile landing pages resulting in a suboptimal user experience, fewer mobile browsing activities, and fewer page views. Thus, online advertisers have

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New Telecom Policy – M&A in India to be Liberal ?

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M&A in Indian Telecom SpaceAs per the reported proposed norms, the merged entity would be allowed to have market share (in terms of subscriber base & adjusted gross revenues [AGR]) of up to 50% in a particular circle (up from current guidelines of 35%). The new entity could own up to 25% of the total spectrum allocated in a particular telecom circle and up to 50% of spectrum allocated in a specific band (and 10 MHz in 800 MHz band).

According to the report, the DoT also proposes to allow the merged entity to own two blocks of 3G and/or BWA spectrum (vs one currently) in a specific circle. However, the acquiring company would need to pay market-determined price (to the govt) for GSM

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OTT Apps Lead to Massive Decline in SMS Usage

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number of smsOver-the-Top (OTT) services are web-based (potentially cheaper) ways of communicating that bypass traditional voice & SMS services. TRAI data shows that SMS has already started to feel the impact from online messaging apps such as WhatsApp, and SMS’ contribution to industry rev has already declined (3%; Jun13). The expected further reduction, however, should be more than offset by data pickup (~10% of rev for Bharti/Idea), while voice revenue should remain relatively immune.

TRAI data highlights that SMS as % of rev (GSM)

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Will DoT’s M&A Rules Scripted to Favor Reliance Jio Infocomm & Reliance Communications ?

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Reliance Jio Merger Reliance CommunicationsDespite the Massive $20 Bn Dollar Corruption Scam in the Ministry of Communication and the Department of Telecom, things haven’t changed much as the same old dirty law makers and bureaucrats occupy the seats of power. This time around they are framing the rules for Mergers & Acquisitions in the Telecom Space which are likely to be influenced by India’s Richest Billionaire and Insider Trader, Mukesh Ambani.

Insiders from the DoT has sent feelers that the M&A Policies will be scripted to favor the smooth amalgamation of Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Communications. We expect Reliance Jio to use the spectrum sharing rules

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Why iPad AIR is the Best Tablet to Gift this Holiday Season ?

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ipad-air-the best tablet in marketplaceApple the most innovative Hardware Tech company till date surprised everyone of us with the release of the Lighter than expected Slick iPad Air Tablet. At just $499, this is the best Gift one can go for this holiday season considering the Hardware Quality it is bundled into.

Although the feature sets of iPad Air were largely expected, but the amount of weight reduction is much more than market expectations. We believe the market was expecting around 500~550g versus the actual new weight of 453g. This makes the full-size iPad only 120g heavier than the iPad mini at 331g. In latest iPad Air Apple has adapted proprietary GF2 (cover glass with double side ITO film) structure to replace G/G (cover glass with sensor glass) touch, with this change we estimate touch module will save 50g~60g. We believe

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Naukri Slowdown, 99Acres and Jeevansathi Grow in InfoEdge India

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Jeevansathi Gaining Traction InfoEdge IndiaRecruitment revenue at Rs903mn grew 8.3%yoy and 0.2%qoq and margins remained steady at ~50%. The company attributes this to emerging signs of stability in IT recruitment as well as market share gains on the back of strong execution. It continues to invest in product development to enhance user experience and engagement.

99Acres Outperform Amidst Real Estate Real SlowDown
Revenues grew ~57%yoy to Rs185 Mn. Over the quarter, both total and paid listings increased by 31%. The company attributes this to beefing up of sales force, opening new offices in new as well as in cities with existing presence, investment in product development and

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The Rise of Mobile Advertising in Asia – Size and Growth

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Size of the Asian Mobile Advertising MarketMobile advertising is still in early stages but is growing at a rapid pace despite the challenges and differences with advertising on small vs. large screens.

According to a recent study by Interactive Advertising Bureau and PWC, global mobile ad revenues rose 145% to USD3bn for 1H13, accounting for ~15% of the total online ad spend. Gartner estimates the Asia Pacific mobile ad market to be ~USD5bn or ~40% of the global market size. Also, global mobile ad revenue is estimated to grow to USD25bn by 2016 from USD11bn

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Dell Serious to get back into NoteBooks / Tablet War

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Once upon a Time Giant in the PC and Laptop Industry, Dell Inc is serious to get back into the Notebook and Tablets Game. Dell introduced a slew of attractive new notebook and tablet models aimed at making a comeback in the PC industry. The product lineup at the post-privatization event looks ambitious and aggressive.
Dell Tablets Dell launched a new tablet brand called Venue, which covers 8”~11” screen sizes running both Android OS and Windows 8. The Android tablets are thin and light and start from a breakthrough price point of US$149 (Intel+Android) and the Win8 tablets start at a

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