Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

      2017      2018      2019      2020      2021     2022E     2023E§CAGR / Avg
Total Revenue

        ¥m§ 944,474 1,101,480 1,263,932 1,455,538 1,681,757 1,918,274 2,152,817 16.5%

https://www.stockopedia.com/share-prices/rakuten-TYO:4755/
 

https://jp.linkshare.com/...1420074589.1669034996-80142039.1669034996  

K-Drama-Rama: How the Global Streaming Boom Ignited Demand for Content From Asia

By Cynthia Littleton Aug 17, 2022

Rakuten Viki is one such streamer that has seen incredible growth during the past few years, with viewers logging on everywhere from Latin America to the Mediterranean to Australia. Sam Wu, CEO of Viki, which is the streaming arm of Japanese retail giant Rakuten, spoke with Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast about the company’s growth and why Korean dramas, in particular, are resonating with viewers.

“The U.S. is our biggest market by audience. But we’re global,” Wu says. “We have users in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and India. So we really see this fandom growing, not just here in the U.S., which is really strong in terms of the audience reception, but we’re really seeing it grow everywhere around the world.”

Moreover, Wu credits the passionate Viki user base as the single-biggest factor in driving buzz and sampling of the various Viki channels and services.

“We truly leverage (our) community to be the advocates that help share the content,” Wu says. “Outside of Viki, we’ve built a strong social media presence with followers across social media. People will tend to highly engage and tag their friends and share and also post and repost. So we leverage that quite heavily as a way for us to get the word out there. It’s authentic and something that really scales quite well, because people discover content now through word-of-mouth and their friends.”

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/...-rakuten-viki-k-drama-1235343821/  

Rakuten Mobile to build Open RAN Customer Experience Center in UK | Communications Today

November 21, 2022

https://www.communicationstoday.co.in/...mer-experience-center-in-uk/  

How-Omantel-is-preparing-for-brownfield-open-ran-deployments

Recorded October 2022

Dr Sherif R. Sherif, Senior Advisor of Technology Strategy, Omantel

Omantel, along with its Middle East Open RAN consortium partners, is focusing its disaggregated network efforts on the challenges and opportunities of introducing Open RAN systems into existing brownfield networks, explains Dr Sherif R. Sherif, senior advisor of technology strategy at Oman's national operator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu27OwU2yoA  

Rakuten Symphony wird zu einem immer wichtigeren Teil des Telekommunikationsgeschäfts von Rakuten. Sein CEO, Tareq Amin, sagte kürzlich, dass die Rakuten Symphony-Plattform 14 Kunden hat und 315 Millionen US-Dollar Umsatz und 3,1 Milliarden US-Dollar an Bestellungen generiert.

"Wir glauben, dass wir in den nächsten fünf Quartalen alles tun werden, um das Umsatzziel von Rakuten Symphony zu erreichen, die Marke von 1 Milliarde US-Dollar zu überschreiten."

https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2022-11-22/...smrp7116344.shtml
 

Dan Meyer | Executive EditorNovember 21, 2022 9:00 PM

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/...-open-ran-center/2022/11/
 

Selling on Rakuten Ichiba: Japan’s Most Popular Marketplace

Last updated November 11, 2022

By Jake Pool

Online shopping in Japan

When looking to expand into Asia, many ecommerce businesses think first of China – and why not? It’s the most populous country in the world, with a fast-growing economy and a burgeoning base of young Gen-Z consumers, who are continually hunting for the latest must-have products through domestic online marketplaces such as Alibaba and Tmall.

However, Japan also has a large and mature ecommerce market. In 2019, Japanese ecommerce generated $90 billion in sales, compared to $365 million in the US and $670 billion in China. The GDP per capita in Japan is four times that of China, with more than 90% of consumers actively shopping online. To cap it off, unlike in the United States, return rates are extremely low in Japan.

In Japanese ecommerce, online marketplaces dominate the landscape and Rakuten Ichiba is the colossus – nearly one-third of all ecommerce in Japan flows through Rakuten’s marketplace.

https://www.webretailer.com/international-selling/...n-rakuten-japan/  

Rakuten Symphony and Intel say new DUs will be vRAN tipping point

By Keith Dyer 22 November 2022

Companies say new Distributed Units built on next generation Intel Xeon with integrated acceleration will be big moment for brownfield Open RAN.

Rakuten Symphony will have new Distributed Units (DUs) featuring Intel SoCs with integrated L1 acceleration available from Q2 next year, according to CEO Tariq Amin. He said the products would be a “massive game changer” by enabling Open RAN architectures for complex, brownfield operations at new cost and performance points.

https://the-mobile-network.com/2022/11/...will-be-vran-tipping-point/  

What do the next five years hold for Rakuten Mobile in Japan?

We’re still in the final rollout phase. We have achieved 97% population coverage for 4G and we aim to make it 100% to expand our coverage over the entire country.

Going forward, 5G will be our key focus area, through which we can provide greater capacity, low latency, network slicing, and IoT services. In fact, we’re looking to offer NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) service, something that will enable a lot of enterprise use cases, as well as new services for our consumers.

At the same time, as we gain more subscribers, in addition to the focus on network quality and stability, we will also focus more on further enhancing customer experience and our service offerings. Of course, we need to offer the best coverage along with the best performance, but once we've done that, we aspire to provide more than just connectivity, and offer our subscribers a much richer experience through new innovative services and features. Our cloud native network architecture gives us the required flexibility and platform to do so.

What upcoming technologies do you see transforming the telecommunications industry?

In Rakuten Mobile, we have significant focus on automation as a cornerstone that we have built upon utilizing AI and machine learning. Autonomous networks represent a natural extension of this and are another key focus area for the mid-term. We have the ambitious goal of creating a fully autonomous network. What does that mean? Basically, similar to driverless cars, the future could see the creation of an operation-less or technician-less network.

We are looking for answers to key questions like: How does a network perceive its performance, analyze the impact of different parameter configurations and act upon them to make changes to sustain, improve performance and mitigate issues in the network without human intervention where possible? How does a network perceive customer experience and improve it without human intervention? How do we use AI and machine learning in the process, to understand customer behavior and proactively look for things that could go wrong in the network, even on the hardware side?

https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/...footer_interview_lang_en  

Rakuten Mobile launches Galaxy A23 5G today, November 22nd

Rakuten Mobile will start selling Samsung’s 5G compatible smartphone “Galaxy A23 5G” from 9:00 am on November 22, 2022 at Rakuten Mobile official website, Rakuten Mobile official Rakuten Ichiba store, and Rakuten Mobile Shop, a physical store. Did.

The price is 32,800 yen including tax, and the body color can be selected from red, white, and black.

Easy-to-use mid-range smartphone with basic functions

The Galaxy A23 5G is equipped with a 5.8-inch TFT liquid crystal display (720 x 1,560), a rear camera with approximately 50 million pixels and a front camera with approximately 5 million pixels, a MediaTek Dimensity 700 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM. It is a mid-range smartphone.

https://iphonewired.com/news/542021/  

The challenges and opportunities of a broader open ecosystem

November 23, 2022

An open and diverse supplier ecosystem requires new players, but how can telcos best support startups, spin-outs and entrants? Can telcos make it easier and safer to engage with new entrants? Such an ecosystem offers more choices for telcos, but this can also result in more challenges, not least of which is getting everything to work and interoperate. So, what is the best way to achieve this goal? Featuring: Jim Brisimitzis, Founder, 5G Open Innovation Lab Anshul Bhatt, Head of Intelligent Operations, Rakuten Symphony Eugina Jordan, Chief Marketing Officer, Telecom Infra Project Ali A. Kafel, Senior Director of Global Telco Ecosystem, Red Hat Heather Kirksey, VP of Ecosystem and Community, LF Networking Terje Jensen, SVP of Network and Cloud Technology Strategy, Telenor Recorded: November 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AbfDI111cg
 

New Grads Welcomed into Rakuten for Fall 2022!

November 21, 2022

123 new graduates joined Rakuten Group in both business and engineering positions.

The in-person Welcome Ceremony was attended by Mickey and other executives who warmly greeted the new recruits. Although the new grads seemed nervous at first, they quickly opened up through ice-breaker activities.

This video covers the Welcome Ceremony, including speeches by Mickey and a new grad representative, as well as an interview with one of these new Rakutenians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgTelkT_cUg  

Development Team of the Year: Rakuten Blockchain Lab

Freeing blockchain’s e-commerce potential

November 22 2022 01:43 PM

Development Team of the Year went to Rakuten Blockchain Lab, a 20-strong team building secure, high-availability enterprise platforms for financial services, as well as health and consumer electronics sectors.

The Rakuten Blockchain Lab team developed cryptocurrency exchange Rakuten Wallet in 2019 and NFT marketplace Rakuten NFT in 2022, while supporting the use of blockchain technology in over 70 services and ecosystem platforms across the Rakuten group, including e-commerce, fintech, digital content and mobile.

Its Rakuten Blockchain Platform provides REST APIs to allow web engineers in the Rakuten group to utilise blockchain technologies, supporting both enterprise blockchains and public blockchains.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.c  

Rakuten India's Amit Srivastava named VP – Sales and Marketing of its B2B venture SixthSense

November 22, 2022

Developed entirely under Rakuten India, SixthSense was launched in 2021 to empower enterprises facing digital disruptions with intuitive and affordable end-to-end visibility of the entire IT environment, right from development to business.

In his new role, Amit will lead all sales and marketing efforts for SixthSense’s holistic software product portfolio purpose-built to deliver speedier innovation and operational efficiency across the business ecosystem. Notably, Amit has been instrumental role in developing the brand’s go-to-market strategy and assuring superior customer experience with a dedicated set of hard-working engineers.

https://www.medianews4u.com/...rketing-of-its-b2b-venture-sixthsense/  

Rakuten Card plant die Ausgabe von Unternehmensanleihen an Privatpersonen

Rakuten Card Inc. freut sich bekannt zu geben, dass es plant, Rakuten Card Inc. 9. Serie von unbesicherten Unternehmensanleihen (mit begrenzter Bindung zwischen Unternehmensanleihen) hauptsächlich an Privatanleger wie folgt auszugeben.

     Marke§Rakuten Card, Inc. 9. Serie von unbesicherten Unternehmensanleihen (mit begrenztem gebundenem Vertrag zwischen Unternehmensanleihen) (Spitzname: Rakuten Cardman Bonds)

Gesamtbetrag der Unternehmensanleihen (geplant) 50 Milliarden Yen

5 Jahre

Zinssatz (vorläufige Bedingungen*) 1.20%~1.80%

pro Jahr *Zinssatz wird am Freitag, 2. Dezember 2022 festgelegt

Bewerbungsfrist (vorläufig) Vom 5. Dez. 2022 (Mo.) bis 15. Dez. 2022 (Do.)

Fälligkeit der Zahlung (geplant) Freitag, 16. Dezember 2022

Rücknahmefrist (geplant) Donnerstag, 16. Dezember 2027

https://www.rakuten-card.co.jp/corporate/press_release/20221121/
 

Weak yen, absence of China – “an opportunity to change focus”

GIVEN the weakened Japanese yen, the land of the rising sun has become the land of bargains and this will give a further impetus to inbound travel to this most popular of destinations, the audience at WiT Seoul 2022 heard.

Quoting one of Japan’s most prominent economists, Jesper Koll, Kei Shibata, co-founder CEO, Venture Republic – TRAVEL jp & Trip101, gave these startling comparisons.

A Big Mac costs ($2.60) ¥390 in Tokyo versus $5.50 (JPY825) in Los Angeles, making the dollar’s purchasing power (more than) double this side of the Pacific

Japanese labour costs are down to $33,000 per year on average, less than half the $69,000 payout in the United States

A Tokyo-based software engineer now comes about 30 percent cheaper than one based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

And at ¥180 to the dollar, a nurse in Manila would earn more than one in Tokyo

Jeremy Bek, general manager, global country management department, travel business, Rakuten, Inc, said that since the official announcement of Japan’s full reopening was made on September 22, the OTA has seen 3,100% increase in bookings from Hong Kong, 1,077% from Korea, 545% from Taiwan and 106% from the US.

https://www.webintravel.com/...-beckons-while-outbound-remains-muted/  

Rakuten Announces Full-Scale Launch of Rakuten Drone Gateway, a New Platform Supporting Drone Flights and Pilot Recruitment

- New platform matches drone operators with businesses and individuals utilizing drones, provides access to flight maps and weather information.

Tokyo, November 24, 2022 – Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced the full-scale launch of Rakuten Drone Gateway, a new platform that assists businesses and individuals who use drones by supporting drone flight operations and job matching for drone operators.

The web-based platform aims to serve as a gateway for all those working with drones, and offers job matching services as well as flight support for drone operators.

The job matching service allows companies and individuals who utilize drones to post job openings tailored to specific requirements including aerial photography, aerial surveys and inspections, as well as search for and hire drone operators that meet their needs. After completing the employer screening process, drone operator-seeking businesses and individuals can create job posts that include an overview of the job, payment and other details. Meanwhile, drone operators seeking work can register their profile data after submitting their personal identification, skill certifications and other required documents. This allows them to easily browse and apply for open drone operation jobs. Rakuten will make payments to drone operators after the job commissioned by the company or individual is complete.

In addition to the job matching service, Rakuten Drone Gateway offers drone flight support. This provides flight maps necessary for flying drones, such as the locations of flight-prohibited zones, topographical information and maps of planned flight paths, and aerial photographs. Meteorological information including weather forecasts and precipitation radar are also provided. By offering this data to users all in one service, the platform aims to streamline drone operations for pilots.

The use of drones has been increasing across many sectors in recent years. The Japanese government has made moves to pave the way for a regulatory system for drone flights, including the launch of a registry for drones and their owners in June 2022 and the decision to start a national licensing system for drone operators in December 2022. To date, Rakuten has laid the groundwork for supporting the next generation of drone operators through Rakuten Drone Academy Minakami and DBS Tokyo Academy, which is operated by SKY ESTATE, Inc., a Rakuten Group company. Rakuten also provides several services that utilize drones across a variety of fields. These include conducting inspections of Rakuten Mobile base stations, surveying exterior damage to apartment and office buildings, and surveying damage incurred in elevated locations such as the roofs of buildings.

Rakuten will continue to contribute to the further expansion of the drone market in the future through the delivery of drone-related services and training and support for drone operators.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2022/1124_02.html  

Rakuten robots deliver Seiyu, Starbucks products day and night as service expanded

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/companies/20221122-72565/  

Tesla has done for cars like we are doing for networks

Tareq Amin said in the earings call, the technology of Rakuten Symphony is not only Open RAN, the collection of components makes Rakuten Symphony extremly unique. And the reliablity and the cost structure was test from Rakuten Mobile. The result Is: Tesla has done for cars like we are doing for networks.

Source: Own transcipt of the last earnings call (Everybody can hear and read the transcript in the internet and control my transcript.)  

Rakuten Symphony Supports India‘s Ambitions to Become a Global Powerhouse of Telco Innovation

September 30, 2022

“Rakuten Symphony believes the Indian market has the potential to define the next generation of online solutions, representing a close collaboration between government, society and business and providing equitable access and inclusion for all,” said Narayana. “Rakuten Symphony India represents a key driver of innovation in the telecom space, and we are very excited to further expand our presence. We look forward to fostering local talent and working with local Indian and global partners to promote the adoption of Open RAN technologies and empower global telecom operators to build and operate secure mobile networks.”

The more than 3,000 engineers at Rakuten Symphony’s operations based in Bengaluru and Indore deliver world leading telecom edge cloud software, Open RAN software, and industrialized telecom operational and business software. Rakuten Symphony also recently announced the establishment of its Global Innovation Lab and new engineering development facilities in Bengaluru.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...l-powerhouse-of-telco-innovation  

Rakuten Kobo’s all-you-can-read subscription, Kobo Plus, expands to audiobooks in Canada
NOVEMBER 15, 2022

Canadians can now fit books into more parts of the day with read, listen, and read and listen subscription options

TORONTO – November 15, 2022 – Rakuten Kobo expands its Kobo Plus subscription service in Canada, now offering unlimited access to Kobo Audiobooks in the catalogue for a low monthly fee. With limitless access to more than 1.3 million eBooks and over 100,000 audiobooks in the Kobo Plus offering, Canadians can now enjoy endless reading or listening for $9.99 per month or enjoy everything the service has to offer with reading and listening for $12.99 per month.

“At Kobo, we are in the business of delighting readers – whether that’s with beautiful eReaders or our top-rated apps for reading and listening. But nothing delights a reader as much as saying “read as much as you want,” which is exactly what our Kobo Plus service offers,” said Michael Tamblyn, CEO, Rakuten Kobo. “In the two years since launching Kobo Plus all-you-can-read eBooks in Canada, we’ve seen a flood of readers try it out, and then just keep reading to their hearts’ content. It’s our pleasure and privilege to extend the offering to audiobooks so that Kobo Plus readers can enjoy reading and listening without boundaries.”

Subscribers will be able to explore the eBook and audiobook catalogue stress-free with a free 30-day trial. In addition to books from some of the country’s biggest publishers, the subscription features stories from Kobo’s publishing arm, Kobo Originals, and eBooks and audiobooks published through Kobo Writing Life—Kobo’s global self-publishing platform.

“With Canadians out of the house and on-the-move, we’re excited to expand the Kobo Plus subscription offering to include audiobooks so Kobo users can fit reading into more places and more moments throughout their day,” said Bart Robers, Director, Audiobook and Subscription, Rakuten Kobo. “We know life is busy, but there is always time for reading. Whether you’re cleaning the house, walking to the office or standing in line at airport security, Canadians can now enjoy unlimited reading and listening for a low monthly fee.”  

While Kobo Plus subscribers enjoy limitless reading and listening, authors included in the catalogue see a range of benefits as well. Typically, following the launch of a book, revenue tends to decline with age as new releases hit the shelves – but inclusion in the Kobo Plus subscription continues to drive the revenue of a book as it’s discovered by new readers in the service, generating sales for a longer period of time with no decline in individual eBook or audiobook sales. Readers are also willing to try more new authors and read more widely across both new releases and backlist, as all-you-can-read removes the risk of trying something new.

About Rakuten Kobo Inc.

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is the world’s digital bookseller created by and for book lovers. Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Inc. and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo’s millions of worldwide users can read anytime, anywhere, and on any device. With a mission to make reading lives better for all, Rakuten Kobo connects readers to stories using thoughtful and personalized curation of eBooks and audiobooks, and the best dedicated eReaders and apps for reading. With the singular focus of making reading lives the best they can be, Kobo’s open platform allows people to fit reading into more moments in their busy lives.  

https://www.kobo.com/news/...obo-plus-expands-to-audiobooks-in-canada  

Rakuten Begins Issuing Green Life Points for Eco-Friendly Actions!

November 24, 2022

Rakuten Group has begun awarding Green Life Points in addition to Rakuten Points* for eco-conscious purchases such as energy-saving appliances, label-free beverages, and second-hand goods. Six different Rakuten services in Japan will be eligible for the campaign: Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Rakuma, Rakuten Fashion, Rakuten 24 Drink-Kan, Rakuten Bic, and Rakuten Travel. This campaign is part of the Green Life Points promotion program led by Japan's Ministry of the Environment.

*Green Life Points can be used as regular Rakuten Points for purchases.

*Campaign periods are different depending on the service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHRULuGVCQ4  

INTRODUCING RAKUMA - THE ONLINE SECOND HAND MARKETPLACE BY RAKUTEN!

As of October 24th, 2022, Rakuma, also known as Fril.jp, is now available directly on ZenMarket! Continue reading to discover how you can score an amazing bargain or find rare & vintage second hand goods from Japan!

Rakuma is an online flea market shopping platform operated by Rakuten. Looking for a bargain, or rare & vintage items? Rakuma is where you should start looking.

Rakuma have all kinds of goods, from figures and posters, to luxury bags and watches. Start browsing now so you can start putting together your bargain haul directly from Japan.

Rakuma Is Now On ZenMarket! | Broswe 2nd Hand Goods on ZenMarket.jp - ZenMarket.jp - Japan Shopping & Proxy Service
 

More Japanese Firms Using Internet Banks as Main Financial Institution

Nov 24, 2022

A growing number of Japanese firms are turning to internet banks for their main financial needs.

Among online banks, Rakuten Bank is the main financial institution for 1,394 companies followed by PayPay Bank with 1,268 companies, putting the institutions at a level comparable to second-tier regional banks, credit unions, and other regional lenders.

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01502/