Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Mobile revenue was up significantly (62%) at 368.7 billion yen (US$2.79B)

At 4.5 million, the number of paying subscribers in Mobile (additional about 0.5 million MNVO-subscribers) is up 294% year on year. All of its subscribers became paying customers in September 2022. Operating losses “continue to contract”.

Rakuten’s initial plan for mobile had been a 7-year buildout. Instead, Rakuten accelerated that plan, based on a cloud-native and open vision, resulting in a higher rate of spend over a shorter period. Its mobile strategy now enters “phase 2” – establishing the profit structure of the business now that the buildout is largely complete with 98%+ coverage. Rakuten Mobile’s “phase 3” will be accelerating customer acquisition (massively increasing its rivals’ churn) to become Japan’s #1 mobile service provider.

https://appledoreresearch.com/2023/02/14/rakuten-group-results-fy2022/  

But in any case, for year 2023, Rakuten Mobile financial situation will dramatically improve.

And Mobile segment, as I mentioned, the first phase required a lot of investments and costs. However, in 2023, this year, we are taking various measures to reduce costs and also marketing methods are using Internet as much as possible. And as a result, roaming cost is coming down. These measures is taking – well, making – getting fruits in 2023. And then as we reach this stage, then of course, we will consult with the market as to what next steps we will be taking going forward.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/...-q4-2022-earnings-call-transcript
 

Rakuten Viber unlocks AI capabilities with its new chatbot

February, 20, 2023

Rakuten Viber, the global leader in private and secure messaging and voice-based communication, launches a new chatbot, AI Chat & Create, providing users easy access to AI text and image generators. By integrating advanced models of generative AI, such as DALL-E and Davinci, the Viber app now allows users to ask the chatbot any question or test the chatbot's creativity by designing unique images.

To utilize the latest AI tools taking the world by storm, consumers had to set up a new account for each AI service they wanted to try. Oftentimes, the consumer needs to be tech-savvy with a basic understanding of how AI works. With an influx of interest in AI, Viber's goal is to make AI more accessible, and easy to employ for its users. Viber acts as the interface between the complex technology and the user, allowing everyone to take part in the fun without having to provide access to their email or create a separate account for each service. With just a few taps, users can transition between chatting with friends to using the bot, sharing their art, or answer a question effortlessly.

Due to organic growth, the chatbot already has over 6,000 subscribers, over 250 K viewers, and is growing constantly. If you don’t know where to start, click ‘Inspire Me’ for the chatbot to share an example of its capabilities.

The AI Chat & Create chatbot can be found by searching in the chat function of the Viber app or on its explore page. From there, users can subscribe to the chatbot and will have unlimited access to the AI technology right at their fingertips. Try it for yourself here: https://vb.me/8ab600

http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/...-capabilities-with-its-new-chatbot/  

More Cher, more shopping and more Cash Back thanks to Rakuten.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_yGq_4xCKQ&t=60s  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLELP3F_ew&t=17s  

Rakuten: Bank IPO On the Cusp of Int Rate Cycle, Symphony & Energy to Reduce Scepticism on Mobile

Bullish Rakuten Inc

Equity Bottom-Up

Feb 20, 2023

Oshadhi Kumarasiri

Equity Analyst LightStream Research

The market is generally underappreciative of Rakuten’s smaller businesses. However, the bank IPO could unlock a great deal of value in Rakuten’s Fintech segment. Explosive growth in Symphony & Energy

https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/...medium=feed&utm_source=RSS  

A successful deal for Rakuten Bank could unlock equity public markets to Asia’s struggling fintech sector.

February 17, 2023

Strong fintech performance

The fintech arm performs well, however. It now has ¥8.6 trillion ($64 billion) in deposits across more than 13 million customer accounts. The parent company has been adept at leveraging its 36 million active users to sell financial products, such as remittances, foreign exchange, overseas deposits and credit for purchases on Rakuten’s marketplace.

Analyst Kirk Boodry of Redex Research says Rakuten Bank should be valued at more than ¥500 billion ($3.7 billion).

Writing on Smartkarma, Boodry said: “Rakuten Bank is a part of Rakuten’s fintech business, which seems to be under-appreciated by the market considering its revenue and EBITDA CAGRs of 16.0 percent and 12.2 percent over the last four years.”

https://www.digfingroup.com/rakuten-bank/  

Additional to my last posting: I believe a valuation of $4 billion by a net income $ 280 million and a growth rate of the net income of 12% in the average of the last 5 years is fair

Operating Income Rakuten Bank of 38 billion Yen = $ 280 million

FinTech FY2022 (billion JPY)

Revenue YoY Operating Income YoY

Rakuten Bank 112.2 +9.3% 38.0 +28.5%

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/  

Das ist übrigens schon etwa die Hälfte der Marktkapitalisierung des gesamten Rakuten-Konzerns und zeigt wie absurd niedrig die Bewertung von Rakuten ist.

Übrigens ist Rakuten Bank nur das zweitwertvollste Unternehmen aus dem Fintech-Bereich von Rakuten, denn Rakuten Card dürfte noch wesentlich mehr wert sein als Rakuten-Bank.  

Rakuten Symphony‘s headline: $476M in revenue during FY2022

Rakuten Symphony CEO Tareq Amin provided a readout on Symphony’s first full year of operation. The headline: $476M in revenue during FY2022.

Symphony is a provider of three things, essentially: open RAN, cloud infrastructure, and the operational software platform and applications required to run a cloud-based network. It can justifiably claim a leadership position in all three areas. And Symphony sees all three areas growing.

https://appledoreresearch.com/2023/02/14/rakuten-group-results-fy2022/  

If Rakuten Card were valued like American Express, the valuation is $ 3.97 billion.

Operating Income of Rakuten Card is 44 billion Yen = $ 330 million
FinTech FY2022 (billion JPY)
Revenue YoY Operating Income YoY
Rakuten Card 295.6 +5.6% 44.0 +10.9%
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/

Market Cap of American Express = $ 131.945 billion
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AXP?p=AXP&.tsrc=fin-srch
Operating Income of American Express = $ 10,960 million
https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/AXP/...annual/income-statement

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/...like_american_express/
 

Sendai Waterworks and Rakuten Conduct Demo of Aqueduct Inspections by Drone

February  21, 2023

Rakuten and the Waterworks Bureau of Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture used drones to conduct a pipeline inspection demonstration. The demo showed that it was possible to check for damage on pipes from positions and angles that are difficult to do by visual observation alone, and it also included a simulated test using an infrared camera to successfully detect pipe leakage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ThiUN7aOQ
 

Rakuten Mobile’s „phase 3“ will be accelerating customer acquisition (massively increasing its rivals’ churn) to become Japan’s #1 mobile service provider.

Rakuten’s initial plan for mobile had been a 7-year buildout. Instead, Rakuten accelerated that plan, based on a cloud-native and open vision, resulting in a higher rate of spend over a shorter period. Its mobile strategy now enters “phase 2” – establishing the profit structure of the business now that the buildout is largely complete with 98%+ coverage. Rakuten Mobile’s “phase 3” will be accelerating customer acquisition (massively increasing its rivals’ churn) to become Japan’s #1 mobile service provider.

https://appledoreresearch.com/2023/02/14/rakuten-group-results-fy2022/  

Rakuten could capture up to 10m subscribers in 3 years

Japan Telecoms Industry Report 2023-2028

January 20, 2023 09:54 AM Eastern Standard Time

The analyst forecasts by offering lower pricing, e-Commerce bundling and other lifestyle services to its existing 100 million Rakuten customers, while KDDI and to a lesser extent NTT and Softbank already embarked on such journey.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/...rs---ResearchAndMarkets.com  

Leveraging Open RAN to accelerate enterprise 5G deployments

February 15, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCG4Tmuc8PU  

Question in the Q&A during the conference call: What is your reaction to Rakuten Mobile’s current situation?

Mr. Mikitani
Most of the users who cancel are users with 1 GB or less, about 70%. It’s hard to say, but there are many users who are not points (in terms of Rakuten Mobile’s strategy). We want to target loyal customers. ARPU data has also increased and is constantly growing. If you use 5G, you will get progress, and we are moving towards our first ARPU target of 3,000 yen.
In terms of user trends, there is a net increase in the number of people using 1GB or more. We believe we are making good progress in blood replacement (with users of 1GB or less). The number of new members is similar to last year’s number.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/...during_the_conference/
 

9 hours ago

It’s no secret that Rakuten is a company of optimists – it’s in the name, after all. From high-tech mobile networks and drone deliveries to green innovation and AR race cars, here are just a few things that we’re particularly optimistic about for this current year.

https://rakuten.today/blog/...e-optimistic-about-rakuten-in-2023.html  

 

The global Over-the-Top (OTT) services market is expected to grow from USD 202.5 billion in 2022 to USD 434.5 billion by 2027, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.5%.

Company Profiles

Amazon
Apple
ByteDance
Facebook
Fandango Media
Google
HBO
Hotstar
Hulu Japan
IndieFlix
iQiyi
Kakao
Line
Meta
Netflix
Rakuten
Roku
Tencent
The Walt Disney Company
WeChat
WhatsApp
YouTube

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/...tt_services_market_is/
 

Revenues of Rakuten Symphony will be about $ 666 million in 2023

Rakuten Symphony sees success with Open RAN technology

Feb 22, 2023 | Larisa Redins

Rakuten Symphony has made significant business progress over the past year and Open RAN has been a critical factor in their success, executives say.

The company currently has 14 global contracts closed and eight more in the final stages of closure. These contracts will generate approximately $200 million in revenue since its establishment as a start-up, executives say.

“We are young, but we are making extremely healthy revenue growth,” says Tareq Amin, the executive vice president of Rakuten Symphony, on the company’s Q4 2022 earnings call. “If you look at the last six quarters since our establishment, we have achieved more than $0.5 billion in total revenue, and for fiscal year 2022, our total revenue was $476 million.”

Rakuten’s total potential revenue opportunities stand at over $4 billion in 2023. More specifically, they see unprecedented demand in three key verticals: Open RAN, cloud and efficient operations.

In addition, Rakuten says it’s aiming to become a platform connectivity player equivalent to Amazon Web Services when it launched. To achieve this, the company wants to increase its revenue by 40% in 2023 and continue expanding its customer base.

https://www.edgeir.com/...s-success-with-open-ran-technology-20230222  

5G Monetization Interview with Geoff Hollingworth, CMO Rakuten Symphony TeckNexus

February 15, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siB6cbFB7wI  

February 22, 2023

Streaming platform Rakuten TV has announced the addition of WaterBear, the free linear channel​ dedicated to ​the future of ​our planet. The channel us available on Rakuten TV in the UK, Ireland, Nordics and Netherlands effective immediately.

Water​B​ear ​features powerful stories from award-winning documentaries, enlightening short films and impactful series. Its content aims to bring the power of inspirational storytelling to today’s most critical issues to reach new audiences, educate, inspire and drive action. Serving as a ‘​one-stop​ shop’ for sustainability content, its offering mainly focuses on 4 key themes: Biodiversity, Climate, Circularity and Community.

“WaterBear strives to tell stories about the SDGs and to transform them from words and icons into values that people can understand and appreciate,” commented Oliver Taprogge, WaterBear’s VP of Distribution. “We are thrilled to be working with Rakuten TV on the distribution of WaterBear’s FAST channel. This collaboration enables an even bigger audience to have access to WaterBear’s impact-led content. We could not think of a better synergy as the cornerstone of our growing coalition of distribution partners.”

https://advanced-television.com/2023/02/22/rakuten-tv-adds-waterbear/  

https://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1480923.html  

Rakuten Mobile cuts prices for Apple Watch Series 7 and SE (1st generation)

by Wired about 9 hours ago

Rakuten Mobile has reduced the price of some models such as the Apple Watch Series 7 from February 22nd.

From December 2022, Rakuten Mobile will be the first domestic carrier to offer Apple Watch trade-in services.

In addition, we are conducting a campaign where workout insurance is free for two years when you purchase an Apple Watch.

https://iphonewired.com/news/615678/  

Rakuten’s CEO has repeatedly proven doubters wrong – and he’s at it again

22 February 2023 in CEO Dialogue Series

https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/videos/...ters-wrong-and-hes-at-it-again/#