Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

- und daher habe ich mir nach dem Einstieg bei Alibaba, die inzwischem mehr als 20% gut gemacht haben, auch einige Rakutens gekauft.

Look Out Amazon, Here Comes...Rakuten?
Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced on Tuesday it is acquiring Ebates for $1 billion.

The acquisition, which Rakuten hinted at last week, is part of the Japanese company’s push to grow its base beyond its domestic market and hopefully, become a global player. Having made some $1.2 billion acquisitions to date along these lines, this is Rakuten’s most ambitious move to date.

However, investors are dubious that the company can absorb yet another foreign acquisition, much less one the size of Ebates, despite Rakuten’s strong cash position.
Then there is the ever-present Amazon, which dominates the e-commerce market in the U.S. Few believe it will falter in the face of Chinese giant Alibaba, much less a Rakuten-Ebates combo.

Rakuten Goes Forth

Not surprisingly, Rakuten says it is undaunted. For starters, it has assembled a very interesting mix of acquisitions. There is messaging app Viber, which it purchased for $900 million in February, the Canadian ebook offering Kobo, Spanish video service Wuaki.tv, Viki, a digital content platform and Buy.com.
Now it has picked up Ebates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikamorphy/2014/09/...ere-comes-rakuten/  

How open can 5G go? Market Overview with GSMA Intelligence

During our Digital Unwrapped week, Sasha Twining interviewed Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence on how open 5G can go.

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/...t-overview-with-gsma-intelligence/
 

During our Digital Unwrapped week, Sasha Twining interviewed Geoff Hollingworth, CMO, Rakuten Symphony on how open 5G can go.

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/...o-interview-with-rakuten-symphony/
 

Vodafone, Rakuten stress cultural shift as key for open RAN

November 20, 2024

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...shift-as-key-for-open-ran/
 

Open RAN: Unabhängigkeit und Innovation im Telekommunikationsmarkt

1&1 O-RAN belegt im Betrieb erneut technische Leistungsfähigkeit

Über 80 Unternehmen am Ausbau des ersten Open RAN in Europa beteiligt

Open RAN ist eine innovative Netzwerkarchitektur, die auf offenen Standards und Interoperabilität basiert. Im Gegensatz zu herkömmlichen Mobilfunknetzen, die oft von einem einzigen Anbieter abhängig sind, ermöglicht Open RAN die Integration von Komponenten verschiedener Hersteller in einem Netz. Dieser Ansatz schafft Flexibilität und fördert den Wettbewerb. Es überrascht daher nicht, dass immer mehr Netzbetreiber auf die Open-RAN-Technologie setzen und dem Weg von 1&1 folgen wollen. Auf dem Mobile World Congress informieren entsprechend viele Aussteller an ihren Ständen über Open-RAN-Aktivitäten – auch die Deutsche Telekom und O2 kündigten erste Projekte an. Immer mehr Unternehmen folgen damit dem Weg von 1&1, Rakuten (Japan) und Dish (USA), die als Pioniere die Modernisierung des Telekommunikationssektors durch die Verwendung der Open-RAN-Technologie vorantreiben.

Dynamisches Ökosystem mit vielzähligen Handlungsoptionen

1&1 hat die Vorteile der Herstellerunabhängigkeit frühzeitig erkannt und setzt beim Aufbau des vierten deutschen Mobilfunknetzes bewusst auf die Open-RAN-Technologie. Statt wie früher üblich einen Generalunternehmer mit dem Aufbau eines Netzes zu beauftragen, wirken über 80 Unternehmen am Ausbau des 1&1 Mobilfunknetzes mit.  

Das Besondere an der neuartigen Open-RAN-Technologie: Durch die Verwendung von Standardrechnern und standardisierten Schnittstellen können Software- und Hardware-Komponenten der innovativsten und sichersten Anbieter flexibel miteinander kombiniert werden. Das macht moderne Netzbetreiber wie 1&1 unabhängig von einzelnen Ausrüstern.

Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit verschiedenen Partnern profitiert 1&1 von den neuesten Entwicklungen in der Telekommunikationsbranche. Die Herstellerunabhängigkeit fördert den Innovationsgeist und ermöglicht es, die besten verfügbaren Technologien („Best of Breed“) zu nutzen und motiviert Hard- und Software-Anbieter bestmögliche Angebote zu unterbreiten. Die Nutzung von Komponenten verschiedener Hersteller fördert zudem die Interoperabilität, da erfolgreiche Systemintegrationen, wie sie 1&1 im Live-Betrieb seines Mobilfunknetzes täglich belegt, den Wissenstransfer für weitere Entwicklungen ermöglichen. Dies wird in Zukunft zu besseren Integrationsmöglichkeiten neuer Technologien führen.

Herstellerunabhängigkeit ist ein bedeutender Faktor in der Evolution von Telekommunikationsnetzen der Zukunft. 1&1 geht als Pionier in Europa voran und verzichtet dabei auf Hersteller aus China.  

https://unternehmen.1und1.de/o-ran-mobilfunknetz/...mmunikationsmarkt
 

https://growjo.com/company/Rakuten_Kobo
 

What Amazon's next Kindle needs to beat the Kobo Libra Colour

By Ian Carlos Campbell

Published Oct 4, 2024

https://www.pocket-lint.com/new-amazon-kindle-wishlist/
 

Kobo & Kobo Plus: Key Players in Wide Publishing (+ Insights from Authors Who Use Kobo)

By Mihaela Bidilică
April 11, 2024

Wide publishing offers authors the opportunity to maximize their revenue and visibility by distributing their works across multiple platforms. This strategy not only diversifies income sources but also extends the reach to a global audience, making it a crucial aspect of a successful author's business plan.

Kobo and its digital subscription service, Kobo Plus, are key players when it comes to wide distribution.
As a Rakuten publisher service, Kobo Publishing facilitates an accessible pathway for authors to publish and sell on Kobo, maximizing their visibility in the global market.

https://publishdrive.com/kobo-distribution-and-benefits.html

 

Rakuten Viber: Tackling the Surge in Messaging App Scams

By Kristian McCann
November 11, 2024

Rakuten Viber has unveiled new security solutions designed to protect communication on its platform, with a particular focus on business interactions.

These measures aim to swiftly authenticate users, thereby enhancing trust and reducing the risk of fraud.

"As 60% of online customers now prioritise security and transparency in communications with businesses, it is imperative to redefine trust,” says Cristina Constandache, Chief Revenue Officer at Rakuten at Viber.

https://cybermagazine.com/articles/...he-surge-in-messaging-app-scams
 

Rakuten Viber champions passion and hobby groups with enhanced “Comments” feature for community management

November 22, 2024

https://www.adobomagazine.com/digital-news/...r-community-management/
 

21 November 2024
By Michael Kozlowski

Rakuten Kobo has quietly unveiled a new colour variant for their Kobo Stylus 2. It is now available in a new white colour, in addition to the standard black one. They also have the Kobo Stylus 2 Replacement Tips – Pack of 10 soon in white. The Kobo Stylus 2 is compatible with the Kobo Sage, Kobo Elipsa 2e and the Kobo Libra 2 Colour.

Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles.

https://goodereader.com/blog/kobo-ereader-news/...n%2520in%2520white.
 

November 11, 2024

Japan is the fourth largest ecommerce marketplace in the world, so this week we sat down with Koki Araga, Business Development & Partnerships at Rakuten to find out more. Japan is a huge opportunity for UK and European retailers and the Rakuten Ichiba marketplace can act as a springboard for brands looking to break into the Asian market. Koki talks though the Japanese economy, the buying experience that buyers in Japan are looking for and how to get started on Rakuten Ichiba.

00:00 Introducing Koki Araga and Rakuten Ichiba 00:42 The Japanese ecommerce market 04:44 The buying experience Japanese expect from UK/EU brands 06:39 Categories attractive to Japanese buyers 07:38 The Rakuten Ichiba opportunity 10:11 How Rakuten simplifies selling in Japan 13:30 Localisation and agency support 16:55 Minimum prerequisites for success in Japan 19:59 Connecting with Rakuten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cITjzL1akqY
 

 

The increase of the difference between the operating income and the net income in first 9 months 2024 will not hold up – the negative difference in the first 9 months 2024 was an one-time event and we will see the opposite in Q4/2024 through one-time events in Q4/2024.

The net income can include additional incomes like interest income or the sale of assets.
In the first nine months of 2023 the difference between the net income of negative 202 billion JPY and the operating income of 179 billion JPY was 23  billion JPY. In the first nine months of 2024 the difference between the net income of negative 127 billion JPY and the operating income of 51 billion JPY was 76  billion JPY.

The about 53 billion higher difference was after my estimate the result of the sale of assets. I believe the 170 billion JPY sales and leaseback assets were valued from Rakuten with about 220 billion and this produced an increase of the negative net income of about 50 billion JPY.

Source: Consolidated Financial Reports for the nine months ended September 30, 2024
 

Top Shopping Websites in Japan

The top 10 most visited shopping websites in Japan by Ahrefs organic search traffic estimates.

Updated monthly.

November 2024

https://ahrefs.com/websites/japan/shopping
 

Q1/23 = $76 million Q1/24 = $118 million
Q2/23 = $72 million  Q2/24 = $85 million
Q3/23 = $84 million  Q3/24= $108 million
Q4/23 = $ 161 million  Q4/24 = after my estimate more than in Q4/23

The revenues of Rakuten Symphony increased in the first  nine month of 2024 34%  to $311 million against the first nine month of 2023 with $232 million.

My estimate for the revenues of Rakuten Symphony is near $500 million.

Source: 24Q3 PPT_E  

if we compare:

Could Tareq Amin be Mavenir’s white knight? | TelecomTV
Reuters reported that Aramco Digital, the tech branch of Saudi oil giant Aramco, is in talks with Mavenir regarding a $1bn investment for a 33% stake.
https://www.telecomtv.com/content/open-ran/...r-s-white-knight-51847/

The funding will enable Mavenir to hit its revenue target of $1 billion in 2023, adds Kohli. Last year the company posted revenue of $636 million. He says that most of Mavenir's growth will come from its packet core platform and RAN products.
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/...n-latest-funding-round/
 

Rakuten Mobile Expands 5G (Sub6) Coverage in Kanto Region by 110%, Significantly Surpassing 60% Plan

Tokyo, November 27, 2024 - Rakuten Mobile, Japan’s newest and most modern mobile network, today announced that it has expanded its 5G (Sub6) network coverage area in the Kanto region, which includes the Greater Tokyo Area, by 110% compared to January 2024, as part of the company’s efforts to improve network quality for customers.

The expansion in 5G coverage comes as the result of software upgrades that have increased traffic capacity for Rakuten Mobile’s 5G (Sub6) base stations. Additionally, radio transmission output has been increased following the easing of measures preventing interference between mobile wireless networks and satellite communications in shared bandwidth frequencies, further expanding the 5G (Sub6) coverage area. Combined, these efforts have increased the 5G network coverage area in the Kanto region by 110%, significantly surpassing the company’s plan to increase coverage by 60% by the end of 2024.

Outside of the Kanto region, Rakuten Mobile has implemented similar measures to expand its 5G (Sub6) network coverage area in the Nagoya and Osaka regions, where the company has improved 5G traffic per cell and increased the capacity of its 5G (Sub6) base stations.

Since launching 5G services in September 2020, Rakuten Mobile has deployed 17,494 5G outdoor base stations across all 47 prefectures in Japan as of the end of September 2024, with Massive MIMO utilized in more than 80% of its 5G network. One of the benefits of its fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network based on Open RAN standards is the ability to quickly extend beamforming functions in Massive MIMO by upgrading base station software running on the virtualized platform.

Going forward, Rakuten Mobile plans to gradually expand base station capacity and 5G coverage in Kyushu, Okinawa and other areas through similar measures starting in January 2025.

Rakuten Mobile is committed to further enhancing its nationwide mobile network quality so that customers can enjoy best-in-class mobile services anywhere in Japan.

https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/...20241127_01_lang_en
 

Rakuten Mobile has accelerated new subscriber wins since the beginning of 2024 due to 5G network improvements

November 27, 2024 by

Ben Ives, Robert Wyrzykowski

Rakuten Mobile is a great example of a mobile operator that improved the consistency of its services while also reaching the milestone of 8 million subscribers on its network — winning from both MNOs, their sub-brands, and standalone MVNOs in the Japanese market.

Key Findings:

Rakuten Mobile’s Consistent Quality improved significantly in 2023. Due to its network investments and enhancements, its Consistent Quality score is now above standalone MVNOs and MNOs sub-brands (also known as flanker brands).

Rakuten Mobile is winning more subscribers. Compared to 2022 and 2023, Rakuten Mobile’s win share has grown from 10.6% to 18% in 2024 compared to 2023.

In 2024, a larger share of Rakuten Mobile switching wins is coming from MVNOs and MNO sub-brands than in prior years. On a year-on-year basis, Rakuten Mobile is increasing its ratio of the number of new subscribers on its network compared to the number of previous customers who moved to other operators.

Since its launch in 2020, Rakuten Mobile has made significant progress in delivering a competitive network experience. When we analyzed its performance in December 2020, Rakuten Mobile users spent just 48.3% of their time on the operator’s own Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN). In a follow-up report, we showed that this percentage increased to 94.1% in Q2 2023. Network enhancements have been a priority for Rakuten Mobile and these have improved our users’ 5G experience.

https://www.opensignal.com/2024/11/27/...ng-of-2024-due-to-5g-network
 

Rakuten: Q3 Marks A Profitability Inflection Point

Nov. 15, 2024

Summary

Rakuten achieved positive quarterly operating profit for the first time in 17 quarters, with an operating income of JPY 537 million for Q3 2024.

RKUNY suffered from operating losses for four straight years running in the 2020-2023 time frame, and I expect a turnaround with expectations of positive operating profit for Rakuten in 2025.

I stick to my existing Buy rating for Rakuten, as it has reached a profitability inflection point and is deserving of higher valuations.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/...ty-inflection-point-reiterate-buy
 

Forget performance — the only three goals for AI-native 6G systems that matter

October 7, 2024

For Rakuten Mobile’s SVP of Next Generation Advanced Research, the key is to decouple 6G workloads from the cloud-native platform

In a recent article, RCR Wireless News laid out the definition of AI-native as it pertains to 6G; however, in an even more recent conversation with Rakuten Mobile’s Senior Vice President of Next Generation Advanced Research David Soldani, that definition was challenged, or at least, expanded upon.

Soldani’s main critique of current ideations around AI-native is that it’s been mostly focused on enhancing network infrastructure with AI capabilities to improve performance. “But I don’t care about performance,” he told RCR. “We already have excellent speed and latency… It’s very difficult to find new use cases enabled by the current view of how AI should be used within next gen systems.”

Instead, he offered: “AI-native will mean that the workload has the ability to be integrated seamlessly through APIs to my AI capabilities.” He added that the conversation must shift towards evolving our 5G/5G-A workloads in the direction of achieving three key goal indicators: improve revenues; reduce costs; and reduce risks. Anything else, he said, isn’t really of any concern to him.

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20241007/fundamentals/...tems-that-matter
 

The boost in Consistent Quality scores happened just before Rakuten Mobile’s jump in Win Share performance at the beginning of 2024. In 2023, Rakuten Mobile accounted for just 10.6% of total mobile switching wins, while in 2024 so far, that share jumped to 18% of total switching wins. Win share reflects the percentage of competitive switching gross adds in the market won by the operator — i.e., how many switchers on the market have been attracted by the operator.

https://www.opensignal.com/2024/11/27/...ng-of-2024-due-to-5g-network
 

Compared to 2022 and 2023, Rakuten Mobile wins switchers from MNOs, MNO sub-brands, and standalone MVNOs at a higher rate than in previous years. The operator’s ratios of new subscribers to users who switched to their competition — known as Opensignal’s Wins Per Loss (WPL) metric — sit at 3.3 for MNOs, 2.5 for MNO sub-brands, and 2.3 for MVNOs. These figures mean that, for example, for every switcher Rakuten Mobile loses to other Japanese MNOs (au, NTT docomo, or SoftBank), it gains 3.3 new customers who choose to migrate to Rakuten Mobile from other Japanese MNOs.

https://www.opensignal.com/2024/11/27/...ng-of-2024-due-to-5g-network
 

Data is the new gold: Telcos leverage data to drive innovation and customer trust

November 14, 2024

Data is the new gold – and in telecom, data is rapidly transforming how operators enhance customer experiences, increase revenue, and improve retention. Asif Muhammad Iqbal, Head of Data and AI CoE, Maxis, and Faiq Khan, SVP of Global Sales OSS BU, Rakuten Symphony, highlight the potential of data and AI in telecom’s evolution, in an interview conducted by Abe Nejad, Publisher of The Network Media Group.

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

Rakuten Group, Inc. announces of the transferring all shares of its consolidated subsidiary Viber Media S.à r.l to another consolidated subsidiary, Rakuten Asia Pte. Ltd Singapore.

Viber Media S.à r.l provides the messaging app Rakuten Viber, which has over 1.55 billion total registered users as of the end of September 2024. The service has established a global user base, primarily in Eastern Europe; however, recently, strategic initiatives have accelerated its expansion in Asian markets. Rakuten Asia Pte. Ltd. serves as the regional headquarters for the Asia-Pacific, managing operations in e-Commerce, FinTech, advertising, and sports businesses. This Share Transfer aims to further expand Rakuten Viber in the Asian market.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/1129_11.html

 

Rakuten bought Viber for $ 1.0 billion some years ago. The booking of a gain of 100 billion yen (about $700 million) increase the book value from $ 1.0 billion to $1.7 bilion

“By transferring all shares of its consolidated subsidiary, Viber Media S.à r.l., to another consolidated subsidiary, Rakuten Asia Pte. Ltd. the Company expects to record approximately 100 billion yen as a gain on the sale of affiliated company shares as extraordinary gain in its non-consolidated financial results (prepared in accordance with J-GAAP) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. As this is an intra-group transfer, the impact on the consolidated financial results is expected to be minimal.”

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/1129_11.html