Apple places chips contract with Elpida, Samsung loses $10 billion market value (USA, South Korea)
US giant Apple has placed huge chip orders with Japanese maker Elpida, causing Samsung shares to dip 6 percent resulting in a market value loss of $10 billion, according to a report by ET.
As per the report, Apple recently placed large mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) orders with Elpida’s 12-inch plant in Hiroshima, Japan, securing around half the facilities total chip production. Following this news Samsung’s shares, the world’s biggest DRAM maker, tumbled 6.2 per cent to a 9-week low of $1,100 – the stock’s biggest daily fall in nearly four years.
Analysts claim that this move came as Apple doesn’t want to see Samsung and hynix dominate the chip market. Apple wants to maintain its bargaining power by keeping Elpida running.
Samsung is yet to make an official statement regarding the same.
NTT DOCOMO to bid for mobile app provider Buongiorno (Japan)
NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced that it has launched a tender offer to acquire all shares in Buongiorno S.p.A., one of the largest providers of mobile internet content and apps in Europe and beyond. The tender offer will be conducted by NTT DOCOMO’s German subsidiary, DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH. Mauro Del Rio, owner of approximately 20 percent of the company’s stock, has entered into an irrevocable undertaking with DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH to tender all of his shares for the offer. DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH has issued a public notice in Italy to announce the tender offer.
Buongiorno is a worldwide leader in the development and management of paid apps and services that maximize consumer experiences with mobile devices. The company has steadily grown its business through the direct delivery of a broad portfolio of content and services to some two billion customers in 57 countries across four continents. DOCOMO decided to conduct the public tender in consideration of the potential positive impact on the growth of both companies.
The acquisition will combine DOCOMO’s innovative mobile business and services know-how in Japan and other countries with Buongiorno’s advanced mobile technologies and extensive global customer base. As part of expanding the businesses of both companies, DOCOMO expects to strengthen the foundation of its mobile platform businesses overseas.
Softbank and PayPal form joint venture for mobile payment services (Japan)
Softbank and PayPal have come together to offer mobile payment services in the country. According to reports, the venture is worth $25 million and will be headed by the director of Softbank Mobile, Hiroaki Kitano.
As per a report by the register, John Donahoe, president and CEO of PayPal parent eBay, said that their Our Softbank partnership and launch of PayPal Here will make it easier for millions of merchants in Japan to grow their businesses and for consumers to easily pay anytime, anywhere.
Further, customers will receive the newest Japanese version of the PayPal app, which helps users locate shops that accept PayPal Here payments and transfer the cash with a quick tap on their phone. The business will then receive the customer’s name and picture so that it can verify the payment.
M-commerce to overtake e-commerce soon (India)
In an emerging market such as India, mobile broadband is expected to become the prime source of internet access, racing ahead even of e-commerce. Accprding to a report by ET, of the next 300 million Internet users to be added, more than 200 million are expected to be mobile Internet users. The variety of low end smartphones available in the market, beginning at $ 58 will aide in the growth of this phenomenon.
The report highlights other Asian markets where mobile commerce has been making its mark. In Japan, around 20 percent of online commerce is done via the mobile phone; whereas, China has an m-commerce level of 12 percent of the overall 30 percent.
As per the report, the number of mobile only Internet users is expected to be over 50 percent in India by 2015. Of the total e-commerce in 2015 in the country, about 15-20 percent is expected to be transacted via the mobile phone.
M-commerce offers consumers certain advantages such as convenience in placing orders over their mobile phone, enhanced interaction between retailer and purchaser, easy mobile payment options with advanced technolgy functions, amongst others.
Ericsson wins LTE contract with SoftBank Mobile (Japan, Sweden)
Video-sharing and streaming in high definition, facilitated mobility and richer multimedia content, enhanced security and improved latency are one of the many advantages that LTE users could enjoy. And soon SoftBank Mobile’s subscribers will be able to share these advantages, thanks to a new LTE network contract signed by SoftBank Mobile with Ericsson. The Ericsson network will cover Japan’s major cities – Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya – which together account for 70 percent of the country’s total data and voice traffic. SoftBank Mobile is currently Japan’s third-largest mobile operator, with more than 29 million subscribers.
Ericsson will upgrade SoftBank Mobile’s packet core network, including systems integration and deployment of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution, and build a new LTE radio access network using RBS 6000 multi-standard base stations. This will allow SoftBank Mobile users to experience the best possible networks in one of the world’s most densely populated areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
Junichi Miyakawa, Executive Vice President, Director and CTO of SoftBank Mobile Corp., says that to fulfill their customers’ expectations, they continue to improve their networks. With LTE, customers get increased speed and decreased latency, while they will enjoy a wide range of new services and applications. With Ericsson’s support, they will be able to offer their customers high quality LTE services.
Jan Signell, President of Ericsson Japan, said that during 2012, many new smartphones, notebooks and tablets with LTE capabilities will be launched in Japan. This will lead to a strong increase in consumer demand for higher data speeds and throughput – a demand that SoftBank Mobile will be able to meet thanks to the state-of-the-art LTE network that we will rapidly deploy.
Ericsson has signed 45 LTE/EPC contracts in 23 countries on five continents. The global LTE population coverage is 325 million, of which 215 million are covered by Ericsson networks. LTE, the next generation of mobile communication technology, enables the fast transfer of huge amounts of data in an efficient and cost-effective way, optimizing the use of the frequency spectrum. With increased speed and decreased latency, consumers can enjoy a wide range of applications – such as lag-free web browsing, online gaming, social media and video conferencing – effortlessly, while on the move. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced mobile internet applications of the future.
Ericsson continues to drive open standards and has had the greatest influence on the LTE specifications released to date. Ericsson expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents related to LTE, which will make it the standard’s largest single patent holder.
Orange Business Services inks 5 year deal with JTI (France, Japan)
Orange Business Services has signed a five-year outsourcing contract with JTI (Japan Tobacco International), the international business of Japan Tobacco Inc., worth over $100 million. Orange Business Services helps JTI with managed services such as LAN, data and voice traffic, security and call centers among others.
As per reports, Diego De Coen, JTI CIO, said that their 17-year relationship with Orange Business Services is built on trust and mutual success. Such a long-term relationship is nearly unheard of these days and this contract renewal was not a given. Instead, Orange Business Services proved again that its competitive strength, unmatched global reach and comprehensive portfolio made it the best choice for JTI as they continue to evolve their global telecom infrastructure and services.
Helmut Reisinger, Senior Vice President Europe, Orange Business Services, said that over the years, they have developed a very strong partnership with JTI. They are grateful and proud that they have been entrusted with this contract for another five years. This is certainly mainly due to the quality of services they have been providing to JTI, even during the days of 2011 turbulences in times of the Japan earthquake or the ‘Egyptian spring’ where their business continuity plans proved to be beneficial to a lot of multinationals such as JTI. Building on the success, they look forward to collaborating with JTI on innovative solutions over the next several years.
eMobile launches 4G-LTE mobile data services (Japan)
Telecom operator eMobile has reportedly launched ultra-high speed Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile data services with download speeds up to 75 Mbps and upload speeds up to 25 Mbps. The new service is expected to cost US$ 47 per month.
According to reports, the launch will initially cover the Kanto area with other major cities to receive the service by mid 2012. Rival operator NTT DoCoMo launched its 4G network in December 2010, while Softbank mobile launched its 4G services last month.
4G LTE service offers user faster access to mobile data and enables them to stream and download high-definition videos faster and without interruptions. With voice revenues declining, mobile operators have been turning towards revenue from mobile data services to maintain their profit margins.
