Archive for March, 2012
When will SmartPhones become Really Smart to Solve Mobile Traffic Jams ?
Mobile traffic growth will outstrip the ability of carriers to monetize it. Carriers are expected to respond by offloading an increasing proportion of data traffic to Wi-Fi or 700 MHz LTE Network, but this points to (costly) construction of expansive networks.
Can the Smart Phones Do it ?
One possibility that has received very little attention is that smartphones themselves will become data-smart, transmitting data more efficiently and helping to shift traffic to non-peak hours or Wi-Fi networks. So far, there has been no reason for smartphone vendors to focus on network efficiency. The smartphone market has been a land grab focused on higher spending customers.
How can SmartPhones be Data Efficient ?
Smartphone Mobile operating systems and applications will become smarter in their usage of network capacity. We are referring to both raw efficiency (bits it takes to load a web page or an image) and the efficient Read the rest of this entry »
Can Microsoft Windows 8 + Office Survive – Apple Mac OS X +iPad and Android Tablet Onslaught ?
We all know that Tablets are making the PC / Laptops Obsolete. I would like to present a thorough analysis on who are still glued to the Laptop / Netbook and who are currently using and will only use Tablets such as iPad / Samsung Galaxies and can Microsoft survive the growing Onslaught on its Golden Turf of Windows and Office Suite ?
The problem that Microsoft faces is how to be both functional to cater to its traditional user base, but also to be cool enough to stop the flood of consumers from Windows to Mac OSX and iOS. I think that Microsoft has achieved this, not just with the Windows 8 OS but with the accompanying program such as Office. I find Windows 8 to have accomplished a rare feat in mastering both keyboard / mouse input as well as touch. Is this enough to stop the defection of users from Microsoft to Apple and Google as Windows 8 is offering dual advantage which consumers can’t get it with Apple ?
Which Consumers will Stick to Windows 8 and Office ? Users who create the content prefer keyboard and mouse. Last time there Read the rest of this entry »
Around 4% Indians Finding Life Partners Online
According to the 2011 census, nearly 50% of India’s population is in the less than 25 age bracket. With more and more Indians entering the Workforce and stepping into the professional world, a majority of this section is leaning towards online portals for prospective partners. We would like to compare the Top 3 Online Business together controlling more than 90% of the Matrimony market in India.
Shaadi.com (owned by People Interactive group) started off 15 years ago, Info Edge’s portal – Jeevansathi.com came into being eight years ago. Bharatmatrimony (market leader and flagship brand of Consim Info) has been in the market for over 10 years too.
While Jeevansathi has around 4.9mn profiles BharatMatrimony with its host of subsidiaries based on “Ethnicity / Caste” and Shaadi.Com have 20 Mn Profiles of prospective brides and Grooms. Considering Same person registering on Multiple sites, we can safely Read the rest of this entry »
Voice to Grow 16% YoY + M&A for Mid Leve Operators not Leaders – Vodafone CEO Marten
Martin Peiters – CEO, Vodafone India gave some insight into the company’s strategy in India.
Is the Wireless Voice Business Saturated in India ?
The industry is reporting 15-16% YoY growth in total minutes (volume). Based on the active subscriber data at 660mn, wireless penetration is at 55%. With a growing youth population, demand for voice continues to remain high. With volume growth, operating leverage kicks in and hence margins would expand. Thus, voice business alone, would drive growth in the medium term.
On Tariff War
Operators realize that at the current level of tariffs, unless one has scale, it is difficult to make money. Thus, it is unlikely that tariff wars will return. But, at the same time, RPMs will remain stable and not rise since there is fair bit of competition in the market.
On M&A in Indian Telecom Read the rest of this entry »
Why Vodafone Prefers Voice Traffic over 3G Data ?
Vodafone India derives 13% of revenue from non‐voice services including 5% from SMS and 8% from data services. It currently has 33mn data subscribers with an average ARPU of INR75.
Data usage by its 2G customers is currently on the rise. Regarding the 3mn 3G customers after about a year of launch, Vodafone expects 3G to take off only when there is enough spectrum left after catering to voice services demand. The 2G Telecom Spectrum Scam under questionable governance of Dr. Manmohan Singh has brought the Spectrum Allocation to halt as the Honorable Supreme Court of India is now the caretaker.
Comparison on Why Voice is Better than Serving 3G Wireless Data
Vodafone Post-Paid customers have an ARPU of Rs 542 with 994 Minuteso f Usage Every Month thus translating a Revenue Per minute Read the rest of this entry »
Is LinkedIn threatening Naukri’s Core Recruiting Business ?
InfoEdge India’s Naukri.com, job portal, is the dominant player in the Indian market and enjoys high traffic share and has a significant lead over the competition. The primary portal is supported by four other initiatives (online and offline), thereby creating a full service offering.
LinkedIn the Professional Networking Site has become a big hit amongst Job Seekers and Recruiters and is threatening the old ways of recruitment which offer Resume Bank without any innovative methods to engage candidates and recruiters. We’d say that Naukri’s business is deteriorating due to rising competition from LinkedIn.
Comparison of Naukri to LinkedIn
The hiring activity in India declined by ~20%yoy in mid-08 at the time of the credit crunch, indicating corporates had stopped hiring Read the rest of this entry »
Who is Powering Your SmartPhone Mobile / Tablet Processors ?
Most of the Android phones looked the same. In fact, phones from Huawei and ZTE were comparable with devices from the Tier 1 guys. Almost every OEM introduced a phone using quad-core. So let us look at which company’s processors are powering your smartphones.
Broadcom was very confident about its positioning in mobile wifi versus Qualcomm. The company indicated that they believed they were securing 70% of the connectivity sockets in phones powered by Qualcomm’s 8960 chip. However, broadcom has lost some market with HTC. This is how the following HTC Models are powered – One X (Tegra 3 + TI connectivity), One XL – (MSM8960 + QCOM connectivity), One S – (MSM8960a + QCOM connectivity); One V (MSM8255 + BRCM connectivity). We believe that only one of the four models is using Broadcom’s connectivity. In prior models, we believe Broadcom had close to 80% share. Broadcom remains solidly positioned at Samsung and Apple. Broadcom is likely to gain market share at Nokia and possibly RIM and it would be an uphill task for Qualcomm to penetrate this market.
Qualcomm – Windows on ARM (WoA) is one of Qualcomm’s bigger projects. The company is working on thin, light, always-on and always- connected devices using metro applications. Microsoft’s announcement around WoA timing being consistent with Windows 8 was a big deal, according to Qualcomm, because it illustrated strong support for the WoA architecture.
Qualcomm’s processor will be based on 28nm, versus NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 on 40nm, and TI just started sampling 28nm OMAP5. There are Read the rest of this entry »
700 MHz – 4G / LTE Spectrum Auction Unlikely to Fetch as Much as 3G
The Indian Telecommunications Minister stated that three of the four issues holding back the 4G 700 MHz auctions have been resolved. The minster thinks that this band may raise more revenues than the 3G auction.
However, we differ from this opinion because getting a 4G license is not a necessity for incumbent Telecom Operators (operators risked losing their 2G revenues if they did not get 3G license leading to an overbidding in 3G auctions). Also post 3G auctions operators are highly geared thus reducing their ability to bid aggressively. We also remain unsure if the targeted auction will occur this year as the spectrum is yet to be vacated.
The 700 MHz ecosystem (particularly on handset front) yet to fully develop, the potential for this technology to be a “mass market” technology in an emerging market like India is relatively low and would likely serve the niche high-end market. Hence, operators are unlikely to aggressively bid.
With spectrum being delinked from license and spectrum expected to come for renewal every 10 years (or 20 years), the interest from operators to aggressively bid will be very low.
The Possibility of a new operator bidding for 4G is low. Since the margins of a data-only operator are low and competing with established operators when tariffs are relatively low makes this business proposition less viable.
Better Business Case for FD-LTE Than TD-LTE:
- 700 MHz spectrum is more efficient spectrum than 2.3 GHz (existing TD-LTE band) and thus would require lower capex / opex to cover a similar footprint.
