Netflix Downplays Nielsen Plans

Taken from hollywoodreporter.com 's article

Netflix Chief Downplays Nielsen Plans to Measure Streaming Service Viewership
by John Hecht (11/24/2014)

What does Netflix CEO Reed Hastings think about reported plans by Nielsen to measure viewership for original series and acquired programming?

"It's not very relevant," he said. "There's so much viewing that happens on a mobile phone or an iPad that Nielsen won't capture."

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Nielsen will use content's audio on televisions to identify shows, but the measurement will not include mobile devices. Nevertheless, the ratings data could have a big effect on negotiations for streaming rights for Netflix and rival Amazon.

Hastings was in Mexico City on Monday to talk about Netflix's growing presence in Latin America — after three years in the region, the streaming service giant has captured more than 5 million users, bringing the global total to some 53 million.

Netflix recently launched in six key European markets, but none with the growth potential of Latin America.

"Latin America is one of the fastest growth areas in the world in terms of broadband households and Internet connectivity," Hastings said.

Earlier this month, Netflix announced that it's making its first foray into Australia and New Zealand, and some believe Japan may come next as the first move in a pan-Asia rollout. Hastings said there are no specific plans yet for Asia.

As Netflix continues to grow abroad, the company is working harder than ever to secure global licensing in its content deals, mainly because U.S. viewers have access to a much broader catalog than users in, say, Mexico.

Said Hastings: "We are trying to get to a place where it's fully global and you can get anything, anywhere."

Netflix's game-changing distribution strategies have irked some in the business. Plans to release the sequel to Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon day-and-date online and in Imax theaters has several exhibitors vowing to boycott the film.

Hastings said it's all about "breaking the stranglehold that movie theaters have" on releases.

As for free-to-air TV, Hastings believes its days are numbered.

"It's kind of like the horse, you know, the horse was good until we had the car," he said. "The age of broadcast TV will probably last until 2030."

Singtel Videostreaming

Taken from The Sidney Morning Herald 's article

Singtel joins Asian Videostreaming Joint Venture

SingTel, the owner of Optus, has joined a joint-venture with global media giants Warner Brothers Entertainment and Sony Pictures' AXN network to launch HOOQ - a new over-the-top video service for Asia.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, SingTel said  HOOQ Digital Holdings, would work with Warner Brothers and AXN to buy, sell, market and produce films and TV products through an over-the-top (OTT) service across a range of markets. OTT video services send television programs and movies through customers via the internet.

SingTel's move comes as Australia's market for similar offerings heats up. Foxtel and Seven West Media's Presto TV service and Stan, Fairfax Media's joint-venture with Nine Entertainment, have both launched this month. US giant Netflix is set to start its Australian service in March.

SingTel's new service could compete directly with these offerings but its opening statement only specified Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Thailand as the initial markets, to be targeted from the first quarter of 2015.

When asked if SingTel planned to bring HOOQ to Australia, a spokeswoman said the initial focus would be on emerging markets.

"Singapore and Australia are developed markets with existing content ecosystems," she said.

Optus chief executive Allen Lew told Fairfax Media this week his vision was for the telco to become Australia's "fastest-growing mobile-led multimedia company in Australia" - a statement entirely in line with HOOQ's stated goals.

Singtel would "provide market access with its customer base of over half a billion mobile customers." while the studios would deliver " access to their premium content and know-how."

"HOOQ will deliver both Hollywood blockbusters and television series, as well as popular local movies and programmes to customers anytime, anywhere," they said in a statement.

HOOQ will have over 10,000 movies and TV series at launch, from Spiderman to Harry Potter and Gossip Girl.

SingTel Group Digital Life chief executive Jonathan Auerbach said the venture provided "a more than $SGD1 billion ($950 million) opportunity in our markets."

"We have unique assets that give us a right to play in this space, and with our partnership ... we will achieve our vision to be the largest OTT video service in the region," he added.

As part of the deal, HOOQ's share capital will rise from $US2 to $US27,600,020. Warner Brothers and AXN will each own 17.5 pert cent of the company with the rest belonging to SingTel.

"The investment ... will be funded by internal resources and entry into the joint venture is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share or net tangible asset per share of the SingTel Group for the financial year ending 31 March 2015," the telecoms provider said.

XL & Vserv untuk Ekosistem Hiburan Mobile

Di sadur dari artikel dailysocial.net berjudul:
XL Bermitra dengan Vserv untuk Tingkatkan Ekosistem Hiburan Mobile

XL Axiata (XL) mengumumkan telah menjalin kemitraan dengan penyedia platform data pintar mobile marketing untuk pasar negara berkembang Vserv. XL akan menggunakan platform Vserv Smart Data untuk meningkatkan ekosistem hiburan mobile yang dimilikinya.

Untuk membantu mendorong ROI yang lebih tinggi pada perusahaan hiburan mobile, Vserv akan mengintegrasikan platformnya dengan menargetkan penonton yang relevan dan iklan yang tepat pada waktu yang tepat, berdasarkan pribadi pengguna.

Head of Mobile Advertising XL Axiata Herwinto Chandra Sutantyo mengatakan, “Kami tertarik dengan apa yang mampu dicapai oleh platform Vserv Smart Data, dengan menciptakan nilai dari petabyte data yang kita hasilkan setiap detik. Saat ini, kemitraan akan menjamin kepatuhan pengiklan kami, khususnya dari sektor hiburan mobile dengan menargetkan pelanggan mobile kami dengan iklan-iklan yang menarik dan relevan mengikuti etika periklanan dan peraturan di Indonesia. Dengan kolaborasi ini, kami dapat mengubah ekosistem hiburan mobile di Indonesia.”

VP Global Telco Alliances Vserv Rohit Verma mengungkapkan, “Kemitraan dengan XL ini datang sebagai kepercayaan pasar dari platform kami. Kami sangat antusias bermitra dengan XL dengan memanfaatkan nilai dari platform bersama pemahaman yang mendalam dari basis pelanggan XL, kami yakin mampu meningkatkan efisiensi ekosistem hiburan mobile di Indonesia.”

Pasar hiburan mobile di Indonesia saat ini diperkirakan sebesar $ 765 juta (dalam pendapatan) dan tumbuh sebesar 4,7 persen menurut riset pasar IE. Selain itu saat ini pengguna internet di Indonesia sendiri juga sudah mencapai puluhan juta dan ditargetkan untuk terus meningkat. Artinya sektor ini memiliki potensi yang tinggi bagi perusahaan telekomunikasi juga perusahaan hiburan mobile dan tentu akan memberikan kesempatan besar bagi pengiklan untuk mengadopsi mobile advertising.

South East Asia B2C E-Commerce Market 2014

Taken from Ystats.com from part of the report
South East Asia B2C E-Commerce Market 2014

South East Asian nations lead in markers of E-Commerce potential

South East Asia is home to the world’s second fastest growing B2C E-Commerce market, Indonesia, and the country with the highest Internet growth rate in recent years, the Philippines. Another market, Singapore, boasts one of the most developed infrastructures for online retail. Malaysia ranks among the top thirty emerging B2C E-Commerce markets, while Thailand and Vietnam show high growth potential for mobile commerce, with expanding smartphone penetration and increasing mobile shopper penetration.

With B2C E-Commerce in South East Asia only starting to evolve, cross-border sales are relatively high, with Amazon.com being one of the leading online merchants despite not having local presence in the region. Nevertheless, there are local gems as well: The top 5 South East Asian E-Commerce companies, each generating tens of millions EUR revenue are iBuy, a public company operating several flash sales websites, Groupon’s local operations in the group buying business, online luxury fashion club Reebonz, online mass merchant and marketplace operator Lazada and online fashion retailer Zalora.

The highest B2C E-Commerce growth rate in South East Asia is in Indonesia. The fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia has a relatively low penetration of Internet users, below 30% in 2013. However, by 2016 the number of Internet users is projected to top 100 million, with online shopper penetration also increasing. Shopping via mobile browsers and retail apps is also on the rise, with some merchants reporting as much as one third of total online sales coming from mobile users. The competition landscape in Indonesia is very diverse, featuring models such as C2C forums and classifieds, C2C online marketplaces, B2C E-Commerce merchants and social network sellers. Across these models, the C2C online portal OLX (formerly Tokobagus) is one of the leaders by online shopper penetration, followed by online classifieds website Berniaga, online forum and marketplace Kaskus and B2C online merchants Lazada and Zalora.

Though online retail in Malaysia still accounts for less than 1% of total retail sales, its growth potential is high, as Internet penetration, payment and logistics infrastructure are relatively advanced. Online shopping is encouraged by new E-Commerce regulations adopted in 2013 and growing smartphone penetration is boosted by governmental initiatives. Websites such as group buying merchant Groupon, online classifieds Mudah.my, online marketplaces Qoo10, Youbeli and Lelong are among the popular choices for Internet shopping. Global groceries retailer Tesco also has established a strong online presence in the country, where groceries is one of the popular categories to be purchased online.

In the Philippines, B2C E-Commerce is gradually evolving, boosted by improving ICT and payments infrastructure. A recent legislative proposal addressed several of the issues in the online retailing industry, and is expected to have a positive effect on the market. The leaders of B2C E-Commerce market in the Philippines are local online merchants Lazada and Zalora and the global online merchant Amazon.com. Daily deals websites, such as Ensogo, MetroDeal, CashCashPinoy, and Deals.eBay are likewise among the most popular in the Philippines.

Despite its relatively small population, Singapore ranks high in E-Commerce indexes due to developed infrastructure. The highest Internet penetration in the region, the world’s highest ranking in ease of conducting business, and one of top 3 best logistics infrastructures in the world plus a high performing payments system make Singapore an attractive market for online retailers, many of whom establish regional headquarters there, like Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace. Over half of Internet users in Singapore shop online and almost 50% do so over mobile phones. Amazon.com delivers to Singapore for free and is the most visited retail website, while B2C E-Commerce site Qoo10, a joint venture of Giosis Group and eBay, ranks next to it. 

In Thailand only a small double-digit share of Internet users makes purchases over the Internet in online shops, but a significant share do so through social networks and on mobile. More than half of social network users have participated in social commerce at least once, and over 20% use social networks with online shopping as the primary purpose. Shopping via mobile messaging apps is very popular and one such popular app, Line, has over 5 million accounts in Thailand participating in mobile flash sales. Online marketplaces and classifieds such as Olx.co.th, Weloveshopping.com and Tarad.com are popular online shopping destinations, while also online merchants, such as Lazada and Zalora show strong growth.

Vietnam has the fastest growing middle and affluent class in the South East Asia region and one of the most engaged online audiences. Furthermore, a larger share of Internet users in Vietnam visits retail websites than in any other South East Asian country, with the most purchased online shopping categories being clothing and electronics. The most popular model in E-Commerce in Vietnam is the online marketplace, including B2C and C2C players such as Vatgia.com, Enbac.vn, 5giay.vn.

The World’s Leading E-Commerce Companies 2014

Taken from Ystats.com part of the report
The World’s Leading E-Commerce Companies 2014

Who Really Leads in Global E-Commerce Sales?

During the prolonged anticipation and recent aftermath of the biggest tech world IPO, Alibaba Group

Holding was a star of the global business and E-Commerce news, and was often referred to as the largest E-Commerce company worldwide. A new exclusive publication by yStats.com which ranks the world’s largest E-Commerce companies based solely on the official revenues data reveals what company actually deserves this title.

The global top ten includes B2C E-Commerce companies and E-Commerce marketplaces. By far the

largest company worldwide in terms of E-Commerce revenues generated in 2013 was Amazon.com Inc.

Amazon’s USD 74 billion sales of products and services is greater than the combined revenues of the other nine ranked companies. In second place with USD 11 billion sales is Chinese B2C E-Commerce merchant JD.com Inc., which went public this year ahead of Alibaba. American retailer Wal-Mart and online pure play company eBay rank next. German multichannel merchant Otto Group makes the last place in the top 5 with USD 8 billion sales. Alibaba is number six with USD 4 billion of E-Commerce revenues excluding wholesale. Ranking below are the E-Commerce subsidiary of the French Groupe Casino Cnova, UK groceries retailer Tesco, Japanese E-Commerce giant Rakuten and another US-based merchant Best Buy. When considering companies that have their business primarily in the marketplace segment, of this top 10, eBay Inc. is number one by E-Commerce marketplace revenues, which total more than that of Alibaba and Rakuten combined.

As for Alibaba, by revenues generated from retail marketplaces, which reached over USD 4 billion in 2013, it is number six in the top ten. However, in terms of growth, Alibaba outpaces all its competitors in the top 10, more than doubling the revenues from retail marketplaces last year. JD.com Inc. ranks next with close to +70%. Among the E-Commerce marketplace companies in the top ten, Alibaba had by far the largest gross merchandise value.

Finally, the ranking revealed the top five companies in terms of purely B2C E-Commerce revenues. By this criterion, the ranking is topped by Amazon with over USD 60 billion B2C E-Commerce sales of goods, followed by JD.com with over 10 billion and then by Wal-Mart, the Otto Group and Tesco. 

Jan, 16 2015 : News Recap

bisnis.com :

Indosat Sediakan Solusi M2M Bagi Kota Surakarta

PT Indosat bersama anak usahanya PT StarOne Mitra Telekomunikasi berkolaborasi mengembangkan pemasaran produk dan solusi end to end Machine to Machine (M2M) di Kota Surakarta. Kerja sama ini terutama dilakukan untuk mewujudkan smart city di kota tersebut. Smart City merupakan tren global sebagai tuntutan masyarakat masa depan berbasis teknologi informasi dan komunikasi yang kini juga mulai digelar di kota-kota di tanah air.

Beberapa solusi M2M Indosat di antaranya solusi e-government, e-Tax, e-transportation, smart tourism, workforce management, dan smart street lightning. Pemkot Surakarta sendiri dikabarkan siap mengimplementasikan solusi e-tax. Tujuannya adalah agar pendapatan retribusi pajak daerah dari pelaku usaha yang wajib dapat lebih transparan dan tepat termonitor setiap waktu sehingga pada akhirnya meningkatkan pelayanan kepada masyarakat oleh Pemkot Surakarta.

----------------------------

Kompas Cyber Media :

Cita Citata Juga Kejutkan Layanan Musik Digital

Telkomsel menyediakan berbagai layanan musik digital, salah satunya adalah aplikasi LangitMusik yang memungkinkan pengguna untuk mendengarkan lagu secara streaming.

Minat pada lagu Indonesia cukup besar di layanan LangitMusik. Perbandingannya 60:40 dengan angka lebih besar untuk konten lokal. Aplikasi LangitMusik saat ini sudah memiliki katalog lebih dari 2 juta lagu. Lagu-lagu itu, tentunya, disediakan secara legal melalui kerjasama Telkomsel dengan Melon, penyedia layanan musik digital di bawah Telkom.

Sejak diluncurkan pada Mei 2013, aplikasi LangitMusik sudah memiliki sekitar 100.000 pengguna, meski masih lebih banyak pengguna gratis daripada pelanggan berbayar. Namun pertumbuhan pelanggan berbayar mengalami peningkatan yang cukup drastis (230%) pada 2014 dibanding 2013. 

Layanan LangitMusik sedikit banyak akan bersaing dengan layanan serupa dari pihak asing seperti Spotify, Rdio atau Guvera. 

---------------------------------------

Indonesia Finance Today (IFT):

Pasar Seret, Pemain Pay TV Berebut Pelanggan di Luar Jakarta

Pemain industri pay TV mengindikasikan pertumbuhan di tahun ini tidak akan terlalu bagus. Tayangan FTA masih jadi penghalang pertumbuhan. Beberapa pemain pay TV mulai melirik pasar baru di luar Jakarta untuk menambah pelanggan.

Viva+, anak perusahaan PT Visi Media Asia Tbk (VIVA) memperkirakan persaingan antarpemain baru untuk mendapatkan pelanggan baru berlangsung dengan ketat, penetrasi TV berbayar mengalami stagnansi sehingga pertumbuhan pelanggan tidak akan terlalu besar di tahun ini. Selain itu, pelanggan TV berbayar masih terfokus di kota-kota besar. Pertumbuhan jumlah pelanggan tahun ini tidak lebih dari 5%. Hingga akhir 2014, jumlah pelanggan Viva+ diperkirakan berada di kisaran 300 ribu-400 ribu pelanggan.

Dari catatan IFT, dalam dua tahun terakhir bisnis TV berlangganan di Indonesia berkembang sangat pesat. Perkembangan ini ditandai dengan hadirnya beberapa pemain baru, seperti Big TV dari Lippo Group, K-Vision dari Kelompok Kompas Gramedia dan CT Corp yang telah mengakuisisi TelkomVision dari PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia.

K-Vision, masih optimistis, dengan mengandalkan pasar di luar Jakarta agar jumlah pelanggan tetap dapat tumbuh dan masih bisa tumbuh 30% dengan pasar di luar Jakarta, seperti Sumatera dan Indonesia bagian timur. Saat ini K-Vision sudah memiliki lebih dari 300 ribu pelanggan di seluruh Indonesia. Potensi pasar masih tinggi, dari 63 juta rumah tangga yang mengakses televisi, 10 juta menggunakan parabola yang dapat menayangkan siaran satelit. Namun hanya 2,9 juta yang berlangganan layanan TV berbayar. Untuk konten, K-Vision masih fokus pada penambahan konten lokal (misalnya MD Entertainment).

Aora TV, dari PT Karyamegah Adijaya, memperkirakan stagnan bahkan negatif. Akibat kesulitan meningkatkan jumlah pelanggan  dan ARPU. Hingga akhir tahun lalu, jumlah pengguna layanannya tidak mengalami pertumbuhan signifikan yakni 100 ribu pelanggan. ARPU  berkisar Rp 80 ribu-Rp 90 ribu per bulan. Diperkirakan Aora TV alami pertumbuhan negatif di tahun ini atau mungkin bisa saja (tutup) layanannya.

TV Digital

Kemenkominfo sebelumnya menyatakan ada dua industri yang ingin terlibat dalam program digitalisasi televisi Indonesia. Salah satunya adalah lembaga penyiaran swasta (LPS) yang sudah ada,

Hampir semua grup besar LPS sudah menunjukan kesiapan melalui kesiapan infrastruktur penunjang seperti multiplekser. Sekitar 60% sudah siap.

---

Asia B2C E-Commerce 2014

This posting is updated from previous one

Asia B2C E-Commerce

The update one as usual taken from Ystats.com part of the report

Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce Market 2014

Asia-Pacific region predicted to become the world’s largest B2C E-Commerce market

Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region on the global B2C E-Commerce market. Between 2013 and 2018 it is forecasted to grow by over 20% annually and surpass North America to become the number one region worldwide in terms of B2C E-Commerce sales. The large population base coupled with increasing Internet connectivity and disposable incomes set the stage for this rapid growth.

The booming Asia – Pacific market is a field of activity for both regional and global players. The three largest companies based in the region are China-based Alibaba and JD.com and Japan’s Rakuten. While Alibaba and JD.com shine on the global stage through IPO offerings, Rakuten pursues customers around the globe by launching marketplaces beyond the home region. Among the global brands with the large shares in the region are Amazon, eBay and Yahoo.

China is the largest online shopping market in the Asia-Pacific region and second largest worldwide. The number of online shoppers, at over 300 million in 2013 continues to grow as Internet penetration

continues. The hottest trends on the booming E-Commerce market in China are the development of

mobile and social channels for online shopping, growing popularity of group-buying websites and the rise in purchases of luxury goods online.

The number two market in Asia-Pacific and number three worldwide in terms of online retail sales is

Japan. Though the market is one of the most advanced, further growth of close to 10% is still expected, primarily from development of new channels, such as M-Commerce, whose share on total retail has reached double-digit figures.

South Korea is also among the B2C E-Commerce leaders. Online shoppers in this country are among the most experienced with online shopping, paying with credit cards online and having the goods delivered to the doorstep through courier services. Moreover, they are the trend-setters in mobile shopping, as the practice of shopping through messaging apps and scanning codes with smartphones at virtual stores were developed there and are spreading throughout the region and the world.

Another regional front-runner is Australia. Despite a smaller population compared to some of the huge nations in Asia-Pacific, Australia has one of the highest B2C E-Commerce sales rates, reaching a high one digit percentage of total retail sales. Internet penetration is one of the highest in the region and over three quarters of Internet users make purchases online.

A rising star on the regional B2C E-Commerce scene is Indonesia. While the sales are still below 1% of the total retail market and two thirds of the population does not yet have Internet access, the prospects for growth are bright. The growth rate in 2013 was already one of the highest worldwide, and improving infrastructure, growing Internet and mobile penetration on the large population are expected to contribute to further sale’s surge.

B2C E-Commerce is growing fast in India also, with rates of above 50% and further strong growth

projected for the next five years. Mobile commerce especially has great potential for development, as

over 90% of Internet users access the web through mobile connections. More foreign players may invest into the market’s growth if the country’s government decides to ease the FDI restriction in the B2C E-Commerce sector.

Another B2C E-Commerce hopeful is Thailand. The country already shows top rates in mobile shopping: users actively adopt shopping options integrated in popular messaging apps, and actively buy and exchange goods through social networks. Meanwhile, its neighbor from the Southeast Asia, Malaysia, boasts one of the most developed infrastructures for online shopping and strong growth perspectives.

DCB payment

Taken from mobilepaymentstoday.com article

Direct Carrier Billing opportunity

Direct carrier billing, also known as direct operator billing, is a mobile-payment method that flies well under the radar these days. It does not grab headlines like Apple Pay or Starbucks despite millions of consumers using it to purchase digital content, parking meter time and event tickets.

But mobile network operators increasingly are seeking to add direct carrier billing to their arsenal as consumers continue to purchase content from app stores at a high rate.

Direct carrier billing will provide telecoms worldwide with more than $12 billion in revenue in 2022, according to one prediction from research firm Analysys Mason. Juniper Research believes in Europe alone the value of digital content billed via direct carrier billing will reach more than 5.2 billion euros (US$7.1 billion) in 2017.