Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
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/
June 13, 2024 5 min read
https://rakuten.today/blog/...ai-rakuten-product-conference-2024.html
At the same time, the issuance of foreign bonds in the first half of 2024 has addressed the liquidity gap until the end of 2025, as per Rakuten. The goal is now to use the cash flow of the Internet Services and FinTech Segments to reduce interest-bearing debt for the group.
https://medium.com/tokyo-fintech/...n-q2-fy2024-earnings-7a90c1b2dd0a
https://rakutenadvertising.com/en-ca/resources/...-seven-square-media
August 19, 2024
Mickey Mikitani, as sole CEO, reaffirms his commitment to the company’s mission of conquering cancer for patients all over the world
Minami Maeda has been appointed as the new President to expedite pipeline development, with a strategic focus on securing FDA approval for ASP-1929, expanding into broader Asia, and further driving commercial growth in Japan
A new global Phase 3 clinical trial for ASP-1929 photoimmunotherapy in combination with anti-PD-1 is expected to be initiated in 2H 2024
Rakuten Medical, Inc., a global biotechnology company developing and commercializing oncology precision, cell-targeting photoimmunotherapy through its proprietary Alluminox platform, announces that Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani now serves as its sole Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board, and Minami Maeda has been appointed as its new President, effective August 9, 2024. Takashi “Tora” Toraishi has chosen to step down from his role as Co-Chief Executive Officer, President and Board Director.
The new management team is set to further advance Rakuten Medical’s Alluminox platform and prioritize obtaining FDA approval for ASP-1929 as early as possible. The company’s new global Phase 3 study of ASP-1929 photoimmunotherapy in combination with anti-PD-1 for first-line recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is expected to commence first in the United States in 2H 2024.
Rakuten Medical also aims to extend its reach into Asian markets, where many countries face high unmet medical needs, by leveraging its growing expertise from commercial treatments in Japan. Asia accounts for half of the world’s cancer incidence and has the highest cancer mortality rate*. Rakuten Medical’s strong track record of commercial success in Japan has generated substantial scientific publications, which the company believes would help support new medical communities’ better understanding of the Alluminox platform. In Japan, the company will continue to drive growth and vigorously support the realization of its strategic agenda in the U.S. and Asia.
Mickey Mikitani, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Rakuten Medical, stated, “The appointment of Minami as President and the formation of our new management team underscores our unwavering commitment to advancing our innovation for patients in need. We continue striving to advance cancer treatment through our technology platform, and I am fully committed to further driving the company’s vision and strategic direction.”
“I am honored to take on this pivotal role at such a critical time for Rakuten Medical,” said Minami Maeda, President of Rakuten Medical. “Our treatment has positively impacted patients’ lives in Japan, as demonstrated by our robust commercial growth there. I am excited to collaborate with our talented team to build an even stronger company and extend our contributions to more patients and broader communities as we continue to pursue our global development efforts.”
Since joining Rakuten Medical in November 2017, Maeda has demonstrated outstanding leadership and strategic acumen. Most recently serving as Chief Commercial Officer of Rakuten Medical, Inc., and Representative Director & President of Rakuten Medical K.K., he has significantly contributed to commercial growth and established a scalable business model for the company’s innovative drug-device combination in Japan. His efforts have greatly enhanced the company's global growth and technological advancements. Prior to his tenure at Rakuten Medical, Maeda gained extensive experience in business and public policy through his work at McKinsey & Company’s Tokyo and Johannesburg offices. He also served as Chief of Staff to Japan’s Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
Rakuten Medical extends its gratitude to Toraishi for his strong leadership and contributions since 2017. His tenure has been marked by significant achievements, including the successful development and the world-first approval of ASP-1929 in Japan, and the establishment of a strong foundation for future growth.
https://rakuten-med.com/us/news/press-releases/2024/08/19/7856/
https://network.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/service/...anty-plus-appliances/
Aug 20, 2024 03:50 PM PHT
In a statement, Rakuten Viber said it will soon launch Viber Pay, which will allow its users to send and receive money as easily as they send messages.
Viber said Filipinos can get Viber Pay ahead of the full launch by updating their Rakuten Viber app to the latest version and joining the waitlist from the new ‘Pay’ tab, which is being rolled out over the coming days. Early access will begin in September.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/8/20/...service-in-the-ph-1120
Business Mirror August 16, 2024
A GLOBAL leader in private and secure messaging and voice-based communication, Rakuten Viber will soon launch its in-app digital payments feature Viber Pay in the Philippines. The platform will be the first messaging app in the Philippines to offer a fintech solution that allows friends, loved ones and businesses to instantly send money as easily and securely as sending a Viber message.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/08/16/...digital-payment-features/
CEO Hiroshi Mikitani told an earnings call Friday that a "significant improvement" in free cashflow and a big drop in capex starting from this year would also enable the business to self-finance. Cashflow from Rakuten's flourishing ecommerce and fintech businesses would also be deployed to reduce debt, he said.
Mikitani suggested the decline in yields for Rakuten bonds showed the market has been "reacting positively" to the mobile unit's stronger numbers.
https://www.lightreading.com/finance/...-after-network-leaseback-deal
Report Coverage Details
Growth Rate from 2024 to 2033: CAGR of 33.40%
Global Market Size in 2023: USD 1.8 Billion
Global Market Size by 2033: USD 32 Billion
https://www.precedenceresearch.com/open-ran-market
By Mark Nolan 27/06/2024
Cabify, a Spanish mobility platform, has been awarded two contracts put out to tender by Aena to have exclusive collection points at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport.
The tender also includes the same provision at Valencia, where, combined, a total of around 26 million passengers are served annually, and growing, 15.7 million in the case of Alicante and around 10 million in Valencia in 2023.
“Both airports are consolidated as one of the main entry points for tourism in the Valencian Community, which makes them a fundamental enclave of the local economic and social fabric,” the company points out. Cabify will have an exclusive and signposted parking area in each terminal, with 4 spaces in Alicante and 5 in Valencia.
https://theleader.info/2024/06/27/cabify-comes-to-alicante-airport/
https://www.delloro.com/news/...merica-leading-the-open-ran-movement/
Do your math with the numbers of the following source!
Rakuten Mobile surpasses 7 million subscribers
June 18 06:00 am JST
Rakuten Mobile Inc on Monday announced that the number of subscribers for its mobile carrier service has surpassed 7 million as of June 16. It said 500,000 subscribers were added in just over two months since the 6.5 million milestone, marking the largest ever three-month net increase in subscribers since the launch of the Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII plan.
https://japantoday.com/category/business/...ses-7-million-subscribers
22.08.2024
Rakuten Securities boasts the highest number of NISA* accounts in Japan, with the number of beginner investors and users in their 20s and 30s growing greatly. In response, Rakuten Securities started a year-long wealth-building program for beginner investors to cover the basics of building and growing wealth. In this video, RNN joined a family-oriented lecture and heard from the participants themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGTpU2_uU3Q
Rakuten can use the cash to pay back debts and later may be to buy back shares.
16 hours ago
At the recent Rakuten Optimism conference, one powerful message echoed through the halls: AI is for everyone.
The event kicked off with a keynote speech from Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani, in which he outlined Rakuten’s plans to democratize AI, the fundamental role Rakuten Mobile must play, and the power of the internet to connect the world’s intelligence.
The power of connected intelligence
“We’re seeing a major difference between pre and post-internet technology,” Mikitani told the audience. “Where previously we had standalone computers, we’re now in a place where the network itself is gaining intelligence. What does it mean for all information to be connected?”
Mikitani compared the scale of this connected intelligence to the human brain. “The human brain is made up of around 170 billion cells. Half of those are neurons.”
The number of internet-connected devices, meanwhile – cell phones, servers, PCs – has been estimated at around 75 billion.
“If you consider that a single CPU processes faster than a single neuron, you can imagine the truly dramatic speed at which all of the world’s information is being processed,” he noted. “In a sense, we’re seeing a kind of intelligence we’ve never seen before.”
Step one: Building a foundation
“What the Rakuten Group wants to do is democratize AI,” Mikitani said. “It shouldn’t be just for a few people to use, but for everyone. So, specifically, how are we going to do this?”
Mikitani outlined three concrete steps for Rakuten’s AI business, starting with a two-pronged approach to expand Rakuten’s own AI foundation.
“One is to adopt external tools: generative AI, large language models from OpenAI, with whom we have a strong partnership, and other industry leaders. Why did they want to form such a partnership with us? It’s our rich data. And the potential for growth of Rakuten’s business model.”
The second approach involves in-house development of AI tools, such as the recently released Rakuten AI 7B. This set of large language models works at a smaller scale to the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, while demonstrating outstanding performance in the Japanese language.
Step two: AI-nization within Rakuten
“AI really belongs to everyone. And in the future, it will use a lot of data. So we want everyone to be able to use these transmission lines affordably and freely, without restrictions.”– Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey
The second step is to embrace the use of AI technologies within the Rakuten Group – an undertaking Mikitani has dubbed AI-nization.
“It’s more than just a vague suggestion to use AI tools,” Mikitani explained. “We’re setting concrete targets to utilize AI through a project we call Triple 20. We’re boosting marketing efficiency by 20%, operational efficiency by 20%, and the efficiency of our clients – such as the merchants and hotels on our platforms – by 20%. It’s an extremely bold target.”
Rakuten’s in-house AI tools are already being actively utilized by employees. “Our marketing strategies are changing, customer support is changing, operations are changing. AI is taking on a significant part of the workload for our programmers.”
Mikitani expressed hope that this pioneering approach will become a model case for clients and other firms, helping invigorate the broader economy.
Step three: AI for everyone
Last but not least, Rakuten wants to provide practical AI tools for everyone to use. Rakuten AI for Business has already been connecting companies of all sizes with AI tools since its launch in 2023.
“I think that this will fundamentally change store operations, service operations and the very way business is done,” Mikitani ventured. “AI can provide translation capabilities, customer support, logistics, inventory management, price setting and create concrete touchpoints with customers.”
Mikitani took the opportunity to announce the imminent launch of a new AI tool to connect customers with all of Rakuten’s services at once.
“The Rakuten Group will soon be releasing our own universal concierge,” Mikitani revealed. “This will incorporate all of Rakuten’s services. It’s not just for searching for specific items, but making recommendations through dialogue with the user.”
An onstage demonstration of the concierge service started with a simple image of a dessert and a voice request to find ingredients to make it. This evolved into a multi-stage dialogue, guiding the user to the exact products they needed within their budget.
Mikitani invited the audience to imagine the possibilities of such a tool when paired with Rakuten’s broad catalog of services.
“A concierge for shopping, for travel, one that guides you on something completely different, like investing,” he proposed. “I think that the Rakuten Group’s AI capabilities are already world-class.”
Rakuten Mobile powering revolutions
“AI is going to change everything,” Mikitani declared. “And the foundation of this is the internet, and mobile networks. This is what is connecting all of the information.”
Rakuten Mobile is about more than just building a high quality, affordable network, Mikitani stressed.
“With Rakuten Mobile, we’re not just trying to make it easier to make calls or watch YouTube,” he told the audience. “We’re trying to drastically optimize the speed of AI, which will change society. Rakuten Mobile is at the epicenter of this.”
Where existing mobile networks rely on manually operated hardware, the software-centric nature of Rakuten Mobile opens up boundless potential to take advantage of AI tools.
“In place of humans, AI can design and manage the network. Design, construction, deployment, security, monitoring, problem solving – we are operating this with the support of AI.”
Mobile is another field in which Mikitani is pursuing a mission of democratization. Rakuten has been a major proponent of Open RAN (radio access network) – an alternative to the traditional approach of inflexible proprietary systems. The recent launch of Rakuten Symphony’s Real Open RAN Licensing Program is making this cutting-edge approach available to the entire industry.
“We are carrying out the democratization of mobile networks,” Mikitani said. “We’re using off-the-shelf technology and software to build networks without compromising on quality – in fact, the quality is dramatically better. That’s what Rakuten Mobile has proven.”
Looking ahead of the curve
Mobile networks play a crucial role in AI technology. Mikitani stressed that keeping them affordable and accessible will be paramount.
“AI really belongs to everyone. And in the future, it will use a lot of data. That’s why we want everyone to be able to enjoy connectivity affordably and freely, without restrictions.”
Rakuten’s daring moves in transformative directions haven’t always been obvious to everyone, Mikitani admitted.
“People kept asking us: Why are you doing this? Why travel? Why finance? Why Englishnization? Why mobile?” he told the conference. “The answer is that we want to support all of you by looking just a little bit ahead of the curve, by taking on bold challenges and forging new paths. I believe that is our role.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/rakutens-plans-to-democratize-ai.html
“In place of humans, AI can design and manage the network. Design, construction, deployment, security, monitoring, problem solving – we are operating this with the support of AI.”
2 days ago
The world of AI moves fast. In the blink of an eye, the latest GenAI models have become multilingual, understanding different dialogues and even emotional tones; and multimodal, accepting and outputting audio, video and more.
In such a rapidly changing landscape, how does one effectively build AI products? Rakuten Group’s Chief AI & Data Officer Ting Cai joined the 2024 edition of Rakuten Product Conference, Presented by Rakuten India, to share his perspective.
“Product managers are the catalysts that turn vision into strategy, strategy into execution, and execution into value,” Cai told the conference. “How can a product manager stay concrete, live and breathe like a user, but at the same time understand the technology so they can integrate what is technically possible, what the user wants, and come up with a vision and define the product?”
Start with a vision
“Rakuten has a lot of businesses across multiple industries,” Cai began. “This gives us fantastic unique data assets we can leverage to train efficient embeddings and efficient large language models (LLMs). Our data is like a rich farmland; with it we can carefully cultivate and grow our AI products. We have online and offline channels that reach millions of customers and businesses so they can take advantage of large language models.”
“Product managers need to think big to solve hard problems. They’re striving to accomplish mission impossible.”
Ting Cai, Rakuten Group Chief AI & Data Officer
Through its AI-nization initiative, Rakuten is looking to take full advantage of AI technology across the company, leveraging its advanced capabilities to deliver more value to Rakutenians, partners and customers.
“Our vision is to enable AI-nization across Rakuten by leveraging our data assets, our channels and ultimately building the flywheel so we can leverage every interaction with our customers and businesses to enhance our products so we can deliver more benefits to our customers.”
For product managers, it’s a tricky balance between dreaming big and staying grounded.
“Product managers need to think big to solve hard problems. They’re striving to accomplish mission impossible. If you solve an easy problem, you’re already subject to disappointing others because many other people are solving the same problem, and it’s hard to differentiate,” Cai told the conference. “We need to think big, but at the same time stay concrete. Be practical, think what AI can do to improve our everyday products.”
Turning vision into strategy
Cai presented five key approaches for product managers looking to leverage AI.
1. What should AI do?
“In order to come up with a good vision, it’s very important to start with an understanding of our customers. There’s a lot of conversation about the latest LLMs, what AI can do. But most importantly, in my opinion, is what AI should do. What are the right problems to solve?”
Understanding the user’s needs is the first step to building a good product. This is something Cai has pursued at Rakuten through a technology called semantic search on several of Rakuten’s services. This tech seeks to produce search results close to what the user means instead of the literal search terms used.
“In the world of search, a query represents user intent. So, query analysis is super important to delivering a top-notch search experience,” Cai explained. “We’ve been working on semantic search for Rakuten Fashion and Rakuten Ichiba, and we are expanding it to multiple products across the Rakuten Group. All of that is building a strong foundation for understanding the user’s intent through search query analysis.”
2. Actions speak louder than words
“It’s not enough just to do a survey and ask what users want. It’s more important to observe what they do,” Cai stressed.
“Of all of the data collection tools I’ve worked on, including search engines, the user survey is probably the least important. It’s more important to look at the actual user behavior. What are the things they query, what are the things they click, and what pages do they spend more time on? Observing what users do can help product managers identify the latent intent.”
“To be a good product manager, it’s very important to demonstrate leadership – to have a vision, bring clarity and focus on the big bets for the entire team.”
3. Integrate AI into existing habits
Cai spoke of some recent work undertaken with healthcare professionals to explore how AI could help in the medical field. He cited the example of pathologists trained their entire lives on microscopes, only to be told to use cloud technology and AI to analyze their samples.
“It’s like changing their life for them. They spend years going through this medical training, and their life is attached to this microscope,” he remarked. “In order to lower the barrier of adopting AI technology, we have to integrate it into existing habits.”
4. Does it have to be AI?
“Does this problem need an AI? Or is there a simpler solution?”
Cai cited the example of someone in a recent Zoom meeting who had a timer as their background – an elegant solution to managing precious meeting minutes.
“Can AI solve a problem differently? I have been in those meetings sometimes when people are passionately discussing a topic, when suddenly the human timer said, Time is up; you should stop! But maybe AI can actually detect the emotion, detect the discussion and let people continue their flow.”
5. Instill trust
Last but not least, build a brand that customers trust. “All of these visions are synthesized into product branding. Branding instills trust and emotion. It can deliver premium value for your product.”
Turning strategy into execution
“To be a good product manager, it’s very important to demonstrate leadership – to have a vision, bring clarity and focus on the big bets for the entire team. But it’s not enough to have only the vision and strategy. Most importantly, it’s about the execution.”
Iteration and finetuning are essential components of a product’s execution, especially in the fast-paced world of AI.
“As you can see, these AI developments are happening very quickly. So, I believe it’s important to develop the inner loop so you can experiment faster,” Cai emphasized. “Even when a product is developed, you can continue to tune it through in-context learning, through prompt engineering, through retrieval augmented generation. There’s so many things you can continue to iterate through the development process.”
During this iterative process, product managers must continue learning and trying new tools to get a feel for what can be applied to their products. “That in-depth technical knowledge, plus an understanding of user needs, in a continuously iterative fashion is the way to go for product development.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/...n-building-useful-products-with-ai.html
Colombia Ecommerce Market Databook 2024, Featuring Falabella, Grupo Exito, Home Center, MercadoLibre, DiDi Food, iFood, Rappi, TaDa Delivery, Almundo, Aviatur, Beat - Ride, Cabify & Despeg...
The E-commerce market in Colombia is expected to grow by 8.44% on annual basis to reach US$14.4 billion in 2024, growing steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 6.47% during 2024-2028. The E-commerce Gross Merchandise Value in Colombia will increase from US$13.3 billion in 2023 to reach US$18.6 billion by 2028.
Companies Featured
•Amazon
• Falabella §
•§Grupo Exito
•§Home Center
•MercadoLibre §
•§DiDi Food
•iFood
• Rappi §
•§TaDa Delivery
•Almundo
• Aviatur §
•§Beat - Ride
• Cabify
• Despegar
§
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...market-databook-2024-152100244.html
07-30-2024 01:16 PM CET
Archive Market Research published a new research publication on "Open RAN Market Insights, to 2032".
The Open RAN Market size was valued at USD 2,771.2 billion in 2023 and exhibiting a CAGR of 33.0 % during the forecasts period.
https://www.openpr.com/news/3603862/...-2024-big-things-are-happening
1 Nutzer wurde vom Verfasser von der Diskussion ausgeschlossen: Scansoft