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/
Geoff Hollingworth
Chief Marketing Officer Rakuten Symphony
January 16, 2025
After five years Rakuten is achieving its goals, becoming profitable in Q4 of last year. Rakuten brought down mobile phones bills by an average of 2,000 JPY monthly and we saved Japanese households a combined four trillion JPY annually. The network delivers quality and performance at parity or better than traditional network approaches.
With the above in mind, here are the top 10 realities we are strategizing around for 2025. We hope this insight can shed light on activities and initiatives the broader industry may be planning.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...realities-to-guide-2025-planning
November 22, 2024
SINGAPORE — From dissecting fan theories about new music to running a new 5KM track, some things are better shared with “your” crowd. Whether you’re a Bloom or a Carat or an avid runner, birds of a feather truly are better together. Leading messaging app Rakuten Viber takes these passions and connections to the next level online with Communities, now enhanced with the “Comments” feature.
Every Community comes with admin controls, including options to enable member posting for a lively exchange of ideas. With the new Comments feature, they can now moderate and streamline multiple topics and conversations, keeping replies organized within every post. Superadmins and admins can easily enable this feature in their Community info tab, making it available by default for all messages or selectively disabling it for specific messages.
https://www.adobomagazine.com/digital-news/...r-community-management/
https://www.msn.com/de-de/nachrichten/politik/...915316d249&ei=70
December 4, 2024
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Rakuten Viber announces the expansion of Business Accounts, a suite of free tools for small businesses in the Philippines to enrich their online presence and interaction with customers. Business Accounts were launched in the country in October 2023, and have now been scaled to provide additional capabilities and new features. These include comprehensive messaging, analytics, and automation tools that help small businesses grow cost-efficiently. These tools also allow customers to find these businesses more quickly, and receive personalized communications and support within the app.
Rakuten Viber has seen a 65% increase in the number of newly created Business Accounts in the Philippines since the beginning of 2024. Interest has been particularly strong from technicians and consultants and from health and beauty as well as ecommerce businesses.
https://www.adobomagazine.com/digital-news/...ses-in-the-philippines/
RAN conditions are expected to improve in 2025 after two years of sharp declines, during which global RAN revenues fell by approximately 20 percent compared to 2022. Global revenues are projected to stabilize and grow by 5 percent to 10 percent, excluding China.
The private wireless RAN market is expected to see robust growth, with revenues forecasted to increase by over 20 percent in 2025. This growth will be driven by industrial adoption, with manufacturing retaining its leading position as the largest vertical.
Open RAN revenues, which faced a decline in 2024, are projected to recover and grow rapidly in 2025, contributing 8 percent to 10 percent of total RAN revenues. Although short-term challenges persist, the long-term trajectory for Open RAN remains strong as the commercial readiness of next-generation interfaces evolves.
https://telecomlead.com/telecom-equipment/...5-119584#google_vignette
Operating Activities: Cash inflow of ¥819,503 million, up significantly from ¥161,663 million in the previous period.
Investing Activities: Cash outflow of ¥766,953 million, primarily due to investments in securities and intangible assets.
Financing Activities: Cash inflow of ¥701,528 million, driven by proceeds from bond issuance and long-term borrowings.
https://www.minichart.com.sg/2024/11/13/...5-mobile-segment-improves/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/...sr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block
July 13, 2023
Online shopping has seen a significant surge in popularity due to the pandemic. More than half of Japanese households are now shopping online, which marks a 20% increase in five years. However, logistics can be challenging for companies during special events like sales and merchant holidays. To improve forecasting accuracy, Rakuten’s Price and Inventory Optimization Platform (PIOP) team has developed an in-house system to systematically reduce inefficiencies through leveraging big data and advancements in AI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2vaULxA-Eg
Dell and Rakuten Symphony join forces to revolutionize telecom networks with a powerful blueprint, delivering simplicity, automation and next-gen innovation.
By Robert Doing January 17, 2025
Unveiling the Telecom Blueprint That’s Changing the Game
The Dell and Rakuten collaboration has culminated in the Telecom Blueprint for Rakuten Cloud, validated within Dell’s Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab (OTEL). This blueprint offers Communication Service Providers (CSPs) a robust solution that simplifies the deployment and management of NFV infrastructure, streamlining operations and accelerating service delivery. The synergy between Dell’s telecom PowerEdge solutions and Rakuten Cloud’s technologies provides the agility and scalability needed to support 5G and disaggregated software-based Core and RAN networks.
One of the most compelling benefits highlighted in the white paper is the potential cost savings. By leveraging Dell’s solutions and Rakuten Cloud’s efficiencies, CSPs can achieve up to 30% CAPEX savings. These savings are realized through the simplification of deployment processes and lifecycle management, reducing operational overhead and accelerating time to market.
https://www.dell.com/en-sg/blog/...d=0251729385656dd61cf867f684dd6c56
"We want to become one of the top-tier profitable companies in Japan and, in the future, in the world."
https://www.coinlive.com/news/...-why-rakuten-s-mobile-venture-is-key
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/...cc30d8a011efb12ca6d4ad139bf5
To work together on knowledge transfer and Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology testing on the African continent, Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony, and Airspa entered a partnership on Tuesday and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)to formalise their newly-established alliance.
The partnership would include testing, 4G and 5G technology development, and knowledge sharing within Kenya.
https://techpression.com/telkom-kenya-rakuten-symphony-airspan-partner
By Mary Alavanza
January 20, 2025
Mr Mikitani said the company’s goal is to become one of the top-tier profitable companies in Japan and, eventually, the world. “Our ambition is probably really big, but we are doing this step by step,” he added.
https://theindependent.sg/...-in-japan-and-the-world/#google_vignette
January 23, 2025
Episode 2 of Inside Rakuten AI: Lee Xiong on Japanese LLMs and the Future of AI is out now! In this fascinating episode, we sit down with Lee Xiong, Rakuten Group Vice Director of AI Research Supervisory Dept. Lee shares insights on Rakuten's pioneering work with Japanese Large Language Models (LLMs) and how this is empowering Japan's AI development. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes, where we'll continue to explore how Rakuten's AI leaders are shaping the future of AI innovation!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiNK32fU_Ko
Shery Ahn and Min Jeong Lee
Mon, January 20, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...justifies-mobile-arm-230000748.html
January 8, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGf2scxVXSI
Fri, January 24, 2025
Rakuten Medical has dosed the first patient in its intercontinental Phase III trial into its photoimmunotherapy, ASP-1929, in patients with recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
The multi-centre, randomised, open-label trial will examine the company’s antibody-dye conjugate comprised of the antibody drug, cetuximab in combination with MSD’s flagship monoclonal antibody Keytruda (pembrolizumab). Now, the San Diego-based company is looking to launch enrolment for the trial across Japan and Taiwan.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...first-patients-multi-124444751.html
December 11.12.2024
In Episode 7 of Inside Track, Hideyuki Hirama, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Rakuten Symphony sits down with James Dartnell, Director, Corporate Communications, EMEA, to discuss how Rakuten Symphony ensures that teams from different geographies, products and services operate under unified culture and processes. In this special, in-person interview, James and Hirama-san also discuss industry challenges ahead and initiatives planned to boost operational efficiency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNqqLpF5xw
By Kamile Bigenyte January 23, 2025
Rakuten Mobile, a leading operator known for its innovative approach to telecommunications, is moving its focus to the United States to bolster the advancement of Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN). The company’s initiative is a part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. This fund aims to foster the development and adoption of Open RAN technology, promoting competition within the wireless sector and enhancing the global telecommunications supply chain.
In this ambitious endeavor, Rakuten Mobile is collaborating with U.S.-based vendors such as Battelle Memorial Institute, Microelectronics Technology, Eridan Communications, and Airspan Networks.
In a similar vein, the collaborative spirit extends beyond the U.S. Recently, Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony, and Airspan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster Open RAN technology’s knowledge transfer and testing in Africa.
https://voip.review/2025/01/23/...ves-open-ran-innovation-u-s-beyond/
22 hours ago
While AI continues to transform the tech industry at unprecedented speed, companies are increasingly facing obstacles around energy consumption, rising costs and data center capacity.
At Rakuten Technology Conference 2024, a session on “The Future of Responsible AI Compute” addressed these critical issues and highlighted the urgent need for sustainable solutions. Ampere Computing Chief Evangelist and Vice President of Business Development Sean Varley gave a comprehensive overview of the current state of AI compute, and looked at the innovative technology improving its efficiency.
He was later joined by Qualcomm Marketing Director Hiroshi Izumi and Rakuten Group Executive Officer and Division CTO of the Technology Platforms Division Rohit Dewan to discuss instance density, domain-specific accelerators and the need for collaboration in achieving more efficient AI inference.
Rakuten and Ampere expand collaboration
Rakuten recently announced plans to expand its collaboration with Ampere to further reduce power consumption and improve data center efficiency. This makes Rakuten the first company in Japan to deploy Ampere-based products on a large scale.
Since 2023, the companies have collaborated to achieve a 36% energy saving per rack and 11% space reduction per rack for Rakuten Cloud’s services. Recent trials of load balancing services on the Ampere-based platforms also showed a 22% reduction in power consumption.
The growing partnership emphasizes Rakuten’s dedication to further enhance energy efficiency and support its growing AI-driven services and initiatives.
https://rakuten.today/blog/empowering-data-centers-of-the-future.html
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