Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

- und daher habe ich mir nach dem Einstieg bei Alibaba, die inzwischem mehr als 20% gut gemacht haben, auch einige Rakutens gekauft.

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/  

In domestic e-commerce services, the mainstay of Internet services, the growth rate of total transaction value slowed down compared to the three months ended March 31, 2023, due to the impact of changes in marketing strategies aimed at improving profitability. However, operating profit increased. In the internet shopping mall "Rakuten Ichiba" and the travel reservation service "Rakuten Travel", customer retention continued due to various measures aimed at improving customer convenience and satisfaction.

In other Internet Services including overseas internet services, strong sales growth continued in the US cashback service "Rakuten Rewards", in the mobile messaging and VoIP services "Viber", the e-book service "Kobo", and the video streaming service "Viki" within the overseas content business, the number of users increased, resulting in steady performance improvement and contributing to the expansion of segment profit.

As a result, revenue for the Internet Services segment rose to ¥285,703 million, a 5.4% year-on-year increase, while segment profit stood at ¥13,600 million, a 14.8% year-on-year increase.

(Millions of Yen)
Three months ended March 31, 2023 Three months ended March 31, 2024
Amount Change YoY  % Change YoY
Segment revenue 271,138 285,703 14,565 5.4%
Segment profit 11,851 13,600 1,749 14.8%

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/
Latest IR Materials
First Quarter 2024

 

CEO Mikitani about Rakuten Viber: “We have increase of 5.4%, so accounting for 1.5 billion people.”

Source: Conference Call Q1/2024
 

Rakuten Group, Inc. ist ein weltweit führendes Unternehmen, das Menschen durch Technologie und Innovation empowert. Die Philosophie hinter dem japanischen Wort “Rakuten” bedeutet “Optimismus”. Sie drückt das Engagement des Unternehmens für eine bessere, optimistischere Zukunft aus, indem es Einzelpersonen, Unternehmen und der Gesellschaft die Möglichkeit gibt, ihre Träume zu verwirklichen. Rakuten umfasst mehr als 70 Unternehmen und hat über 1,8 Milliarden Mitglieder weltweit. Das Service-Ökosystem basiert auf Mitgliedschaften und bietet eine vielseitige Palette von Dienstleistungen. Dazu gehören E-Commerce, digitale Inhalte, Werbung, Unterhaltung und Kommunikation. Der Hauptsitz von Rakuten befindet sich im Crimson House in Tokyo, Japan. Der Gründer und CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, leitet das globale, innovative Unternehmen, das sich darauf konzentriert, Träume zu erfüllen und Werte durch Innovation und Unternehmertum zu schaffen.  

April 23, 2024

https://comm.rakuten.co.jp/news/2024/20240423.html
 

https://www.rakuten.com.tw/info/release/2024/  

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/stock/bond.html  

Four Level 3 applications for immediate impact in MNOs

Anshul Bhatt
Chief Product Officer, BU Intelligent Operations Rakuten Symphony

May 13, 2024

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...ons-for-immediate-impact-in-mnos
 

The Biden Administration continues to champion the concept of open mobile networks

May 08, 2024
By Paul Lipscombe

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/...nding-pot-for-open-ran/
 

The global open RAN market size was valued at USD 1.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to hit around USD 32 billion by 2033, poised to grow at a CAGR of 33.40% from 2024 to 2033.

Key Takeaways
North America contributed 45% of market share in 2023.
Asia-Pacific is estimated to expand the fastest CAGR between 2024 and 2033.
By component, the hardware segment has held the largest market share of 49% in 2023.
By component, the services segment is anticipated to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 35.3% between 2024 and 2033.
By unit, the radio unit segment generated over 39% of the market share in 2023.
By unit, the distributed unit segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR over the projected period.
By deployment, the hybrid cloud segment generated 50% of the market share in 2023.
By deployment, the private cloud segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR over the projected period.

Open RAN Market in the U.S. 2024 to 2033
The U.S. open RAN market size was estimated at USD 0.56 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to reach around USD 10.16 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 33.50% from 2024 to 2033.

https://www.precedenceresearch.com/open-ran-market
 

“We are on day 1 of the next 30 years”: CMO calls for change on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2024

By Geoff Hollingworth

Chief Marketing Officer Rakuten Symphony

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...and-information-society-day-2024

 

Patents Assigned to RAKUTEN SYMPHONY SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.

https://patents.justia.com/assignee/rakuten-symphony-singapore-pte-ltd

 

Earnings call: Rakuten Group sees growth in Q1, mobile unit nears profit

2024-05-17

Rakuten Group (TYO:4755) Inc. (RKUNY) reported a robust start to FY 2024, with its Q1 earnings call revealing an 8% year-on-year revenue increase to ¥513.6 billion. The company's strategic project, Rakuten Mobile, is on the verge of profitability and saw a substantial rise in subscribers, contributing to a ¥9.6 billion increase in M&O service revenue. Rakuten's non-GAAP operating income saw a significant jump, with a ¥43.5 billion year-on-year improvement.

The successful issuance of US$2 billion and ¥50 billion in senior notes has alleviated liquidity concerns. Growth was noted across Internet, Fintech, and Mobile segments, with the Fintech segment, including Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Securities, showing notable revenue and profit increases. The company's ecosystem is beginning to enhance both profitability and revenue, with further plans to expand cashless payment services and integrate various financial services.

https://za.investing.com/news/...obile-unit-nears-profit-93CH-3154004
 

Branded Viber Gems debut in APAC: Nido Mother’s Day campaign in the Philippines on Rakuten Viber

Mariia Martyrosian Global PR & Marketing Innovations Director at Rakuten Viber
May 13, 2024

https://stage.forbusiness.viber.com/en/blog/post/...on-rakuten-viber/
 

Japan’s Rakuten Mobile making gains with Open RAN

Breakeven in sight for Open Ran operator in long campaign against established carriers NTT Docomo, KDDI and Softbank

By SCOTT FOSTER MARCH 30, 2024

Rakuten Mobile, Japan’s upstart mobile telecom network operator, sees light at the end of the financial tunnel as subscriber growth heads toward breakeven on an operating cash flow basis in 2024.
Breakeven will be a milestone for the Open RAN (Radio Access Network) standard that allows for various companies to supply different parts of a telecommunications network.

Open RAN gives telecom service providers more flexibility and independence from large suppliers of complete proprietary systems such as China’s Huawei, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia, and smaller national champions like South Korea’s Samsung and Japan’s NEC and Fujitsu.

https://asiatimes.com/2024/03/...n-mobile-making-gains-with-open-ran/
 

Rakuten Viber and Share Treats join forces to deliver a unique gifting experience in the Philippines

Mariia Martyrosian Global PR & Marketing Innovations Director at Rakuten Viber
May 9, 2024

Rakuten Viber, a global leader in private and secure messaging and voice-based communication and a leading chat app in the Philippines, has partnered with Korean online-to-offline casual mobile commerce company Share Treats to introduce the first-of-its-kind gifting experience in South East Asia with Treats on Rakuten Viber. Filipinos can now greet and treat the special people in their lives directly in the Rakuten Viber app, as well as request gifts for any occasion, be it a birthday, a regular fine day, or an upcoming holiday like Mother’s Day.

Thanks to their partnership with Rakuten Viber, Share Treats has become the first company to introduce the gifticon technology (a combination of ‘gift’ and ‘icon’) in the Philippines. With this technology, which originated in South Korea, online gift-giving is as easy as sending a message — and comes with a plethora of options to suit every taste and budget.

With Treats on Rakuten Viber, users can now send online gift cards to their friends and family: from beloved food chains like Jollibee, Dunkin’, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Auntie Anne’s, The Bistro Group and McDonald’s — to essential staples like the convenience store giant 7-Eleven and trusted pharmacy Mercury Drug. They can also share online gift passes for shopping destinations, such as The SM Store and Lazada, or services, like the FoodPanda food delivery and motorcycle taxi app Angkas. They can even give vouchers for e-wallets such as GCash and Maya or gift codes for GrabGifts.

https://stage.forbusiness.viber.com/en/blog/post/...-the-philippines/

 

https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/event/...futuretogether/supersummerseries/  

Rakuten TV ist auf einer Vielzahl von Geräten verfügbar. Du kannst den Dienst auf folgenden Plattformen nutzen:

Smart-TVs: Rakuten TV ist auf vielen Smart-TVs von Marken wie Samsung, LG, Sony und Panasonic verfügbar.

Streaming-Geräte: Du kannst Rakuten TV auf Streaming-Geräten wie Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast und Roku verwenden.

Spielekonsolen: Die Dienstleistung ist auch auf Spielekonsolen wie PlayStation und Xbox verfügbar.

Mobile Geräte: Lade die Rakuten TV-App auf dein Smartphone oder Tablet herunter, um unterwegs Filme und Serien zu streamen.  

https://dollarsprout.com/rakuten-review/  

https://pay.rakuten.co.jp/campaign/2024/0501-ichiba/  

The company is focused on improving profitability and expanding its core business for mid- to long-term financial soundness.

Rakuten Mobile aims to increase ARPU through various strategies, including increased data usage and promotion of services within the ecosystem.

Rakuten is committed to becoming the "Red Hat of the mobile world" and plans to leverage its acquisition of Robin.io to enhance its cloud strategy.

https://za.investing.com/news/...obile-unit-nears-profit-93CH-3154004
 

in the first days of June 2024.  

https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/company/...se/pdf/press20240520.pdf  

Given its 71 percent user penetration rate in the Philippines, it would be hard to find a single Filipino who is not yet a user of the leading communications app Rakuten Viber.  This application is one convenient tool for maintaining connections, both in my professional and personal life.

As a leading app in the Philippines, Viber stands out for its reliability, user-friendly features, and ability to bring people together. Just last year the super app reported 106 percent growth in the Philippines owing to new features focused on serving both individual users and businesses.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/05/20/my-daily-app-companion-viber/
 

May 20, 2024

Rakuten Music's venture into discovering and nurturing new musical talent culminates in the major debut of Apollo, grand prize winner of their first-ever audition. Find out more about future superstars Apollo and tsuna, including their background and pre-debut songs, and the unique strategy of Rakuten Music to add value to their music-related IPs including collaboration with Rakuten NFT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peC8l5NRqxQ

 

The company is focused on improving profitability and expanding its core business for mid- to long-term financial soundness. And so achieve profitability on annual consolidated non-GAAP OI basis in fiscal 2024. And also for Rakuten Mobile, monthly EBITDA-based annual increase as well as annual basis as well.