eBay Eyes China’s E-Buyers

According to Gartner research, the number of consumers who use mobile devices for payments is estimated to have grown 38% in 2011 to more than 141 million users. The volume of transactions over mobile devices is estimated at $86.1 billion, compared with $48.9 billion reported in 2010. Gartner believes that retail shoppers will drive the

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IBM Reinforces Focus on Analytics

Earlier this month, Gartner issued their revised estimates for Q1 worldwide IT spending, and the numbers seem to be improving. The researcher now expects overall global IT spending growth in Q1 of 2012 to have been a mere 2.5% over the year compared with earlier estimates of 3.7%. But the lower figure was on account

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Google vs. Facebook: Ad Wars

According to researcher eMarketer, online ad spending in the U.S. will grow 23.3% this year to $39.5 billion. Double-digit growth is projected to continue till 2014, when online ad spending in the country is projected to reach $52.8 billion. The researcher estimates that by 2016, online ad spend will account for $62 billion. The ad

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Twitter: Phenomenon, Yes. But A Sustainable Business?

Facebook’s IPO may be round the corner, but that is definitely not pushing Twitter into IPO mode. For now, Twitter seems to prefer to watch the market’s reaction to Facebook’s going public and focus on expanding their capabilities. Twitter has made several acquisitions as it builds up momentum for their own IPO expected next year.

Workday Challenges Oracle and SAP in Talent Management

Software-as-a-service based enterprise business services provider Workday is expected to hit the market with an IPO this year. A few analysts believe that Workday’s IPO may be more worth their while than that of other Internet giants like Facebook. I certainly believe this is an organization to watch. Workday operates in the cloud computing and

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INRIX Riding High on Apps Using Traffic Data

According to a market research report released last year, World GPS Market Forecast to 2013, from 2011-2013 the shipment of global positioning system (GPS) devices is projected to grow at more than 20% to 900 million units. Growth is fueled by technology convergence that is enabling GPS services in smartphones and other consumer electronics such

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Zulily Rides High on Flash Sales Trend in Kids Category

Many analysts believe that the future of e-commerce retail lies in flash sale shopping. The model was pioneered by Vente Privee in Europe and has gradually been adopted by e-commerce players worldwide. In a flash sale, an e-retailer offers products at big discounts for a limited time and at limited quantities. According to Experian Hitwise,

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LivingSocial Looks Scattered

Last December, LivingSocial raised $176 million in a round of funding that pegged their valuation at $6 billion. Investors included Lightspeed Ventures, Amazon, and possibly JP Morgan Digital Growth Fund. Despite the injection of money, I maintain my skepticism about their outlandish valuations. The recently revealed Amazon results, which cite LivingSocial’s performance, do little to change

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