BlackBerry’s Struggles See No End

According to an IDC research report, smartphones powered by Android OS grew from 69% in 2012 to 78.6% in 2013, eating into the share of iOS devices. iOS-based phone sales fell from 18.7% to 15.2% and BlackBerry phones fell from 4.5% a year ago to 1.9% in 2013.

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Mobile Messaging Apps: Kik Interactive

Besides Asia-based mobile messaging apps like WeChat and LINE, there are a few other players in the North American market as well who have managed to amass a substantial user base along with a sizeable revenue model. One such player is Canada-based Kik Interactive.

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Mobile Messaging Apps: KakaoTalk

As I mentioned earlier, the preferred mobile messaging app varies across geographies. Facebook and WhatsApp are universal leaders in the Western markets, but the Orient is still dominated by home grown players. Here is a quick review of KakaoTalk, another Asian company making it big in the market. After capturing the South Korean market, KakaoTalk is working on expanding their market presence and is said to be preparing for an IPO.

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Mobile Messaging Apps: LINE App

An OnDevice research conducted in November last year noted that the preference for mobile messaging app market is split across geographies. While Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp may be clear leaders in the American and EMEA markets, the Asian market is a different story. Asia is dominated mostly by home grown apps who are now planning to make it big in the international markets as well. China is led by Tencent’s Weixin, also known as WeChat and the Japanese market is headed by South Korean Naver’s LINE App.

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Mobile Messaging Apps: WeChat in China

Facebook may have bought WhatsApp to consolidate its leadership in the mobile messaging apps segment, but market dominance in China still remains a distant dream. Government regulations coupled with the country’s language and cultural differences have caused most technology giants including the likes of Google, Yahoo, and Amazon to rethink their China strategy. Similarly, while the rest of the world uses either the Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp as their preferred mobile messaging apps, China has been dominated by home-grown WeChat.

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Mobile Messaging Apps: A Market Review

The recent $19 billion acquisition of mobile messaging app WhatsApp by Facebook has brought unprecedented attention to the market. According to consulting firm Ovum, global revenues of mobile SMS plans fell from $145 billion in 2012 to $120 billion in 2013, primarily due to the shift toward data-driven communication applications. Add to that the growing adoption of smartphones, and this trend is likely to continue. Here, we review the top ones that are making waves in the market: Tango, WeChat, LINE App, Kakao Talk, and Kik Interactive.

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Chinese E-Tailer Trying to Bypass Intermediaries

According to a Euromonitor International report, worldwide e-tail sales are projected to grow 17.7% annually over the period 2012 through 2015 to be worth $849 billion in 2015. Analysts believe that as Internet penetration improves globally, e-commerce transactions will also grow. Additionally, this growth is also benefiting manufacturing countries such as China, which has now become a major producer of consumer goods for global brands as well as home grown smaller products. iResearch estimates that the Chinese consumer goods export market will grow 16% annually to $1,983 billion in 2015. Online retail in China is dominated by Alibaba. But there are other vendors as well who are helping consolidate the fragmented small firms in the country to enable them to sell their products in international markets.

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Online Real Estate Sector Preparing for the Housing Market Turnaround

Many expect the current year to be the breakthrough year for the housing market. While the housing sector was seeing pockets of recovery in 2013, 2014 is expected to be a lot better – mostly because according to analysts, it has “Nowhere to Go (but Up)”. The National Association of Home Builders is projecting a 24% growth in total housing starts, with even larger gains for single-family units. The online housing services sector is expanding their market offerings to cater to this growing demand.

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Pre-IPO MuleSoft Makes SaaS Apps Talk to One Another

According to research firm IHS, worldwide enterprise spending on cloud-related technology is projected to triple over the period 2011 through 2017. The market is estimated to be worth $235.1 billion by the year 2017. In the current year, global business spending on infrastructure and services related to the cloud are projected to grow 20% over 2013 to $174.2 billion. As the adoption for cloud services increases, organizations are also looking for services that help with the integration of not only traditional legacy on-premise applications and software with the cloud, but also the integration of multiple upcoming technologies.

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Criteo’s High Performing IPO

According to ad agency ZenithOptimedia, global ad spend is estimated to be worth $503 billion in 2013. The US accounts for $109.7 billion of this market. The research study estimates that last year, 22% of US ad spend was on digital media, compared with 19% in 2012. Internet advertising is projected to grow 16% annually over the next two years and will account for 28% of all US ad spend by 2015. Global ad spends are expected to follow similar trends.

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