China’s RenRen Looks At E-Commerce To Monetize Large Audience

According to market estimates,China’s internet population reached 477 million users in March of this year, far ahead of the 239.2 million internet users recorded in the U.S. at the end of 2010. Despite the increased numbers, Internet penetration in the country is at just 40%. In comparison, 78% of the U.S. population has at least one home-based email account. But growing Internet use has translated into an increased number of websites registered, to 3.82 million at present from 3.3 million in February in China.

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International Revenue Bolsters Travel Players’ International Expansion Plans

According to travel research firm PhoCusWright Inc., the global travel market is expected to grow from $888 billion last year to $939 billion this year. By region, the U.S. market will grow from $255 billion last year to $271 billion in 2011. Another report by the researcher projects that the online leisure-travel market in the U.S. will grow from $97 billion last year to $113 billion this year, translating to 16% growth over the year. The European travel market is projected to grow from $319 billion to $331 billion, while APAC markets are projected to grow from $256 billion to $274 billion and Latin American markets from $58 billion to $63 billion for the year. Online travel markets are all set to address increased travel spending in these regions.

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Near-shoring At Genpact And Cognizant

Near-shoring for offshore services is a trend that can no longer be ignored. My recent interview with Neeraj Gupta, CEO of Systems In Motion, a near-shore outsourcing focused organization, showed how smaller companies are stepping up efforts to get in on this trend. In the recent quarters, bigger players have also strengthened their focus on expanding in these regions.

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Patents: The New Differentiating Factor in Mobility

Patents have become a strong issue in the smartphone industry with nearly every vendor engaged in lawsuits with competitors. Apple recently won a preliminary injunction that bans the sale of Samsung’s GALAXY tablet in most of Europe. After its successful lawsuit against Samsung, Apple has sued Motorola for its XOOM tablet infringing on the design for iPad. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

Payroll Services Sector Update

ADP’s (NASDAQ:ADP) recent employment report brought some good news to a gloomy market as the company reported growth in private payrolls in July by 114,000 jobs, ahead of the 100,000 projected earlier. This was the 18th consecutive month of growth in jobs in the country. Growth has been seen across all business sizes with small businesses reporting an increase of 58,000 jobs last month, medium-sized businesses reporting a gain of 47,000 jobs, and large firms adding 9,000 jobs overall. Payroll processing firm ADP’s quarterly results were also equally cheerful.  >>>

First Solar And SunPower Diversifying Away From European Markets

Solar stocks are headed for a weak year driven by the lowering of feed-in-tariffs in Germany and Italy and increasing competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers. These two factors together have impacted the sale prices of solar energy in the market. Analysts estimate that global PV market demand in 2011 will grow 19% over the year to 19.8 gigawatts, driven by North America, India, and China. From 2010 to 2013, the market is expect to grow at a compounded rate of 12% a year. The major solar players are already focusing on these emerging markets.

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Vacation Rentals Market Sees 12% Online Penetration

According to market reports, the vacation rental market for the U.S. and Europe was worth $85 billion in 2010 and Travel Insured International estimates this market to grow at a rate of 13% this year. HomeAway claims to be the world’s largest online marketplace for vacation rentals. Recently, the company went public under the ticker symbol AWAY. Below is a brief overview of the company’s growth thus far.

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LinkedIn Performing On All Fronts Since IPO

Amidst persisting news of doom and gloom, Silicon Valley continues to boom, and LinkedIn, more than any other company, has been the poster child of that boom, and a harbinger of upcoming tech IPOs.

In May of this year, LinkedIn became among the first few social networking companies to list on the stock exchange in the country. Their IPO has been called the biggest since Google’s in 2004. In their first ever quarterly result announcement as a publicly traded company, LinkedIn reported a subscriber base to have grown 61% over the year to 115.8 million. The number is significantly smaller than Facebook’s 700 million and Twitter’s 300 million members. But at least LinkedIn seems to be learning how to monetize that traffic as its results surpassed market expectations. Moreover, the quality of the audience is of a substantially higher calibre, making it attractive for advertisers and marketers, as well as recruiters.

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Nokia Loses Its Hold On Mobile Industry

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) recently reported weak second quarter results as demand for its products on the aging Symbian OS dwindled. Nokia last quarter announced its plans to make the Microsoft Windows phone platform its primary smartphone OS. While Nokia is making this transition, the market dynamics have changed. It has been toppled by Apple from its market leading position. According to research firm IDC, Nokia at the number three position now holds just a 15.7% share of the smartphone market, down from 37.3% last year. Apple leads the market with 19.1%, followed by Samsung with 16.2%. In the mobile phone market, Nokia still leads with a 24.2% share, but its hold is weakening. Let’s take a closer look.

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SAP’s Mobility Strategy Scores

SAP (NYSE:SAP), the largest maker of business management software, last week reported a strong second quarter and said it will reach the high end of its forecasts. SAP’s $5.8 billion acquisition of database specialist Sybase last year has helped the company to realize its vision of in-memory computing and broadened its reach in mobile platforms. Let’s take a closer look.

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