Taleo Expands In Europe

Over the past two years, there has been tremendous M&A activity in the talent management sector as companies like SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) and Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO) look to provide end-to-end talent management solutions and fill the gaps in their portfolio. Taleo in the last quarter announced its plans to acquire European vendor Jobpartners for $38 million. Let’s take a closer look.

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Major Near-Shoring Projects At Indian IT Outsourcing Firms

Some analysts believe that growth in the $76 billion Indian outsourcing industry has begun to slow because of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating and the troubled economies in Europe. But this may not be the case. Ignoring the market conditions, the bigger players in the market are all gearing to expand their near-shore presence, a trend that they have realized cannot be ignored.

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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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