Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
June 2024
Thomas Patchett, Japanese Equity Specialist
Donald Farquharson, Head of Japanese Equities
From paper to platforms: a domestic digitalisation story
Whether it's due to the limited supply of labour, rising wages, or the need for productivity gains and scale advantages, Japan is slowly but surely shifting online.
Having lagged other developed markets across most areas of digitalisation, such as ecommerce, cashless payments, software-as-a-service, and general enterprise IT investment, Japan has now recognised the critical need to develop these labour-saving solutions. This shift opens up significant long-term growth opportunities. Although this opportunity is still in its infancy – and is therefore far less prominent than in other developed markets – it is often accessible at little to no premium to the broader market.
Rakuten's ecosystem of services
Rakuten is home to Japan’s largest points-based ecosystem with over 100 million users accessing upwards of 70 online services (from hotel bookings to brokerage and banking). Despite consistently growing its top line for 27 years since inception, the company trades at a mere 0.6x sales, which is half that of the market average, because of the capital-intensive decision it made to develop its mobile phone network. Although this new venture required significant outlay, an accelerating pick-up in paying subscribers could soon see the network become profitable by year-end. As a standalone, we believe it could double the enterprise value of the group. Beyond that, we think it has the potential to add value to the entire ecosystem. By adding another customer touchpoint, it is improving its access to data and raising the potential to cross-sell more of its services.
https://www.bailliegifford.com/en/ireland/...xt-opportunity-10048027/
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Since migrating to Rakuten Advertising and its fully affiliate managed service – our programme has gone from strength to strength. Rakuten Advertising’s strategies have helped grow the programme and we have been able to really move the dial. Our account management team have felt like a true extension of our team and have led to the affiliate channel becoming our strongest growing channel!
Simon Porter
Digital Marketing Manager, Ann Summers
https://rakutenadvertising.com/en-uk/affiliate/
He noted it is now in the third phase of its launch, which is telling customers about its improved network quality. It is working to a target of 10 million subscribers by end-2025.
Symphony revenue jumped 55.3 per cent in Q1/2024 to $118 million.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...ils-network-quality-gains/
1 month ago
Ray Sharma
Rakuten Mobile and Cisco announced a major milestone for network infrastructure in support of efforts to build a better, more inclusive internet for the future.
The two companies have collaborated to successfully complete one of the world's largest Segment Routing over IPv6 Micro Segment ID (SRv6 uSID) IP transport network migrations, unlocking a new era of unprecedented speed, agility and on-demand services*2 for Japanese businesses nationwide.
Rakuten Mobile has already adopted SRv6 in its IP transport network, which connects base stations to its core network. In traditional networks adopting IPv6, the standard for IP addresses, priority is given to packet processing via the shortest possible route. SRv6 assigns Segment IDs to packets, enabling scalability for networks and other functions. By adopting uSID, Rakuten Mobile now has access to more refined and efficient methods of packet processing.
Utilizing a robust foundation built on SRv6 uSID-based IP transport networks, Rakuten Mobile launched its ultra-high-speed internet connection service 'KOSOKU Access' in January 2024 as a fixed network service for enterprise customers. This enables customers to access fast, low-latency on-demand services in a secure and reliable business infrastructure with a 24/7 network maintenance system. This enables KOSOKU Access customers across Japan to effectively scale their connectivity usage depending on their evolving business demands.
https://www.thefastmode.com/technology-solutions/...etwork-migrations
Symphony revenue jumped 55.3 per cent in Q1/2024 to $118 million.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...ils-network-quality-gains/
Rakuten Symphony sales dropped 18 per cent to $85 billion in Q2/2024.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...criber-growth-accelerates/
The $ 203 million revenue of Rakuten Symphony in the first half of 2024 are $ 406 million on a yearly base in 2024 (and Q4 was the strongest quarter of Rakuten Symphony in the past).
If you take a look at the market volume from Juniper Research of $ 2 billion, the market-cap of Rakuten Symphony is more than 20%.
“Juniper Research release a press release to promote its new Global Operator O-RAN Strategies, 2024-2029 report. The headline data point is that ‘annual operator investment into O-RAN (Open Radio Access Networks) will reach $11 billion in 2029; rising from $2 billion in 2024.’ So that’s 5.5x growth over five years at a CAGR of over 40%.”
https://www.telecoms.com/open-ran/...ng-will-increase-over-5x-by-2029
https://www.lionheartv.net/2024/09/...he-upcoming-shopping-festivals/
by Viktor Hendelmann
https://productmint.com/how-does-rakuten-make-money/
9 hours ago
In the world of AI, 12 months is an eternity – so much was clear from the exciting new tech on display at the recent 2024 Rakuten Optimism conference.
One panel discussion titled AI Accelerates Innovation: The New Frontier of Creativity kicked off with a video introduction from two hyper-real AI avatars, who gave the Optimism audience an effortless welcome in 10 different languages.
The avatars then relinquished the stage to their flesh-and-blood counterparts – Rakuten Group Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Naho Kono and Samurai Inc. Creative Director Kashiwa Sato, the creative director and graphic designer behind many iconic Japanese brands such as Seven-Eleven, Uniqlo and Rakuten.
The session served as a follow-up to a discussion from Rakuten Optimism 2023, when Kono and Sato were joined by Kyoto University physicist Professor Koji Hashimoto to discuss the potential of AI tools. This year, Kono and Sato welcomed Professor Jun Suzuki, director of the Center for Language AI Research at Tohoku University.
From potential to reality
“It’s been barely two years since generative AI really started taking off,” Suzuki told the panel. “We can do so much more now. And I think you can all imagine that it will continue to improve drastically.”
The previous year’s discussion saw the panelists marvel at the text generation capabilities of AI, revealing that they had used a large language model to come up with the title of the conference session.
This year, Kono took the opportunity to show off a range of areas in which Rakuten has already begun effectively applying AI tools for business. These included advertising campaigns for Rakuten Beauty and Rakuten Fashion Week, an AI character to promote Rakuten Card, and a simplified ID verification process for Rakuten Mobile.
“This time last year, we were talking about potential applications. Now we’re actually here, applying AI,” Sato commented. “In this case, it’s not that the output has changed drastically, but rather the tools. So it doesn’t look like anything has changed from the customer’s perspective. But going forward, as the tools change, so will the output and ideas. I’m looking forward to that future.”
Suzuki researches artificial intelligence, natural language processing, machine learning and how computers are able to gain understanding of human language. He expressed a belief that in the near future AI will impress us even further.
“In the future, AI could become more interactive. We could make things in a dynamic way,” he predicted. “When you generate things in advance like we’re doing now, you have the chance to fix them up. But if you have to make it on the fly, you’ve just got that one chance. So we’re not quite there yet. In the future, I think we will be able to do this.”
Can we trust AI?
“What surprises me the most is that we know if we input something into an AI, we get a certain output,” Sato remarked. “But when it comes to the operating principles of how it gets to that answer, we don’t yet have a good understanding.”
“Even as we’re able to do dramatically more with AI, it’s becoming clear that there are a lot of potential problems,” Suzuki agreed. “One of those problems is that the generative AI we use now is often described as a black box. Even if we know that a certain action causes a certain result, we still don’t know very well what kind of logic it’s following. And as long as we don’t understand that, we won’t really be able to take full advantage of AI.”
Much of Suzuki’s research focuses on how well AI aligns with human sensibilities, looking at metrics such as whether AI chooses the same words to describe certain things.
“In actual fact, AI isn’t processing these things in the same way as a human. Of course, what’s happening in a computer is different from what’s happening in a human brain, so there’s a difference there, even if we’re seeing similar things come out.”
Suzuki says that even the biggest models aren’t quite there yet, but the path forward is clear.
“When there is a difference between how humans and AI feel about something, we aren’t able to fully trust our use of AI,” he added. “Only by making AI that aligns as much as possible with human sensibilities will the world be able to use it to its full potential.”
Staying optimistic in the AI age
In a world flooded with AI-generated content, what will become of human creators?
“Young creators and students often ask me what they should do going forward,” Sato told the panel. “It’s not a question of skill, but of morals, of philosophy – what does it mean to be human? It’s important that we face this question head-on.”
The flipside of this, Suzuki highlighted, is that AI tools can empower regular people to become creative.
“People who weren’t necessarily creators are now able to ‘make’ things,” he noted. “Now that the playing field has been leveled somewhat, you should be thinking about how to infuse your own personality into your creations to add a unique flavor.”
Sato concluded the session on an optimistic note.
“I’m mainly excited about AI. I want to see new things. I want to make new things. How we make things is going to keep changing – we could see creations that humankind has never seen before. And that’s something I want to witness,” Sato concluded. “If we do this session again, I’ll be excited to see what awaits us in the future.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/creativity-and-humanity-in-the-ai-age.html
https://www.similarweb.com/de/top-apps/google/ukraine/communication/
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The new offering allows Viber Plus users to quickly and quietly undo their digital chat print.
By Team Orange September 1, 2024
Rakuten Viber, a global leader in private and secure messaging and calls, announces Delete Without a Trace, a highly anticipated feature allowing Viber Plus premium users to inconspicuously unsend their messages — regardless of whether recipients have already read them.
“Viber Plus is our commitment to providing users with a user experience that’s not just functional, but also fun and secure,” says Ofir Eyal, CEO of Rakuten Viber. “We will continue to incorporate user feedback to build out fan-favorite features — as we have with Invisible Mode — to maintain customer satisfaction and easy chatting.”
Since January of this year, Rakuten Viber has noted a 170% increase in Viber Plus subscribers. Its exclusive features and content are available in 100 countries to Viber’s millions of users.
https://orangemagazine.ph/2024/...-a-trace-feature-for-premium-users/
By arminderkaur192 6th September 2024
Rakuten Mobile’s 5G network is notable for its innovative approach, leveraging a fully virtualized, cloud-native architecture. Here’s a detailed technical breakdown:
https://telcomatraining.com/what-is-rakuten-5g-network/
September 11, 2024 by Robert Wyrzykowski
In this new analysis, we examine our smartphone users’ mobile experience on Japan’s expressways and highways, across all of the four Japanese operators. This analysis is a follow-up to our earlier insights on the quality of mobile experience around Japan’s major transportation areas, e.g. the Yamanote line, the Tokaido Shinkansen line, and the Japanese airports.
Rakuten Mobile comes first for Upload Speed Experience and 5G Upload Speed.
https://www.opensignal.com/2024/09/11/...ese-expressways-and-highways
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Advertising, the leading global affiliate marketing network, announced the launch of its AI-driven Partnership Discovery solution for advertisers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market. This innovative solution, which has already transformed how advertisers find new partners in the US and UK, will empower advertisers in the Rakuten Advertising APAC network to identify the most effective publisher partners for high-performance affiliate campaigns.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...g-expands-ai-powered-230000211.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...2520January%252023,%25202024%2520--
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The Rakuten Drive x Rakuten Mobile program is a special benefit exclusively for Rakuten Mobile subscribers, designed primarily for use with the Rakuten Drive mobile app. As announced on the Rakuten Mobile campaign page, to ensure fair service for all customers, we had temporarily restricted the file upload function from web browsers for all Rakuten Mobile subscribers. However, starting from Tuesday, September 24, 2024, this restriction will be lifted for all plans.
https://support.rakuten-drive.com/hc/en-us/...Mobile-Users-2024-09-10
By Simon Dux 9 September 2024
https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/...ecomes-an-operator-opex-imperative/
September 12, 2024
Rakuten TV’s FAST channels and on-demand movies are now available through the set-top boxes of the Norwegian ISP and television service provider Altibox TV.
Customers can choose from a selection of 600 AVOD titles without subscription and over 130 FAST channels.
Rakuten TV channels including Top Movies Channel, Action Channel, Comedy Channel and Drama Channel are all available.
Jorge del Puerto, European Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Rakuten TV said:“Rakuten TV fits perfectly into Altibox’s content strategy. In their continuous efforts to provide the best service, they are not only looking to provide more content to their customers but also clearly aim to secure high quality content, which is undoubtedly the cornerstone of Rakuten TV. There is a vast amount of FAST/AVOD content currently available in the market, but very little of it is truly high quality, that’s why Rakuten TV is becoming extremely popular across Nordic countries.”
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2024/09/12/...vailable-on-altibox-tv/
30/06/23
Rakuten TV has announced the launch of its first owned and operated channel in Poland, Top Movies Polska.
The new FAST channel will be available to households in Poland from mid-July and marks a significant milestone in Rakuten TV’s expansion in Europe, becoming the first pure FAST film channel in the Polish market.
Top Movies Polska will be available for streaming on the Rakuten TV app across all devices, providing convenient access to a wide range of movie content, from both Hollywood and European distributors.
In February, Rakuten TV enhanced its AVOD catalog in Poland by adding nearly 100 localised films, and the platform said the new FAST channel reflects innovation and meeting the evolving demands of viewers in the country.
Top Movie Polska, is the latest FAST channel to be added to the Rakuten TV portfolio, after the recent announcements of the additions of CNN Now, Real Series and the Series Crime channels. Rakuten TV now has over 100 owned and operated channels in Europe across multiple genres, including Film, Documentary, Series, Kids, Reality, Crime and News.
https://www.csimagazine.com/csi/...n-launches-Polish-FAST-channel.php
September 12, 2024
The satellites will provide the basis for initial commercial NTN services for carriers including AT&T and Verizon
Satellite direct-to-cellular company AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the successful — and right-on-schedule — launch of its first five BlueBird satellites. The satellites are destined for low Earth orbit, providing the basis for initial commercial non-terrestrial network (NTN) services for carriers including AT&T and Verizon.
A press statement from the company featured a comment from Mickey Mikitani, Rakuten group chairman and CEO, who said: “Today’s historic launch from Kennedy Space Center marks the next step in our shared mission of democratizing telecommunications. Mobile connectivity is a necessity no matter where you are. We are proud to be working with a trailblazer like AST SpaceMobile to create a more connected world.” Rakuten is an investor in AST SpaceMobile.
in addition to investments from Rakuten and U.S. carrier partners AT&T and Verizon, AST SpaceMobile has also secured strategic investments from Google and Vodafone, as well as contracts with the United States Government through prime contractors. Further, more than 45 mobile operators around the world have signed agreements with the satellite company. These include Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, Saudi Telecom Company, MTN, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Globe Telecom.
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20240912/...st-five-commercial-satellites
A new report from analyst firm SNS Telecom & IT suggests that global spending on Open RAN automation software and services will reach nearly $700 Million by the end of 2027.
Automation of the Radio Access Network (RAN) – the most expensive, technically complex and power-intensive part of cellular infrastructure – is a key aspect of mobile operators’ digital transformation strategies aimed at reducing their TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), improving network quality and achieving revenue generation targets. In conjunction with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), RAN automation has the potential to significantly transform mobile network economics by reducing the OpEx (Operating Expenditure)-to-revenue ratio, minimising energy consumption, lowering CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) emissions, deferring avoidable CapEx (Captial Expenditure), optimising performance, improving user experience and enabling new services.
https://www.iot-now.com/2024/09/12/...s-revenue-to-reach-700-million/