Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

- und daher habe ich mir nach dem Einstieg bei Alibaba, die inzwischem mehr als 20% gut gemacht haben, auch einige Rakutens gekauft.

Look Out Amazon, Here Comes...Rakuten?
Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced on Tuesday it is acquiring Ebates for $1 billion.

The acquisition, which Rakuten hinted at last week, is part of the Japanese company?s push to grow its base beyond its domestic market and hopefully, become a global player. Having made some $1.2 billion acquisitions to date along these lines, this is Rakuten?s most ambitious move to date.

However, investors are dubious that the company can absorb yet another foreign acquisition, much less one the size of Ebates, despite Rakuten?s strong cash position.
Then there is the ever-present Amazon, which dominates the e-commerce market in the U.S. Few believe it will falter in the face of Chinese giant Alibaba, much less a Rakuten-Ebates combo.

Rakuten Goes Forth

Not surprisingly, Rakuten says it is undaunted. For starters, it has assembled a very interesting mix of acquisitions. There is messaging app Viber, which it purchased for $900 million in February, the Canadian ebook offering Kobo, Spanish video service Wuaki.tv, Viki, a digital content platform and Buy.com.
Now it has picked up Ebates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikamorphy/2014/09/...ere-comes-rakuten/  

have a value  of more than one billion $.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS)
33.80
+5.19

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ASTS/
 

Revolutionizing Cloud-Native Security and Networking with the Power of AI/ML and eBPF

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...with-the-power-of-ai-ml-and-ebpf
 

 

 

https://www.finanznachrichten.de/...in-network-transformation-008.htm
 

Rakuten pitches telcos with FAST channels through Enterprise Services

March 4, 2025

The company is expanding its Enterprise Services division, which includes Content Syndication, Monetisation and FAST Channels & Video App Solutions.

Rakuten TV works with major European telecom operators including Virgin Media O2 (UK), MasOrange (Spain), 1&1 (Germany), and Altibox (Norway), as well as top FAST services including VIDAA, Xiaomi TV+, LG Channels, and Samsung TV Plus.

?We?ve been operating streaming and VOD platform for 15 years now. We?ve done many things. We?ve started with TVOD just in Spain, then we expanded to many countries in Europe six years ago. Then back in late 2019, beginning of 2020, we launched AVOD also we were the first platform launching this free content with ads,? said Cédric Dufour, CEO and President of Rakuten TV in a Broadband TV News interview.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2025/03/04/...gh-enterprise-services/
 

Rakuten Symphony Announces Isbel as Latin American Partner

BARCELONA, March 5, 2025 ? Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of global technology leader Rakuten Group, has announced that Latin American technology solutions provider Isbel, a Quantik Group company, will act as its value-added reseller in the region, delivering Rakuten Symphony?s Open RAN, Cloud and OSS solutions to mobile network operators in the region. Isbel will drive Rakuten Symphony?s business development, implementation and Level-1 support across its regional footprint.

The announcement positions Rakuten Symphony as Isbel?s flagship partner. Isbel will support Rakuten Symphony?s expansion throughout a range of LATAM markets, including Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands. Isbel has 40 years of experience in technology solutions and is currently supporting mobile network operators across the OSS, BSS, OTT, cloud and RAN domains.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/newsroom/...el-as-latin-american-partner
 

1&1's Open RAN network: all customers to be migrated by the end of the year

1&1 is making progress in building its own mobile network after initial difficulties. According to 1&1, more than half of the company's 12 million customers are now served by the new network, with around 250,000 new and existing customers joining every week. By the end of the year, 1&1 wants to have completed the migration and only work on the Open RAN. Martin continues: "Open RAN has long since left the laboratory environment behind and is, at least for us, the reality."

https://www.heise.de/en/news/...-by-the-end-of-the-year-10302165.html
 

Targeting full-year EBITDA to turn positive in 2025

Rakuten Mobile achieved profitability in the final month of 2024 five years after launch, with chair Mickey Mikitani targeting full-year EBITDA to turn positive in 2025, driven by subscriber and ARPU gains.
The operator?s EBITDA in December hit JPY2.3 billion ($15.1 million). The figure for the full-year dropped by JPY98.7 billion from a year ago to a loss of JPY53.8 billion.

Mikitani attributed the move to profit to strong subscriber acquisition and increased ARPU due to improved network quality, as well as ongoing cost control and rising ad revenue.

https://www.telecomschamber.org/industry-news/...ofitability-in-2025/

 

Why Rakuten Mobile?s network keeps getting better: Vice CTO Takeshita explains

January 8, 2025

https://rakuten.today/blog/...ce-cto-takeshita-explains%EF%BF%BC.html
 

Introducing the New Rakuten Card Sendai Branch Office

March 07, 2025

In September 2024, the Rakuten Card Sendai branch office relocated to accommodate the expansion of the organization. The new office, located just a 6-minute walk from Sendai Station, features approximately 600 workspaces and meeting rooms. The office is also equipped with excellent welfare facilities, including a cafeteria that offers three free meals a day and a study lounge for skill development and reading. The matching original hoodies worn by Rakutenians carry a unique meaning specific to the Sendai office.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lv7h0S1Xkc&t=101s
 

How super apps are transforming the business world

January 10, 2025

Rakuten Viber: Europe?s first secure super app

Businesses have the opportunity to build such experiences on Rakuten Viber, the leading platform in many European countries. Some of the most renowned brands have already implemented Viber for Business solutions to reach and engage users, with the highest security standards.

To improve awareness strategies, brands can use Rakuten Viber?s unique features to build creative campaigns. Among the most popular are Viber Gems and Lenses, which enable brands to target specific markets during peak holiday seasons, natively increasing visibility and engagement.

For instance, Fanta set up a carnival-themed campaign in Greece. During a two-week period, any carnival-related words used in a Viber chat would activate a Fanta-branded animation, and users could try on a branded AR-powered lens. In the end, Fanta saw over 5.6 million gems generated and over 256,000 lenses tried on ? helping build emotional connections with their Greek customers during the holiday season.

Once customers are engaged, they can continue to browse products or services, ask for additional information, or complete their purchase. Brands can even set up retargeting campaigns to improve cross-sell and upsell efforts, and connect customers with their chatbot for further assistance.

At its core, Rakuten Viber has embedded the most important feature of them all ? security. Rated as one of the top three messaging and calling apps for security, the super app gives brands peace of mind that their customer communication is safe from extortion. Moderated public channels, manually verified business accounts, and a high level of encryption are the foundation that make Rakuten Viber a trusted channel for any business in any industry.

https://rakuten.today/blog/...re-transforming-the-business-world.html
 

Scaling a five-nines architecture from RAN to enterprise

March 07, 2025

Telcos have been asking Wind River if they could use their highly reliable RAN software architecture in the enterprise. To make this possible, Wind River is partnering with Rakuten Symphony to enhance the platform for enterprise use, with highly reliable and scalable storage. Here, Rakuten Symphony?s Ani Chakravartii and Wind River?s Darrell Jordan-Smith explain how their joint customers can use the same five-nines architecture from edge to cloud.

Featuring: Anirban Chakravartti, SVP Global Head of Sales (Enterprise), Rakuten Symphony Darrell Jordan-Smith, Chief Revenue Officer, Wind River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YoI1hfxhWs
 

Rakuten at the IDR User Forum 2024: Inspiring the Next Generation of AI Innovators

3 days ago

At the forum, Nakayama delivered a presentation titled? ?Research Cases and Public Datasets from Rakuten Group,??where he highlighted Rakuten?s use of NLP technologies to enhance its services. From filtering harmful text to building large language models (LLMs) and applying aspect-based sentiment analysis, Nakayama shared real-world examples of how Rakuten leverages AI to improve user experiences.

During the poster session, Nakayama engaged with students and researchers, discussing their projects and offering insights into how Rakuten?s datasets can be utilized for impactful research. Later, in the data provider session, he delivered a lightning round talk and interacted with attendees at Rakuten?s poster booth, providing a closer look at the company?s contributions to AI research.

https://rakuten.today/blog/rakuten-at-the-idr-user-forum-2024.html
 

 

From AI hype to real-world tools: Rakuten teams up with LangChain

January 3, 2025

In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, separating hype from practical business value remains a crucial challenge. At Rakuten, that challenge is being met head-on through an innovative partnership with LangChain, a startup that builds AI infrastructure tools to help companies turn powerful language models into practical business applications.

At a recent event at Rakuten?s Tokyo headquarters, LangChain CEO Harrison Chase and founding engineer Will Fu-Hinthorn addressed Rakuten employees, showcasing how their technology is bridging the gap between AI potential and business reality.

?The key point is not about the model,? explains General Manager, AI for Business, Yusuke Kaji, who leads Rakuten?s LLM-related product development. ?It?s more about the orchestration on top of the LLM, if you want to create a good service or tool or application. LangChain helps us address this problem of orchestration, connecting useful tools like web search, file search, or data analysis and coding assist tools.?

These tailored AI agents are far more sophisticated than standard chatbots. They comprise a chain of steps, including a planning stage and a reflection stage in which the agent assesses its own output and loops back to earlier in the chain if necessary.

https://rakuten.today/blog/...ls-rakuten-teams-up-with-langchain.html
 

What are the main challenges of the telco to techco journey?

March 06, 2025

Virtusa?s Niladri Dutta outlines how telcos transition into AI native from cloud native, and the potential for network-as-a-service (NaaS) to act as an accelerator for 5G monetisation.

Featuring: Niladri Dutta, Global Telco Industry Consulting & Solutions Leader, Virtusa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlwCIS2GSOU
 

BARCELONA, Spain/BAAR, Switzerland, 5 March 2025. ? GMS is proud to announce a new Platinum Partner status within ?Rakuten Viber Partner Growth Program?. This marks a significant milestone in GMS's global mission to deliver next-generation communication experiences to brands, built on 10 years of trust and fruitful collaboration with Rakuten Viber.  

This partnership started with introduction of Rakuten Viber products to Ukrainian brands back to 2015. GMS pioneered the use of Viber messaging services for businesses in Ukraine and took it further, helping thousands of companies globally to establish engaging conversations with their clients, expanding reach, building loyalty, and driving growth.  

https://gms.net/news/...cognized-as-platinum-partner-of-rakuten-viber
 

10 March 2025

Shifting to a data-first mindset can unravel operational complexity, as well as unlock new possibilities to implement AI Ops.

https://the-mobile-network.com/2025/03/the-telco-complexity-crisis/

 

 

How Open RAN nearly got *too* open, and how to build the networks of the future.

7 March 2025

https://the-mobile-network.com/2025/03/23287/
 

Odine, a global technology partner in sustainable network and digital transformation, is pleased to announce that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Rakuten Symphony, a global leader in cloud-native Open RAN telco infrastructure, services, and solutions. This strategic collaboration marks a significant step in accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge solutions in Türkiye, Middle East and Africa.

https://odine.com/news-insights/...ovation-in-network-transformation/
 

Copilot, now available on Viber

Copilot can now be directly accessed within the Viber app. Enjoy everything Copilot has to offer from getting answers to asking for advice, generating images and more.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/...0acaa65c8ecd6306

Rakuten Viber, or simply Viber, is a cross-platform voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) software application owned by Japanese multinational company Rakuten.

https://www.bing.com/...;FORM=ANAB01&adppc=EDGEDSP&PC=EDGEDSP
 

Japanese Telecom Giants Promote Open RAN Technology at Mobile World Congress; Aiming to Challenge European, Chinese Dominance

March 7, 2025

Rakuten Group, Inc. is leading the charge for Open RAN adoption. Rakuten, which fully entered the mobile phone business in April 2020, set up Open RAN across its domestic network to reduce the cost of capital investment.

Gaining technical expertise has earned Rakuten international recognition. The company secured a contract from a German telecom startup to build an Open RAN-based network and launched services there in December 2023.

?We aim to make our Open RAN technology the de facto standard,? said Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani to reporters at the MWC on Tuesday.

According to U.S.-based research firm Dell?Oro Group, only about 10% of global base stations use Open RAN. However, this is expected to increase to approximately 25% by 2028.

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/science-nature/...gy/20250307-242222/
 

Rakuten Group quarterly domestic e-commerce GMS 2015-2024

Published by C. Diep, Mar 6, 2025

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the domestic gross transaction value of the Rakuten Group's e-commerce segment amounted to over 1.7 trillion Japanese yen, growing by 9.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. The Japanese online retailing company is headquartered in Tokyo, and operates the online marketplace Rakuten Ichiba.

The company's fiscal year and fourth quarter ended December 31 of the stated year.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/223341/...tic-e-commerce-revenue/
 

March 11, 2025

This is the video broadcast during an internal surprise event on the birthday of Rakuten Group CEO Mickey Mikitani. It is a "Rakuten History" video chronicled through "Mickey's mission." Please take a moment to watch it if you?d like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfD0af5Zmk0