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/  

Viber Pay 101: Setting Up Your Account and Sending Money Instantly

By Eden Ezion
October 31, 2024

Viber Pay is your new go-to digital wallet within the Rakuten Viber messaging app. It lets you send money to friends and family securely, instantly, and for free. Currently available in Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, Viber Pay is also coming soon to the Philippines. Imagine transferring money as easily as sending a message ? that?s Viber Pay!

https://www.viber.com/en/blog/2024-10-31/...-sending-money-instantly/

 

Rakuten Rewards' Global Vision Widens with UK Service Launch

January 10, 2025

Rakuten Rewards is spreading its wings beyond North America to the rest of the world, starting with the UK! This brand expansion has been gaining momentum through 2024, right up to the peak year-end shopping campaign, incorporating promotions with local celebrities, influencers, and ads with a uniquely British flavor. RNN investigates this new venture, including the reasons for entering the UK, and the consumer response so far.

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

"I take the view that an improvement in operating profitability will put Rakuten in a position to command a more demanding valuation multiple. RKUNY has delivered a good set of results for Q3 2024, and I think that the company can turn operating income positive for full-year FY 2025.?

https://seekingalpha.com/article/...ty-inflection-point-reiterate-buy
 

Over 8.3 million subscribers

In our core internet services business, we achieved an estimated 6 trillion yen in annual domestic e-commerce gross merchandise sales for 2024. Our fintech services also continued to break new ground ? Rakuten Card reached a quarterly milestone of 6 trillion yen in shopping transaction volume, while Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Securities surpassed 16.19 million and 11.65 million accounts respectively, cementing their places as the leading digital bank and online securities brokerage in Japan.

But perhaps what excites me most is our progress in the mobile sector. In 2024, Rakuten Mobile launched commercial services using the 700 MHz ?platinum band.? This, among many other improvements to our network, has helped us grow to reach a total of over 8.3 million subscribers.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/...-excited-2025-mickey-mikitani-3qxcc
 

Strong Development of Results of Operations (Quarterly)

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/financial/trends02.html
 

We are Symphony: A conversation with Jason King

By Suddhaloke Choudhury
Global Content and Social Media Manager Rakuten Symphony

What makes Rakuten Symphony different from other places you?ve worked?

The really interesting thing about Rakuten Symphony is that it is an upstart, yet it is part of a established leader like Rakuten, which makes the company dynamic and incredibly agile. Also, this company was born out of the creation of an industry disrupting mobile network in Japan, a feat that has given Rakuten Symphony significant credibility. With us going against the status quo, it allows me, as a member of the marketing team to come up with creative ways to share our unique story within a somewhat static industry which has been doing business the same way for decades.

What are your roles and responsibilities in your current position?

Currently, I am a Senior Director within the CMO organization. I'm closely involved in digital marketing, working with product and engineering teams to build out our presence online and formulate our overall strategy on multiple external platforms. I also look after the marketing relationships with our partners, which has been an ongoing role for me over the past couple of years. This involves working closely with partners like Intel and Google Cloud, to create joint go-to-market strategies. Recently, my focus has shifted toward growing the Rakuten Cloud brand, increasing its market awareness, and promoting our newly launched website. It has been an exciting adventure so far, expanding our presence across various verticals, including both the telecom and enterprise sectors.

What?s next for you?

2025 promises to be an exciting year for Rakuten Symphony. As a marketing professional, this naturally means it will also be an exciting and busy year for me. I am sure that we will continue to create innovative new solutions, forge new partnerships and I am looking forward to sharing these new developments externally.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...y-a-conversation-with-jason-king
 

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/5838.T/
 

Market Cap of Rakuten Bank = 797.732B Yen = $ 5.05 billion

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/5838.T/

Rakuten owning 50% of Rakuten Bank.
 

Winning in travel: the essential role of affiliate marketing in 2025

December 16, 2024

In-depth research by Rakuten Advertising has revealed the travel preferences of UK consumers. Find out how partnership marketing strategies can help brands succeed in the travel market.

Case study: Icelandair

Icelandair is Iceland?s flagship airline and connects Europe and North America with a unique stopover programme, allowing travellers to explore the country?s volcanic beauty on transatlantic flights without additional cost.

Icelandair wanted a new digital marketing channel that would help them break into the North American market. They turned to Rakuten Advertising?s affiliate travel team to build a new affiliate programme from the ground up.

With access to high-performing publishers that are uniquely suited to the travel market, Icelandair was able to target its desired audience and easily track performance.

Icelandair has trialled loyalty partners and increased cashback rates for off-peak periods with remarkable results.

Since joining the Rakuten Advertising Network, Icelandair has achieved a notable increase in North American bookings and overall affiliate sales. This success stems from Icelandair?s proactive approach to testing and learning, the extensive reach of Rakuten Advertising?s global publisher network, and its travel-specific technology. The results since launch have been impressive.

Key results were:
Less than 30 days to launch the programme
48% sales increase QoQ
10%+ increase in clicks

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/...mp;utm_campaign=CAMLinkedIn
 

Rakuten Mobile can break even by 2025 as a standalone domestic operator, estimating it needs at least 10 million to 12 million subscribers to achieve this, as in the middle and long term it will reach 15 million and 20 million subscriber and maybe more.  

CB and Taiwan Rakuten Card Launch New JCB Panda Card

TOKYO & TAIPEI, Jan 15, 2025 - (JCN Newswire) - JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan?s only international payment brand, has announced the launch of the new JCB Panda Card in collaboration with Taiwan Rakuten Card. The new JCB Panda Card will be available starting January 15, 2025.


Taiwan Rakuten Card was established in 2014 with the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission to enter the Taiwanese domestic credit card market, becoming the first e-commerce platform in Taiwan to issue own credit card. By integrating e-commerce services, membership accounts, and in-house points, Taiwan Rakuten Card provides seamless online and offline services for online stores and consumers and a convenient environment for card use. In addition, it integrates powerful and cooperative merchants and stores in Japan to provide Rakuten cardholders with various travel services in Japan. Since January 2015, the number of cards issued in Taiwan has exceeded 300,000.

The newly launched JCB Panda Card offers up to 3% cashback on purchases made via two major mobile payment methods (Line Pay and JKO Pay) at selected merchants such as major airlines, gasoline stations and OTAs in the Taiwanese domestic market. As for other countries and regions outside Taiwan, JCB Panda Card offers unlimited base 1.5% cashback with 3.5% in Japan, Korea and Thailand.

https://www.pr-inside.com/...d-launch-new-jcb-panda-card-r5069397.htm
 

The spread between the yield on Rakuten?s debt and Japanese government bonds has narrowed significantly, showing greater investor confidence. For Rakuten yen bonds due December 2026, the spread contracted to about 180 basis points as of Jan. 16, down from around 490 basis points a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...ani-wants-sell-bonds-031623008.html
 

Geoff Hollingworth
Chief Marketing Officer Rakuten Symphony

January 16, 2025

After five years Rakuten is achieving its goals, becoming profitable in Q4 of last year. Rakuten brought down mobile phones bills by an average of 2,000 JPY monthly and we saved Japanese households a combined four trillion JPY annually. The network delivers quality and performance at parity or better than traditional network approaches.

With the above in mind, here are the top 10 realities we are strategizing around for 2025. We hope this insight can shed light on activities and initiatives the broader industry may be planning.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...realities-to-guide-2025-planning
 

Rakuten Viber champions passion and hobby groups with enhanced ?Comments? feature for community management

November 22, 2024

SINGAPORE ? From dissecting fan theories about new music to running a new 5KM track, some things are better shared with ?your? crowd. Whether you?re a Bloom or a Carat or an avid runner, birds of a feather truly are better together. Leading messaging app Rakuten Viber takes these passions and connections to the next level online with Communities, now enhanced with the ?Comments? feature.

Every Community comes with admin controls, including options to enable member posting for a lively exchange of ideas. With the new Comments feature, they can now moderate and streamline multiple topics and conversations, keeping replies organized within every post. Superadmins and admins can easily enable this feature in their Community info tab, making it available by default for all messages or selectively disabling it for specific messages.

https://www.adobomagazine.com/digital-news/...r-community-management/
 

Nigeria tritt als Partnerland den BRICS bei

https://www.msn.com/de-de/nachrichten/politik/...915316d249&ei=70
 

Rakuten Viber bolsters Business Accounts features to empower small businesses in the Philippines
December 4, 2024

MANILA, PHILIPPINES ? Rakuten Viber announces the expansion of Business Accounts, a suite of free tools for small businesses in the Philippines to enrich their online presence and interaction with customers. Business Accounts were launched in the country in October 2023, and have now been scaled to provide additional capabilities and new features. These include comprehensive messaging, analytics, and automation tools that help small businesses grow cost-efficiently. These tools also allow customers to find these businesses more quickly, and receive personalized communications and support within the app.

Rakuten Viber has seen a 65% increase in the number of newly created Business Accounts in the Philippines since the beginning of 2024. Interest has been particularly strong from technicians and consultants and from health and beauty as well as ecommerce businesses.

https://www.adobomagazine.com/digital-news/...ses-in-the-philippines/

 

RAN conditions are expected to improve in 2025 after two years of sharp declines, during which global RAN revenues fell by approximately 20 percent compared to 2022. Global revenues are projected to stabilize and grow by 5 percent to 10 percent, excluding China.

The private wireless RAN market is expected to see robust growth, with revenues forecasted to increase by over 20 percent in 2025. This growth will be driven by industrial adoption, with manufacturing retaining its leading position as the largest vertical.

Open RAN revenues, which faced a decline in 2024, are projected to recover and grow rapidly in 2025, contributing 8 percent to 10 percent of total RAN revenues. Although short-term challenges persist, the long-term trajectory for Open RAN remains strong as the commercial readiness of next-generation interfaces evolves.

https://telecomlead.com/telecom-equipment/...5-119584#google_vignette
 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, Rakuten reported a revenue of ¥1,617,621 million, an 8.5% increase year-on-year.

Operating Activities: Cash inflow of ¥819,503 million, up significantly from ¥161,663 million in the previous period.

Investing Activities: Cash outflow of ¥766,953 million, primarily due to investments in securities and intangible assets.

Financing Activities: Cash inflow of ¥701,528 million, driven by proceeds from bond issuance and long-term borrowings.

https://www.minichart.com.sg/2024/11/13/...5-mobile-segment-improves/
 

Four Things Telcos Can Do To Make Network Slicing Successful

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/...sr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block
 

Rakuten's PIOP: Revolutionizing Logistics with Machine Learning

July 13, 2023

Online shopping has seen a significant surge in popularity due to the pandemic. More than half of Japanese households are now shopping online, which marks a 20% increase in five years. However, logistics can be challenging for companies during special events like sales and merchant holidays. To improve forecasting accuracy, Rakuten?s Price and Inventory Optimization Platform (PIOP) team has developed an in-house system to systematically reduce inefficiencies through leveraging big data and advancements in AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2vaULxA-Eg
 

Unlocking the Telecom Cloud with Dell and Rakuten?s Blueprint

Dell and Rakuten Symphony join forces to revolutionize telecom networks with a powerful blueprint, delivering simplicity, automation and next-gen innovation.

By Robert Doing     January 17, 2025

Unveiling the Telecom Blueprint That?s Changing the Game

The Dell and Rakuten collaboration has culminated in the Telecom Blueprint for Rakuten Cloud, validated within Dell?s Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab (OTEL). This blueprint offers Communication Service Providers (CSPs) a robust solution that simplifies the deployment and management of NFV infrastructure, streamlining operations and accelerating service delivery. The synergy between Dell?s telecom PowerEdge solutions and Rakuten Cloud?s technologies provides the agility and scalability needed to support 5G and disaggregated software-based Core and RAN networks.

One of the most compelling benefits highlighted in the white paper is the potential cost savings. By leveraging Dell?s solutions and Rakuten Cloud?s efficiencies, CSPs can achieve up to 30% CAPEX savings. These savings are realized through the simplification of deployment processes and lifecycle management, reducing operational overhead and accelerating time to market.

https://www.dell.com/en-sg/blog/...d=0251729385656dd61cf867f684dd6c56
 

Rakuten Mobile to Support Commercial Deployment of Open Radio Units in the U.S.

- Partnering with NTIA?s project to support the development of open and interoperable wireless networks

Tokyo, January 20, 2025 ? Rakuten Mobile, Japan?s newest and most modern mobile network, today announced it will support the commercial deployment of open radio units (RUs) developed by U.S.-based vendors, as part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration?s (NTIA) project to advance Open RAN development with funding by the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund*1.

Rakuten Mobile has already built a nationwide mobile network based on Open RAN standards in Japan. Leveraging this expertise, the company will collaborate with RU vendors selected by NTIA?s project, including Battelle Memorial Institute, Microelectronics Technology, Eridan Communications and Airspan Networks. Rakuten Mobile will assist these vendors in the verification and integration processes required for the commercial deployment of their open RUs and support proof-of-concept trials in commercial networks. These trials will utilize Rakuten Symphony?s Open RAN-compatible distributed units (DUs) and centralized units (CUs).

The Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund aims to support the development of Open RAN, promote competition in the wireless market and strengthen the global supply chain. Each RU vendor will work toward the development and commercial deployment of RUs that comply with international standards, including those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a global body that develops technical standards for mobile telecommunications, and the O-RAN specifications established by the O-RAN ALLIANCE, a worldwide community promoting the development of Open RAN specifications.

By leveraging its Open RAN technology and fostering collaboration with RU vendors, Rakuten Mobile is committed to driving the adoption of Open RAN networks across the United States.

https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/...20250120_01_lang_en

 

 

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Mikitani emphasised his ambitions for Rakuten's global expansion, stating,
"We want to become one of the top-tier profitable companies in Japan and, in the future, in the world."

https://www.coinlive.com/news/...-why-rakuten-s-mobile-venture-is-key