Older PCs are more expensive to maintain than newer ones

• Techaisle research commissioned by Microsoft and Intel has revealed that the cost of upkeeping a PC older than four years can be used to purchase at least two new modern PCs

• Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) running Windows 7 devices within the organisation should seek to make the shift before End of Support in January 2020

Source: Microsoft-Intel Make the Shift study. Comparisons for cost of maintaining a PC that is under four years old vs one which is four years or older. The newer PCs cost an estimated US$1,030 for repairs, whereas older PCs could cost as much as US$2,736. 

Microsoft and Intel have released research from Techaisle, a global SMB IT market research and analyst organisation, which highlights the opportunities that Asia Pacific’s SMBs have by upgrading to modern devices at work.

The study*, which surveyed 2,156 SMB organisations across Asia Pacific, found that the cost of keeping a PC more than four years old is US$2,736 per device - enough to replace the ageing hardware with two or more new PCs.

The study also revealed that a PC older than four years old is also 2.7 times more likely to undergo repairs, resulting in loss in productivity. 85% of larger SMBs, with more than 500 employees, have PCs that are older than four years, compared to 60% in smaller SMBs employing less than 100 employees. This underscores the widespread usage of older devices within SMBs in the region.

“PCs are the productive engines for most SMBs in the region, where organisations rely heavily on their devices for their day-to-day tasks. However, seven in 10 SMBs surveyed have PCs that are older than four years, which significantly increases maintenance costs,” said Bradley Hopkinson, VP, Consumer and Devices Sales, Asia, Microsoft. “With budget constraints being the No. 1 IT challenge among SMBs today, business leaders should seek to adopt a device modernisation strategy so that they can maintain costs, while safeguarding their organisation from newer digital risks.”

The new study revealed that in the last year alone, as many as two thirds (67%) of SMBs may have experienced PC security and data theft breaches, with only 15% of them actually reporting these attacks.

“With a modern PC powered by Windows 10, SMBs can be assured of up-to-date security updates, powered by cloud intelligence that proactively protects their businesses,” added Hopkinson. “By reducing the potential risk of cyberthreats with a modern PC, SMBs can definitely improve their productivity and avoid downtime.”

“SMBs constitute 98% of enterprises in the Asia Pacific region, and employ half of the workforce in the region yet many of them still have PCs older than four years old. We believe that by having them move to a modern PC powered by an Intel Core processor, they can unlock greater productivity for their business while reducing IT management time and costs,” said Santhosh Viswanathan, MD, Sales and Marketing Group, Asia Pacific Japan Territory, Intel.

Respondents in the study identified their top business priorities as increasing profitability, business growth and improving workforce productivity. The study highlighted that SMBs are looking at IT as a response to address their business issues. The top IT priorities included investing in PCs, cloud solutions and security solutions.

“We found that the key barriers in migrating to a newer device were concerns of legacy applications not being able to work on a newer operating system, along with the lack of budgets. However, the benefits of adopting a modern device strategy outweighs the concerns. Too often, SMB owners focus on short term costs and while in most cases this approach is absolutely valid, at times it can lead to situations that cost them more. 

"The choice between maintaining older PCs and replacing them with newer PCs is one such area. However, these SMBs should re-evaluate their decision given the higher cost of maintaining older PCs which has a larger cumulative effect on the budget than purchasing newer PCs with latest technology. SMBs in the region should seriously consider making the shift to a newer PC in the immediate future,” said Anurag Agrawal, CEO & Analyst, Techaisle.

SMBs have an opportunity to improve their overall operations with modern devices. For those who have already made the move to newer PCs, the study found that:

• Nearly seven in 10 (69%) felt that they were better able to secure and protect their business data on newer PCs; 

• About two thirds (65%) agreed that it has helped reduce overall maintenance costs; 

• Six in 10 (63%) saw improved efficiencies due to new experiences powered by cloud and mobility solutions, and 

• Six in 10 (62%) agreed that a newer PC has made their staff more productive.

More than 42% of PCs used in SMBs are still on older versions of Windows today, according to the study. A Windows 10 modern device is likely to offer them experiences that are still familiar, in addition to being safe, secure, and productive.

New in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update include Your Phone, an app which allows users to access photos and texts on Windows 10 devices, the new To-Do app that helps manage, prioritise and complete tasks, as well as enhancements across Outlook.com, Edge as well as Office apps. In addition, users can expect general Windows security improvements, including support for biometrics login via Windows Hello for Business for Azure Active Directory and Active Directory.

*The Microsoft-Intel Make the Shift study was conducted in August 2018, and involved 2,156 respondents from Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.

• Respondents were IT and business decision makers 

• The sample included SMBs across various sizes, which were classified as small (one-99 employees), medium (100-499 employees) and large (500-999 employees)

Twitter captures over 7.3 million #GE14 tweets for Malaysia election

- Over 7.3 million #GE14 tweets during the campaigning period in Malaysia

- New Twitter election record for Malaysia

- Pakatan Harapan and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad were the most mentioned political coalition and party leader on Twitter during the campaigning period

- Over 4.2 million Tweets for #GE14 sent in the past 24 hours during Election Day

With more than 7.3 million tweets related to the Malaysia election (hashtags #GE14 and #MalaysiaElection) sent during the 1.5 week campaigning period (from 28 April to 9 May 2018), Twitter was the best place to check out the discussion in Malaysian politics.

Election Day discussions on Twitter overtook all other conversations in Malaysia on May 9. Over 4.2 million Tweets related to #GE14 came through in the past 24 hours from across Malaysia and the world, Twitter said on May 10. #GE14 took the top spot trending in Malaysia with political topics, such as #MalaysiaMemilih, and #PakatanHarapan, occupying seven of the top 10 trends in the country.

Between the two political coalitions, Pakatan Harapan (@pakatanharapan_) garnered 51% of the share of voice on Twitter while Barisan Nasional (@barisanasional) took 49%. Dr Mahathir Mohamad (@chedetofficial) took 58% of the share of voice on Twitter against Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@najibrazak) who took 42%.

"Twitter is the best way to see what's happening in Malaysia and to talk about it, and it was no different with the Malaysia election where live Twitter updates helped Malaysian voters and everyone around the world follow and discuss the political developments in real-time,” said Philip Chua, Global Government and Elections Lead, Twitter Asia-Pacific.

“It was tremendous to see how people across Malaysia and the world watched the rallies and tweeted about the election over the past few months and on Election Day, all leading up to this historic moment for Malaysia."

Twitter had also launched an election emoji, featuring the Malaysian flag on a ballot box, to encourage Malaysians to vote and light up Twitter with their thoughts and views on the election.

Explore:

View the heat map to see the global conversation for the #GE14 on Twitter

Experience the Twitter Moment gathering news tweets around the election, and a selection of the most engaged-with tweets from people in Malaysia:

I asked @chedetofficial what it means for Malaysia, after 61 years, to finally have a change of government. He joked “I don’t know, we haven’t done this before”. #ge14

— James Massola (@jamesmassola) May 9, 2018

Ladies, we bout to have a RESPECTABLE FEMALE FIGURE as our DPM soon enough. The future is really female, damn we all making progress so proud of us #GE14 #Malaysia pic.twitter.com/aelX0qmero

— Adlina (@adlina_ar) May 9, 2018

Today, history has been made 🇲🇾

• new government after 61 years
• Malaysia first female deputy minister
• the oldest (93y/o) candidate won
• the youngest (22y/o) candidate won

A proud first time voter here! #GE14

— Ana (@nmalyanah) May 9, 2018

Toy and game sales to adults are growing

Global market research company Euromonitor International has found that games and puzzles registered 8% growth in 2016 – outpacing construction toys as the fastest growing toy category globally, but also recording the highest growth for the category since 2002.

Globally, construction toys grew 7.8% in 2016 compared to double-digit growth from 2015, but continued to hold the largest share of the traditional toys and games market at US$10 billion, followed by games and puzzles at US$9.5 billion.

Construction toys are expected to make a comeback as the fastest growing toys category globally with a forecasted compound annual growth rate of 6.8% from 2016 to 2021.

“Continued growth in sales to adults illustrates that children are retaining interest in toys into adulthood on a scale not seen in previous generations,” says Matthew Hudak, Toys and Games Analyst at Euromonitor International. “Categories with proven multigenerational appeal like construction, remote control, and action figures are therefore expected to see the fastest growth over the next five years.”

posted from Bloggeroid

Bangkok is the most-visited destination in Asia Pacific

Source: Mastercard. Report cover.

While Bangkok, Thailand remains the most-visited destination in the Asia Pacific region, Singapore continues to lead the Thai capital in total visitor expenditure, according to the latest findings from the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017*.

Singapore has tracked a 18% leap in visitor spend over 2015 and 2016. One of only five destinations of the top 20 by total expenditure to reach a minimum spend of US$200 per day, Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, followed by Beijing, mainland China (US$242), Shanghai, China (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei, Taiwan (US$208).

Half of the top 20 most-visited destinations in Asia Pacific saw more than 10% growth in international overnight arrivals from 2015 to 2016. Destinations that benefitted most from this growth include Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian markets – Seoul, Korea (32.7%), Osaka, Japan (23.8%), Bali, Indonesia (22.5%), Tokyo, Japan (22.2%), Hokkaido, Japan (21.9%), Chiba, Japan (21.5%) and Pattaya, Thailand (20.6%).

This growth provides significant opportunities which governments, tourism bodies, and merchants can benefit from, including greater economic, cultural and infrastructural development.

Overall, overnight arrivals** to the 171 Asia Pacific destinations in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (9.8% CAGR from 2009 to 2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors. Singapore (13.1 million) came in second place, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (11.3 million). China stands as Asia Pacific’s most avid outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year or 16.2% of the total.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by international overnight arrivals:

1. Bangkok – 19.3 million

2. Singapore – 13.1 million

3. Tokyo – 12.6 million

4. Seoul – 12.4 million

5. Kuala Lumpur – 11.3 million

6. Phuket, Thailand – 9.1 million

7. Hong Kong – 8.9 million

8. Pattaya – 8.1 million

9. Osaka – 7.4 million

10. Taipei – 7.4 million

Visitors to Asia Pacific destinations are travelling to the region more, and doing so for longer periods. In 2016, visitors to the region stayed for a total of 1,768.7 million nights, an 8.1% CAGR from 1,023.1 million nights in 2009. Bangkok took the lead with 87.6 million nights, while Sydney came in second place with 87.5 million, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 76.7 million.

In particular, Sydney’s second-place position is especially outstanding compared to its number of overnight arrivals. Taking 20th place in the latter ranking, Sydney’s ratio of average number nights stayed versus number of overnight arrivals is shared by fellow Australian destinations Melbourne and Brisbane on the Index. As many tourists have to travel a distance to reach Australia, they are more likely to stay for longer periods to make their journey worthwhile.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by total nights stayed:

1. Bangkok – 87.6 million

2. Sydney – 87.5 million

3. Kuala Lumpur – 76.7 million

4. Tokyo – 74.3 million

5. Melbourne – 62.9 million

6. Bali, Indonesia – 62.4 million

7. Singapore – 60.7 million

8. Seoul – 56.0 million

9. Brisbane – 51.8 million

10. Taipei – 47.8 million

Spurred by Asia Pacific’s burgeoning middle class, overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, an 8.2% CAGR Moreover, Asia Pacific’s top 20 source markets contributed US$201.5 billion to the region’s tourism revenues in 2016.

The mass of tourists from Northeast Asia have helped to boost these earnings. Key findings from the Index revealed China (17.7%) and South Korea (8.8%) as the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia Pacific. In fact, these two markets were also top source markets for Singapore (China visitors were the No. 1 tourist segment), Bangkok (China  No. 1) and Tokyo (Korea No. 1, China No. 2), the region’s leading destinations by visitor expenditure. As renowned global shopping and dining locales, they are popular amongst affluent Chinese and South Korean tourists seeking new shopping or culinary experiences.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by expenditure:

1. Singapore – US$15.4 billion

2. Bangkok – US$12.7 billion

3. Tokyo – US$11.1 billion

4. Taipei – US$9.9 billion

5. Seoul – US$9.4 billion

6. Bali – US$8.7 billion

7. Phuket – US$8.3 billion

8. Kuala Lumpur – US$7.3 billion

9. Sydney – US$6.8 billion

10. Hong Kong– US$6.6 billion

Interested?

Download the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017 report

*The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index is an offshoot of Mastercard’s annual Global Destination Cities Index. In recent years, Asia Pacific cities have increasingly dominated the fastest growing and most visited destinations in the world. According to the 2016 Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index, five of the ten most visited cities in the world were in Asia Pacific.

The Asia Pacific Destinations Index takes a more in-depth, focused look at these tourism trends, ranking 171 destinations, including island resorts as well as towns and cities across the region, in terms of the total number of international overnight arrivals; cross-border spending; and the total number of nights spent at each destination. These 171 destinations are drawn from 22 countries across Asia Pacific and represent 90% of all international overnight arrivals within the region.

Public data is used in deriving the international overnight visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the destinations, using custom-made algorithms. This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on Mastercard volumes or transactional data.

*Overnight visitors stay at least one night in the destination country.

TechSci Research sees potential in organic dairy market

Increasing health consciousness, an expanding urban population base and growing consumer spending on organic products will drive the global organic dairy products market through to 2021, says TechSci Research, a research-based global management consulting firm.

Global Organic Dairy Products Market By Product Type, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021 predicts that the global market for organic dairy products will grow at a CAGR of over 11% during the 2016-2021 forecast period. The forecast is based on anticipated expanding product portfolios, easy availability of organic dairy products, robust distribution networks, rising Internet penetration and aggressive marketing strategies adopted by major companies.

Organic drinking milk, organic yoghurt, organic cheese, organic butter, organic milk powder and organic probiotics are the major segments in global organic dairy products market, with organic drinking milk and organic yoghurt dominating the market, globally. However, on the back of attributes such as increasing immunity, energy, mental strength, reduction in risk of cancer and chronic fatigue and cure for irritable bowel syndrome intestinal homeostasis, demand for organic probiotics is expected to witness the fastest growth in global organic dairy products market.

Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research listed various reasons why sales of organic dairy products are up across the globe:

• Rising awareness about health benefits associated with organic dairy products, 
• Increasing average household annual spending on dairy products, 
• Rapid urbanisation, 
• Easy accessibility of these products through retailers and online channels, 
• Changing consumer preferences, 
• Continuous developments in supply chain network and 
• Implementation of government initiatives to encourage farmers to switch to organic farming

"In addition, introduction of innovative organic dairy products such as energy based milk drinks, flavoured organic milk drinks and a variety of organic yogurt and other organic dairy products are expected to further propel growth in global market for organic dairy products through 2021,” said Chechi.

Organic Valley, Omsco, Whitewave, and Aurora Organic Dairy are few of the brands operating in global organic dairy products market.

Cosmetics go organic in a big way

Rising health concerns, and increasing awareness about harmful effects of chemicals in conventional cosmetics and benefits associated with organic cosmetics are expected to drive the global organic cosmetics market through to 2021 according to a TechSci Research report, Global Organic Cosmetics Market By Product Type, By Point of Sale, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021.

TechSci Research, a research-based global management consulting firm. predicts that the global organic cosmetics market is projected to register a CAGR of over 13% during the 2016-2021 period. Organic cosmetics are manufactured using organic ingredients and without the use of chemicals. Growth in global organic cosmetics market can be attributed to factors such as increasing skin diseases, rising disposable income, growing awareness among consumers, increasing focus on environment and animal welfare, a widening distribution channel network coupled with increasing visibility and accessibility to organic cosmetics through retail outlets. Continuous product innovation is also expected to influence the global organic cosmetics market.

Rising standards of living and increasing personal disposable income has driven adoption of these cosmetics across the globe. In 2016, growth in consumption of organic cosmetics was witnessed globally as governments in many countries are taking initiatives to promote and encourage use of organic cosmetics. Additionally, governments in various countries have also laid regulatory, policy and safety legislations to improve quality of organic cosmetics.

Organic cosmetics are generally more popular among females, who accounted for more than 75% of the total organic skincare usage worldwide. L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, Avon, and the Revlon Group are few of the leading players in the global organic cosmetics market on the back of their wide range of product offerings, robust distribution network and huge consumer base. Many key players are also focusing on expanding their distribution network to online channels. However, exclusive retail stores and supermarkets/hypermarkets are anticipated to continue dominating sales of global organic cosmetics market through to 2021.
 
"Increasing pollution and unhealthy working lifestyles has driven adoption of alternatives such as organic cosmetics across the globe, especially among the youth. Younger generations prefer to use organic cosmetics, as it is free from high concentration of chemicals. Growing demand for organic cosmetics with multiple benefits claims such as anti-ageing, moisturising and sun protection factor (SPF) protection is poised to boost growth in global organic cosmetics market. Moreover, companies are constantly advertising organic cosmetics on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other websites such as Instagram, through beauty bloggers to increase brand awareness. All these factors are anticipated to boost adoption of organic cosmetics in developed and developing countries across the globe," said Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research.

Criteo study uncovers evolving shopping practices in Singapore

· Singapore consumers are using multiple devices in the retail journey

· Brick-and-mortar retailers must respond to the local showrooming phenomenon and invest in multichannel integration

· Improving last-mile fulfilment will help local retailers compete more effectively with international e-commerce players


Criteo, the performance marketing technology company, has found that shopping patterns are changing among consumers in Singapore. Singaporeans now own or have access to an average of 4.72 devices, the research by Edelman Intelligence has found.

Source: Criteo. Profiling the mobile shopper in Singapore.

With three-quarters using these devices to purchase online at least once a month, cross-device usage, ‘showrooming’ and last-mile fulfilment are the three critical areas retailers must address. Showrooming refers to consumers treating a physical store as a showroom, trying on clothing or checking how an item looks and works in real life, before ordering the same item online.

Retailers which can successfully integrate the mobile web, apps and in-app targeting into their business operations and engagement strategies will set the stage for the seamless adoption of newer mobile technologies or add-ons, when required, Criteo said.
The research found:

· Six in 10 Singaporeans consider mobile devices to be their favourite shopping companion, with 95% having used their smartphones or tablets to browse online catalogues in the past month.

· More than half (54%) of consumers indicated that having the option to shop on their mobile devices has caused them to spend more than ever before, with four in five admitting to purchasing online on impulse.

· Travel-related products and apparel are the most popular online purchases, with each shopper purchasing across an average of 5.43 product categories.

· With nearly half of Singaporeans shopping on branded mobile apps at least once a week, and mobile shoppers likely to be heavy social media users in general, retailers must also become familiar with application-based advertising and messaging.

“Singapore is a truly cross-device market, where most consumers – especially Millennials – are using a combination of devices to shop. While a number still rely on PCs to make payments, mobile devices are always by our side as the one consistent factor in all elements of online and offline shopping,” said Alban Villani, Commercial Director, Southeast Asia, Criteo. “This reinforces what we’ve been telling retailers for some time – they can no longer target individuals on just one device. Rather, they will need to embrace technologies that deliver contextual creative experiences and messaging, to respond to individuals’ needs and desires in the moment, wherever they are and however they’re feeling.”

In Singapore, the high incidence of showrooming reinforces the importance of multichannel integration:

· To avoid crowds and queues, almost two-thirds of Singaporeans prefer to shop online during periods like the Great Singapore Sale.

· Half of local consumers also believe online deals during the Great Singapore Sale are better than in-store promotions.

· Even when visiting a physical store, six in 10 local shoppers are browsing similar products online and comparing prices to ensure they get the best deals.

· Seven in 10 (69%) consumers end up purchasing the same product or service online rather than offline.

· Physical stores still have an edge in engaging consumers who desire to touch or trial a product prior to purchase. However, this advantage is eroding as seven in 10 Singaporeans agree that augmented reality also allows them to ‘try’ an item and online players respond by adopting the technology to simulate real-world experiences.

“A few established online players are already using physical pop-up stores with exclusive collections and discounts to create a seamless online-to-offline customer experience. Conversely, physical retailers looking to retain and convert customers must start integrating online channels, especially mobile optimised sites or branded apps, and consider customer relationship management (CRM) data optimisation, to better engage customers before, during and after store visits,” said Villani.

To compete more effectively against international retailers, same-day or next-day order fulfilment should be a big focus for local retailers, who can work with specialised local last-mile delivery service providers.

· Singaporeans shop on both local and international sites. Seventy-eight percent buy from local sites because of delivery considerations – faster or cheaper domestic shipping and easier pickup of a locally-purchased product.

· Six in 10 would rather have their purchases delivered than collect them from a physical store.

“The research findings are pointing us to a future where offline and online shopping are no longer two separate business models. There will just be ‘shopping’ and it will be an integrated experience. If retailers turn to mobile as the chief enabler and successfully deliver such experiences, they will inevitably demand smaller stores as fulfilment gets facilitated directly from warehouses. Be it by offering better connectivity or relooking how retail space is allocated, local malls must also adjust to this new wave of change,” said Villani.

Interested?

Browse the full Criteo-commissioned Edelman Intelligence 2H16 research findings and analysis (PDF)

Dubai consumer electronics market to be worth over US$3 billion by 2020

A Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) analysis, released during GITEX Technology Week 2016, has predicted that the Dubai consumer electronics market will grow at 4.7% over the next four years to exceed US$3 billion by 2020.

The analysis highlights Dubai’s growing retail sales activity despite mounting pressure from low oil prices and rising global economic uncertainty. Such resilience is attributed to solid fundamentals that include rising population and incomes together with a steady influx of tourists to the emirate. Dubai’s young population in particular is interested in technological developments and keep up to date with the latest innovations. In addition, many consumers see electronic gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and smart watches as status symbols.

According to the report, based on latest UAE retail sales data from Euromonitor, the portable consumer electronics subcategory is expected to keep its lead with a 2020 sales forecast of US$1.27 billion. The computers and peripherals subcategory is to retain its size at US$937 million, while in-home consumer electronics is expected to hit US$900 million. The in-car entertainment subcategory will remain flat however, with a sales forecast of US$23 million.

In terms of future growth, in-home consumer electronics has a CAGR forecast of 7.6% between 2015 and 2020, while portable consumer electronics is in next place with a CAGR of 6.4%. Growth is set to cool off in the computer and peripherals subcategory with a CAGR forecast of 0.9%; while in-car entertainment is expected to have a CAGR of 0.7% over the forecast period.

The analysis estimates Dubai’s consumer electronics market size in 2015 at US$2.4 billion after effectively expanding at a CAGR of 8.9% over the past five years.

Source: DCCI, Dubai Statistics Centre, Euromonitor. Dubai consumer electronics market size (US$ billion)

Total sales for the category stems from portable consumer electronics (US$930 million), computers and peripherals (US$902 million), in-home consumer electronics (US$621 million) and in-car entertainment (US$22 million).

In terms of growth, in-home consumer electronics has led the four sub-categories with a CAGR of 17% between 2010 and 2015, while computers and peripherals followed with a CAGR of 6.9%, and portable personal electronics came in third with a CAGR of 6.8%. In-car entertainment shrank at a negative CAGR of -3.5% over the same period.

Market observers indicate that the main trend seen last year in consumer electronics sales is the gradual move towards more compact and multifunctional devices, especially those that offer Internet connectivity. Tablets and smartphones enjoyed solid growth in sales. However, the increasing quality, processing power, and range of applications offered by these devices are taking market share from other items, such as digital cameras, portable MP3 players, digital video disc (DVD) players, laptops and desktops.

Dubai’s electronics and appliance specialist retailers continue to be the leading channel in consumer electronics as they have a wide product selection and price range, and can offer expert advice and tailored recommendations.

Consumer electronics distribution breakdown (%)

Outlets (% share in sales)	2010	2015	% change
Store-Based Retailing
Hypermarkets	32.8	42.4	+29.3%
Electronics and appliance specialist retailers	46.7	43.7	-6.4%
Mixed retailers	6.2	2.0	-67.7%
Other non-grocery specialists	11.1	8.4	-24.3%
Non-store retailing
Internet retail	3.1	3.5	+12.9%

Source: DCCI, Euromonitor

It is worth noting that the number of electronics and appliance specialist retailer outlets is strongly linked with the opening of new malls and shopping centres. At the same time, leading hypermarket chains such as Carrefour and Lulu are offering wide product ranges at very reasonable prices.

The strong presence of shopping malls in the emirate has limited the size of the Internet retailing market. However, store-based electronics retailers are realising a complementary Internet retailing site is becoming increasingly important to drive sales of consumer electronics to their physical stores, with many consumers checking prices and models online before or during shopping trips.

Another subcategory, home audio and cinema, has benefited greatly from the residents’ frequent purchases and product upgrades. Sales volumes rose by 16% last year despite high price tags. A similar growth rate is seen in sales of smart TVs, which gained in popularity at the expense of a -28% decline in demand for conventional TVs.

SUVs drive car sales: Euromonitor

Global market research company Euromonitor International has determined that global sales of light vehicles grew 1.7% in 2014-2015, driven by the increasing popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs), sales of which surged 22% since 2015.

SUVs overtook lower medium cars to become the largest automotive segment in 2015, accounting for 22.9% of light vehicle sales globally. Sales of SUVs grew from 5 million units in 2000 to 20 million in 2015 and are forecast to hit 42 million units by 2031.

Mykola Golovko, Project Manager at Euromonitor International, comments: “The popularity of SUVs in the early 2000s has precipitated a rush of companies trying to capitalise, with a growing number of brands and new concept offerings like crossovers to appeal to a wider audience.”

An increasing number of consumers in key emerging markets will be in a position to trade up from smaller cars to SUVs. However, a combination of key social changes such as urbanisation, smaller households and an ageing population, in conjunction with increasing emissions regulations, have also boosted the fortunes of the small car segment.

Euromonitor predicts that small cars will see a global CAGR of 2.9% between 2015 and 2031 but this is firmly secondary to the projected CAGR of 4.8% for SUVs. The fastest growing SUVs markets in 2014-2015 for Asia were:

Thailand: +56.4%
China: +47.9%

Golovko concludes: “We’ve seen dynamic growth across most segments and markets through 2015, as pent-up demand from the 2009 recession was realised. However, replacement demand in developed markets will start to slow and global growth will be increasingly reliant on SUVs and emerging markets.”

posted from Bloggeroid

Early-stage M&As slowing down in SEA, Korea

Early-stage mergers & acquisitions (M&A) announcements are expected to be flat in Q416 compared to the same period last year due to reduced levels of early-stage M&A activity in Southeast Asia and South Korea, according to the latest Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor (DFP) report* released by Intralinks Holdings. Intralinks is a global provider of software and services, including virtual data rooms (VDRs), for managing M&A transactions.

Specifically, Southeast Asia which includes Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, is demonstrating a 47.8% decrease, while North Asia which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea, is showing an 8.3% decline in early-stage M&A activity. While the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is reflecting flat growth, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is in positive territory at 15.7%.

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor shows the following growth in early-stage M&A activity in APAC compared to the same period last year:

· Southeast Asia (which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), is down 47.8%;

· North Asia (which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea) is down 8.3% due to declining levels of early-stage M&A activity in South Korea;

· India is up 64.7%;

· Japan is up 5.9%, and

· Australia is up 6.9%, its first quarter of growth after four consecutive quarters of flat or declining activity.

Looking at early-stage M&A activity by sector across APAC, the materials (which includes metals and mining) and industrials sectors are the only ones showing positive growth in early-stage M&A activity. The telecommunications, media & technology sector has a 46.2% compared to the same period last year.

According to a “post-Brexit” survey of over 1,000 global deal-makers conducted by Intralinks between July 4 and 8 2016, over 61% of APAC dealmakers feel Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have a positive or no economic impact on the APAC region. In the four weeks since the UK’s EU Referendum on June 23 2016, early-stage M&A activity in APAC, as measured by the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor, has increased by 1.4% compared to the same period last year, showing little or no immediate impact on the APAC region’s M&A activity.

“Southeast Asia is seeing its first decline in early-stage M&A activity after nine quarters of mostly double-digit growth,” said Philip Whitchelo, VP of strategy & product marketing at Intralinks. “The impact of China’s gradual economic slowdown may be starting to impact the previously resilient ASEAN region, as South Korea and China are also showing declines.”

Interested?

Download the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor report

*The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the volume of future M&A deal announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity - M&A transactions across the world that are in the preparation stage or have reached the due diligence stage. These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement. The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor has been independently verified as an accurate predictor of future changes in the global number of announced M&A transactions.

Ransomware is nasty, nasty business

Ransomware has achieved a revival, and it has come back stronger, says Trend Micro.

Today, ransomware not only locks a victim’s computer or mobile phone, but also encrypts the data stolen. This makes sure that even if the victim is able to remove the ransomware, the encrypted files remain inaccessible without paying for the decryption key.

In the first five months of 2016 (from January to May), Trend Micro blocked 66 million ransomware attacks globally, 10 million in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). In addition, the company has discovered at least 50 new types of ransomware.

Source: Trend Micro. Ransomware facts and figures. The market rate for ransoms is currently between half to 5 Bitcoins.

Source: Trend Micro. Ransomware facts and figures. A Bitcoin cost around US$643 at the time the infographic was created, and US$659 at the time of writing. This puts 5 Bitcoins at US$3,295 today.

Childcare centres springing up at Chinese workplaces

• Amendments in government policies drive market growth
• Key vendors include Golden Apple Education, Noah Education, Oriental Baby, and Montessori School of Shanghai

Technavio predicts the global preschool or childcare market in China will grow at a CAGR of over 6% between 2016 and 2020. Much of this market’s growth prospects is augmented by recent amendments to government policies. In 2015, the government amended the one-child policy by allowing couples in the country to have up to two children in an attempt to balance out the population development. The population growth along with the increase in disposable income in middle-class families in China is resulting in an increase in preschool enrolments.

“China is currently witnessing a rise in the implementation of childcare services at workplaces. Many organisations in the country are providing daycare centres with personal babysitters at the workplace. Companies collaborate with major leading vendors of childcare centres by implementing their curricula and training methods. Such services by companies are most likely to be adopted by employees as parents can get to meet their children at regular intervals and also reduce their commute time between childcare centres and workplaces,” says Jhansi Mary, Lead Analyst, Education, Technavio Research.

There is increasing emphasis on collaborative learning among childcare service providers due to increasing competition among the players in the market. Many kindergartens and schools are trying to enhance children's skills by relying on interactive and individualized learning experiences driven by new technologies. Many institutions such as Oriental Baby, the Montessori School of Shanghai, and Etonkids Educational Group are also focusing on counseling parents by providing essential and useful information. Furthermore, they also provide necessary equipment such as educational games and teaching materials to be incorporated into a home's infrastructure so that the parents do not have to send their children to kindergartens or preschools.

The key vendors in the preschool or childcare market in China include Golden Apple Education, Noah Education, Oriental Baby, and Montessori School of Shanghai. The market is characterised by the presence of diversified international and regional players, and as all players are competing to gain a greater share of the industry, the market appears highly competitive. International preschool and child care service providers are gradually increasing their footprint in the market and regional vendors find it increasingly difficult to compete with them especially in terms of quality, ambience, and product pricing.

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Kaspersky offers tools to combat ransomware

The business segment is becoming a more and more attractive target for ransomware developers. Ransomware is malware which renders existing files unusable through encryption and asks for a ransom to make them usable again, with a decryption key.

According to a Kaspersky Lab report based on Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) data, the number of attacks against the corporate sector 2015 to 2016, compared with 2014 to 2015, has grown six-fold: from 27,000 to 158,000. This works out to ransomware trying to encrypt the data of every tenth B2B user, the company said.

Cyber-criminals using ransomware have begun to attack businesses more frequently, particularly small and medium-sized companies. This trend is confirmed by the IT Security Risks 2016 study from Kaspersky Lab and B2B International, during which 42% of respondents from small and medium-sized businesses agreed that crypto-malware (ransomware) was one of the most serious threats they faced last year.

For small companies, any data unavailability – however brief - can lead to significant losses, or bring their entire operations to a halt. If a company has not been taking due measures to ensure the safety of its important information, purchasing the decryption key from cyber-criminals can be the only way to recover data. However, this does not guarantee complete data recovery, or even any data recovery at all.

Kaspersky Lab experts recommend that small and medium-sized companies should follow several simple safety rules:

• Make regular backup copies of all important files. Companies should have two backups: one in the cloud (for example Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.), and another on an additional server or on removable media if the data volume is not too big.

• Trust well-known service providers who invest into security. Such providers will share security recommendations on their websites, and publish third party security audits on cloud infrastructure. Cloud providers can have security, availability or data leakage problems.

• Raise the question of what to do if the cloud or security provider loses your data. There should be transparent data backup and restore processes together with data protection and access control.

• Avoid using only free security and anti-malware software: small businesses expect the basic security tools offered within free solutions to be sufficient. Free tools do provide basic protection, but they fail to provide multi-layered security support. Instead, take a look at dedicated solutions: they do not require a large financial outlay, but deliver a higher level of protection.

• Regularly update operating system (OS), browser, antivirus, and other applications. Criminals use vulnerabilities in popular software to infect user’s devices.

• Prevent IT emergencies - invite an expert to configure the security solution for your company. Small businesses usually rely on the 'techiest' person in the office to take care of the computers, in addition to regular duties, instead of an IT department or full-time dedicated administrator. Instead of waiting until something breaks, use IT support from an IT service provider to review your software and security configuration in advance.

“Crypto-malware is becoming a more and more serious threat. Not only (can) an organisation lose money for ransoms, but business can be paralysed during file recovery. There is wide attack vector including Web, mail, software exploits, USB devices, and others. To avoid infection, your personnel should explain where attacks come from and that employees should not open (suspicious) email attachments, visit untrusted Web resources or plug USB devices into unprotected computers. Anti-malware solutions are an essential measure to avoid majority security incidents,” noted Konstantin Voronkov, Head of Endpoint Product Management, Kaspersky Lab.


Interested?

Businesses which have experienced ransomware can check whether it is possible to recover them by using free utilities or decryptor keys from Kaspersky

Smaato charts effectiveness of mobile video ads in Q116

Source: Smaato website.

Smaato, the global real-time advertising platform for mobile publishers and app developers, has released its Q1 2016 Global Trends in Mobile Advertising report. To identify the trends, Smaato analysed data from billions of mobile ad impressions served on its exchange during the first quarter of 2016.

The report shows strong growth for mobile video advertisements, delivering 11 times higher eCPMs (effective cost per thousand impressions) for publishers – a 1,042% uplift compared to any other ad format. Mobile video ads drive higher revenue when shown in-app versus in the mobile web, with iOS apps delivering almost 3x higher eCPMs over the mobile web.

In terms of app categories that deliver highest eCPMs: music saw a 54% eCPM uplift, followed by video and computer games (+38%), society (+29%) and then real estate (+15%). This makes intuitive sense, as people using apps in the arts and entertainment category are already being exposed to rich media (including sound), and mobile video ads may seem less invasive.

Additional findings:

• Mobile ad spend grew 89% in Q1 year-over-year
• Larger ad formats like interstitials (320x480 pixels in size) delivered triple the eCPM for publishers versus traditional banner ads (320x50).
• As the world’s second largest advertising market, China saw a +1,198% rise in ad spending.
• Countries that celebrated Chinese New Year - Greater China, Singapore, and places where there is a sizeable Chinese population - saw a 33% bump in pre-holiday mobile ad spending on average over their Asia Pacific neighbors who did not celebrate the holiday.

“Mobile video advertising is showing enormous growth potential, helping publishers to boost their monetisation efforts and advertisers to engage their target audiences better,” said Ragnar Kruse, CEO and co-founder of Smaato. “It’s very encouraging to see the continued overall strength of quarterly mobile ad spend growth, which is up 89% globally. I’m also impressed by the immunity of mobile ad spend to downward macroeconomic factors."


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Euromonitor: tech playing larger role in toys and games growth

The global toys and games market is poised for growth as favourable demographics in emerging markets, along with a tent pole* movie release schedule, are expected to support a 4.5% CAGR through 2020.

Global market research company Euromonitor International has found that global sales of toys and games reached US$179.7 billion in 2015 with in-game purchases and construction toys accounting for 30% of sales across the industry.

In-game purchases were the biggest driver of revenue growth for video games, increasing 21% in 2015 to reach US$44.6 billion. Mobile games reliant on purchases and the proliferation of smartphones was the main driver, but in-game purchases are becoming common in console and computer games.

Construction toys remained the fastest growing category globally for the eighth consecutive year, and the only segment to see double-digit growth at 14.2% within traditional toys in 2015.

“The release of Star Wars last year was the most significant growth driver within traditional toys with licensed LEGO construction toys recording a 16% increase,” Mykola Golovko, Project Manager at Euromonitor International, says.

Licensed toys totalled US$20.6 billion last year, translating to a 10% increase globally. While toys will see continued influence from licensing, new technologies will lead forecast growth for video games.

Virtual reality (VR) gaming had a limited impact in 2015 with only 2 million headsets sold. However, new products are expected to bring the technology to a wider audience in the period 2016 to 2020.

“With the release of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR in 2016, the market is primed to see strong growth in the near future with annual sales reaching 25 million units by 2020,” Matthew Hudak, toys and games Industry Analyst at Euromonitor International, says.

*Tent pole movies contribute heavily to their creators' revenues and often come with merchandise tie-ins.

Technavio outlines India fashion e-retail market

• Men’s clothing segment is the dominant shareholder in the market
• Key vendors—Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, and Yepme

The availability of a wide array of payment options and products, broader reach, and lower costs are encouraging online shopping for consumers in India, says Technavio’s analysts, who predict that the online fashion retail market in India will grow at a CAGR of almost 17% between 2016 and 2020.

Online shopping sites offer customers the opportunity to choose between a number of payment methods such as debit cards, credit cards, cash on delivery (COD), electronic wallets, smart cards, Internet banking, and demand drafts. Favourable demographic factors, better return policies, and increasing adoption of digital and push marketing by vendors are some of the other factors that will contribute to the growth in the online fashion retail market in India during the forecast period.

“The distribution of users between mobile applications and websites is an ongoing trend in the market. Mobile apps have a tremendous impact on the growth of the online fashion retail market in India as they offer a faster alternative to mobile web browsing for consumers to shop on the go. Key players in the market are coming up with more sophisticated fashion apps designed to leverage each functionality on specific operating systems such as Windows, Android, and iOS. Online retailers are emphasising on finding a balance between mobile applications and websites to cater to the masses who prefer shopping online,” says Brijesh Kumar Choubey, Lead Analyst, Consumer & Retail, Technavio Research.

In 2015, men's clothing online accounted for around 53% of the market share to dominate the online fashion retail market. However, more women in the country are likely to be employed and empowered financially in the coming years, thereby boosting growth in the women’s clothing online segment. Furthermore, hectic lifestyles and time crunch are encouraging women to transition towards online shopping rather than visit brick-and-mortar stores. The availability of premium women’s clothing is also projected to increase purchases and add more revenue by 2020.

The key players in the online fashion retail market in India include Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, and Yepme. Intense competition prevails in this market with most players selling broadly similar products. However, the global players like Amazon and eBay are offering an impressive range of fashion products, which has posed a tough challenge for regional players like Flipkart and Snapdeal. According to Technavio, the purchase decision of consumers is price-dependent so vendors need to focus on pricing strategies and the provision of innovative services. Most users prefer COD and conduct a price comparison before making a purchase, the research firm added.

Internet of Things to overtake mobile phones by 2018: Ericsson

• Sixteen billion connected devices forecast to join the Internet of Things (IoT) by the end of 2021
• Smartphone subscriptions to surpass those for basic phones in Q3 this year
• Teenage use of cellular data for smartphone video grew 127% in 15 months

The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report* reveals that the Internet of Things (IoT) is set to overtake mobile phones as the largest connected device category by 2018.

Between 2015 and 2021, the number of IoT connected devices is expected to grow 23% annually, of which cellular IoT is forecast to have the highest growth rate. Of the 28 billion total devices that will be connected by 2021, close to 16 billion will be IoT devices.

Rima Qureshi, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Ericsson, says: “IoT is now accelerating as device costs fall and innovative applications emerge. From 2020, commercial deployment of 5G networks will provide additional capabilities that are critical for IoT, such as network slicing and the capacity to connect exponentially more devices than is possible today.”

Source: Ericsson. New mobile subscriptions in India
equalled the number of new mobile subscriptions in
Asia Pacific excluding China and India. China rated
a negative number after China Unicom removed
inactive subscriptions.

Smartphone subscriptions continue to increase and are forecast to surpass those for basic phones in Q3 this year. By 2021, smartphone subscriptions will almost double from 3.4 billion to 6.3 billion. Also revealed in the report, there are now 5 billion mobile subscribers – unique users – in the world today.

Detailed in the report is a dramatic shift in teen viewing habits: use of cellular data for smartphone video grew 127% in just 15 months (2014 to 2015). Over a period of four years (2011 to 2015) there has been a 50% drop in the time teens spend watching TV/video on a TV screen, and in contrast an 85% increase in those viewing TV/video on a smartphone. This, and the fact that the upcoming generation of mobile users are the heaviest consumers of data for smartphone video streaming (Wi-Fi and cellular combined), makes them the most important group for cellular operators to monitor.

In 2016, a long anticipated milestone was reached: commercial LTE networks were measured supporting downlink peak data speeds of 1 Gbps. Devices that support 1 Gbps are expected in the second half of 2016, initially in markets such as Japan, US, South Korea and China, but rapidly spreading to other regions.

Mobile users will enjoy extremely fast time to content thanks to this enhanced technology, which will enable up to two thirds faster download speeds compared with the fastest technology available today.

Further highlights from the Ericsson Mobility Report include:

• Mobile broadband subscriptions will grow fourfold in the Middle East and Africa between 2015 and 2021; and mobile data traffic in India will grow fifteen times by 2021.
• Global mobile data traffic grew 60% between Q115 and Q116 due to rising numbers of smartphone subscriptions and increasing data consumption per subscriber. By the end of 2021, around 90% of mobile data traffic will be from smartphones.
• LTE subscriptions grew quickly during Q116: there were 150 million new subscriptions during the quarter, driven by demand for improved user experience and faster networks for a total of 1.2 billion worldwide.
• LTE peak data speeds of 1 Gbps are anticipated to be commercially available in 2016.
• 5G is expected to start more quickly than anticipated, but additional spectrum harmonisation is needed between countries planning early 5G deployment: This is in addition to the current process for WRC-19, which focuses on spectrum for commercial 5G deployments beyond 2020.

• Singapore leads Southeast Asia in both smartphone and mobile broadband subscriptions penetration, at more than 100% and more than 140% respectively.
• The Asia Pacific region is set to fuel growth with 1.7 billion new smartphone subscriptions recorded, exceeding the total combined subscriptions from the rest of the world.
• IoT to overtake mobile phones as the largest category of connected devices by 2018

The Ericsson Mobility Report also highlights Singapore and Asia Pacific’s leadership position in the adoption of smartphones, mobile broadband and IoT growth.

Singapore continues to lead in Southeast Asia in both smartphone and mobile broadband subscriptions population penetration, with more than 100% and more than 140% respectively, ahead of the Southeast Asia penetration levels of around 40% and around 60% respectively for 2015.

Source: Ericsson. India added the most number of
mobile subscriptions in the quarter, followed by
Indonesia and Myanmar.

Globally, mobile subscriptions are growing around 3% year-on-year and reached 7.4 billion in Q116. Indonesia and Myanmar are identified as among the key surge markets in Southeast Asia, with an additional 5 million subscribers in each country for Q116.

Across Asia Pacific smartphone subscriptions will reach 1.7 million by 2021. By the end of 2015, only Singapore had a smartphone subscription penetration above 100% percent in Southeast Asia. Singapore also has the top result overall in Southeast Asia for highest cell-edge downlink speed and lowest latency. By 2021, Singapore is expected to reach almost 130% smartphone subscription penetration.

This growth has, in turn, fuelled a huge demand for rich content from subscribers, with YouTube now the second most popular app in Singapore, behind WhatsApp, and the No. 1 app in Indonesia.

Before the smartphone revolution, most of the attention in mobile network operations was focused on managing voice coverage. Voice now constitutes less than 5% of mobile traffic. Users still expect good voice coverage, but they also expect a good user experience when they access the Internet through apps running on their smart devices.

The report also highlights the huge growth expected in IoT connected devices in Asia Pacific, which globally are expected to surpass mobile phone subscriptions by 2018. This will be driven by emerging applications and business models, and supported by falling device costs. Globally, IoT connected devices are expected to increase to close to 16 billion by 2021. Of this, Asia Pacific will be the region with the highest level of adoption, accounting for around five billion IoT connections.

IoT, which is a fundamental part of Singapore’s pioneering Smart Nation vision, will focus on two major segments - massive and critical connections. Massive IoT connections are characterised by high connection volumes, low cost, low energy requirements and small data traffic volumes - examples include smart buildings, transport logistics, smart meters and agriculture. Critical IoT connections are characterised by requirements for ultra-reliability and availability, with very low latency. These include traffic safety, autonomous cars, industrial applications, remote manufacturing and healthcare, including remote surgery.

Martin Wiktorin, Country Head for Singapore & Brunei, Ericsson, said: “This report highlights the exceptional growth of mobile broadband and smartphone technology in Singapore and across the region. It also demonstrates how IoT promises to change society in the next few years. A recent IDC study predicts that by 2019, we will see US$1.3 trillion worth of investment being poured into IoT technology globally which will empower the digital transformation of all our lives, accelerating our progress towards becoming a truly networked society."

Interested?

The Traffic Exploration Tool which accompanies the report can be used to create customised graphs and tables. The information can be filtered by region, subscription, technology, traffic and device type.

Download the Ericsson Mobility Report, Traffic Exploration Tool and regional reports for South East Asia & Oceania, North East Asia, North America and India

*The Ericsson Mobility Report is one of the leading analyses of mobile data traffic available, providing in-depth measurements from live networks spread around the globe. The report uses these measurements and analysis, together with internal forecasts and other relevant studies, to provide insights into current traffic and market trends in the networked society. The report defines a connected device as a physical object that has an IP stack enabling two-way communication over a network interface.

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Asia Pacific sees improvements with future-ready IT

· Future-ready enterprises can be divided into four categories: Current Focused, Future Aware, Future Focused and Future Creators

· Future Creators outperform Current Focused peers in key performance indicators

· The most future-ready enterprises in APJ report improvements in eight different business indicators

Source: Dell infographic. The four things that future-ready organisations are more likely to do.

Dell has announced the Asia Pacific findings of a global study* by analyst firm IDC - commissioned by Dell - which underscores the association between IT innovation and business results for organisation's in this region. The research discovered measurable business improvements as a result of future-ready IT adoption, tracked over a three-year period from 2012 to 2015.

The most future-ready organisations in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) cite the following benefits:

· Over 50% increase in customer satisfaction/retention and growth in revenue from new products

· More than 40% increase in revenue or sales/bookings, on-time customer delivery, regulatory compliance, reduction in time to market for new products and services as well as new customer acquisition

· Improved employee productivity by 39%

Based on the data, IDC has classed 16% of all companies as Current Focused; 32% as Future Aware; one-third are Future Focused, while the remaining 18% are called Future Creators. Future Creators are the most future-ready enterprises who lead with agile platforms and big data, while Current Focused organisations are defined as those that are still focused on traditional IT or still at the beginning of their technology journey.

“The Future Ready Enterprise Index has shown that the most future-ready organisations are able to successfully promote agility, scalability, and innovation in their business through the adoption of converged infrastructures, cloud, big data and analytics (BDA) solutions. Mapping out four different stages in the future-ready journey, the white paper clearly highlights that being a ‘Future Creator’ in Asia Pacific is a clear competitive advantage, while staying ‘Current Focused’ tends to be a competitive disadvantage. Businesses that pay attention to where they are on their journey and adapt suitable practices within their unique business context will make the most of their technology investment,” said Peter Marrs, Vice President & General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Dell APJ.

Strategies that produce deeper business insights

According to the survey, organisations need real-time visibility to make effective decisions for successful business outcomes. Traditionally, solutions that can cross and bridge multiple data types and sources so that they have the right data at their fingertips, at the right time to make the right decisions, do not exist off-the-shelf, and require specialised expertise to conceptualise and develop.

The Future Ready Enterprise Index has found that Current Focused organisations have little or no BDA strategy, and any BDA outputs typically have little or no influence on decision makers. In contrast, Future Creators have implemented enterprise-wide BDA strategy, with findings treated seriously by decision makers. In Asia Pacific, 98% of decision-makers from Future Creators have access to BDA at the right time compared to 58% of executives at a Current Focused organisation. This has led to faster organisational reaction times to change, driving improved business outcomes.

Enabling better use of infrastructure and data resources

The research found that business units at Current Focused organisations do not execute IT-led cloud strategies, but instead use public software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings on an ad hoc basis. In contrast, Future Creators maintain cross-cloud catalogues, plus audit/security and data control.

In APJ, over 50% of Future Creators noted that cloud adoption has enabled BDA within their business, and most have seen more effective use of infrastructure and data resources. These have allowed the respondents to track usage and performance, leading to greater productivity and optimised outputs.

An example of a Future Creator that has successfully deployed cloud technologies to better utilise its IT and data resources is Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok. The private healthcare provider operates a network of facilities in Thailand, employing 3,000 healthcare professionals. The hospital has upgraded IT infrastructure, such as data centre storage, cloud computing and data recovery functions. This enabled the institution to be future-ready, delivering better, faster, and more cost-effective patient services.

Optimising IT and business assets

Future Creator respondents from Asia Pacific highlighted greater resource utilisation, greater IT staff productivity, improved business agility and flexibility to adapt to change in the market as the top four benefits of using hyperconverged infrastructures.

eResearch South Australia, a joint venture between the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia, has for example created an open-source cloud and high-performance computing infrastructure to improve its research methodologies. Becoming a Future Creator has enabled cost savings and empowered its researchers to collaborate across distance and disciplines to share insights and gain access to data to be more innovative.

Adopting advanced technologies which enable future readiness can benefit businesses, but organisations which are structured to be the most future ready - Future Creators - benefit the most.

Interested?

Visit the microsite

Download the white paper

Determine your Future Readiness Ranking

*The IDC Future-Ready Enterprise Index studied the current state of digital transformation, surveying 2,529 IT executives across 20 industries in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, India, Brazil and Mexico. Companies were evenly divided between those with 100 to 999 employees; 1,000 to 4,999 employees; and 5,000 or more employees. Results were weighted by country/company size using GDP and employment distribution.

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Stocking office pantries with products from FoodAsia2016

The premium Food&HotelAsia2016 (FHA2016) regional trade event featured a wide variety of foods that are ideal for office pantries at the FoodAsia halls and Halal Supermarket zone: 

One of the more interesting displays was from Camel, which produces snacks like nuts and dried fruit. The booth had a camel statue standing on a bed of its snacks welcoming visitors. Rival Tong Garden was also at the show.

Goh Tiong Wee, head of Nuhoney, holds up a can of the sparkling honey beverage of the same name. Nuhoney is made in Singapore from Australian honey and was developed in conjunction with Singapore Polytechnic's Food Innovation & Resource Centre. The centre's services include developing functional foods, natural alternatives for food additives, reformulating foods to reduce fat, salt and sugar, process optimisation as well as sample preparation at trade shows and business events.

Omni Mal Agencies sells dates and date products in handy, hygienic packaging. The company offers organic dates, dates with cornflakes, date syrup, and dates coated with black cumin seed oil as some of its innovations. The Malaysia-based agency also exports around the world. 

MyBizcuit is from Malaysia. The company launched golden cheese tart and choco peanut bar snacks in value packs at the show. The snacks will soon be available as convi packs, in the golden cheese tart (Golden), peanut crunchy bar (Peanut), Belgium choco (Bellco) and melting almond (Almento) flavours. Also new were Mas Bear Danish cookies in a tin that are packaged in a gift box.

Kayamila, which also had space at the Halal Supermarket outside the hall, features traditional kaya - a sweet coconut milk based paste eaten with bread - in different flavours. From kaya expert Fong Yit, the Kayamila brand was developed in response to changing consumer demand. 

“In recent years, consumers have become more adventurous and creative, trying non-conventional ideas for their food choices. We have seen traditional breakfast spreads turned into ingredients for everything from baking desserts to cooking a main course. Kaya has to evolve too, and  Kayamila is taking that first step," said Goh May San, Marketing and Research Manager for Fong Yit, at the launch of the brand in February. 

Kayamila is available in the original flavour, called Original Coconut Kaya (a rebrand from XO Kaya; left), as well as Sea Salt Caramel (second from left), Vanilla Pandan (third from left) and  Calamansi Citrus (fourth from left). Kayamila products contain no preservatives and artificial colouring. The products are retailing at S$3.50 each and are available at Fairprice, Sheng Siong and Prime supermarkets from April 2016 onwards.

Litat Import & Export featured jams and spreads as well as beverages. The company is best known for its Ice Cool range beverages, which range from coffees, energy drinks, carbonated beverages, aloe vera juice in different flavours, sports drinks, milkshakes, coconut juice in different formulations, fruit juices, soluble fibre drinks, as well as soya milk. Ice Cool Asian specialty drinks range from wheat grass and traditional herbal tea, to wintermelon tea and bandung (rose-flavoured milk).  

Arborea full cream milk is from Arborea, Italy. This display is from the Halal Supermarket zone

Sealed, ready to eat cups of corn may soon be in NTUC supermarkets and Cheers convenience stores in Singapore, said a spokesperson at the CS Tay booth. The corn, from Thailand, keeps for two years in cool conditions. The packaging has an easy-open lid and a built-in spoon, so consumers can eat the corn straight from the cup if they wish. 

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post on Epson's next-generation mobility and payment solutions at FHA2016

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts about:

The FHA2016 roundup
Epson hospitality and retail solutions at FHA2016

New food launches at FoodAsia2016

How Singapore food manufacturers strategise for success

What's new at FHA2016

Read the Suroor Asia blog posts about:

The Halal Supermarket at FHA2016

Halal products at FHA2016

Announcing the Halal Supermarket at FHA2016

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