Threat to Startup Innovation

With growing ecosystem of startup around the globe brings in major threat to their innovations too. Many startups often start from living room or college canteen. Many successful startups in India indicated that few like minded innovators joins hand with strength in different domain and start the development work to showcase the proof of concept. Proof of concept with viable business case is very important to get the seed funding.

In the event of self funding or through seed funding, startup generally hire the first line of employee through reference without going through the background check.There comes the threat of human vulnerability which is maximum in the information security domain.

We generally trust our resources and treat them as family to inflict conviction and confidence within the team member but sometimes some of the resources turns hostile and hurt the company.

It is very important for startup to implement network security but the usages of basic email server to common hosting server works for the worst. As startup founders invest their life savings to effort in order to achieve the goal and it is important for all of us to implement human intelligence as first line of defense to mitigate any security breach which may cost us unavoidable failure.

Many resources complain that they are not allowed to attend phone calls, whatsapp or any other messaging application within office. Some of them complain that they are not allowed to leave the office during office hours or they are not allowed to carry laptop back home.

I do understand the concern of the resources and they suffer just because of few resources who is not ethical while performing their duties.

It's unfortunate that some of the resources intentionally or unintentionally share company information with friends or relatives or XYZ, which may lead to leaking of confidential information about product, potential business etc.

When it comes to security we talk of routers to switch to IPS/IPS, DDoS, penetration testing to Vulnerability Assessment but it does not work in startup ecosystem.

If one wants to secure the innovation till it’s released in the market, it is utmost important the founder should keep an eye on everyone based on multiple intelligence mechanism.

India MVNO Initiative - Device Players Going to Rock

As per the report published in new paper today, government received 80 request to get the license.
Under MVNO license one can buy the minutes and data from mobile service providers and resell it to end consumer under their brand name. 

Few years back Virgin Mobile attempted the same but failed miserably. 

In a current scenario, when wireless subscribers touched around billion and major chunk of users are still using feature phone will help potential MVNO players in big way.

Currently Device manufacturer are the center of attraction and offer bundled data to their buyer as value add. In that process mobile service provider acquire data user at much lower cost.

Entry of MVNO will help volume device manufacturer present both in feature phone and Smartphone to dominate the market.

The brands like Micromax, intex, lava, karbonn, Spice,  celkon will be the biggest gainer as they are very strong in  feature phone segment whereas some of the mentioned brands are also strong in Smartphone segment. 
The positioning of these brands will attract MVNO towards them for new user acquisition. 

The above brand may choose to ask for user acquisition cost which may run in $1 to $2 of additional revenue per user.This will be on top of their ongoing VAS revenue of around $1 to $5 depending upon the brand market share and reach ability.

These brands are very strong in rural sector when it comes to feature phone and now posses the potential of increasing their margin if all goes right with MVNO license allocation. The move is very good to get more penetration and help those to have mobility who is still deprived of that.

True Relationship vs. Cosmetic Relationship

I decided to share this article post long research of current society for the last 15 years. The article takes you through the social changes with time, money and I realised that mistrust is the basis of today relationship.

In 80's or even 2000 era when someone used to meet someone then they used to maintain the friendship to the maximum level and used to help each others. I still remember friendship of  my parents with their friend circle and even after 40 years the love and respect of relationship is so pure.

During that era the salary of Indian were not high and social relationship used to be on the basis of sheer love for respect, care and person intellect.

Many even went to an extent of getting each other family member settle down. I call that relationship True Relationship.

At the same time, in current environment,relationship is cosmetic in nature when one  try to outclass others through their materialistic approach. Many claim to be friend or brother or sister but when it comes to trusting someone who really try to help the other side, you may land in shock. Is it the result of competitive environment within society.

I came across one incident recently which forced me to believe that trust from the society is completely over. If you think that other side really care for you then you may get a setback as you don't know about the other side intentions.

At one end we talk about connected mobility to banking to commerce whereas miss the connected relationship. I call it cosmetic relationship. Please keep your eyes opened and one should have shiva like third eye to catch the double faces sweet relatives.

Feel pity for those ...

UN Permanent Security Council Should Act On Terrorism - Enough is Enough

Post multiple failures, I decided to pen down my views on UN. The message is for 5 permanent Security Council member countries as they need to forge common goal to fight terrorism rather than include their Political agenda to protect one or another countries or affiliate to make sure that no resolutions are passed.

The whole world is suffering from terrorism and it is acting like a missile for many countries. I start from nasty attack on World Trade Center, Multiple Attack in Bali, Multiple Attack in France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, India and many other countries. What Security Council is doing to curb it. In my point of view they are sitting blind folded. Why can’t all members come together and start blocking terrorism organization and block their accounts. If all five counties join hand then it will be matter of months to bulldoze terrorism.

As Mr. Modi categorically said in multiple occasions that there is no good or bad terrorism and all should stand together. There cannot be two policies when it comes to Terror outfit to countries and permanent countries should stop misuing the Veto power to favor one or another to their own interest.

At the end we are human being and we should also think about people who lost and losing their life, family who is suffering because of loss of their home earner.

We should also understand that this terrorism is actually the main showstopper in global recovery from recession. Many countries like Libya to Iraq to Syria all went into troubled water which impacted the overall growth story and at the same time the investment climate in developed countries where terror attack happened suffered loss of foreign direct investment.

We as human always think that if we are safe means all are safe but we should also think by putting yourself on sufferer shoe and then only we can feel the pain of the sufferer.

Still its not late as UN Assembly is going to start   and all member countries should send the stern message followed by action including all kind of sanction so that others don’t dare to do it again. If we fail to do so then the countries like North Korea will continue its mockery of great organization UN. If they fail then its not long before member countries will start considering them as Handicapped Organization. If reader agrees with me then please like and share with your friends and family. Its the time that every citizen irrespective of their locations to religion to stand firm and support the cause of eradicating terrorism once for all.

4G Blame Game Between Airtel and Reliance Jio - Why Only Airtel, Vodafone & Idea Not others

The ongoing war of words between Airtel and Reliance Jio is nothing but new business strategy. If one look at the news reports, 90% of the blame is targeted towards Airtel.

It's also interesting to know that 2 Cr call drop is happening just because of that and it indicate the number of subscribers Reliance Jio acquired in recent weeks.

We failed to hear any statement from Reliance Jio that X number of call failure because of Reliance communications, Aircel, BSNL which is controlling more than 27% of the total wireless user Base.

It means that Reliance jio received full cooperation from them and there is no issue when it comes to MNP for those users who want to port in on to Reliance Jio, No call drops or negligible call drop. If yes or no, Reliance Jio should release the statement to justify their statements.

It's being observed that the three bugs are on Reliance jio hit list whereas the others are in ignores list.

As claimed by Jio that the call drop problem is not there in Jio to Jio call and they might be right whereas they should understand that in a scenario of jio to other network, interoperability plays a key roles. Reliance jio cannot just throw Airtel claim indicating that there must be issue with Reliance jio network but should work closely with Airtel to rectify the bug and fix it.

I kept on writing in my previous article that Reliance Jio is going to face the. music once concurrent user base will increase and we can feel the pain point attached with Reliance jio.

Being a keen learner, I kindly request Reliance Jio to release the call failure rate because of non top three.

In my point of view, Reliance jio should stop thinking that their network is the best and they may get their way all the time. Collaboration is the way to innovation not blames game.

Future of Smartphone - User defined Hardware & Software Services

In recent years, world of mobility changed upside down. No one ever thought in early part of 2000 that mobility will become the essential ecosystem of consumer or prosumer life. The change in mobility also impacted PC & laptop world and now that segment is also offering mobility on the go.

Now days the mobility device configuration in most of the cases are at par with the PC & Laptop segment. In my point of view, mobility world predominantly in developed countries are not offering any differentiation as minor feature enhancements being used by the companies to sell the products to end consumer.

In my point of view, do we know as product companies about end consumer RAM or ROM or Applications or Operating system or screen or camera or resolution or screen size or productivity tool. For example I like company A product with older version of operating system but new version of chipset coupled with small screen. Unfortunately it's not offered in the market then I will be forced to buy another device and then buy or download additional applications or services to fulfill my requirements.

Since, most of the companies designing and producing Smartphone’s collaborate with ODM or own its own assembly plant.

In that scenario, consumer defined specification can be produced and shipped to them by charging the end consumer the premium for that.

Take another example of HP or Dell or any other laptop manufacturer wherein end consumer can increase or decrease the processing power to screen size and according companies charges end consumers.

 In today's Smartphone segment many companies like Sony, Samsung, HTC, and LG etc are offering Smartphones which is even more expensive than entry level laptop to high end laptops.

I believe that in coming months, we will observe companies like Samsung or Sony or someone else will come out in the market with this kind of proposition to differentiate themselves and it will be completely disruptive model in the market. Being a consumer if I am spending $800 to $1500 for Smartphone then I should be given the flexibility to define my device specification. It will off course improve brand loyalty

Aadhar Integration with Mobile Phone - Missing the Masses

Indian Telecom regulatory body wishes to integrate Aadhar  Id with mobile phone to streamline one unique identification number. Very good initiative from regulatory body as well as government.  Even more encouraging that most of the Indian as well as International mobile phone companies are                         

Working on integration process. The integration of biometric mechanism will again be integrated with Smartphone devices using American based Technology company product line. At the same time Google and Apple   is opposing the move citing privacy and hacking concerns. INDIA with more than billion Aadhar card holders and around billions wireless users, the move is really appreciable but the move half  hearted. 

While chalking out the plan no body is bothered about those users who are not using smartphone. 

When government is focusing on those citizens who are deprived off government help as well as tracking the trend of government policy implementation but mostly those users are residing is rural sector. Even though some of the needy citizens who lives in Urban area are predominantly using feature phone.

In my point of view, government as well as device manufacturer should come out with solution which should cover both the device segment.

Based on my limited understanding,when the Aadhar server is already in place and user can use device only using the wireless devices then we should leverage the wireless network capabilities. In my point of view,the innovators sitting in wireless companies can solve the problem. We must remember that each aadhar card is attached with mobile number and most of the user do not surrender SIM but port to different network operator using MNP.

The initiative to map Aadhar with device will yield result but if one want better result than mapping aadhar with wireless operator will yield better results

India 4G User Acquisition & Retention - Who is Suffering at the End

Reliance Jio entry into Indian Telecom sector started creating scenario wherein incumbent operators are at the spot.

Latest in the saga, Reliance Jio again approached TRAI and accused Airtel,Vodafone and Idea for blocking users who wants to port out of their existing service providers to Reliance Jio network.  The number involved in total is less than 200 and that shows Reliance Jio commitment towards their potential user.

At the same time, incumbent cannot let the user port out of the network till the guideline of the Mobile Number Portability set by TRAI.

Indian incumbent operators faced the music of MNP and how end user exploited it in 2012 to 2014 era  wherein user took the service of one operator with goodies and then ported out to another one post exhausting the goodies.

In 2012 to 2014 era challengers like Telenor  and others used MNP in their favor and acquire millions of user but unfortunately most of the user were low ARPU user.

It is surprising that based on the reports published in leading new paper not mentioned  Aircel, Reliance Communication and other which in my point bring me to a conclusion that Reliance Jio is only facing problems with three leading incumbent operator. It would be great to know about BSNL user requesting for porting out and it's status.

The real test of porting in and out using MNP will show its class post Reliance Jio start commercial service. Till Dec 31 st 2016 most of the Indian mobile users will try to misuse Reliance Jio service as it is free. I am also delighted that this time around Reliance Jio is so focused about consumer but at the end consumers are suffering. If any legitimate user trying to port out then they should not be used as dice to play competitive strategy. It's a common practice by operator to put across many clause as some of the end user through their past act forced incumbent operators to put across multiple clause related to exit.

For few, mass is suffering and both incumbent and Reliance Jio should solve it the way they did it with PoI

Apple Super Success Prebooking - Sold Out Completely

Apple came out with iPhone 7 series with different storage option and color sold out completely. As per the report, jet black color attracted maximum buyers.  Today Apple new products will hit the store but unfortunately most of the buyer can't buy it but still can place orders.

As predicted earlier in my article, the kind of enhancement Apple integrated,  the products are bound to be super successful.

It will be very interesting to see how Smart watch sells goes through which is integrated with pokemon go as well ad Nike branded one.

In my point of view, as I predicted in my articles that price points are really attractive for Apple fan as well as New buyers.

Apple also released the price point of accessories and will attract additional revenue with huge margin.

The controlled ecosystem wherein they sell hardware, software,services and accessories are the basis of Apple differentiation in the marketplace as buyers trust brand as well ad quality.

I believe that this time around Apple will not release their sales through Prebooking but am sure that it will be super duper sales.

Apple announced new price of Iphone 6, Iphone 6s and  Iphone SE

4G Era VAS Growth Potential in India - Mobile Service Provider's Vs. Smartphone Player's

The Indian VAS ecosystem witnessed turbulent time for the last 5 years post MVAS regulations. Indian regulatory body came out with MVAS regulation to protect Indian mobility user and imposed number of authentication and authorization process in order to kill unwarranted billing to end consumer.

The double consent mechanism implementation knocked down Mobile Operator VAS business and Mobile Operator witnessed de-growth in the segment. The entry of OTT players especially the messaging players killed flourishing SMS business which include P2P, A2P and P2A. The sudden move by regulatory body knocked out many VAS players from the market whereas some other segment like Music, gaming etc witnessed tough time retaining the consumer and generating revenue out of them. The revenue share model between Mobile Service Provider's and Content Provider's also made the business sustainability more difficult.

While the transition was happening during MVAS regulation implementation; India started witnessing adoption of Smartphone in Early 2012. It offered huge window of opportunity for the VAS player to acquire user through indirect channel. Many companies from content, music, gaming turned towards Smartphone players to acquire new user. Smartphone player's captured the opportunities with both hands and started selling their inventories in return of space asked by the VAS providers. Some of the Smartphone players even integrated FOTA solution from leading FOTA service providers in order to ensure that they can mint money through existing consumer base. The unprecedented growth in the startup segment in early 2013 made Smartphone player the darling of all.

The limited space in the device and limited leading Smartphone players made the situation worse when Smartphone player started asking for hefty price point to integrate any VAS services or applications without any commitment of user adoption, retention, usages etc.

Many startup companies poured in many million $ in order to get the userbase without any solid business case to retrieve the invested money and disappeared after some time.

In 4G era VAS it will be very interesting to see how the VAS ecosystem pans out between Mobile Service Providers and Smartphone Players. Smartphone players are coming out with higher RAM and ROM which can sustain heavy load and may offer good consumer experience provided consumer gets better network coverage.

At the same time, Many Mobile service provider started developing their own VAS ecosystem and went to market to acquire users like the other applications. The only differentiation what Mobile Service Provider implemented is the monetization part. Mobile Service provider now acts as VAS aggregators which can be delivered through the applications to consumer based on the consumer wish coupled with monetization mechanism. In my point of view, it will help Mobile Service Providers to offer both value add to end consumer as they can offer multiple option compared to Smartphone players.

The Mobile Service Providers are struggling with high cost of service and it is expected that they will be offering virtualized VAS ecosystem to end consumer and Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel successfully demonstrated that through their number of applications which they can sell while selling the SIM to end consumer.

On a contrary, Smartphone players also started focusing on developing their own VAS ecosystem instead of relying on others for small amount. Smartphone players also trying to develop recurring revenue model based VAS platform and some of the are even successful doing so.

Unfortunately, the low DAU, MAU, Revenue per user are pushing Applications providers to take another route of user acquisition model as Smartphone players dont know who will be buying the product, what are their liking and in that scenario, selling a device the preloaded applications will definitely yield bad result.

I think that Mobile Service Provider's will again take the centre stage and am confident that they will witness the revival of their VAS business in coming Quarters

Apple Cut Prices of iPhone 6, 6s SE - Right Move at Right Time

Today good news came out from Apple for India. Based on reports Apple went ahead and cut the price of iPhone 6, iPhone 6s by 22000 INR for their 128 GB devices whereas SE attracted around 9% price cut.

As iPhone 7 series phone launch is around the corner and pre booking is underway; the move is going to give the end user an opportunity to grab it. It will also help Apple to clear it inventory.

As we all know that Apple struggled a bit in India as it only caters HNI or prosumer and this move is going to make the device more competitive against their competitors like Samsung, Sony, LG and others.

It will also help e-Commerce company to attract more customer during the holiday season but at the end main beneficiary will be Apple whereas the competitor will be forced to cut the price points to be competitive. It also indicate that, what is the margin attached with Apple device and the reason of their mind blowing profitability.

It's an opportunity for Indian iPhone fan to grab the opportunity

Upcoming 4G Era of India -Low End Smartphone with 1GB RAM will dominate Indian Smartphone in Coming Future

Indian Smartphone segment is changing very dynamically both on the specifications and price point side. One Smartphone player is trying to throw the another. All developed  a perception that Indian Smartphone segment will witness double digit growth and that prompted many new player including Chinese as well as heavy weight Reliance Industry LYF device.

In the past two quarter, there is constant change in market share and example of the same is "LYF" Smartphone. Post the launch of Reliance Jio service, LYF brand launched 1GB RAM device as well as 512 MB RAM devices carrying a maximum price tag of around $55 to $65. It created a buzz in the market and most of the new 4G user registering with Reliance Jio buying low end user as the USP set by Reliance Jio attracting low earning group.

In order to match the set threshold, Zen Mobile Launched 512MB RAM device in just over INR 3000 whereas Karbonn Mobile is known for entry level Smartphone. At the same time, Intex is one of the popular brand in$80 to $100 range.

Given the trend, its my prediction that Indian Smartphone market will be dominated by 1GB RAM device which will not be sufficient to give good 4G user experience given multiple tradeoff.

Ultimately, it will also impact the adoption of VAS services and associated revenue around it. In 2014 - 2015, Smartphone player earning at an average of $2 per device from VAS which will not be the game given the quality of video and HD quality as it will consume higher processing power.

Why None of the Device Manufacturer Focusing on Feature Phone Segment - Missing the Masses

Indian Mobile Device market is witnessing major dynamic shift. Most of the device manufacturer are focusing on Smartphone and invest millions of $ in advertisement to promote their device whereas plays out with very low operating margin.

Post "Make for India" initiative initiated by Government of India, most of the domestic and international device manufacturers opened their factories or bought the assembly line from existing manufacturers  to ensure that they get the benefits announced by the government.

Indian Smartphone sell just crossed 100 million per annum which is only 10% of the total wireless user whereas command round 36% of the total device shipped in an year. It is interesting to note that there are more than 150 known and unknown Smartphone players operating in India and strongly feel that feature phone user will eventually move to Smartphone.

In my point of view, Smartphone players should correlated the earning dynamics of Indian population including poverty. They should also consider the average balance on normal device user and one will be surprised that it is even less than $1.

In a rush to capture Smartphone segment, most of the players are not monetizing feature phone or not investing in new features attached with Feature phone except some of the VAS player who provides games and WAP service. The Common comment from all that feature phone is having space constraint but if they want they can remove that constraint.

In any circumstances if Device manufacturer wants to make their venture successful then they must focus on feature phone and should also consider creating virtual VAS center.

How it can be done is simple and for that one should invest research $.

Vodafone India Embarked $3 Bn - Bad News for Reliance Jio

Vodafone India was on the verge of filing for IPO to recover its investment as well as to reduce mounting debt. Reliance Jio service launched shattered their plan as Vodafone clearly understand the impact of Jio tariff plan on their potential IPO offer price. There are lots of apprehension in the market place about incumbent like Airtel,Vodafone or Ideacellular to ward off Reliance Jio competition.

Recently Airtel announced that they will invest around $9Bn to upgrade their network and Idea Cellular will definitely get the support from the promoters in the form of equity infusion or loan to go full fledged against Reliance Jio with aggressive price point.

As per the news reports Reliance Jio initiated call drops are on the rise as incumbent has to provide more PoI and that will take few weeks to be in place. Its universal truth that Reliance group of companies most of the time use their petro finance to suppress competitor and sometime throw them out of the market.

In case of Indian Telecom market place, Reliance Jio is going to face stiff competition from incumbent operator the way new entrant faced in 2012-2013 time frame. By embarking $3Bn fund Vodafone sent out clear signal to industry player that they will be very aggressive in acquiring required spectrum to cover all 4G circle. We should not forget that Vodafone Plc the parent of Vodafone India is pioneer in 4G network know how and time to time support Indian operation.

It is also expected that once the concurrent userbase increases on Reliance Jio network then their partner from ccc will face music to cater the traffic and there might be problem in scenario 1 when the content hosted at partners end. On the other side, if content is hosted at Reliance Jio data center then it will be incremental streaming cost for Reliance Jio

The intention of Vodafone India is very straight and clear that Reliance Jio should struggle with one or another problem till the time Reliance Jio launches their service commercially. All are expecting that post commercial launch Churn rate at Reliance Jio will be maximum given their past experience.

At one end Reliance Jio is also raising 15K  Crore whereas the competitors like Airtel and Vodafone is also showing their financial muscle and it will be interesting game moving forward but will dent Reliance Jio more than anyone else.

Oppo & Vivo Smartphone Gained Markets Share in India with No Return

The lull in Chinese domestic market forced them to a situation where the factory shut down was imminent. At that point of time Oppo and Vivo entered Indian Smartphone market without any knowledge of Indian domestic market adoption trend.

Most the management were from head office landed them in tight spot and they failed to gain any traction in the first year of operation. 

Post first taste of failure both the companies quickly changed their strategy and inducted seasoned Indian Professionals to represent them in the market place whereas head office kept the key of major decision making process.

Being cash rich company at corporate level, both the organization embarked aggressive advertisement plan with open budget to ensure that the awareness about their brand reaches to masses even though their product line caters mid to high end Smartphone user segment.

The flood of sponsorship of different event worked and at the same time, they successfully placed their device in offline channel which propelled extraordinary growth in volume sale.

Brands which struggled at one point of time are now flooded everywhere at very competitive price point.  For that both the organization team member deserve appreciation.

But at the same time, one should also consider the profitability.

In intensely competitive Smartphone segment where net margin ranges between 1.5% to 10 % given the brand and what premium brand can command. Sustained profitability is big question mark. In my point of view both Oppo and Vivo gained market share but don't think they ever made profit in their Indian operation.

At the end of the day Profitability count for the shareholders compared to volume. It's the right time for both the organization to recalibrate their business model to ensure profitability as brand recognition is already in place.

In point of view, human memories are very short when it comes to brand and moves to other brand in no time. We should learn that from brand like Ericsson handset, Nokia, Siemens etc. How many of us remember the innovators of mobility world.

It will be interesting to see how both the brand do when they reduce buying Smartphone user by throwing advertisement  $. As conclusion they can't keep throwing advertisement money and will be forced to reduce it at one or another point of time and at that point of time real adoption trend can be analysed.  Till then we should not expect them to be profitable.

Chinese and LYF Brand Impact - Micromax Mobile Business Head Ajay Sharma Quit

The trouble within Micromax is not going. The turbulent time started few months back when the High Profile Ex-CO of Bharti Airtel Sanjay Kapoor was forced to move out of the company Chairmanship followed by Vineet Taneja as CEO. The promoter of the company Mr.Rahul Sharma retook the charge and started pulling back his old team and Ajay was part of that move.

Unfortunately, Ajay resigned nine months post rejoining Micromax and all credits goes to dwindling sales of Micromax devices. Micromax is continuously losing market share aggressive Chinese player like Oppo, Vivo, Gionee, Oneplus, Xiaomi and  Indian Brand like LYF

In my point of view it is not far when LYF brand will be number 2 Smartphone player in India and gain credit goes to Reliance Jio utmost wish to dominate the market and entering into it without showing the true intention of business. They quickly captured the market and took everyone offguarded. While everyone were busy in developing Smartphone which can run on Reliance Jio network; LYF brand sweep the market and shocked the players like Micromax, Intex etc.

The month over month fall must be the reason for Ajay fallout with Micromax. 

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel Signed PoI Agreement - Good for Industry

In a major deadlock between Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, today both the organization signed bilateral agreement which will pave the way for Bharti Airtel to offer hundred of PoI to Reliance Jio. As per the reports, financial aspects are not released but it is evident that Reliance Jio must be offering higher price point for the termination on Airtel Network or Reliance Jio must have given other commitment to share their infrastructure.

The speed of discussion and conclusion of agreement indicate that both the parties realized to take a path of reconciliation instead of conflicting with each other. It will also help Reliance Jio to get the deal done with other incumbent operators.

Is a good news for Reliance Jio user and their user experience and at the same time Incumbent Operator put across their concern on the table. Airtel also realized that post the commercial launch from 1st Jan 2017, the Call volume terminating on their network will go down dramatically as Indian user are very good in using free service to the maximum level.

It will be very interesting now to see the battle of acquiring new user as well as retaining the userbase. I expect that in next two to three weeks Reliance Jio will experience drastic fall in call drop whereas Incumbent will get time to recalibrate their marketing strategy to attract new user or retain existing user.

At the end, it's a win for Indian mobility user.

Reliance & Aircel Potential Merger - Opportunity For Airtel, Vodafone and Ideacellular

For the last 6 months, there is buzz in the market place that Reliance Communications and Aircel is joining hand to fight with big players as well as face Reliance Jio Onslaught collectively. Both the organization is reeling under huge debt and constantly losing market share. The fund constraints also put them in tight spot to innovate new products in  order to differentiate themselves.

As per the industry news, both the organization will own 50% each and company will have thousands of Crores of loans on their books. If the merger goes through then there will be major realignment will happen in both the organization and biggest loser will be employees of both the organization.

On the market competition side, both the organization is very confident that they will be better placed to ward off any competition including Reliance Jio and will gain market share. They are also claiming that their revenue market share will grow from the current level of around 12%.

In my point of view, Reliance Communications failed to increase their wireless business for the last 3 to 4 years with stagnated revenue but their debt level went beyond their control. Reliance Communications is also well known for their poor customer care.

Most of the partner working with Reliance Communications also face issues in integration due to legacy network and innovation is completely missing. The recent move by Reliance Communications to force millions of user to port on to 4G dented their image.

If the merger goes through then there will be distraction within management level of both the organizations as both the parties will be busy in realignment of business, product line, regulatory etc and that will open an opportunity of window for incumbent operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Ideacellular .

Reliance and Aircel on collective basis is having more than 60 million data user as well as around 7 to 8 Millions of prepaid userbase.

I also would like to point out that many user still remember the very poor service offered by Reliance when Mr.Mukesh Ambani launched telecom service with number of complaint on billing side and that is the reason that i have not considered Reliance Jio in the race.

All of us are talking about Reliance Jio impact on Airtel or Vodafone or IdeaCellular but missed to identify the opportunity lying in front of them. Read More

TCS Profit Warning - Indicating all is Not Well in IT Sector

Recently TCS came out the profit warning and sent out shock waves across investor community. TCS is known for meeting profit forecast or beating it. Even though TCS tried to deflect the severity of the situation by pointing out that one or two sectors are performing below expectations.

We all should know that multi billion $ IT contract is under renewal which Indian IT companies are managing or developing. The competitor landscape changed completely in the 5 years and it is expected that clients will go for renegotiation on servicing price point.

Recently Infosys shocked the market with an announcement that they lost one of the contract worth $200 MN. We as an investor should be ready to digest more negative news from IT companies.Needless to say that the change in market dynamic and continuous pressure on TCS Profit margin is going to led slow resource hiring or recalibration of existing resources or layoff. It will be having cascading impact on smaller IT companies. At the same time Startup ecosystem is also facing funding issue and layoff is on the rise. 

In my point of view, Indian IT giant should transform their business and should be more focused to come out with their own products. The resources associated with these IT giants are superb in potentials and managed many complex project. If IT giant decide to come out with sector specific product line then only they will be able to sustain their growth. Sitting on multi billion $ cash, I don't think that they need to raise money to develop product. 

Recent announcement is just the warning bell and still it's not late for IT giant to change their strategy to become product, platform company

Unmatched Foreign Policy and Strategy Led by Honorable Narendra Modi

Post Honorable Narendra Modi took India Prime Minister charge, many analyst were very skeptical about his foreign policy. Most of them came out very openly and suggested that he is going to fail given his outreach mechanism of visiting as many as countries possible. The opposition parties also questioned the cost involved to it.

During the foreign visit, Mr. Prime Minister played first dice by meeting NRI's in townhall as shared his thought. He successfully demonstrated that he is with them and with Indian people and trying hard to fix the problem attached with social India especially in the social sector.

During visits, he realized that all countries want to come to India post his meeting with business Tycoon of respective countries and he came out with " Make In India" initiative with a clause of local investment too including in the social sector. Which brought many companies from respective countries to India and he asked his office that no red tape should be faced by the incoming companies.

He strategically opened Defence sector with FDI and that brought many companies knocking on India door. The Defence sector in all countries are the biggest lobbyist and that brought US to come closer to India. The recent South China Flash point brought Japan, South Korea ,and US closer to India as they felt that India can be an ally in the region. At the same time terrorist attacks in Europe union countries gave him the opportunity to attract all of them in his kitty.

The recent offers from US on themilitary collaborations, Russia closeness with India, France unconditional support to India . The recent military drill with US is a testimony of growing confidence on India and especially post G20 which concluded recently, India is now the central talking point and main driver against unwarranted element.

I would like to congratulated Honorable Mr. Narendra Modi to take India as Central attraction point worldwide. Read More 

Narendra Modi With 6C's Excellence

SnapDeal 200 Crore Facelift - Too Little - Too Late

Amazon for the last six month showed their calibrated onslaught on Indian e-Commerce startup with open wallet and changed the dynamics of Indian E-Commerce segment. The downturn in funding to e-Commerce companies and valuation marked down by many investor led investor confidence loss on the  business model of Indian e-Commerce companies which relies on discount to generate sale.

The burn rate of Indian E-Commerce segment is too high and there is no profitability in sight. Flipkart lost many high profile resource whereas Snapdeal faced increasing challenge to attract big names to use their platform. It's not important that how many sellers are there on the platform but its more important that how the brands are getting attached with the platform.

Based on the newpaper report, SnapDeal embarked 200 Crore to go for brand facelift so that they attract brands on their portal. It's a fact that most of the e-commerce companies are generating most of the GMV through electronics and the competition is so intense that the chance of profitability is near to zero but to ensure that user buys the product from the platform, e-commerce companies are offering discounts.

SnapDeal also bought many analytical companies to recharge companies in order to integrate it with the central platform to differentiate themselves from the competitors but they failed to achieve the same for one or another reason. They completely failed to monetize their platform through alternative revenue stream and i should say that all the e-commerce companies in India failed in that segment.

The much delayed advertisement blitz is not going to help SnapDeal much to change their fortune but they can do so if they invest half of the embarked budget in enhancing their platform and go full blown user acquisition in disruptive model.

I would love to see Indiane-Commerce companies grow and be successful but the prospects are bleak as the number of buyers on e-commerce portals are limited and still retail segment is very strong.

Even though I wish SnapDeal all the best and hoping that they will come back strongly.

TRAI Current Feeler on Point of Interconnect and Termination Charges - One Gaining, Rest Loosing

Based on the reports published in Economic Times, TRAI offered their intentions clear by sending out feeler that they are not going to allow Incumbent Operator such as Airtel , Vodafone, Ideacellular and others to ask for higher termination fee. They also indicated that Incumbent operators must provide required number of point of interconnect to Reliance Jio.

If I am not wrong, TRAI few days back released an statement that they recommended the concerned parties to resolve the concerns through talks. They also pointed out that in case both the parties will fail to come to common agreement then only TRAI is going to intervene.

Since Economic Times came out with the report and if I believe on that report then I want to ask TRAI very simple query that " How TRAI came to conclusion that talks will yield no result". " Why they are not focusing on revenue loss which will be incurred by Government given the impact of low per minute realization.

At the end its my assessment and i might be wrong that India is a place where the single agenda of regulators are to squeeze out player. Regulators must realize that any degradation of Incumbent mobile operator financial health means job losses, more NPA, impact on IT sector, Impact on Startups and loss of government revenue and more importantly another recession.

Its a right saying in India that If I am happy then rest happy; If I am sad then rest should be sad. Dear regulators please wake up...

Is Jio and Incumbent Operators like Airtel/Vodafone/Others are Heading for Court Showoff

Post the TRAI initiated discussion to break the impasse between Jio and Incumbent operator resulted with next step. TRAI directed both the side to talk with each other and come out with solution. Incumbent Operator clearly stated that the traffic received by Incumbent from Reliance Jio is of asymmetrical nature and the cost per min for the terminating the Reliance Jio traffic should be paisa 30 instead of current termination charge of paisa 20.

It is clear that Reliance Jio will never agree to increase the price point which is being asked by the incumbent operator. Any increase in termination charges will adversely impact Reliance Jio business case whereas will hugely favor incumbent business case as the termination charges will be closer to net realization by the operator per min.

It is obvious that post the failure of talks, TRAI will come out and release an order which will be much lower than paisa 30 which will be protested by incumbent operators especially Airtel, Vodafone, Ideacellular in Court.

The moment any party goes to court will immediately put Reliance Jio request as status quo and at the same time Reliance Jio service experience by the end user will be bad. 

TRAI Failed Attempt to Bridge the Differences Between Reliance Jio and Airtel,Vodafone,Ideacellular, and Other

Post lots of mud slugging on each other, TRAI directed Reliance Jio and Incumbent Operators like Airtel, Vodafone, Ideacellular and Others to sit across the table and make a way to break the impasse on point of interconnect. Based on the report, Tcc to show the world that they tried and directed both the parties to settle the issues through talks. They also pointed out that failure on agreement will force TRAI to act which will be enforced. TRAI made a path clear for both the parties to waste another two months in discussion and subsequent to that another month for TRAI to release their order which will be challenged by the Operator in any circumstances.

Great work done by TRAI.

Apple Showed its Innovative Class - Invest in Device, Accessories, Services & Stocks

Apple deserve our appreciation to continue follow the innovation path and surprise it's loyal customer base. The 7th Sept 2016 launch of iPhone series phone along with AirPod and Smart watch took competitor with surprise. As i mentioned in by article as well as video that one should be ready for the surprise and am happy to announce that our prediction about potential feature set came true given our continuous minute observation of Apple acquisition to CEO statements to competitor movement. Apple always believes in Classes rather than masses with clear understanding about both the Class and Mass segment.

The price point attached with AirPod will be super duper hit during holiday season and whoever disagree with me should wait for the Apple result of Dec 2016 quarter. The features of AirPod is going to make a kill given the battery support, charging mechanism and most suitable candidate for gifting purpose during holiday season.

“ Apple iPhone7 series devices with different storage option and price points are very competitive given the features around battery life camera, voice quality, Waterproof & dust protector; multi aperture camera with HD quality support, Audio quality converts it into Audio & Video centric product. “

The rigid innovative team of Apple showed lots of flexibility and came out with multiple color and most importantly included jet black and Matt Black. I strongly believe that these two additional colors will attract maximum booking during preorders.

I still remember Carl Ichan statement that he sold Apple Share as he don't see value given the current lineup of product but it's my recommendation to him to go and buy Apple equity without delay.

Many analyst firm like Canlays an others forecasting that Apple Unit sale will remain at the lower end even after great launch from Apple. I would like to remind the well established analytics players that one need to know the pulse of the people. Everyone kept their focus on iPhone 7 Series devices but I also took AirPod into consideration. Most importantly, Apple carry a brand value wherein all youngster wants to use it be it accessories or devices and there AirPod launch will attract many.

At the same time it is also expected that Apple will launch iPhone 7 series devices in top 50 markets whereas will reduce the price of existing portfolio in other 100 countries to bring in volume and will clear the inventory before phasing out series 5 and continue with iPhone6 series and iPhone7 series devices

I am also very optimistic about their services business where they have launched Smart Watch with Pokémon Go. We all should remember that Apple decision to integrate the game with Smart watch will attract hundreds of millions of users who are mad behind that game to go and buy Apple Smart Watch. The tactical move by Apple CEO Mr. Cook is nothing but a killer move. The price point kept for Smart Watch also in the range wherein masses in western countries will rush for.

Most of us were concerned about China market where Apple struggled in recent quarter, I believe that high end Chinese customer base will go for it and will ditch home grown device manufacturer given the quality of the product.

Regarding the profitability, I am sure that Dec 2016 quarter profitability will be record breaking given the fact that all major market where Apple generates most of their revenue is getting stable economically except Middle East.

Lastly but most importantly, Apple recent launched product will be face little to no resistance from the competitor side as its biggest competitor is struggling with their own Samsung Note 7 Battery problem and they are banned on Flights. Many of Samsung competitors may use Samsung problem as unique selling point that their battery is safe which intern is going to help Apple indirectly.

As conclusion, Apple again showed its class for which they are known and investor should invest in Apple post consultation with their financial advisers. At the same time, Consumers and presumes should buy the product without delay as the device is nothing but a moving office for you now.

Can't Carry Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in Flights - Major Setback to Samsung and Good News for Others

In another jolt, today Indian Airline regulators DCGA barred air travellers to carry Samsung Note7 with them during flight. Given the premium category device,  millions of Indian user must be using the device. Recently Samsung recalled it's Note7 from market post frequent battery blast issue. Post government body action for the security and safety purpose is a welcome step but at the same time it's a major blow to Samsung Brand value.

I won't be surprised that it will also impact the sale of other Samsung Model as Indians are quick to change their perception. As Samsung Promised that they will relaunch their Note7 in coming weeks but no one knows the extent of technical glitch which prompt battery to be overheated. Another two to three week delay in launch will impact Samsung holiday season. In the meantime, Samsung must work on another model or launch it with another name as it is clear that their Note7 sales in India will be very low whereas it's an opportunity for Sony, LG and Apple to gain market share in the premium segment.

I Already said that  in my recent article tell everything about Samsung or apple . 

Go check it here : Which one is better Samsung Note7 vs IPhone 7

Watch here ;-