Monthly Archives: September 2013

How smart does a firm need to be to win in the smart TV industry?

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Toshiba announced that it would channel its resources towards manufacturing large screen ultra-high-definition (UHD) 4k LCD TV as the company predicts a growth in demand. However, how would Toshiba fare if they were to focus on making UHD TVs?

The table below lists the various companies selling UHD TV.

Image taken from: http://www.gadgetreview.com/2013/08/4k-tv-price-comparison.html

According to the table, Toshiba released it’s UHD TV after Samsung and Sony. It would also have a hard time finding an unoccupied position in this product category,as Seiki had already produced smaller size UHD TVs and Sony had likewise released its middle sized 55 and 65 inch UHD TVs prior to Toshiba. This makes it hard for Toshiba to establish itself as a leader in UHD TV industry.

Although the pricing of Toshiba’s 84 inch UHD TV is relatively cheaper, the product remains expensive compared to high-definition TVs. This might prompt price cuts from companies to make UHD TVs more affordable, causing Toshiba to lose its competitive edge. Besides steep prices, a UHD TV wouldn’t be fully utilized as most programs are broadcast in 1080p or 720p displays. Therefore my analysis suggests that Toshiba would not fare well if they were to focus on making UHD TVs.

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Mobile payments, here we come!

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eBay

Image taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24292894

Braintree was recently acquired by eBay Inc for $800 million in a bid to strengthen PayPal’s presence on mobile devices. Paypal, a subsidiary of eBay, is an online payment platform which facilitates money transfers online.

eBay plans to use Venmo, an application by Braintree which lets customers make payments via mobile deivices, as a platform for expansion into the mobile payments industry. Following the acquisition of Braintree, Venmo will be included in PayPal’s mobile payment capabilities.

For further details on how Venmo works, check out this video below!

I feel that the move to acquire Braintree was a solid one.This allowed eBay to  eliminate a competitor and gain an extra platform for its expansion. Since consumers tend to prioritize the convenience of products and services, smart phone applications would be the ideal market to target. Furthermore, since PayPal is currently one of the dominant online payment platforms, most consumers would be comfortable with its payment systems and be able to adapt to its mobile payment platform with ease. By merging two popular online and mobile payment platforms together, I am confident that eBay’s expansion into the mobile industry would be a huge success.

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City Harvest Church Funds Embezzlement

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related links: http://www.littlespeck.com/content/politics/CTrendsPolitics-070113.htm

Six leaders of City Harvest Church were being charged for embezzling more than $40 million to fund the music career of Sun Ho, the wife of City Harvest Church’s founder Kong Hee.The church allegedly staged false investments in two companies to cover up the financing of Sun Ho’s music career.

City Harvest Church Trial

Similar cases have occurred in Singapore in the past; when the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation was charged for misusing charitable funds for personal agendas. I personally strongly condemn the act of abusing peoples’ faith in God. In this case, the accused argued that the act of financing Sun Ho’s career was a means to evangelize people. Such statements and testimonies by church leaders not only tarnishes the reputation of Christianity in the eyes of the public, but also cause many churchgoers to lose their faith in the religion. Hence the damage done as a result of this unethical breach of trust far outweighs mere financial embezzlement. I feel that the government should demand greater financial transparency in even religious organizations to prevent such events from reoccurring in the future.

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