The Knowledge to Decide

The Indian government’s recent tweaking of the licensing policy for Electric Vehicles (EV) promises to address the infrastructure obstacle holding back the sector. The setting up of EV charging stations by the government would no longer require a license from the Ministry, paving the way for the faster construction of these stations. Earlier this year, Ola – the cab firm – initiated ‘Mission: Electric’ with plans to put 10,000 electric auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws on Indian roads by 2019, a figure which is planned to mushroom to a million by 2021. Will government policies put India’s EV market on the global map? Read here more:  https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/india-pushes-electric-vehicles/

Computer games have traditionally been developed with men in mind. Sadia Bashir from Pakistan is breaking with this tradition. She is the owner of PixelArt Games Academy and a member of Forbes’ 30 under 30 for Asia 2018. Working towards bridging the gap between industry demand and education by providing training in video game development, Sadia has been in the field since she was 13 years old. Intel is also working towards the same goal as Sadia, having recently invested USD300 million towards gender diversity in the gaming sector. Will the gaming industry embrace gender diversity? Read here more:https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/breaking-gender-rules-through-video-gaming/

China accounted for 15% of the USD660 million professional Esports market in 2017. Can China cash in on this booming market before other players jump on the bandwagon? Spire’s viewpoint on Asia’s e-gaming landscape was cited in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Esports – sporting activity built around public performances of electronic game-play – is a booming industry world-wide. In comparison to other sports, Esports training does not require an actual stadium, pitch or course. All you need is stable net connectivity. Esports is set to go further at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in Eastern China, where it will be acknowledged as an official medal sport. The growth potential in Esports is immense. The International Olympic Committee has already partnered with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to power future Olympic Games with its infrastructure services for cloud computing. Such technology infrastructure would be a powerful enabler for the Olympic Games to em

In recent years, the Asia Pacific gaming industry has attracted the attention of investors, developers and analysts. Within Asia, Japan, South Korea and China are the leading markets. The Asia Pacific remains the largest games market and is expected to reach USD71.4 billion in revenue, with a spectacular 39 per cent growth in 2018. By 2021, domestic market revenue in China is poised to increase from USD27 billion to USD35 billion. Asia’s gaming market is being transformed by Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology as well as gaming on social media platforms. Above all, Esports looks set to transform the industry. These were the findings from a study conducted by Spire Research and Consulting in Q3 2018. Gaming market in Asia Pacific (APAC) The Asia-Pacific region has been leading the global electronic game market. In 2017, total revenue from the gaming market reached USD51.2 billion, almost twice the revenue of the second-ranked North American region.

The air purifying power of 500 trees Taking green buildings to the next level, an eco-friendly building is now visible in the posh area of West SoHo in Manhattan, New York. The first of its kind luxury building has 25 storeys with air purification mechanisms. The façade is painted with Pureti, a water-based treatment that transforms contaminants in the air into oxidizing agents. This treatment purifies the air like 500 trees, removing the equivalent of 2,000 cars from the roads for an entire year. The technology is soon to be used on buildings across Turkey, Argentina and Spain. Can green technology ensure all buildings ‘breathe’ air in the future? Read here more:https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/the-air-purifying-power-of-500-trees/

Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be appointed as the Official Research Partner for the Challenge Iskandar Puteri triathlon – a Challenge family sports event that covers 41 full and half triathlons in 21 countries. The event was held between 14-16 September 2018 at Puteri Harbour Marina, Malaysia. Spire Malaysia conducted online and face-to-face surveys with 262 participants of the triathlon along with 50 supporters. The surveys collected information about their demographic profile, interest in sports brands, travel choices, socio-economic status and degree of awareness about the event. The event combined fitness-oriented races with unique, themed races such as Battle of the Sexes, Corporate Relay and Pitstop challenge. In the latter case, participants get to drive their bike into the pit and replace their own tires. Read here more: https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-chosen-as-official-research-partner-to-the-challenge-iskandar-puteri-tr

Disney and 21st Century Fox are hoping to close a deal that will lead to Disney acquiring Fox’s Star India Network, adding more than 700 million people to its global audience. Fox expects to increase Star India’s operating profits to USD1 billion by 2020. Disney is also counting on India’s smart phone boom to push mobile entertainment content. Will Disney succeed in India’s entertainment market? Read here more: https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/disney-eyes-indias-market-through-fox-star-india-deal/

In the e-commerce sector’s biggest deal yet, retail giant Walmart paid USD16 billion to acquire a 77% stake in Flipkart – one of India’s most successful e-tailers. With India’s e-commerce sector set to grow four times by 2023, Walmart is looking at supporting Flipkart’s ambition to become a publicly-listed subsidiary in the future. However, the revenue growth rate for Flipkart in 2016-17 was only 29%, a far cry from the 50% growth rate of the previous year. Will Walmart’s deal with Flipkart create an Indian Taobao? Read here more: https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/walmart-nails-deal-with-flipkart/

Spire was honoured to participate at the GATES India ICT Reseller Channel Summit 2018. The Summit was held on 4-6 September, 2018 in Kolkata. Vinita Nath, Senior Analyst at Spire India, shared her insights on booming e-commerce industry in India, focusing on market trends and growth strategies. Nath discussed the growth of the digital market, its rapid expansion and e-commerce platforms available for Small and midsize businesses (SMBs). India has the second highest number of active internet users in the world, at 390 million. Its Business-to-Business (B2B) market is expected to reach USD700 billion by 2020. For better sales outreach, SMBs should explore business listings or social media platforms provided by well-known brands such as Amazon Business, Whatsapp Business, Facebook Business and even Instagram with various advertising options available. Nath mentioned that multichannel selling enables businesses to connect with a network of many e-commerce portals.

Is the global economy under threat once more? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 10 September 2018 on the risks facing the world economy. Some economists have pointed to signs of an imminent economic crisis similar to the emerging markets currency crisis of the late 1990s or the Lehman shock of 2008. Perera highlighted that the US continues to register strong growth in stock prices, jobs and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with further Fed interest rate hikes likely. However, emerging market growth is slowing down and some countries have run into trouble, like Turkey. In this context, the biggest risk to the world economy may be the potentially destabilizing effect of a strong US dollar and US economy on emerging markets. This confluence of factors raises the risk of capital outflows from emerging markets, credit woes as well as currency depreciation and volatility. Geopolitica