Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li><keyword id="248229" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Mathur">Nikhil Mathur</keyword>, Managing Director of GfK in India writes how the consumer sentiment improved during the <keyword id="36208" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season">festive season</keyword> and why marketers should continue investing on <keyword id="618493" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-marketing">digital marketing</keyword>. </li><li>With the drastic alteration in media consumption, this festive season offers opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers like never before.</li></ul>The global Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the world as we know it. Lifestyles have changed, consumers are buying differently and, in many instances, thinking differently. Supply chains have been challenged and retailers are closing doors. Consumers in every part of the world are now looking at products and brands through a new lens. COVID-19 is reshaping the entire retail industry in real-time, rapidly building consumer preferences that have never been easy to change. It is safe to say that new habits formed now will endure beyond this crisis, permanently changing what we value, how and where we shop, and how we live and work. Consumers are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19, both from a health and economic perspective. People are responding in a variety of ways and have diverse attitudes, behavior and purchasing habits. With increasing concerns about individual safety, customers are shifting towards the deep end of the online commerce pool and have shown a remarkably high level of dexterity and comfort in online shopping. According to GfK Consumer Pulse Report, 69% of consumers now prefer the online channel of purchases to avoid crowds. Additionally, the home culture is likely to outlast the Covid-19 phase. It has significantly resulted in a huge business opportunity across product categories. Consumers are buying electronics to support this lifestyle, thereby creating a sales boost in the industry. The @home lifestyle has put the spotlight on the importance of “convenience” shopping, governing the kind of products consumers will buy. This factor has given a big fillip to digital commerce, as new consumers migrate online for grocery shopping – a growth that is likely to survive beyond the pandemic. Our survey indicates that 44% of consumers consider online as their most preferred purchase channel for mobile/smartphones, even after the lockdown situation eases, while 73% prefer buying consumer electronics/appliances from e-commerce websites and 26% prefer buying from brand websites. These changing trends in consumer buying behavior and the increasing preference of purchase channel towards online retail has created an unprecedented challenge for companies seeking to engage with customers. Whether changes in marketing direction are motivated by market and industry conditions, changing consumer behavior or the need to stay competitive and cost-effective, it is highly recommended that companies focus on increasing their marketing efficiencies and customer retention. This is also reflected from <a href="https://www.gfk.com/home" target="_blank">GfK</a> study highlighting that 84% of manufacturers plan to invest in online commerce for 2020 as a response to the changing business climate. Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has hit the marketing industry hard. According to the GfK survey, Branding and Marketing in the New Abnormal, 73% of marketing leaders across Asia stated that their marketing budgets have decreased, with those in FMCG and healthcare experiencing the hardest hit. Simultaneously, marketing KPIs have also shifted, with maximizing the marketing effectiveness increasingly becoming the most important KPI for marketers. It is important to note here that while most of the KPIs in the pre-covid times focused on both the online and offline retail, the approach now has shifted. Digital transformation is now considered as one of the top priorities (56%) of marketers. This shift was reflected in freeform answers around how KPI measurement has changed, with respondents indicating a ‘shift to purely digital tactics’ and a ‘shift to online businesses”. Indeed, as online sales from changing consumer preferences continue to grow, we can expect this need to focus on digital transformation to continue. While KPIs may not have changed, their form has. Marketers’ desire to move towards digital platform reflects the need to focus on internal and external channel tracking, measurement, and effectiveness. With the drastic alteration in media consumption, this festive season offers opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers like never before. Consumers are discovering brands on social media, and businesses need to focus on solutions that are relevant for the new normal, such as hyper-localization, creating virtual experiences, re-looking at the media-mix to build efficiency and effectiveness. Moreover, the lockdown has only increased user’s media consumption habits, with an increased viewership for OTT content, urging brands to invest in some relevant touchpoints to help them achieve their targets. Not surprisingly, industry experts are advising marketers to leverage social media to drive brand discovery this season. With discretionary spends decreasing and value-consciousness increasing, marketers need to enter the consumer’s consideration set, eventually helping consumers in their purchase decisions. Brand managers are trying to strike a balance in offline and online retail experience giving the importance of both the purchase channels. Hence, as brand managers are focusing on product innovation strategy to allure the consumers, they are equally invested in the retail innovation to address vast swathes the nation. Getting digital right In this post-pandemic environment, it is important to have a roadmap that reflects the pace of digital adoption: <ul><li>The digital efforts of brand marketers should quickly focus on using data analytics to respond to evolving customer needs, improve business operations and increase agility to fulfil customer expectations across multiple touchpoint. </li><li>It is also crucial for brand marketers to benchmark their digital channels against competition and identify the metrics that are relevant for the brand purpose. Look at the bigger picture and set quantitative and qualitative KPIs to achieve overarching brand objectives. </li><li>In addition, bolster your digital competencies to deliver speed and innovation, and create authentic and meaningful experiences for your audiences in order to achieve long-term brand success.</li></ul>The crucial factor here is innovation; marketers who don’t realize or understand this or cannot innovate fast enough will perish and those who can adapt themselves, will sustain and thrive.

How brands unlocked their marketing budgets during festive season

South Korean handset maker <keyword id="61562" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="LG-Electronics">LG Electronics</keyword> will set up its manufacturing plants and start producing its smartphones in India after it achieves a 10% <keyword id="34527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="market-share">market share</keyword>, LG India Managing Director <keyword id="494374" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Soon-Kwon">Soon Kwon</keyword> told the Economic Times. The company also plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in 2015 on research and development (R&amp;D) and <keyword id="6354839" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword>. 

	"I reckon G4 is one of the best smartphones introduced in India lately. Leveraging this, my aim is to double our market share and increase the contribution of the mobile business to 15% towards our overall revenue," Soon Kwon told the financial daily. 
 

	The company managing director further said: "Once we hit the 10% market share (in cellphones), manufacturing will eventually follow." 
 

	Kwon didn't share more details on LG's handset manufacturing plans. 
 The company currently has a market share just under 5%, as per market research firm <keyword id="187899" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="GfK">GfK</keyword>. Its mobile business contributes around 10% toward overall India revenue. 

	The South Korean company has two manufacturing units in the country that produce all its white goods, including refrigerators and ACs. 
 

	LG joins a host of overseas handset makers including Xiaomi, Motorola and Asus, apart from homebred ones such as Micromax, Lava, Intex and Karbonn, that are examining local manufacturing plans. 
 

	LG will aggressively expand its smartphone range with 20 new devices across various price segments by the end of December 2015. It currently offers eight 4G smartphones, which Kwon said was the most by a single company in the Indian market. 
 On Friday, LG has come up with its dual-SIM flagship <keyword id="1918564" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="4G-LTE-smartphone">4G LTE smartphone</keyword>, the G4, priced at Rs 51,000. 

	Kwon said the company aims to sell 1 lakh G4s in the next three months. "Indian R&amp;D contributed significantly towards development of this device. It's the first premium phone with dual 4G SIM support," he said. 

	 
	(Image: Reuters)

LG to make smartphones in India if it achieves growth

<ul><li>Smartphone brand <keyword id="215177" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="vivo" source="Orion">vivo</keyword> has launched its <keyword id="188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="diwali" source="Orion">Diwali</keyword> films featuring veteran <keyword id="42902" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kanwaljit-singh" source="Orion">Kanwaljit Singh</keyword>.</li><li>In an exclusive chat with Ad &amp; Media Insider, <keyword id="6574292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nipun-marya" source="Orion">Nipun Marya</keyword>, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India, about the new campaign, the consumer sentiments during this year’s festive season, the brand's IPL experience this year, and more.</li></ul>The Diwali week is finally here and brands are doing all in their might to make the most of this festive season, by telling lots of beautiful stories. Last week, Vivo launched a heartwarming film, to celebrate the spirit of Diwali. Featuring actor Kanwaljit Singh, the film is aimed at encapsulating the role of smartphone photography in rekindling the joy of connection. At a time when there is a constant debate about the effectiveness of long-form ads with dwindling attention spans, this film has tried to tell an engaging story in around 5 minutes. The film has been conceptualized by <keyword id="3553893" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dentsu-impact" source="Orion">Dentsu Impact</keyword>. Photographs play an important role in the narrative and Vivo has tried to show how We speak to Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India, about the new campaign, the consumer sentiments during this year’s festive season, the brand's IPL experience this year, and more. Excerpts: Q) People often talk about the decreasing attention span of consumers and you have just released a 5-minute long film for Diwali. Tell us a bit about Vivo's new campaign. As a consumer-centric brand, vivo has always focused on establishing a strong connection with its audience through emotional storytelling. With the #JoyofHomecoming campaign, which features the veteran actor Kanwaljit Singh, we aim to remind everyone that the festival of lights is fondly celebrated, when the entire family gets together. The campaign encapsulates the role of smartphone photography in rekindling the joy of connection, and aims to bridge the emotional and physical distances between families and spread happiness. India is a collectivist society and all of us are deeply emotionally connected with our families and loved ones. We understand the importance of capturing those perfect moments with the help of photography and how it can be used to stimulate emotions. Delivering industry-leading camera technology, we want our consumers to enjoy this festival with their loved ones and capture every moment and emotion. Through this, we also intend to strengthen our bond with our consumers, which motivates in delivering what’s best for them. Q) What is the message you are trying to communicate? Mobile photography has always been the key focus for vivo. From delivering industry-leading technology to the best camera features, we make sure to spread joy to our consumers. We understand how technology plays a vital role in today’s fast-moving world and how important it is to help us stay connected with our loved ones. Pictures have a way of conveying the entire story. The purpose of this campaign is not to highlight a feature, rather to understand and establish the emotional connection behind the picture. At vivo, we understand that technology is an enabler for the joy in our lives and through this campaign we want to celebrate homecoming, as people will be able to visit their families by taking necessary precautions and celebrating this festival at home. Q) How has the festive season been so far this year? Are you witnessing a revival? Recovering from 2020, this year businesses across the globe are gradually coming back at their feet. We are definitely optimistic about the situation getting back to normal. As businesses are steadily opening up, we foresee a huge scope for engagement with the consumers and smartphone sales are proportionately expected to increase in the coming months. According to <a href="https://www.counterpointresearch.com/india-smartphone-market-q2-2021/">Counterpoint Research</a>, India’s smartphone shipments grew 82% YoY to reach over 33 million units in Q2 2021, and vivo captured a 15% share of the overall market. According to the latest report by Counterpoint, nearly $7.6 billion worth of smartphones is likely to be sold during the ongoing festive season in India. Hence, we are looking forward to the festive season. Despite the ongoing situation, we have managed to maintain steady growth in the Indian smartphone market. Our V-Series models (the V20 and V21 series) have performed exceptionally well, and since our entry in the premium segment with the X50 series last year followed by the launch of the X60 series early this year, our market share has become 3x in the above 30k segment. The growth numbers clearly indicate the consumers are out there, looking for feature-rich smartphones. As we are nearing the festive season, we have introduced the all new X70 Series Co-Engineered with ZEISS and the response so far has been tremendous. We expect that the premium segment will continue to grow in the future as consumers want to upgrade and they are willing to pay a premium for meaningful innovation. Therefore, the launch of the X70 series is vital ahead of the festive season. Q) How did your association with IPL work for you this year? The duration of <keyword id="3133036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vivo-ipl" source="Orion">Vivo IPL</keyword> holds special significance in our product launch and marketing calendars. It offers us a great opportunity to engage with our target audience across the country more effectively. Most of our significant announcements or product launches have been around IPL - be it the announcement of <keyword id="6354486" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli" source="Orion">Virat Kohli</keyword> as our brand ambassadors, the launch of our popular V-series, or the most recent launch of our X70 series. Cricket, as we know, is not just a sport in our country. It is a religion. People in the country are connected to the game. The Indian Premier League is a perfect blend of cricket and entertainment. It offers a brilliant opportunity to connect with our consumers more closely and effectively. Vivo IPL has played a vital role in catapulting vivo to being a leading smartphone brand in India. It has helped us tremendously in enhancing Brand Awareness and Brand Salience. Today, Vivo's brand awareness is 100% in the country. Furthermore, association with the league has also had positive impacts on our business results. Today, vivo is the leading smartphone player in the mainline retail market (Source: GFK). As a brand, our consumer-centricity focuses on youth, and vivo IPL helps us to connect with them. Q) How is Vivo as a brand pushing the threshold of technology and innovation in the smartphone segment? What more can we expect from the band in the coming months? At vivo, our acute focus is our consumers. As a consumer-centric brand, we have set high benchmarks in the industry by launching meaningful innovations for our consumers and have won the admiration of smartphone lovers with its technological prowess. From introducing the world's first 20MP moonlight selfie camera to launching its first smartphone with in-built Gimbal technology, vivo has always surprised the audience with its innovative products. The recently launched X70 series is a testament to the capabilities that vivo has as a premium smartphone brand. Similarly, the vivo V21 launched this year, was the thinnest smartphone in the category and was launched with the Industry first front OIS. We are manufacturing future-ready 5G phones that also provide the industry best camera innovation and design excellence. In the future, to meet the demands of our evolving consumers, we will continue to focus on game-changing innovations and customize enhancing smartphone user experience. Q) Where will your next phase of growth come from in India? We have always focused on providing innovative technology to our customers and helping spread joy in their lives. At vivo, this has been our vision for the last six years of spreading happiness among our Consumers, Partners, Employees, and Shareholders. With the same vision, we will continue to delight our customers by bringing splendid innovations in the future.

Our new campaign aims at bridging the emotional and physical distances between families and spread happiness: Nipun Marya, vivo India

<keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword>, the South Korean multinational conglomerate, has left behind <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> to be the market leader of India's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-is-now-worlds-second-largest-smartphone-market-This-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/articleshow/50833051.cms">premium smartphone segment</a> in the first quarter of 2016. This could be attributed to two things, one, the successful launch of Galaxy S7, and two, the slashed prices of its earlier popular models, like Galaxy S6 and Note 5. 
 
In the preceding quarter, (October-December 2015), these two companies were in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Samsung-Apple-are-going-for-the-kill-to-get-the-biggest-pie-of-Indian-smartphone-market/articleshow/51709863.cms">neck-to-neck competition</a>, so much so that market research agencies were not able to decide who was ahead of whom. However, this time, Samsung has taken a clear lead in the Rs 30,000-plus smartphone segment, according to both GfK and Counterpoint Research, two biggest agencies that track handset sales in India. 
 
As per the Hong Kong-based shipment tracker Counterpoint Research, Samsung's volume share in the first quarter of 2016 rose to 62% from 35% in the preceding quarter. On the other hand, Apple's share fell to 37% from 55%. 
 
As per GfK, Samsung’s market share in the said quarter is 50% as opposed to Apple's 41%. 
 The fall in Apple's share has come despite a rise of 56% in <keyword id="819997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="iPhone-sales">iPhone sales</keyword> revenue in India, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Apple-has-posted-a-decline-in-global-iPhone-sales-but-its-Indian-run-is-impressive-Here-are-the-numbers/articleshow/52006240.cms">a market it is hopeful of</a>, especially when it has registered a drop in its quarterly sales for the first time in 13 years. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-vs-China-smartphone-market/articleshow/52006770.cms">Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, says India is almost a decade behind China</a> 
 
"The impact of Galaxy S7 sales was for half month in March and the full impact will be in the current quarter whereby we expect Samsung may further expand its lead in the premium segment considering iPhone SE has been lukewarm demand till now," said Counterpoint Research Senior Analyst Tarun Pathak. 
 
As per industry executives, the reason behind Apple’s fall in market share could also be huge online discounting, because of which the brick-and-mortar stores have cut down on their iPhone stocks, something which forced Apple to take the tough decision of keeping both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Apple-iPhones-available-online-and-offline-to-cost-the-same-soon/articleshow/51976150.cms">online and offline prices same</a>. 
 
<a href="http://images.designntrend.com/data/images/full/12575/apple-vs-samsung.jpg">Image source</a>

Samsung, not Apple, leads India's premium smartphone segment

<keyword id="61562" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="LG-Electronics">LG Electronics</keyword> could start making smartphones in India once it grabs a 10% market share. That milestone is expected to be achieved this December with the recently launched G4 smartphone. The company plans to spend Rs.1000 Crores this year on R&amp;D and marketing. 
 
"I reckon G4 is one of the best smartphones introduced in India lately. Leveraging this, my aim is to double our market share and increase the contribution of the mobile business to 15% towards our overall revenue," Soon Kwon, Managing Director, LG India, told ET. 
 
"Once we hit the 10% market share (in cell phones), manufacturing will eventually follow", he said. 
 
The company currently holds a market share of sub 5% according to research firm GfK. Its mobile business is pegged at around 10% of India’s revenue. 
 The company would join Xiaomi, Motorola and Asus as one nurturing local manufacturing plans. The Indian government made imported phones more expensive than ones made and assembled in India in the new budget. This is an incentive for companies to ‘<keyword id="6354869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="make-in-India">Make in India</keyword>’. 
 
"The Indian R&amp;D contributed significantly towards the development of this device. It's the first premium phone with dual 4G SIM support," Kwon said. 
 
"R&amp;D is the core of our business. We want to be very diligent in terms of bolstering R&amp;D capabilities in India," he added. 
 
LG could invest Rs. 500 Crores toward R&amp;D in India and another cool Rs. 500 Crores in marketing and promotion. 
 
(Image credit: Indiatimes)

LG may invest Rs. 1000 Crores to make smartphones
in India

Youthful <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is growing at a rapid pace. In a recent infographic released by Monster-GFK showcases that India is ranked Fifth in the <keyword id="6355244" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Study">study</keyword> of find the most <keyword id="6359968" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="career">career</keyword>-minded nations. France tops the charts with 70% of its population is inclined towards a career, followed by Canada and USA. The study shows 43% of Indians are career minded and will work towards it. 
 The infographic also suggests that nearly 46% of young adults in India are career-minded, while 62% of young Americans are not career-minded and 46% of Britain’s younger workforce believes they are on a career path. Interesting facts revealed by the study which shows Indian <keyword id="6356126" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Youth">youth</keyword> is on the right track and not far behind the developed nations.

India Is The Fifth Most Career-Minded Nation In the World
[Infographic]

New Delhi, Nov 20 () Smartphone maker realme on Wednesday said it is working on deepening its presence in brick-and-mortar retail and will introduce an offline retail-centric series of devices next year as part of its efforts to strengthen its hold in the Indian market.
 realme, which ranks fourth in the Indian smartphone market, is also looking at bringing in more IoT (Internet of Things) devices in the country.
 "As per GfK data, we have a 3-5 per cent share in the offline market already. Our aspiration is to get to an overall (online and offline) market share of 30-35 per cent and for that, offline retail will play a very important role," realme India CEO Madhav Sheth told .
 He added that the company is working on introducing an "offline retail-centric smartphone series" in the first quarter of 2020.
 realme occupied the fourth spot in the Indian smartphone market with 14.3 per cent share, after Xiaomi (27.1 per cent), Samsung (18.9 per cent) and Vivo (15.2 per cent). Oppo ranked fifth with 11.8 per cent share in the July-September 2019 quarter, as per IDC data.
 Interestingly, realme is part of BBK Group, which also owns brands like OPPO, vivo and OnePlus.
 As per a report by research firm CMR, BBK Group companies had achieved a record-high 42 per cent share in India's smartphone market for the quarter ended September.
 Talking about realme's offline presence, Sheth said its products are available across 7,000 retail points, which will be ramped up to about 20,000 by March, and 35,000 by December 2020.
 "While 60 per cent of these retail stores are currently in tier I cities, we believe growth will be driven in the market by tier III and IV markets, and we are focussing our expansion with these markets in mind," he explained.
 Sheth said online retail accounts for 70 per cent of its sales.
 Asked about complaints from offline retailers about differential treatment vis-a-vis online platforms, Sheth said, "realme offers the lowest margins in trade (offline retail) but strong sales volumes has compensated for that."
 "For us, its not about numbers. Whether it is the dealer or the end-customer, we want to build a long-term relationship," he added.
 realme on Wednesday launched its flagship smartphone -- realme X2 Pro -- priced at Rs 29,999 onwards. The premium device features 50W Super VOOC Flash Charge (which allows 100 per cent charging in 35 mins) and Snapdragon 855+ processor. It will be available in two variants -- 8GB RAM/128GB memory and 12GB RAM/256GB memory -- and will go on sale from November 26.
 It has also launched an upgraded realme 5s that features a 48MP quad-camera setup and 5,000 mAH battery. The device is priced Rs 9,999 onwards and will be available in two variants -- 4GB/64GB and 4GB/128GB -- from November 29.
 Sheth said the company will continue to play across price points. "Our C series is available for about Rs 6,000 and the latest flagship goes up to Rs 34,000. The focus is on offering rich experience and features, rather than just asking for a premium price," he said.
 He added that the company is looking at bringing in more wearables, audio products and IoT products but declined to comment on details. SR ABM

realme plans offline-centric smartphone series, to expand retail presence

<ul><li>Finance Minister <keyword id="129243" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> on Saturday announced <keyword id="8192304" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="union-budget-2020">Union Budget 2020</keyword> which gave an impetus to the country’s digital ecosystem.</li><li>The budget came up with an optional new tax regime which could lead to lower taxes for taxpayers.</li><li>She also acknowledged the role entrepreneurs have played in creating more jobs and capital for the country.</li></ul>As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on Saturday, the industry came together to applaud the government’s digital push with the announcement of the setting aside of Rs 6,000 crore for BharatNet, to ensure low cost internet reaches every household in the country. The government also announced an optional new tax slab which has lower tax rates, although the people opting for the new tax regime will not get any exemptions. The FM also spoke about the role that entrepreneurs have played in creating jobs and bringing in more capital to the country. However, there were a few industry experts who felt that the expectations from ‘the budget were much higher and it feels like a missed opportunity.’ Here are the views of some experts: Ashish Bhasin, CEO, APAC and Chairman, India - Dentsu Aegis Network: I think this is a good budget in some ways because it has attempted to put money in the hands of the middle class through rationalisation of tax rates as well as has concentrated on looking after the agricultural sector, including introduction of best practises like storage for producers and other measures. However, I do feel that the expectations from the budget were much more and it does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity. While it is good to see that the dividend distribution tax has been abolished, I expected more on the rationalisation of direct taxes, particularly the cess introduced over and above the tax rates. It is good to see efforts being made to encourage new-age skill development as well as helping the start-ups and what's particularly interesting is the proposal to set up data centre farms all over the country. This will prepare India for the economy of tomorrow. It is also good to see attempts at simplification of taxation through digitisation but the proof of the pudding will lie in seeing its implementation on ground. It would be fair to say that at best it is a mixed budget and while there are some encouraging decisions, enough does not seem to have been done for the situation the economy is in. RS Sodhi, Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation: <keyword id="7836802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Budget-2020">Budget 2020</keyword>, an excellent move, will bring more investments in the dairy sector which will increase the farmers’ bargaining power to get better prices for their produce, if done properly it will create 80 lakh jobs in Rural India and 16 lakh jobs in Urban India. Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India: The budget has provided relief to the middle class with lower tax rates which is a welcome move, as it will provide more liquidity. On direct taxes, the abolition of DDT and introduction of a tax dispute resolution scheme is a welcome step alongside tax reliefs for startups. The budget is focusing on easing and simplification of compliance, with changes in corporate laws as well as in GST and direct taxes. However, I was expecting further simplification of cess and surcharges beyond tax rates across slabs. The proposals for development of road infrastructure, setting up data centre parks and skill development initiatives are welcome steps in addition to allocations for social welfare schemes. However, the expectations from the budget were high on the background of current economic slowdown, and as such seems to be short on matching those expectations, with no specific industry sector focused sops to provide stimulus. While the budget shows focus on long term growth and social development, overall in the current scenario it looks like a mixed budget, falling a bit short of market expectations of more corrective measures. Mukesh Kalra, Founder &amp; CEO - ETMONEY: The Finance Minister's proposal to introduce a new tax regime is a great step towards giving equal chance to every Indian in the lower income segment to maximize their post tax incomes. In the old regime, an individual supporting a larger family &amp; negligible savings was forced to pay higher tax compared to an individual supporting a smaller family or one with no dependents. This created disparity when it came to effective taxation for the former group. In the new regime, the disparity ends &amp; also frees up income in the hands of individuals to give a boost to consumption. Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, EaseMyTrip: In tune with the present government vision to encourage Indian travellers to travel more and contribute towards the nation's growth, this budget takes it a step ahead. The budget has focused on promoting tourism &amp; travel with an overall budget of Rs. 2500 crores in year 2020-21. Government aims to develop 100 more domestic airports under the UDAN scheme. To promote travel via railways, the government will focus on more Tejas type trains that will connect tourist destinations in India. The Finance Minister has also laid stress on the development of archaeological sites into iconic sites with on-site museums. Five such sites are- Rakhigarhi, Hastinapur, Shivsagar, Dholavira and Adichanallur. Government has also announced the renovation of 4 key museums. Rs,150 crore have been allocated for the ministry of culture in 2020-21. We are hopeful that this budget will open new avenues for the travel industry. Sabyasachi Mitter, Founder and Managing Director of Fulcro: The key takeaway for me has been the simplification of tax regimes as well as giving a boost to consumer and investor sentiments. The removal of DDT is a significant move and long overdue as it effectively leads to double taxation. Simplification of personal Income Tax rates by giving the option to tax payers to avail the reduced tax rates by not availing deductions is a welcome step towards a future free from the historical legacy of compliance issues. The focus on encouraging start-ups is also welcome, both in terms of giving relief to the ESOP taxation which has been increased to 5 years. The turnover of availing 100% income Tax benefit has also seen two key changes; increasing the turnover threshold to 100 crores as well as increasing the block of years from which to avail three years of exemption to 10 years from the 7 years presently. All of these will increase the cash in hand of corporates, individuals as well MSMEs leading to a spur in demand. Specifically to the digital ecosystem the aggressive plans to increase the coverage of Fiber to Home being extended to 1 lakh gram panchayats will give a significant boost to the digital ecosystem. The recognition of the need for data and therefore the policy announcement on data centre parks is also a welcome move. Anish Sarkar, CEO, Sodexo BRS India: Sodexo always believes in giving our consumers the freedom of choice; the tax proposals in the budget are also on a similar philosophy. We believe that consumers should have a higher purchasing power – while this announcement will give them the power to choose their tax structure, our consumer base will continue to benefit from the current regime. Sodexo’s solution suite goes much beyond tax-saving products; driving the digitization of corporate cafeterias &amp; factories along with digitizing expense management to achieve workplace efficiency. We are very focussed on enhancing the employee experience of our clients by creating an ecosystem of value-added benefits much beyond tax savings. Devendra Shah, Chairman, Parag Milk Foods Ltd: We happily welcome the government's big push to the India's dairy industry. We are excited to be a part of the government's plan to double India’s milk processing capacity. Strategic measures like increasing the coverage of artificial insemination and eliminating Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in cattle will result in higher yields. While such measures are welcomed, the dairy sector also needs to ensure the yearlong availability of green fodder. We can currently import the green fodder from Australia, Canada and USA. All these collectively help in Increasing milk consumption amongst urban and rural consumers thus attracting new investments and jobs. Navin Khemka, CEO, Mediacom South Asia: What is required is more purchasing power to the Indian middle class. This will help boost demand in the sluggish economy. I hope the investment in infrastructure and kisan express helps in achieving this objective in the long run. Short term, however, I think this budget is status quo. Demand growth could be sluggish and this could continue to impact media investments by corporates. Indroneel Dutt, CFO, Cleartrip: The government has backed its vision to turn India into one of the world’s top tourism hubs by allocating INR 2,500 crore for promoting tourism in general and setting aside a sum of INR 3100 crore for the Culture Ministry to boost regional tourism. What would be wonderful is to have an empowered nodal body comprising of the Govt / OTA / airline, hotel and other industry representatives with the objective of promoting discoverability, ease of booking and fulfilment of our cultural, natural and heritage sites. Introduction of more Tejas Express type trains and the inauguration of several culturally-significant archaeological sites are other much-needed moves. We also welcome the Hon’ble FM’s proposal to develop 100 more airports as well as the doubling of the airline fleet by 2024. This calls for skilled manpower development in parallel. The aim to double the fleet to 1200 in the next 3 years will certainly accelerate the passenger growth rate. Ramesh Kaushik, VP Brand Experience at Blackberrys: The government remains committed to accelerate consumption in budget 2020. Government measures of reducing corporate tax and initiatives to boost MSME sector will definitely help accelerate industrial and corporate growth in the country. Measures like simplifying GST and income tax relief are sure to give requisite push to consumer consumption and demand thereby accelerating growth across industries. Additionally allocation of funds for infrastructural development is a welcome move clearing path for expansion. We expect more measures/announcements specific to the retail industry from the government in the coming future that will give the right impetus to the industry. Sameer Makani, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Makani Creatives: Budget 2020 aims at the betterment of all sections of the society. The key highlight is certainly the tax regime where the government has proposed alternative tax policies and new rates to benefit the taxpayers. The vision to improve the start-up scenario in the country will help in creating more job opportunities and further ensuring the economic growth. The Skill development programme will enable overall personality development In comparison to budget 2019, MSMEs will experience a 71% rise over and above the budgetary allocation. Sudhanshu Agarwal, Founder &amp; Director, Citykart: The announcements made by the government in Union Budget 2020 are a promising move to boost the income and purchasing power of people. So far, the rollout of GST has resulted in gains of about Rs.1 lakh crores to consumers, which is likely to increase further with revised GST laws being implemented from April 2020. Simplification of GST norms will be significant in inspiring consumer demand &amp; consumptions and spur industrial growth. Additionally, allocation of Rs.100 lakh crores for infrastructure development also opens growth prospects for the brands in non-metro cities. However, we feel specific measures pertaining to the retail sector have still not been fully addressed in the budget. Kunal Lakhara, VP of Finance and Operations, Pocket Aces: Budget 2020's revised fiscal deficit target of 3.8% of the GDP seems more realistic and focus on spends/benefits was required to boost the economy. The thrust on entrepreneurship and tax regulations for both startups and taxpayers is a move in the right direction. India is the third largest startup hub globally and the announcement of an investment clearance cell to provide end-to-end support to startup founders will encourage more youth to be job creators. Further, the ability to defer taxes on ESOPs will democratise wealth creation for startup employees, ensuring the right talent is benefitted. Finally, the decision to grant 100% tax exemptions to sovereign wealth funds on their investment in priority sectors will provide the much needed funding boost to the sector and create value in the longer run. Sahil Vaidya, Co- Founder &amp; Director, The Minimalist: Following the announcement of the Union Budget 2020, one thing is certain, is that the Government is heavily focused on becoming an entrepreneurial superpower. By investing in the MSME sector, the Government’s support towards new companies will go a long way in producing high growth business. Furthermore, the tax waiver on ESOPs will enable more talent to place their bets on early stage disruptive start-ups, which have the potential to become the corporates of tomorrow. Among other sectors, the Budget 2020’s focus on start-ups and technology will be a boost to companies that are doing some cutting edge design thinking to enable the best of digital products for a booming digital economy. Sanil Jain, Co-founder, CupShup: The start-up ecosystem in India is not more than a decade old and has come a long way to become the third largest in the world after USA and China. 2019 was not what we can call a good economic growth year but this budget has definitely brought some relief to start-ups. The implementation of the Investment Advisory Cell will aid new start-ups. Deferring the Taxation on ESOPs is definitely a big win as it will go a long way in acquiring and retaining quality talent. While on the other hand, decreasing direct tax to a historic low of 22% will boost export opportunities and drive growth across various industries. Nikhil Mathur, Managing Director – India, GfK: The proposal to boost rural economy, infrastructure and enhance purchasing power of middle class, if implemented well would certainly be fruitful. It could further improve the consumption of consumer durable and electronics. As per GfK data, CE-MDA category registered a volume growth of ~9% in 2019/2018. I think the market is expected to grow in the back of technology companies and given the state of economy we can be hopeful of a better future. Besides, encouraging local manufacturing of mobile phones and semiconductors may fuel the ‘Make in India’ vision.

Industry experts share their optimism about Budget 2020

Right when we thought <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> would bring in some new innovations in the mobile phone segments, we got the news that they are eyeing the enterprise space now. The news was revealed yesterday, by Anuj Jain, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Business, Samsung India Electronics. He said, “In 2015, Samsung will continue to achieve positive growth for the <keyword id="2370029" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="enterprise-division">enterprise division</keyword>, by providing our customers with innovative products and solutions that will help them discover a world of possibilities for their businesses.” 
 
 
This sudden shift in priorities (of shifting to enterprise segment) has nothing to do with the recent reports that claimed Samsung as the number 2 in the smartphone segment in India—the company refuted the claims by citing Gfk numbers and the opinions are still divided. “What really compelled us to get aggressive in the enterprise business is the ‘demand’ and ‘opportunity’ that exists in this market,” revealed Anuj in an exclusive interview with Business Insider, India. Sukesh Jain, Vice President—Enterprise Business further spruced up the information by sharing the numbers they aim to achieve in this segment. He told BI India that, “Samsung, as an organization, has taken on an objective that by 2020, 30% of our businesses globally should be enterprise business by 2020. And we aim to achieve the same growth in the Indian market as well by delivering efficient and robust solutions for businesses.” 
 
Shifting priorities coz… 
Now, this target for Samsung, which is primarily a ‘consumer-focused’ organization for most of us, brings in an interesting twist for the consumers and a ‘big’ challenge for the company itself. How would they do it? Will they run campaigns? Will they strategize new plans to achieve the milestone they have set for themselves? What we could gather from the interaction we have had with Samsung’s Enterprise Division heads, Anuj and Sukesh, it seems they are still planning their strategy for the game. Three pivots they have zeroed on to expand their enterprise business are: their salesforce, wide distribution network and the vast experience they have in the product &amp; solution space. “The idea is to utilize the entire product range we have to build an ecosystem which organizations can leverage to turn on their business,” explained Sukesh. 
 
Mini-goals devised for big results 
At yesterday's event, Samsung made it clear that it will leave no stone unturned to achieve the milestone they have set for 2020 by announcing a slew of products in the enterprise category. While on one hand they introduced Galaxy Tab Active, a ruggedized tablet developed for business environment with productivity enhancing functionalities and reinforced security), on the other hand they have introduced Signage TVs, using which organizations can divide the display screen in multiple sections and show from promotional banners to menus in a stress-free and convenient way. 
 
made us more curious to know what would be Samsung’s key focus industry segments, and Sukesh shared an interesting statement with us. “Education, Government and banking would be our top three areas, and they would constitute 50% of the enterprise business that we would like to do.” 
 
For this, Samsung is also planning to build products that can simplify banking, revolutionize education and streamline the government’s digital initiatives. But only time will tell, how far Samsung would reach with its plans. 
 
 
(Image: www.mpull.com)

Look who's going bullish in the enterprise segment? Samsung

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:275px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-842284p1.html">Shutterstock</a></div>Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
<div>
<ul>
<li>Asian markets were mostly higher in overnight trading. The Japanese Nikkei rose 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5 percent, officially entering a bull market. European markets are in the red, with Spain and Italy both down 0.6 percent. In the United States, futures point to a negative open.</li>
<li>The Federal Reserve begins its two-day FOMC monetary policy meeting today. With the bond market more skittish than usual as investors try to guess when the Fed will pull back the stimulus, the outcome of the meeting will be closely watched. The <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-29/bernanke-seen-buying-1-1-trillion-in-bonds-by-early-2014.html">consensus estimate among economists</a> is that the Fed will buy $1.14 trillion in bonds under its latest quantitative easing program before ending asset purchases sometime in the first quarter of 2014. <a href="http://t.co/9i3yHFwD">Bernanke's Ideal Great Rotation &gt;</a></li>
<li>This morning, Ford <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ford-q4-2012-earnings-2013-1">reported earnings of $0.32 per share</a> versus estimates of $0.25 and revenues of $36.5 billion versus estimates of $33.03 billion in Q4 2012. Pre-tax profits were the highest in a decade and were driven by a boost in Ford F-Series pickup truck sales in North America.</li>
<li>After the closing bell Monday, Yahoo! <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-yahoo-earnings-2013-1">reported earnings of $0.32 per share</a> versus expectations of $0.28 and revenues of $1.22 billion versus estimates of $1.21 billion. Search revenues were up 14 percent from the previous year, but display advertising was down 5 percent.</li>
<li>Global mining giant Anglo American announced it would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/anglo-american-takes-4-billion-hit-on-minas-rio-2013-1">take a $4 billion writedown on its iron ore mining project</a> in Brazil after uncontrolled costs and delays upped the final bill on the project. Other mining companies are expected to announce similar writedowns as they deal with the same issues.</li>
<li>Japan small business confidence <a href="http://www.rttnews.com/2044966/japan-small-business-confidence-rises-for-second-month.aspx?type=aeco&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_campaign=sitemap">rose for the second straight month in January</a> to an index level of 44.3 from last month's reading of 43.8. Manufacturing confidence rose to 41.1 from last month's reading of 40.7 and nonmanufacturing confidence rose to 46.9 from 46.4.</li>
<li>The Reserve Bank of India <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4abd7576-69dc-11e2-a80c-00144feab49a.html#axzz2JGr6RXSs">cut interest rates to 7.75 percent from 8 percent</a> and lowered the cash reserve ratio to 4 percent from 4.25 percent in a bid to spur growth, saying it had policy space – "albeit limited" – to do so. The central bank also lowered its March inflation forecast to 6.8 percent from 7.5 percent. The changes come as the country faces declining growth rates and growing deficits.</li>
<li>The German GfK <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578271073895381786.html">consumer sentiment index rose to 5.8 for February</a> from January's 5.7 reading. The economic expectations sub-index rose to -11.3 from last month's reading of -17.9. On economic expectations, GfK said, "The downward trend of the indicator has come to an end. It is becoming ever more realistic to hope that the tide will soon turn."</li>
<li>The S&amp;P Case-Shiller Home Price Index <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/november-case-shiller-home-prices-2013-1">rose 5.52 percent year-over-year in November,</a> in line with expectations. Prices were up 0.63 percent from the previous month, below expectations of a 0.7 percent rise.</li>
<li>At 10 AM, the Conference Board releases January Consumer Confidence data. The index is expected to fall to 64.0 from last month's 65.1 reading. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moneygame">Follow the releases LIVE on Business Insider &gt;</a></li>
<li>BONUS: January Jones <a href="http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2013/01/28/january-jones-hair-blonde-brunette-redhead/">says her hair is falling out in clumps.</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

<div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Tyrone Siu" title_caption="Health officers in full protective gear wait to cross a road near a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong January 28, 2014. Hong Kong began culling 20,000 chickens and suspended imports of fresh poultry from mainland China for 21 days on Tuesday after the discovery of the H7N9 bird flu virus in a batch of live chicken from the southern province of Guangdong." class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52e8ea2f6bb3f7b87033b5db-960/chinese-health-workers.jpg"></a>REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHealth officers in full protective gear wait to cross a road near a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong January 28, 2014. Hong Kong began culling 20,000 chickens and suspended imports of fresh poultry from mainland China for 21 days on Tuesday after the discovery of the H7N9 bird flu virus in a batch of live chicken from the southern province of Guangdong.</div></div>
Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
- At an emergency midnight meeting, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cbrt-decision-2014-1">announced massive rate hikes</a> to shore up the Turkish lira, which has been plummeting to successive all-time lows against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks amid a government corruption scandal and deteriorating economic fundamentals. The central bank's benchmark overnight lending rate was raised to 12% from 7.75%, while the repo rate was raised to 10% from 4.5% and the overnight borrowing rate was hiked to 8% from 3.5%. The lira surged on the news but has already given back most of its gains early in Wednesday trading.
- The Federal Open Market Committee announces its final policy decision under the leadership of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke at 2 PM ET. The widespread consensus is that the FOMC will move forward with another $10 billion reduction to its monthly bond-buying program, but the bigger question is how it might seek to modify the language in its policy statement to strengthen its forward guidance on the likely path of short-term interest rates.
- Ahead of the FOMC announcement, gold is up and the dollar is down against the euro and the yen. S&amp;P 500 futures have been falling all morning and now point to a negative open. Treasuries are poised to open slightly lower as well. Markets in Asia rallied overnight - the Japanese Nikkei 225 advanced 2.7%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 0.8%, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%. European markets are rallying, led by Spain's IBEX 35.
- Shares of Yahoo! Inc. are down more than 3% in pre-market trading following the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-q4-earnings-2014-1">release of earnings results</a> for the quarter ended December 31. Earnings per share were $0.46, better than the consensus estimate of $0.38, but display ad revenue fell 9% year over year to $1.9 billion, prompting concerns over the company's core business.
- President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address last night. "There were not any big policy surprises or announcements on energy/environment policy, housing, student loans, or healthcare," says Chris Krueger, a policy analyst for Guggenheim Partners in Washington, D.C. "'Opportunity for All' was relatively light on partisanship that covered many similar themes heard in previous States of the Union (tax reform, energy independence, gun control, patent reform, etc.) that are perennial topics in D.C. each year." 
- At 11:30 AM, the U.S. Treasury will auction $15 billion of 2-year floating-rate notes, marking its first new product offering in years. "Auction statistics may be hard to interpret without any historical bid/cover or indirect bids as comparison, but we expect decent participation from dealers as well as customers," say Nomura interest rate strategists. "However, we will not be surprised to see a bit of concession as dealers look to build up inventory only at attractive levels, while some customers take a wait-and-see approach at this inaugural FRN auction. Looking past the clearing level at 11:30 AM, we expect buyers of various investor classes to provide strong support for new FRN, especially on any yield spread cheapening."
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its latest decision on monetary policy at 3 PM ET. Economists predict the central bank will leave its official cash rate unchanged at 2.50%. "Dovish lean on the meeting is increasingly strong," says Todd Elmer, a currency strategist at Citi. "We believe this gives rise to risk for New Zealand dollar strengthening beyond expectations on even a modest hawkish surprise and we believe this argues for maintaining long exposure."
- Market research company GfK's German consumer confidence indicator rose to 8.2 from last month's 7.6 reading, marking a larger-than-expected gain. "Germans consider the domestic economy to be clearly on the upturn at present," said GfK <a href="http://www.gfk.com/Documents/Press-Releases/2014/20140129_GfK-Consumer-Climate-January-2014_efin.pdf">in a statement</a>. "This is reflected in the fifth consecutive improvement in economic expectations. In the wake of this, income prospects climbed to reach a 13-year high. Willingness to buy also improved and surpassed its seven-year high of the previous month. The considerable increase in the consumer climate is further boosted by a recent slump in propensity to save."
- U.K. house prices rose 0.7% in January from a month earlier, slowing from December's 1.4% month-on-month pace of growth but surpassing the consensus estimate, which called for a 0.6% advance. The year-over-year pace of house price appreciation increased to 8.8% in January from 8.4% in December.
- South Korea's current account surplus <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/cc723f32-8891-11e3-85a2-00144feab7de.html">rose to a record $70.73 billion</a> in 2013. Meanwhile, the global economic "canary in the coal mine" also saw industrial output expand 3.4% from the previous month in December, marking the strongest gain since June 2009.
MARKET COMMENTARY
"Today's main event is the U.S. FOMC meeting, after London goes home. The Fed will probably deliver a further $10 billion in 'tapering' - cutting Treasury and MBS purchases by $5 billion each. That would surprise no one, but from India to the U.S., we are now in a global monetary policy tightening cycle, and that is likely to resurrect the bear market in Treasuries. 10-year yields, having fallen to 2.7% amid the EM weakness, will head back toward 3% in the days ahead. How fast they rise will determine how long the improvement in risk sentiment lasts, but within G-10, rising U.S. yields at a time of economic outperformance leave us wanting to be long USD.
"As for the wider picture, the turn in the Fed cycle is causing volatility in markets over-reliant for too long on super-easy Fed policy. The slow, uneven process by which a new equilibrium is reached with investors differentiating between 'carry' and genuine investment opportunities, is going to drag on for much of the year. Volatility will return."
-Kit Juckes, a global strategist at Société Générale

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Here is what you need to know. Crude oil is surging on news Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni militias. West Texas Intermediate is higher by 3.8% at $51.09 per barrel following reports <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/oil-just-spiked-again-on-news-saudi-arabia-is-bombing-rebel-positions-in-yemen-2015-3#ixzz3VTIePxkL">Saudi Arabia has begun bombing Iran-backed Shi'ite rebels</a>.Global stock markets are under pressure. US futures are tanking with S&amp;P 500 futures down 14 points. Italy's MIB (-1.5%) leads the way lower in Europe after India's Sensex (-2.3%) paced the decline in Asia. China's Shanghai Composite (+0.6%) was a notable outperformer.Schlumberger will pay $232.7 million for violating US sanctions in Iran and Sudan. The Department of Justice announced <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/schlumberger-plea-bargain-agreement-2015-3#ixzz3VTJRJ2mi">the company has entered a guilty plea</a> for "conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)." Schlumberger left Iran in 2009 and abandoned its oilfields in Sudan in 2011, and now must remain out of those countries completely. German consumer confidence is at a 13-year high. The GfK German Consumer Climate printed index jumped to 10.0 (9.8 expected) , its <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-consumers-feel-good-factor-set-to-rise-again-in-april-1427353203">highest since October 2001</a>. German consumers are feeling confident as a result of the cheap euro and drop in oil prices. Germany's 10-year yield is unchanged at 0.215% The Bank of Spain upped its 2015 growth forecast. The central bank now expects <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/spains-central-bank-raises-economic-growth-view-2015-03-26">the Spanish economy to grow at a 2.8% clip in 2015</a> (2.0% previous) and 2.7% rate in 2016. Spain's 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 1.29%.The Philippines' central bank kept policy on hold. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held its benchmark interest rate at 4.00%, as expected. <a href="http://www.interaksyon.com/business/107748/bangko-sentral-holds-rates-steady-amid-benign-inflation-outlook">Thursday's Statement noted</a>, "The Monetary Board's decision is based on its assessment that the inflation environment continues to be manageable." The Philippine peso rose 0.1% to 44.74.SanDisk lowered its first quarter revenue guidance. The data-storage chip maker projects revenues for the quarter ending March 29 will be around $1.3 billion, down from its previous guidance of $1.45 billion, because <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/sandisk-cuts-first-quarter-revenue-forecast-on-lower-prices">weak demand is leading to lower prices</a>. Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra noted, "We are disappointed with our financial outlook," he continued, "We will work through these headwinds, leveraging our compelling product roadmap and broadening customer base." Chinese oil giant PetroChina saw profits slump to a 5-year low. The drop in oil prices has pushed PetroChina's revenues down to 107.2 billion yuan ($17 billion), its lowest in five years. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/petrochina-profit-falls-to-lowest-in-five-years-on-crude-slump">Bloomberg notes</a> the company is responding to the drop in profits by "holding back investment and reducing output." Lululemon Athletica topped estimates but lowered guidance. The company announced earnings of $0.78 per share, outpacing the Wall Street estimate $0.73 per share. Revenues rose 15.6% to $602.5 million, topping the $599.8 million that was expected. However, the news wasn't all good as <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lululemon-gives-disappointing-outlook-shares-drop-2015-03-26">the company forecast</a> earnings of $0.31 to $0.33 per share, well below the $0.39 per share that analysts were looking for. Revenues guidance of $413 million to $418 million also missed the mark. US economic data is light. Initial and continuing claims will be released at 8:30 am ET and natural gas inventories will cross the wires at 10:30 a.m. ET. Treasury will auction $29 billion 7-year notes at 1 p.m. ET. the US 10-yr yield is lower by 2 basis points at 1.90% and the US Dollar Index is off 0.5% at 96.47. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nationwide-insurance-industry-loss-ratio-2015-2">Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9rbTk0czrPq8J40cVbMQn_BvP7NgiiIY" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

KOLKATA: Voltas established a clear lead in air-conditioners sold through multi-brand outlets in the past fiscal year, dethroning <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword>, the first time in almost 14 years that a local manufacturer was able to topple South Korean companies in any major segment in the fiercely competitive Rs 50,000-crore consumer electronics market. 
 
This follows a year in which Voltas emerged as a front-runner in the category, fighting LG for ascendancy. The performance by Voltas came in the face of scepticism that success in FY13 had been a flash in the pan and that no domestic brand could make a dent in the dominance of the multinationals in multi-brand outlets, where 90% of total industry sales take place. 
 The <keyword id="6383291" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="ACS">ACs</keyword> made by the <keyword id="6355725" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Tata-Group">Tata Group</keyword> unit had a 20% share in multi-brand outlets followed by LG at 18% and Samsung at 10.8% in the April 2013-February 2014 period, according to the latest data from market researcher GfKNielsen that tracks sales in the durables industry. Voltas is ahead by value as well at 18.9%, followed by LG at 17.9% and Samsung at 10.6%. 
 
This was the first full year in which Voltas sustained its leadership throughout, with LG having fought back to the top in some months in FY13. 
 
However, LG is still the market leader when counting sales in multi-brand outlets and its own exclusive stores. 
 
As per GfK-Nielsen, LG India has a 22% share by this measure, with Voltas at 18%, followed by Samsung at 14%. Since multi-brand outlets account for the dominant share of AC sales, it's a fair measure of competition, said Pradeep Bakshi, president and COO, unitary cooling products business group. 
 
“We are targeting more than 25% share this year. For this, we have launched more than 90 models,” he said. LG India seemed to reject the reasoning offered by Voltas. 
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

	“We would like to mention that LG is market leader in AC segment and figures mentioned in the mail are representing manipulative and incorrect form of market share,” it said in an email without responding on other queries sent as part of a detailed questionnaire.
To be sure, as a delayed summer gets under way, LG will be more than ready to unleash the might of its vast marketing machine. Voltas will have a tough task as LG has been pushing back hard with higher margins this season, said a senior executive of a leading electronic retail chain. 
 
“Another area where Voltas has not worked hard is to increase the appeal of the brand among younger consumers, for whom Hitachi and Daikin are the preferred brands and may settle for a LG or Samsung if budget does not permit,” he said. 
 
Still, the turnaround at Voltas is big news at Bombay House, the Tata group headquarters, considering the many Indian brands that lost out after LG and Samsung entered the Indian market in the late 90s. 
 Homegrown brands such as BPL, Videocon, Onida, <keyword id="6369697" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Godrej">Godrej</keyword> and Voltas lost lustre starting 2000-01, with the South Koreans kicking off their marketing thrust. IFB was one of the few Indian brands to maintain its grip on the market in the niche front-loading washing segment until about four years ago, when LG took over as leader. 
 LG India has built the country's largest network of company-branded exclusive stores in the durables industry, with more than 1,800 such franchisees. As per estimates, such stores account for around 20% of LG India's sales, the highest contribution from this category in the industry. However, AC makers including Hitachi, Daikin, Voltas and <keyword id="345443" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Carrier">Carrier</keyword> have not focused on setting up exclusive stores since most AC sales take place in multi-brand stores such as local outlets, regional chains and modern retail. 
 
The executives most credited with the Voltas turnaround are Bakshi and managing director Sanjay Johri. The process started eight years ago when Bakshi was given the task of turning around the air-conditioner business by the board, with the condition that if he failed, the business may be sold. At the time Voltas was at a negligible 6-7th position in the market, with accumulated losses of Rs 140 crore. 
 
“Regaining market leadership has indeed been a Herculean task, considering LG was a tough market leader and the AC category has been one of the most penetrated with more than 25 international and domestic brands jostling for their share of the wallet,” said Bakshi, who joined Voltas after stints at Electrolux and Godrej Appliances. Bakshi’s strategy involved launching India’s first energy efficient air-conditioner in 2007, three years before the government made energy ratings mandatory, pricing the models Rs 2,000-3,000 higher than LG and Samsung. Advertisements said energy efficiency would lower electricity bills. 
 
He also shut two factories that could not produce such models. In 2012, Voltas launched its biggest success to date -- the all-weather AC range. He also employed one of LG's strategies to great success. “The AC business was traditionally done by dealers who would specialise in this field. LG had changed the game by selling AC in the general trade and we too decided to follow suit. We currently have more than 9,400 such outlets where our products are sold. This changed the game for us too,” said Bakshi. 
 
The air-conditioner business is now the highest contributor toward profitability for Voltas, encouraging Bakshi to draft a blueprint to expand the brand into household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines with a target to expand revenue to Rs 5,000 crore in five years. The business is the second-largest revenue contributor for Voltas, after electro-mechanical projects and services, with sales of Rs 1,835 crore in 2012-13 with a profit of Rs 173 crore. Total net sales for Voltas in 2012-13 amounted to Rs 5,514 crore . 
 
The brand lends itself very strongly to the domain of air and water, said Deba Ghosal, head of marketing and key accounts. “If you add our pedigree of cooling expertise, leadership position, and the trust factor of a Tata brand, the possibilities to expand into other categories are immense,” he said. 
 
Bakshi acknowledges challenges ahead such as increasing appeal to younger consumers. “But we are on the way. For instance, this year we have launched a smartphone app to control the AC and are also targeting social media,” he said. 
 
Bakshi is also betting on his new team, which consists of seasoned talent from the industry. This includes Rahul Jain, who joined from LG to head service, Ghosal, another ex-LG India executive, and Manish Desai, who moved from Onida to head finance.

Voltas Topples LG, Samsung In Consumer Electronics; Grabs No 1 Spot In ACs

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>It's an endless debate, and a matter of great pride in both cities. Which of the world's two most financialised, globalisiation-cheering megacities can reasonably be described as the world's capital?
One hundred and fifty years ago, the answer was indisputably London. Fifty years ago, the answer was indisputably New York. Now? Well it's not so clear. Here's Business Insider UK's best case that it's London, not New York, that deserves the crown. 
<h3>It's One Of The World's Financial Capitals</h3>
In terms of stock exchanges, calling London the world's financial capital looks ludicrous. The London Stock Exchange isn't even the second-largest stock exchange in the world after the New York Stock Exchange. It's the fourth (after the NASDAQ and Tokyo). 
But this is totally unfair to London: the volume of equities trading done on the London Stock Exchange doesn't capture at all equities trading done in any one place, just the ones local to that economy. So of course London's stock exchange is smaller than New York's: the UK's economy is much smaller than the US's. But we're comparing the cities here, not the countries. 
So it's good to look at a more international measure of finance: currency markets. In terms of foreign exchange market turnover, the UK isn't just the leader, it's still gaining ground, according to the <a href="http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfx13fx.pdf">Bank of International Settlements</a>. In 1998, 32.6% of the world's forex trading was done in the UK (almost all of which takes place in London), against 18.3% in the US. By 2013, the UK had grown to make up 40.9% of the global market, seeing a daily average of $2.73 trillion in turnover. Every day.
<h3>Everyone Wants To Work In London</h3>
When the Boston Consulting Group polled more than 200,000 people in 189 countries, <a href="https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/human_resources_leadership_decoding_global_talent/">London trounced the rest of the world when it came to where they would move to work</a>. Unprompted, 16% of respondents said they'd move to the city, well clear of New York's 12.2%.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>That's not entirely surprising when you look at London's demographic makeup. Three million of London's eight million inhabitants were born outside of the UK. In fact, the non-UK born population makes up 105% of the city's population growth between the 2001 and 2011 census. (Why 105%? Because native Brits left, causing negative growth, and the immigrants more than eclipsed that.)
What's more, the eurozone's dismal growth prospects and eye-watering youth unemployment rates mean this trend likely isn't going to slow any time soon.
There have been major increases in the number of people moving to the UK from the rest of Europe. In 2007-08, 15,400 Italians registered to work in the UK, a figure that was up to 44,110 by 2013. Europe's young workforce is increasingly migrating to the UK (where they don't need visas to live and work), and a huge number find their way to London. One of the most well-educated generations in history is streaming to London to live and work, and that's an enormous benefit to the city. 
<h3>And Everyone Wants To Live Here Too</h3>
London reigns at the top of <a href="http://www.thewealthreport.net/resources/thewealthreport2014.pdf">Knight Frank's global wealth report in 2014</a>. Endless anecdotes in the reports show exactly where the world's wealthiest people want to own homes, and the British capital comes out ahead of New York.
The cost of buying and renting is something that makes Londoners want to weep: but it's a side effect of the city's incredible success. 
In 2012-13, 49% of buyers in London's prime central market were not British, illustrating the huge demand from abroad. And they're not just buying to hold property as an investment: only 28% of buyers live outside the UK, showing that a huge number of international buyers want to live in the city.
<h3>It's The Capital Of Digital Media</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Deloitte" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5453b17beab8ea2f60be023c-960/screen shot 2014-10-31 at 3.56.32 pm.png"></a><a href="http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedKingdom/Local%20Assets/Documents/Market%20insights/uk-insights-uk-futures-london-futures.pdf.pdf">Deloitte</a></div></div></div>London-based media organizations dramatically outperform in Comscore's English-language ratings.
The two biggest English-language newspaper websites in the world are London-based British organisations. The Daily Mail's "Mail Online" and The Guardian's website have broken <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/21/the-guardian-overtakes-new-york-times-in-comscore-traffic-figures">into first and second place</a>, according to ComScore's traffic figures. That's even accounting for the fact that New-York-based newspapers have a far bigger native American audience than London-based newspapers can find in the UK.
A <a href="http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedKingdom/Local%20Assets/Documents/Market%20insights/uk-insights-uk-futures-london-futures.pdf.pdf">Deloitte survey</a> puts London not only as the world's leader of highly skilled workers in media (particularly digital media), but as one of the areas where it's extending a lead over the others. Check out the chart above. The report suggests that although US cities take the lead in terms of film and TV, the London is way out ahead in terms of digital media.
<h3>And The Capital of Culture</h3>
According to Japan's Institute for Urban Strategies, London takes a commanding lead over New York on cultural grounds (along with every other major city). That's based on a blend of how trend-setting the city is, cultural resources, and facilities for visitors.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>
Part of this is down to a history that New York simply can't match: in the 19th century, it became only the second city since the fall of the Roman empire to reach a population of over one million. Attractions like Westminster Hall (the great hall of the UK's parliament) are almost twice as old as European colonization in the Americas, and four times older than the USA as a country.
London has <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/promoting-arts-culture/20-facts-about-london-s-culture">four UN world heritage sites</a>, against New York's one. 
It's not just British culture that's on offer. In GfK's survey of more than 5,000 people who visited some of the world's biggest cities, London ranks highest when visitors are asked whether they can "find people who appreciate my culture and with whom I could easily fit in."
So sorry, New York. Sorry Seoul, sorry Paris, sorry Shanghai, sorry Singapore, Sorry Hong Kong. For now, London is the world's global capital.

Sorry, New York, But London Is Actually The World's Real Capital City

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/laihiu/6260827340/">Flickr/laihiu</a></td></tr></table><keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> Inc's iconic iPhone is losing some of its lustre among <keyword id="21718" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asia">Asia</keyword>'s well-heeled consumers in Singapore and Hong Kong, a victim of changing mobile habits and its own runaway success.
Driven by a combination of iPhone fatigue, a desire to be different and a plethora of competing devices, users are turning to other brands, notably those from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, eating into Apple's market share.
In Singapore, Apple's products were so dominant in 2010 that more devices here ran its iOS operating system per capita than anywhere else in the world.
But StatCounter , which measures traffic collected across a network of 3 million websites, calculates that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore - iPad and iPhone - declined sharply last year. From a peak of 72 percent in January 2012, its share fell to 50 percent this month, while <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> devices now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.
In Hong Kong, devices running Apple's iOS now account for about 30 percent of the total, down from about 45 percent a year ago. Android accounts for nearly two-thirds.
"Apple is still viewed as a prestigious brand, but there are just so many other cool smartphones out there now that the competition is just much stiffer," said Tom Clayton, chief executive of Singapore-based Bubble Motion , which develops a popular regional social media app called Bubbly.
Where Hong Kong and Singapore lead, other key markets across fast-growing Asia usually follow.
"Singapore and Hong Kong tend to be, from an electronics perspective, leading indicators on what is going to be hot in Western Europe and North America, as well as what is going to take off in the region," said Jim Wagstaff, who runs a Singapore-based company called Jam Factory developing mobile apps for enterprises.
Southeast Asia is adopting smartphones fast - consumers spent 78 percent more on smartphones in the 12 months up to September 2012 than they did the year before, according to research company GfK .
<h3>IN WITH THE YOUNG CROWD</h3>
Anecdotal evidence of iPhone fatigue isn't hard to find: Where a year ago iPhones swamped other devices on the subways of Hong Kong and Singapore they are now outnumbered by Samsung and HTC Corp smartphones.
While this is partly explained by the proliferation of Android devices, from the cheap to the fancy, there are other signs that Apple has lost followers.
Singapore entrepreneur Aileen Sim, recently launched an app for splitting bills called BillPin (), settling on an iOS version because that was the dominant platform in the three countries she was targeting - Singapore, India and the United States.
"But what surprised us was how strong the call for Android was when we launched our app," she said.
Indeed, 70 percent of their target users - 20-something college students and fresh graduates - said they were either already on Android or planned to switch over.
"Android is becoming really hard to ignore, around the region and in the U.S. for sure, but surprisingly even in Singapore," she said. "Even my younger early-20s cousins are mostly on Android now."
BillPin launched an Android version this month.
Napoleon Biggs, chief strategy officer at Gravitas Group , a Hong Kong-based mobile marketing company, said that while Apple and the iPhone remained premium brands there, Samsung's promotional efforts were playing to an increasingly receptive audience.
For some, it is a matter of wanting to stand out from the iPhone-carrying crowd. Others find the higher-powered, bigger-screened Android devices better suited to their changing habits - watching video, writing Chinese characters - while the cost of switching devices is lower than they expected, given that most popular social and gaming apps are available for both platforms.
"Hong Kong is a very fickle place," Biggs said.
Janet Chan, a 25-year-old Hong Kong advertising executive, has an iPhone 5 but its fast-draining battery and the appeal of a bigger screen for watching movies is prodding her to switch to a Samsung Galaxy Note II.
"After Steve Jobs died, it seems the element of surprise in product launches isn't that great anymore," she said.
To be sure, there are still plenty of people buying Apple devices. Stores selling their products in places such as Indonesia were full over the Christmas holidays, and the company's new official store in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay has queues snaking out of the door most days.
But the iPhone's drop in popularity in trendy Hong Kong and Singapore is mirrored in the upmarket malls of the region.
"IPhones are like Louis Vuitton handbags," said marketing manager Narisara Konglua in Bangkok, who uses a Galaxy SIII. "It's become so commonplace to see people with iPads and iPhones so you lose your cool edge having one."
In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, an assistant manager at Coca Cola's local venture, Gatot Hadipratomo, agrees. The iPhone "used to be a cool gadget but now more and more people use it."
There is another influence at play: hip Korea. Korean pop music, movies and TV are hugely popular around the region and Samsung is riding that wave. And while the impact is more visible in Hong Kong and Singapore, it also translates directly to places like Thailand.
"Thais are not very brand-loyal," says Akkaradert Bumrungmuang, 24, a student at Mahidol University in Bangkok. "That's why whatever is hot or the in-thing to have is adopted quickly here. We follow Korea so whatever is fashionable in Korea will be a big hit."
<div class="nc_footer">
Copyright (2013) Thomson <keyword id="76338" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reuters">Reuters</keyword>. <a href="http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/media/brand_guidelines/legal_notice/">Click for restrictions</a>
</div>

You Searched For "GfK India" and got 15 results

How brands unlocked their marketing budgets during festive season

BI India Partner

LG to make smartphones in India if it achieves growth

BI India Bureau

Our new campaign aims at bridging the emotional and physical distances between families and spread happiness: Nipun Marya, vivo India

Samarpita Banerjee

Samsung, not Apple, leads India's premium smartphone segment

BI India Bureau

LG may invest Rs. 1000 Crores to make smartphones in India

BI India Bureau

India Is The Fifth Most Career-Minded Nation In the World [Infographic]

Sulabh Puri

realme plans offline-centric smartphone series, to expand retail presence

PTI

Industry experts share their optimism about Budget 2020

BI India Partner

Look who's going bullish in the enterprise segment? Samsung

Richa Sharma

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Matthew Boesler

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Matthew Boesler

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber

Voltas Topples LG, Samsung In Consumer Electronics; Grabs No 1 Spot In ACs

Economic Times

Sorry, New York, But London Is Actually The World's Real Capital City

Mike Bird

The iPhone Isn't Cool Anymore In Asia's Trendiest Cities

Reuters

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides