Impact on the Indian smartphone market if Apple officially starts selling refurbished handsets.

India, the home of more than 1.2 Billion people recently surpassed USA and became second largest smartphone user country in the world and this happened when only 17% of India’s population owns it. It is estimated that by 2020, India’s average age will be around 29, which unlocks huge potential for smartphone and data penetration.

The rising competition and price war among smartphone manufacturers in order to win a share in Indian pie is providing users with affordable mobile devices and recent steps of Reliance Jio is expected to enhance the internet usage through smartphone. Since India is lacking wired broadband infrastructure, India is poised to leapfrog it with wireless data usage and the combination of rising young population and growing purchasing power will exponentially enhance this process.

Android is the clear leader in the Indian marketplace with around 97% share and Apple iOS is lagging far behind. Google’s operating system is heavily backed up by its huge portfolio and is supported by maximum of mobile devices in India. Popularity and trust on Google and the affordability of Android handsets are the main reason behind the exponentially rising sales of Android based phones whereas Apple iPhone is considered as a status symbol and is has an image of elite mobile phone which can be afforded by upper class who can pay good price for it. But majority of Indian population comes under lower income group and this must be the focus for the companies in order to sell its product in order to get a bigger pie.

Apple is the premium product company and is not ready to sell its iPhone on lower prices as it could downgrade its status and its brand value and due to this reason, Apple is still struggling to increase its penetration in Indian market which could become another China for it, if played strategically. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook visited India with an idea to grab an opportunity to sell low priced refurbished phones in Indian market so as to capture bigger piece of price conscious Indian market but Indian government rejected the proposal, driven by reason that this might defeat the purpose of Make in India campaign and it might trigger the flood of used electronics in Indian market.

If Apple receives ascent from Indian government to import and sell its refurbished iPhones then it might drastically affect the statistics of Indian smartphone market. The refurbished iPhone will be sold at relatively cheaper prices and this will give a chance and choice to non iPhone users to opt for better performing devices at the same price. This will definitely intensify the price and quality war in Indian smartphone market and this will be favoring consumers. This will also help in expansion of 4G market in India and will finally pressurize the competitors to further slash prices on 4G handsets. This will depend up on the quality of refurbished phones, if they could provide high quality which is USP of Apple, than this will become the ground breaking step and will unlock Indian market potential for it.

Talking about the logic of India to become dumping ground of used electronics, Apple is trying to efficiently recycle the old and previously used electronics which is actually tested on similar parameters through which new phones has to go through before hitting the market. So it seems that the refurbished iPhone will be having high quality standards as the Apple will do the process of refurbishment in its own setup and not via third party. This will attract more people towards it, who actually want to own an iPhone but are unable to due to its premium price. If Apple will get clearance from Indian government to sell its refurbished phones in Indian market at competitive prices, then the geography of Indian smartphone market will definitely get impacted by this step and it will create a dent in Android market. In the end, if refurbished marketplace in India starts riding the growth curve, then the ultimate winners will be the consumers and environment.

Communalism and related Issues: posing internal security threats

We live in a secular country which is a blend of many communities interlinked in such a way that it is difficult to differentiate by just looking at the way of living. All communities are meshed up and there colors when mixed up forms a unique color which represents the true color of India, the largest democracy on earth. Having various segments and traditions has its pros and cons and since a coin has flip side as well, our nation is also facing challenges to keep these different segments together peacefully. The uniqueness of integrity found in India is itself and an opportunity and a big challenge as well.

If we talk about security, we have well developed armed forces to protect our international borders and well equipped and trained police forces to handle internal matters, but the key of maintaining internal security is to stabilize peace among different communities as the communal harmony is the only way to secure internal security. The independence which was earned in 1947 was based on unity and the special provisions for the protections of minorities so that everyone could get equal rights and protection by law. The provisions and some special provisions were created so that the gaps can be filled among different classes but in recent times, these are being used to increase gaps among people.

Our Constitution ensures rights, freedom, liberty, equal opportunities etc to every individual but the people sitting on strong chairs in Indian politics are playing with the sentiments of common man by triggering the causes resulting in amendments which is creating a kind of gap and differentiating among people in the name of religion and communities. Recent reservations made for the certain community in Haryana region, which was the result of a violent mass destruction by certain people created a further strike on the heart of people with no reservation. This kind of violence can be seen in recent history which was either for the reservation demands or was among two religions fighting for certain causes. The causes like Ram Mandir/Babri Masjid etc create tension among communities and the beneficiary of the mass violence are the political parties. Growing unemployment and widening economic gaps among people is resulting into conflicts and violent tensions. Some of the communities failed to adopt significant quality education in masses and is not representing heavily in industries and this frustration results into communalism.

Communalism is not the only threat for internal security, but there could be many reasons for mass violence and which not only create a big dent in economy by damaging property but also create a wave of anger and hatred among people which impact the whole living style of people. The other reasons which could impact internal security can be unfulfilled promises of the political parties, delay of justice, loop holes in justice, lack of governmental supports etc. The side effects Nirbhaya kaand (Delhi rape case) in December 2012 was an example of failure of law and the street protest and violence in Delhi created a serious internal security threat. This created a fear among people that they are not secured in their own home town which created a sense of hatred towards the ruling people. Taking another scenario, a long traffic jam of more than 12 hours was noticed in Delhi Gurgaon region on 28^th July 2016 due to heavy rainfall and water logging and because of which a loss of around Rs 500 Crore is estimated by industrial sector. This shows the planning failure and lack of sense of responsibility of the people concerned, which was faced by middle class majority working in NCR region. This incident increased the frustration among people who were struck for many hours without food and water in that long traffic jam. These kinds of incidents are the triggers the mass frustration which could be seen on the streets in the form of protests or the wave of anger can be seen on media channels.

Some people in the name of freedom of speech are posing a serious threat not only to the security but also trying to change track of Indian youth. JNU issue related to a terrorist Afzal Guru triggered an alarm and Parliament came into action. These kind of incidents in which a group of people try to project a terrorist as a hero and openly talking to divide India is a serious matter and has to be addressed as soon as possible. These people enjoying subsidized Indian education and having Indian identity are taking about tearing India into pieces are destroying the peace and must be handled carefully. On other hand Naxalites and Jihadis are posing a serious threat to the internal security. Some of the states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra are threatened by Naxalites and Jammu and Kashmir is facing terrorism in the name of Jihad. These groups are against the government and are creating mass violence and destroying public property and peace.

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai and at parliament in Delhi in past years shook our country very badly and once again the sense of security vanished. No doubt, our armed forces gave a setback to those attacks but it started a chain reaction of talking about open borders and how and why our intelligence failed to know about these attacks in advance. The concerns regarding open borders are real as it gives chance to terrorists to enter in our country and it provides the passage for fake currency to enter India. These open borders are threat to the internal security and it has been proved many times.

The origination of armed group of people in the form of “Senas” based on caste and religion are creating a kind of terror among people. These people are affecting politics and normal people in some part of country and are badly trying to influence people to follow their rules and change their lifestyle according to them. Drug trafficking and money laundering are another threats which are trying to bleed our economy and our youth. Drug problem is spread throughout our country, but Punjab has been highlighted in recent times. A study done by Guru Nanak Dev University estimated that around 70% of men in Punjab could be drug addict. This study shows how our future is draining and how youth frustrated from unemployment is going on a bad track. This is threatening our country’s future.

There are n numbers of factors which are posing our future at risk and we all are responsible for stopping it as and when required. Not only government and armed forces are responsible but we the people of India have to take an active participation in order to protect our lifestyle, future and our coming generation. We are required to choose our government wisely so that the proper and needed work can be done in stipulated time. We have the voting rights which have to be used effectively and wisely. Our security is hidden in the harmony among communities so we all are required to think above our community and must consider India as a complete society in which we can live in harmony. 

Nigeria - Time to keep eggs in different basket

Africa’s biggest economy and oil producer Nigeria is facing severe economic crises due to sharp decline in oil prices since the third quarter of 2014. It has made a costly mistake by becoming a mono product economy depending fully on oil and is currently facing a volatile situation and is standing on the verge of Recession after four month’s delay in national budget. Inflation in this country has accelerated to 13.7% in April which is six years high and economy is contracting sharply creating horrible conditions and the postponed budget added fuel to it. Approximately 35% drop in oil prices and 25% drop in value of Nigeria’s currency Naira has reduced Nigeria’s GDP from 6.3% in 2014 to 2.7% last year. This is a big economical problem for the Africa’s giant and the question arises that Nigeria can regain its growth rate back and can stay out of this possible upcoming recession? Is Nigeria prepared enough to diversify its economy can save its crown of being biggest economy of Africa? Most importantly, Is Nigeria being pushed on the verge of social unrest?

In 2014, Nigeria pushed South Africa on second position and became continent’s largest economy because of rebased GDP and now it is struggling to manage its collapsing economy as it is facing a shortfall of $11 Billion in its 2016 budget. The foreign exchange reserves fell 2.7% in a month to $26.56 Billion and fell 10.7% from a year ago. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is trying to apply brake on shrinking reserves by imposing a ban on the sale of forex by importers on 41 items.

A series of attacks on oil infrastructure and evacuation and closing of facilities by energy companies has contributed to put intense pressure on Nigeria’s finances as its crude output has pushed to 22 year low. The violence has reduced the oil production to around 1.69 million barrel in May which is lowest since 2007, IEA data shows.  According to a report by OPEC, Angola has dethroned the Nigeria and has become top oil producer of the continent.  

Nigerian government recently came up with their 6.1 trillion Naira ($30.6 Billion) budget which is around 20% up by 2015 budget and the government is looking forward to come out of this slowdown and to diversify its economy. Now it will be interesting to see how the Nigerian government will deal with this biggest issue and how it will distribute its eggs in different baskets. 

USA and Gun violence

Are guns responsible for maintaining peace or increasing terrorism? Terrorists only are responsible for mass killing? Are we really responsible for our own safety by keeping guns and having licence? Do we really require guns for our safety and can’t we rely on government bodies for that? There can be n number of similar question that arises in our mind whenever we heard about guns and mishaps directly related to guns. As technology and science is increasing its pace, we can see better guns and weapons in different hands, contributing in keeping or disturbing peace.

Our world is a strange and fearful place to live, full of blood and weapons but not ever place is harmful and full of violence.  Distribution of guns can be variedly seen among civilians across the globe. USA tops the chart in private gun ownership around 88.8 guns per 100 people, followed by Yemen with 54.8 guns per 100 people. America consists of around 4.4% of world’s population but 42% of civilian owned guns across the world can be found in United States. People round the globe dreams to settle down in USA for better earning, lifestyle and sense of security but more guns in locality means more violence and less secure lives. 

Over the past decade in USA, more than 100,000 people killed as a result of gun violence and millions were the victims of assault and crimes. Mass shooting in USA has been highlighted during 2015. According to FBI, mass shooting is an incident where at least four people were murdered with a gun. According to a report by FBI, between January 2009 and July 2015 there were 133 mass shootings – almost two per month occurred in 39 states in nearly seven year period. Mass shooting represents a very minor share of USA firearm homicide which is nearly less than 1%.

Weapons especially guns are one of the biggest reasons of increased crime. Once Australia stocked the state armories of newly independent Papua New Guinea many decades back and later it was noted that from the PNG Highlands to Bougainvillea, from the Solomon Islands to Fiji, guns given to governments had fueled a string of military coups and mutinies, tribal and ethnic violence, rising armed crime and gun homicide.

There are examples in the world where weapons are either banned or unarmed people are responsible for peace keeping. Out of 16 pacific islands forum nations, 12 nations are patrolled by unarmed police and this was done after the end of war of secession in Bougainvillea in 1997 due to which Pacific governments tried to disarm their neighborhood for keeping peace. Australia and New Zealand contribute more to arms control in Oceania than to arms proliferation.

The biggest economy i.e. USA is also searching ground for building peace in homeland and it can be sensed by recent surveys and government’s steps taken towards controlling unauthorized use of guns. Latest survey by Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health found that nearly 60% of people in USA are willing to purchase a smart or childproof gun which is actually a weapon which can be operated only by the hands of authorized user. In January, US President Barak Obama issued a memorandum directing the Departments of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to take important steps to promote smart gun technology.  

This is high time for USA to realize, how much they are suffering because of easily available guns and its unauthorized and illegal usage. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making clear that the people involved in the business of firearms, must get a licence and conduct background checks. ATF is finalizing background check rules for the people trying to buy weapons through a trust, corporation or other legal entity. The FBI will be hiring more than 230 additional examiners and staff for the process of background checks. The President’s budget for FY2017 will include funding for 200 new ATF agents and investigators who can help enforce gun laws. These are the initial steps towards controlling gun violence but the violence relating to guns can be stopped completely only by removing guns from neighborhood. Not only government but citizens also have to take cautious steps towards it, otherwise it will become very difficult in installing peace and harmony in the country.

Smell of change

In memory of my Loving Grandfather (10 July 1936 - 27 October 2015)

We are living in post industrial era where everything is continuously changing and evolving drastically and an exponential rise in every field can be felt across the globe. Center of gravity of businesses and governments is changing as per technological evolvement. The resource intensive patterns which were prevailed since the end of World War II can be seen replaced by a new trend of economic growth, data patterns and knowledge intensive growth. This can be seen as the latest phase of capitalism which is revolving around data, information, knowledge, technological evolvement, skills, ideas, services, intangibles, human assets, brainpower, education and intellectual property etc.  Where we are heading?

Revolution can be felt across new generation businesses which are showing how combination of ideas and technology are changing the gravity. We can take examples of Alibaba (Retail without inventory), Airbnb (Accommodation without hotels), Uber (Transportation without cars) and may more. We can have few examples of entirely new businesses which started from an idea and has valued more than a billion dollar businesses within some years like Xiomi, Snapchat, Dropbox, DociSign, Palantir, Pinterest and Jawbone etc. There is a clear cut competition in which the new winners are winning the bigger pie and rest are struggling hard for the left part. The intellectual property is creating the value of corporations rather than the operational part.

Data, Analytics and technology are uniting and are responsible for current developments and upcoming future trends. Data when combined with technology becomes key driver of global development and lifestyle enhancement. A new game changer “Real Time data” is coming in lime light which has the ability to influence buying behaviour and helping businesses in growing by customising their campaigns. According to a survey done by Talend, Almost 85% of online shoppers have abandoned a shopping cart prior to checkout and if retailers employ real-time big data technologies, they can recover 30 percent or more of that potential revenue.

Internet is playing a key role in today’s lifestyle and has become an essential part of everything. It is the fastest link of data sharing around the globe and also it is becoming the playground of cyber terrorism and data hacking attacks. If we talk about data concerns, then we can take example of US whistleblower Edward Snowden who leaked documents in 2013 revealing global surveillance programmes carried out by Washington which created chaos in global communities. Due to this, companies like Microsoft are opening data centers in Germany, Canada and India.  Not only businesses but governments are also concerned with security of their top secret data from cyber attacks and also concerned with the usage of freely available data for solving their other issues as well. Recently Facebook (which has bigger population from China) recorded that the number of requests for Facebook data made by governments around the word roses for 18 percent in last half year in which US made most requests, asking 17577 times for 26579 accounts.

Social media is spreading information faster than every possible means. Facebook and Twitter etc have changed the way of interaction and communication among the masses. In previous years we have seen many government change and removal of dictators who were ruling countries since many decades and this became possible when people united on a common platform with a common intention and this shows the potential power of social media. This platform is rigorously used by teenagers for sharing and marketers for promotion and also eventually it is being used by terrorists groups for recruitment of terrorists and creating chaos among people. People are divided in two major parts, one is creating a reign of terrorism and others are fighting and protesting terrorism on this platform. After recent attack of ISIS on Paris, many countries started tracing tweets send by people of ISIS or tweets in favor of ISIS. 

The importance of internet can be felt by a report which says that Russian submarines and spy ships are operating aggressively near vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some United States military and intelligence officials that Russia might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict.

Internet and data is proving to be the backbone of businesses and governments and this is the one of key driving factor of economies is becoming vulnerable towards attacks and data losses. At one side we are getting benefited and are expecting good and positive changes in world economies and lifestyle but on other side it is getting highly misused in spreading terror and if internet cables gets damaged or destroyed in future by what so ever means and data traffic stopped, then it will be not easy to estimate how much loss it will made in global economy and lifestyle. We are now becoming dependent on internet and we cannot live without this. Are we really moving in right direction? Or we have to find out alternative solution of internet? 

Rise of Open Source

In this digital age, technology is proving to be the backbone of the economies and a new revolution can be felt across the globe. New businesses are spinning across the key technologies and the new waves of rising companies are the product of freely available technologies which is also known as open source. Now the questions arise: What is the contribution of open source in businesses and economies? Whether open source technologies are viable enough to be considered as backbone of new unicorns? Can businesses rely on open source technology?

Open source technology is currently supporting technology giants like Google and Facebook and around 70% of new apps. Organizations are increasingly adopting the open source technologies and are taking participation in open source community. According to a survey Ninth Annual future of open source, 78% of organizations are using open source software either fully or partially compared to 42% in 2010 which is nearly doubled in five years. Also around 64% of companies are participating in open source projects compared to 50% last year and it is expected that this number can reach 88% in next 2-3 years. Cloud computing (39%), big data (35%), operating systems (33%), and the Internet of Things (31%) are expected to be impacted most by open source in the next 2-3 years. Red Hat, Ubuntu and Acquia can be traced in the DNA of new start-ups. Even open source databases gained popularity over the period of time. According to a ranking site DB-Engines, out of top 10 databases 6 are open source and top eight relational technologies are all open source. This trend shows how open source is gaining its pace and its universe is expanding sharply.

Linux has contributed heavily in transition phase of information technology that has taken us in the new era which is driven by Big Data, Analytics and Cloud. It has created a strong open ecosystem which has been responsible for the innovation taken place over the period of time which resulted in the expansion of market of Linux, which has surpassed $57 billion in 2014 which is almost doubled in five years.

The quality and reliability of open source software are constantly improving as the developers are continuously working in fixing the defects founded in open source software codes. The Coverity Scan service is helping the developers in finding out bugs in open source codes which is greatly helpful in correcting those bugs and making those codes more reliable and secured to be used by anyone on this planet. Since 2006, the Coverity Scan service has helped developers finding and fixing more than 240,000 defects. In 2014 alone, developers fixed nearly 152,000 defects—more than the total number of defects found from 2006-2013.  Defect density (defects per 1,000 lines of code) of open source code and commercial code has continued to improve since 2013. Open source code defect density improved from 0.66 in 2013 to 0.61 in 2014, while commercial code defect density improved from 0.77 to 0.76.

If we talk about developing markets like African and Asian countries, licensing fees are still a major challenge and open source is the key solution for this problem. Some companies are also coming forward in open sourcing their important codes. Safaricom which is an M-Pesa’s founding organisation announced that it will open its API (application programming interfaces)to developers in 2015. Similarly Orange in West Africa has opened up its API and recently Intel has released the speech system which has made for Stephen Hawkins as open source. Even NASA in collaboration with Rackspace has created an open source cloud computing platform OpenStack. The well known example of open source API is Android which already have thousands of apps and due to which Android have five billion API calls per day where one app asks another to do something. 

Open Source system is playing a major role in creating new winners in technology based business community. We can see a radical shift in technology business model as previous giants like Blackberry and Nokia can be seen left behind in technology innovation and upgradation race while other businesses especially start-ups which are gradually aligning with cloud and open source technologies are proving to be the new winners. In coming time Billions of people will be connected by internet permanently and internet of things (IOT) will be responsible for make people smarter, open source software will help this trend to flourish and will allow anyone on this planet to create devices and applications for the interconnected world. 

Fintech – Time to change traditional finance industry

Fintech is the new Buzz word in the market which has shifted Finance industry on the verge of disruption. The Fintech start-ups are ahead of traditional banks and finance institutions in digital technology and developing banking products which are of low cost and more user friendly. The emerging trend of mobile banking, data, increasing information, analytics and decentralization of access is creating the room for growth of Fintech. Now the questions arises are whether the traditional finance and banking industry is losing its market on exponential basis and why? And whether the traditional finance industry is on death bed? Does this traditional finance industry have any chance to fight back the new emerging tough competition?

According to a report by Accenture, Global investments in Fintech ventures tripled to US$12.21 billion in 2014 which was only US$4.05 billion in 2013. Investments in Fintech has grown to 201% in 2014 globally compare to 63% growth in overall venture capital investments. Fintech investments in the US soared to US$9.89 billion in 2014, up 191% from US$3.39 billion in 2013In this investment of US$12.21, US enjoyed the biggest share but Europe had the highest growth of 215% YOY. With the five biggest banks controlling nearly US$15 trillion in assets, FinTech’s US$12.21 billion in venture investments this year still look like peanuts. But Fintech is poised to grow in coming years radically.

Silicon Valley, New York, London and Hong Kong are topping the charts in global fintech race. These cities are the dark horses which are among the first innovators in the industry. Recently a manifesto, UK Fintech 2020 has been launched by Fintech Innovate Finance with a vision of making UK to be a centre for financial services. Currently £20 billion of GDP of UK economy is being generated by Fintech and 135,000 people are involves in this industry. According to Innovate Finance, the UK is top in Europe for fintech investment, taking 42% of all European fintech investment in 2014. Investment grew 136% in 2014, from US$264m in 2013 to US$623m 2014.

A large population of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle East still uses cash and coins for transactions and they have minimal contact with banks and financial services and hence considered as unbanked. This unbanked constitutes about half of the world’s adult population and Fintech start-ups are maximizing their efforts to provide services to the Unbanked population which can be considered as a virgin market. With the significant growth in Fintech sector, digital currencies for unbanked is becoming the focus for Banks and start-ups. The unbanked now can transfer, remit, save, loan and purchase goods and services by mobile money.   2014 have seen radical increase in number of international remittance using mobile money. Mobile money helped in cost reduction and point to be noted is the cost to sending remittance by mobile money is less than half the average of sending it through transfer agents. Without disruptive technologies, the unbanked would have to struggle with remittance and conversion fees charged by transfer agents like Western Union, which can cost up to 8.5 to 10 per cent of funds transferred. If we talk about ASEAN economy, the unbanked is said to have the potential which can contribute US$17 billion to US$52 billion to the economy by 2030. 

Big Banks have tightened their belt to compete with these Fintech start-ups. CoinDesk recently issued State of Bitcoin for second quarter of 2015, which stated that Santander, Barclays, UBS and BNY Mellon are among the global banks which are exploring the potential of blockchain.  These banks are studying the every possible use of blockchain for cost reduction, increasing efficiency and speed and to provide transparency and more security. But still banks are ill prepared to take up the emerging cut throat competition.

There were 192 fintech mergers and acquisitions worth a total of US$18.9 billion in the first half of 2015, according to research from investment bank Berkery Noyes. Six of the top ten largest deals in 1st Half 2015 were in the Payments segment. These six transactions, with a combined value of US$10.46 billion, accounted for 55 percent of aggregate value year-to-date. Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2015 decreased by seven percent over 2nd Half 2014, from 206 to 192. Total transaction value in 1st Half 2015 rose by 17 percent over 2nd Half 2014, from US$16.21 billion to US$18.90 billion. This is a clear indication that Fintech is constantly rising and constantly trying to disrupt traditional finance market.

“In the next three to five years there will be more change in finance and the way you use your money than in the last 20 years, “John Lunn, PayPal’s global director for developer and start-up relations, said at Rise 2015. According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, US$4.7 trillion in revenue for traditional financial services is at risk of being displaced globally by new technology-focused entrants. So this the the high tide for traditional banking and finance industry to pull up the socks and work in smarter way to save their business from disruption.