Apple – losing its mojo?

I had a gathering with my MBA coursemates two weeks ago. There were seven of us. Aside from one who still used an old Nokia cellphone with physical keyboard, there rest all had Samsung. No a single one of us had an iPhone…

Just two years ago, iPhone was the must-have item among gadget lovers. Today, it is being challenged by the Android phones in general, and Samsung Galaxy in particular. Last quarter (Q3 FY12), Apple sold 26 million iPhones, a significant drop from the 35.1 million in the previous quarter. While Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, attributed the dismal sales to consumers holding out for the next-generation iPhone, I suspect there were other factors at play.

Of course, iPad still dominate the tablet market, and Apple will soon strike back with iPhone 5 (the new iPhone?). Let’s see if the Fruit Empire will be able to regain its past glory.

Free, with Terms & Conditions

Blogger SK wrote about a promotion campaign of KFC in Malaysia. The fast food giant offered free Zinger burgers for a month. Within a few hours after the promotion started, however, KFC had to discontinue the offer ‘due to overwhelming response’.

Is it possible for a business to offer some free goods or service, and still make money?

Well, AirAsia, the budget airline, has been giving away ‘free seats’ from time to time. But the passengers have to pay for everything else, from ‘convenience fee’ to baggage free to check-in fee.

In Japan, there is this kind of eateries called tachi-soba, literally ‘standing soba’. Patrons of these eateries are required to stand while having their meal. No seats are provided. See pictures below…

Source

Now, combining the concepts of AirAsia and tachi-soba, I am thinking of starting a restaurant which serves free noodles, but with terms and conditions…

• Noodle – free
• Service charge – RM5
• Bowl – RM1 (you can bring your own bowl)
• Chopsticks + spoon – RM1 (you can bring your own chopsticks)
• Drinks – various prices
• Chair – RM1 (you may stand)
• Use of restroom – RM1

On the other hand, I would increase my revenue by selling ads space in the shop…

So, anybody want to join my new venture?

Demise of Steve Jobs, and Apple’s Magic

teve Jobs, the visionary founder of Apple, died on Oct 5, 2011. His death, together with the announcement of iPhone 4S, seem to signal the beginning of Apple’s decline.

No doubt, iPhone 4S is a nice phone. Nonetheless, having been delayed by a few months, people were expecting a major upgrade. It turns out that the new phone’s screen is still 3.5-inch wide; it doesn’t work on 4G LTE networks, and doesn’t support NFC (Near Field Communication).

One theory says that Apple did plan to launch iPhone 5. For some unknown reason, however, iPhone 5 could not come to market in time. Not wanting to miss holidays season, Apple was forced to launch a more modest iPhone 4S instead.

In fact, the combined market of Android phones has already eclipsed iPhone’s. Apple still leads in the tablet computer market with its iPad, but I doubt its dominance will last long. Without Steve Jobs, will Apple be the same again?

P/S Look out for Samsung’s curved Nexus Prime, scheduled to be announced on Oct 11.

What to Sell Online

I signed up eBay recently. Since then I have been thinking:

What sort of things is suitable to be sold online?

(That is, not just on eBay, but all e-commerce sites.)

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As seen on eBay...

I am perplexed as to why people buy dresses online. Don’t you want to try them before making payment?

Anyway, I think one category of thing we can sell online is the hard-to-find items. As a shutterbug, I naturally think of such specialty photographic gears such as tilt-shift lens and light meter. Past issues of magazines also fall into this category. I have plenty of National Geographic magazines, the oldest of which was published in 1930s. Somehow, I am reluctant to part way with my collection.

A second category of merchandise great for online trading are things people don’t feel easy to buy in brick-and-mortar stores. These include condoms, and the “nipple cream” I mentioned in another post.

Finally, if you can price your merchandise at lower price compared to in brick-and-mortar stores, you can sell them online. One advantage of online trading is that you don’t need to pay for the rental or installment of a physical store. The drawback, however, is that postage doesn’t come cheap.

Have you bought anything online? Tell us your story!

Interesting Items on eBay

I signed up eBay recently. I wish to sell things on the online shopping site in future, but before that, I will make some purchase. Through buying on eBay, I will learn how people run their online business.

As I browsed through the items listed on eBay, I found some interesting stuffs. Here are two…

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Cherry Blossoms for Natural Pink (Nipples & Lips) 粉紅嫩

According to the seller, this is cherry blossom extract which restores alluring sheer pink lips and lightens darkened nipples. Further, there is a description in Chinese which goes like this:

胸前的黑乳頭就像兩粒“黑鈕扣”，讓它變得粉嫩，妳的另一半更加愛妳。。。

My translation: The black nipples on the chest are like two “black buttons”. Turn them pink, and your other half will love you more…

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Sole Cleaner Massage 礦石腳底清潔穴道按摩舒緩墊

Here are some descriptions of the item by the seller:

This unique foot massager features both soft and hard flexible bristles that clean and massage your feet whilst circulating blood stimulation. The sole cleaner is ideal for people for limited movement and makes cleaning your feet in the shower hassle free! This means no more bending down in shower to wash those dirty soles.

If your potbelly prevents you from bending down, you’ll find the sole cleaner useful!

Malaysia’s Dumb Politicians Strike Again

The city of Kuala Lumpur orders that, started from next year, all restaurants in the city must provide Wifi service for their patrons. According to the mayor, this decree is in line with Information Technology vision for the nation’s capital.

That sounds like a great idea. Just imagine, I can walk into a kopitiam (Chinese traditional coffee shop), pull out my Motorola Xoom (a.k.a. iPad killer), and read Facebook updates. But wait a minute, kopitiams in KL have just increased the price of drinks in January, 2011. Will the operators use the Wifi order as another excuse to hike the price again? I can foresee that a cup of coffee will cost RM1.60 next year. In any case, kopitiams are not air-conditioned. When mercury rises to 33C, I doubt I want to spend more than an hour there.

Or, imagine that I am meeting my fellow bloggers for the first time in Dragon & Phoenix Chinese Restaurant. As soon as we are seated, Witch immediately snaps photos with her iPhone 5 and uploads them to Facebook; Panda Foong tweets with his Samsung Galaxy Tab; and Tekkaus tracks the latest English Premier League updates with his Blackberry Playbook. The so-called Bloggers’ meeting turns into Internet session…

There is a common problem among governments of Asia – they think they know what is best for the people and what is best for the businesses. The fact is, not all eateries in KL need Wifi service. Such service incurs additional operational cost, and ultimately it is the consumers who bear it.

CEOs of Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, P1 and YTL are probably feeling uneasy with the Wifi order too. The mobile carriers have invested billions of ringgit in infrastructure, but must now compete with mamak stalls.

If restaurant operators believe that Wifi service will help them attract customers, they will certainly provide it. The governments should keep their hands off businesses. Let the market decide!

Kopitiam – a question of Cost & Price

The ‘cartel’ formed by the kopitiams (traditional Chinese style coffee shops) in KL and Selangor has decided to raise the price of drinks starting from January 2011.

A glass of coffee is now priced at RM1.40, up 20 sen from last year. A bowl of noodle is about RM4. So, a simple breakfast at kopitiam costs more than RM5, which isn’t so much cheaper than a breakfast in McDonalds’.

For the record, the breakfast set of ‘2 piece hotcakes’ plus coffee in McDonald’s comes to less than RM5. Better still, in the Golden Arches restaurants, you get cleaner environment, air-conditioning, free coffee refill and free Wifi. You can even pick up a copy of The Sun newspaper in certain outlets.

The kopitiams justify their price hike by citing the increase in material cost. I am sure McDonald’s cannot escape the inflation too, but it somehow manages to keep the price steady. In fact, McDonald’s lowered the price of the breakfast sets in 2010. Also, bear in mind that kopitiams hire lots of low wage migrant workers. Employees in the Golden Arches outlets are predominantly Malaysians.

Two words explain why McDonald’s is able to keep the price low: cost cutting. This is something traditional kopitiams must emulate, if they want to stay competitive in the coming decade. Consumers have choice…

Indoor Tanning

source

I didn’t expect Malaysia would ever have an indoor tanning center.

Indoor tanning centers are common in Western countries, where people like tanned skin. But this is Malaysia, a tropical country. Malaysians often prefer to hide inside air-conditioned rooms to escape the searing sun during the hottest hours of the day. Asian women, as we know, traditionally love fair skin. Who would spend money to have their skin tanned? (I believe European women once loved fair skin too, or we wouldn’t have the story of Snow White.)

But I was wrong. Fabulous Tan, a Singapore-based group, has opened a franchised outlet in Malaysia. The center was reported to be doing well, and the owner was already planning to open another branch. Fabulous Tan provides other services such as hair removal and teeth whitening.

According to the owner, majority of her patrons are homosexuals. Do gays like tanned skin? Or are they merely looking for a gathering place?

So, would you try indoor tanning?

P/S Please also check out my post in another blog:

Wanna Customize you Mobile Phone?

It’s more than Specs

Which smart phone should you buy?

Blogger Tekkaus recommends Nokia E72. He compares the specifications of Nokia E72 and iPhone side-by-side, and concludes that the former is a better phone. But before I drill deeper into this issue, let me digress a bit…

A couple of years ago, I was searching for a backpack for my DSLR camera. I narrowed my choice to two – Tamrac Adventure 7 and Crumpler Sinking Barge. Tamrac was more practical, with lots of pockets to store accessories, but Crumpler was more stylish.

Tamrac – practical but boring

Crumpler – colorful and youthful

There is another issue with Tamrac: If I were to take out the camera, I must first lay down the bag on the floor. Imagine if I were shooting at a muddy place… With Crumpler, I could access the camera while the bag is still on my shoulder.

In the end, I got a Crumpler…

When you are buying a car, what factors do you consider? Price, dimensions, engine capacity, fuel economy… and of course physical design. You want a cool-looking car, don’t you?

Now back to the question of smart phone choice. Specifications-wise, iPhone may not be the best. But it is elegant. And many iPhone users have reported that the phone is intuitive and easy to use. (Disclaimer: I don’t own an iPhone.) These qualities are not easily quantifiable, but they are the factors potential buyers would consider.

Specs are not everything…

Pee Fee & Others

I came across an article on BusinessWeek which mentioned about ‘hidden charges’ to be slapped on airlines passengers. Here is the excerpt:

The announcement that Spirit Airlines will charge as much as $45 for a carry-on bag provoked a torrent of reaction. Spirit described its change as “the next phase of unbundling” and an effort to lower fares. I was heading home Tuesday from a weekend trip when the Spirit news broke and in the 90 minutes it took to fly from Chicago to New York two friends had dropped emails expressing their outrage. “The bastards!” said one. The other’s note referred to buggery.

The very next day, Ryanair – never to be outdone when it comes to stoking media outrage – renewed talk of pay lavatories on its 737s as a way to eventually remove all but a sole loo and add seats. The idea being that a fee to pee will make a single WC adequate as opposed to the current three, but regulators are likely to consult on that plan before it actually were to happen. Ryanair also boosted its baggage fee by 5 euros to 20 euros ($27) per bag for the peak travel months of July and August.

(source)

Back in 2008, the crude oil price rose to historic high of US$147 per barrel. Oil price crumbled when the world was mired in recession. Now, as the economy improves, the price is going up again. At the time of this writing, crude oil is sold at over $85 per barrel. I won’t be surprised if it breaches the $100-mark this year. Expect more budget airlines to imitate Spirit Airlines and Ryanair.

What other things can airlines do to keep their cost low? ‘Fat tax’ is another option – the heavier a passenger is, the more he/she pays. Some airlines are also considering planes with stools instead of chairs in order to squeeze in more passengers.

But here is my proposal to Datuk Tony Fernandes: Outdo Ryanair by taking away ALL lavatories. Sell adult diapers for RM10 per piece!

Smart Phone

Do you use a smart phone?

As a person who still hasn’t own a smart phone, I must be… oh, so 2006!

Smart phone is all the rage these days. It’s the must have for every gadget lover. Even if we prefer to surf Net with PC, it is still good to own a smart phone so that we don’t look like dinosaurs. Apple iPhone is the most acclaimed of all phones in this category. It is to smart phone what LV is to handbag.

The phenomenal growth of smart phones in the last few years surprised me. Not so long ago, I thought few people would like to surf Net with mobile phones, because of their small screens and small keyboards. The introduction of iPhone in January 2007 was the turning point. Today, we can read e-mail and do facebooking on smart phone. In fact, some applications, such as music download, Twitter and car navigation system, are probably better suited to smart phones than to PC.

The rising popularity of smart phones has a huge impact on the Internet-related industry too. Just two years ago, I thought WiMAX would have better potential than 3G. (For that reason I almost wanted to buy the stocks of Green Packet, which operated a WiMAX service.) Today I am not so certain. Remember that iPhone only works on GSM and 3G.

If you do use smart phone to surf Net, I would like to do a simple survey. Please answer a few questions. Many thanks in advance.

1. What applications do you use? (e.g. e-mail, Twitter)
2. Do you spend more time surfing Net with smart phone or with PC/Mac?
3. What are the advantages of surfing Net with smart phone?
4. What are the disadvantages of surfing Net with smart phone?

No Free Reading

I like to read news online – even though I still buy newspaper. Some of my favorite news portals are BBC Online, Singapore-based Channel News Asia, and Malaysia’s The Star. However, in a few years, I may need to fork out some money in order to read the news on these sites.

Media heavyweights are mulling over plans to charge for news online. Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal online has already required its readers to pay a subscription fee. New York Times may follow suit in 2011. This may signal the beginning of the end of free online news.

The news media has good reason to charge for news online. They can’t make enough money from online ads, or so we are told. Will readers be willing to pay for full access to the news portals? This is certainly possible. After all, music fans have already been downloading MP3 music for a fee.

One possible impact of the news by subscription is that Web search may become less relevant. Google will give us results which we can’t read. How will the search giant respond?

Should you get an iPad?

Apple finally unveiled its highly-anticipated tablet computer on Jan 27, 2010. The new gadget has been ridiculed for its name, which sounds like high-tech tampon. Jokes aside, should you get an iPad?

Well, if money is not an issue, and if you love gadgets, then by all means get one as your new toy. Otherwise, ask yourself this question: If you already have a PC/Mac and iPhone, do you still need an iPad?

One factor to consider is typing on iPad. With iPhone, you hold the device on your left hand and type with your right hand. iPad is too big to be held with one hand, so most likely you have to place it on the table or on your laps. Here is where iPad is at disadvantage: you can adjust the angle of a notebook screen, but you can’t do so with iPad.

Another factor to consider is that iPad can’t do multi-tasking, so you can’t surf Web and listen to music at the same time. (But I won’t be surprised if Steve Jobs address this issue in future models.)

In the end, I expect iPad will be primarily used as an electronic reader, i.e. device for reading e-books. One can download e-books from Apple’s own iBookstore. Prices begin at US$12.99 for each book.

Another possibility is to use the gadget as the replacement for students’ text books. Imagine carrying an iPad instead of five or more physical books. However, in order for iPad to be widely adopted as text book replacement, its price has to come down substantially. You don’t want your kids to carry a US$499 gadget to school.

Travelers may like iPad too. They can download electronic version of Lonely Planet for reference. Of course, they must make sure that they can recharge the device along the trip. Theft is another concern. (Kikey Loo, are you interested?)

As for myself, I noted in one of my posts that I am a technology laggard. I doubt I will purchase an iPad in 2010.

Singapore’s Cosplay Café

One of Japan’s pop cultures which has gained popularity throughout Asia is cosplay – short for costume play. Cosplay fans dress themselves like characters in manga, anime and computer games.

An offshoot of cosplay is cosplay cafés, in which waitresses often dress in French maid outfits. When patrons enter a ‘maid café’, the waitresses would greet them with “Okaerinasaimase goshujinsama”, which means “Welcome home, master!”

Singapore’s A87 Café & Bar is one cosplay restaurant which draws ideas from Japan. Its waitresses dress in angel outfits rather than French maid outfits. The most interesting thing about this café is – for $1 per bite – you can be hand-fed by the waitresses!

Photo by The Straits Time

I have learned that Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee, or even service. Rather, it sells experience. A87 is another example of experience business.

I know, some of you would see this as gender-discrimination. I personally would feel uneasy being hand-fed…

Guys, do you like to be hand-fed by teenage angels?

Link: Akibanana

Nexus One Google Phone

The hottest tech news in the beginning of 2010 must be the launch of Nexus One smart phone by Google on January 5.

On January 7, I searched the Web for this new gadget. I could see the ‘latest results’ coming in every few minutes.

Nexus One runs on Google’s own Android operating system (OS). This is not the first Android phone, but it generates far more attention than its predecessor. This is by no means that Nexus One is better than those marketed by Motorola or HTC. Rather, Google’s strong brand makes all the difference.

Before the launch of the Google phone, people were asking, “Will it be the iPhone killer?” Now the product is out. Most reviewers think that Nexus One, while very good, still can’t dethrone Apple iPhone.

One advantage iPhone has over the Android phones is that the former has far more applications – more than 100,000 versus about 20,000. However, I suspect Android OS already has some of the most commonly-used apps. As far as average users are concerned, the difference hardly matters. Now, with Google coming into picture, the gap should narrow.

Expect Steve Jobs to respond aggressively.

Are you considering a Nexus One or iPhone?

MOL Global buys Friendster

source

The purchase of Friendster by Malaysia-based MOL Global is a hot topic in this country.

MOL Global is controlled by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan. Tan is a shrewd businessman who made headlines many years ago for winning a libel suit. His Berjaya Group conglomerate has interests in property, gaming, leisure and finance industries. However, not all of his ventures were successful. His pay TV business, MiTV, has failed to challenge the incumbent Astro.

As we know, Friendster is the granddaddy of social networking sites. In the last couple of year, however, it has been eclipsed by MySpace and Facebook. Can MOL Global revive Friendster?

Now, if all your friends are on Facebook, do you still bother to join Friendster? (Or, if you joined Friendster ages ago, do you still bother to log in?) Social networking sites are such services that ‘the more people using them, the more useful they become’. If Friendster were to ‘dethrone’ Facebook – to quote a phrase by Tekkaus – it can’t just imitate the latter. It has to be different.

According to report, 90 percent of Friendster’s traffic comes from Asia. One thing the social networking site can do is to offer location-specific services. Perhaps it can organize gatherings for its members. Perhaps it can do match-making.

On the other hand, Facebook’s strength may turn out to be its weakness. It’s too ‘general purpose’. Facebook’s early members were college students. Today even uncles and aunties have jumped on the bandwagon. It has lost its ‘exclusiveness’, and cool factor.

If you login to Facebook, you get all sorts of updates, requests and invitations. You’ll read, for example, that Tom has got a new friend whom you never know; Dick is tagged in a photo; and Jerry is playing an online game. Can we have a social networking site which really helps us to connect with our friends, without all the bells and whistles?

Friendster may be able to capitalize on Facebook’s weaknesses. In any case, it is an uphill struggle. Good luck, Tan Sri.

Note:

Tan Sri is a title.

Twitter for Business

Chef Choi with his truck (source: Time.com)

What can you do with Twitter, other than announcing to your followers what movies you watch and where you have your dinner?

American chef Roy Choi has found an ingenious use of the micro-blogging site. He sells Korean BBQ taco from his mobile kiosk – a truck. (Taco is originally a type of Mexican food, but Choi has added Korean touch to it.) He announces his whereabouts via Twitter alerts. (The End of California? Dream On!, Time Magazine, November 2, 2009 issue)

That’s a creative use of technology, isn’t it?

Malaysia’s Broadband War

Among Malaysian consumers, ADSL is the dominant technology used to access Internet. Streamyx is the leading ADSL service providers. In the past few years, however, wireless technology has emerged as the alternative means of Internet access. 3G and WiMAX providers are now challenging Streamyx.

P1, the leading WiMAX operator, recently launched an advertisement with the slogan ‘Potong Now’ (Cut Now). The ad tells us to cut the plain old telephony line (landline). Since most of us own mobile phones, landline is redundant, except in the case of prolonged power failure. And if we cut the landline, we essentially terminate the Streamyx service as well.

Here is the P1 ad. Click to enlarge…

Streamyx responded by launching its own marketing campaign. In its ad, a man is shown as having to surf the Net from a window. It implies that wireless technology is not good, and that we can’t use it indoor. (I doubt the claim, though.)

This is Streamyx’s ad. Click to enlarge…

P1’s ‘Cut Now’ slogan may backfire. In this Islamic state, the very word ‘cut’ has another meaning. It implies the circumcision ceremony performed on Muslim boys.

The broadband war has heated up in Malaysia. Competition is good for the consumers, isn’t it? (Well, except in the case of soccer TV broadcast.)

Exclusive Rights

source: www.dailymail.co.uk

My brother-in-law, who lives in Singapore, is a soccer fan. He has been watching EPL (English Premier League) matches on Starhub pay-TV.

Starting next year, however, Starhub will not be showing EPL matches, as it has lost the broadcasting rights to rival Singtel. Needless to say, soccer fans of the island republic who have subscribed to Starhub must be very frustrated. I expect many of them to defect to Singtel.

Starhub is not going to surrender, though. It still has the exclusive rights to broadcast Spanish La Liga. Both Starhub and Singtel are competing for next year’s World Cup.

It would be easier for the soccer fans should Singtel win the rights over World Cup. All they need to do is to jump ship. Thing would be interesting if Starhub wins. How would the fans choose between EPL and World Cup?

Sometimes I just hate those so-called exclusive rights. (Well, I say ‘sometimes’. If I have invested in Singtel, I may have different feeling.)

I think my brother-in-law should just stick to Starhub and watch La Liga instead. After all, Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi play in the bull-fighting kingdom. Ladies should also consider throwing your support behind La Liga, as Ronaldo is good-looking

Welfare – Good or Bad?

I am reading the article US economic myths bite the dust written by Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington D.C. He writes:

As economist Paul Krugman noted after reading [a study on US economy]: “One more American myth bites the dust.” Indeed it has. And as both the authors of the paper and Krugman note, there is a plausible explanation for the US’s low score in the small business contest: our lack of national health insurance.

There are enough risks associated with choosing to start a business over being an employee, but the Europeans don’t have to worry that they will go bankrupt for lack of health insurance.

(SBW17, The Star, Aug 15, 2009)

Mark Weisbrot’s comments on the US small businesses deserve the attention of Malaysian government and, more so, the Singapore’s government. Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of the city state – and now the Minister Mentor – has always scorned at the Western welfare states. He believes that welfare has made the Europeans lazy, and argues that Singapore should never follow the Western model.

Somehow, welfare is a double-edged sword. For those who are willing to take risk, it serves as a safety net. Europeans and Americans are more willing to start their own businesses because they know that should they fail, they can still survive on unemployment fund or other forms of welfare.

By comparison, Singapore has one of the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activities among the rich countries, and its people are risk-aversive. Even the poorer Malaysia has produced some famous entrepreneurs such as Genting’s Lim Goh Tong and AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes. Singapore’s most famous companies, such as Singapore Airlines, are mostly state-owned. Temasek Holdings, the republic’s sovereign wealth fund, has made one blunder after another.

Both Malaysia and Singapore should rethink their welfare policies. Welfare should be seen as a safety net and given to those who ‘deserve’ it. If well-implemented, such policies can encourage the people to take risk and ultimately lead to a more vibrant economy.

Heck, if Malaysian government provides decent safety net, I also want to be my own boss!