Global Marketing News – 14th April 2016
Phenomenal internet growth predicted for the Middle East
The number of Arab internet users is growing dramatically.
A study by Orient Planet Research predicts that internet penetration in the Arab world will hit 55% by 2018, up from just 38% in 2014.
It is predicted that there will be 226 million internet users in the region by that time.
The study shows that the Middle East and North Africa is an extremely valuable target market for businesses who want to establish themselves early into a market with a growing internet population.
The study revealed that Bahrain currently has the highest internet penetration levels in the Middle East, at 74%.
Kuwait has the highest levels of mobile subscriptions, with a penetration rate of 195%.
Vivendi to acquire Mediaset Premium
The French media company Vivendi has announced that it will acquire Mediaset’s pay TV business Mediaset Premium.
The pay TV company is worth an estimated 900 million Euros.
Vivendi and Mediaset will work together to create original content for Mediaset Premium, and will also create a European online streaming service.
It hopes to challenge the likes of international giants Netflix and Amazon which also operate in Europe.
A spokesperson from Vivendi commented on the plan, emphasising the importance of content creation in the target language, saying: “If we want to be serious we have to invest in original local content – that’s what makes the difference.”
Laptops are dominant internet device in Belgium
Laptops are the dominant internet device in Belgium, according to research by CIM.
It found that 75% of internet users in Belgium used laptops, compared to 60% who used smartphones, 47% who used desktops and 45% who used tablets.
When comparing these figures to the previous year, the study found that smartphone use had gone up by 10%, and tablet use had gone up by 5%.
The popularity of the laptop also extended to the online TV and video viewing arena. 44% said they watched online TV and videos on their laptops, compared to 29% who watched on a smartphone, and 25% who watched on a tablet and desktop.
Belgium has an internet penetration of 85%, according to a separate study by the International Telecommunication Union.
Indian ecommerce company for chocolate branches out
The Indian chocolate ecommerce company Chocozonia has expanded the range of products it distributes.
Chocozonia, which was set up 6 months ago, describes itself as India’s first online confectionary store.
It started off selling homemade chocolates, but its recent expansion means it now sells Cadbury, Mars, Nestle, Galaxy and LUVIT chocolates.
A spokesperson from the company said they decided to expand to branded chocolates after realising it represented an unfilled niche in the market.
The Indian ecommerce market is currently worth 11 billion US dollars and is growing rapidly, with online sales expected to reach 220 billion US dollars by 2025 according to estimates by Merrill Lynch.
Stephen Hawking joins Chinese social network Weibo
And finally, the famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has joined the Chinese social network Weibo.
Weibo is one of the most popular social networks in China, with around 230 million monthly active users, and is a micro-blogging platform similar to Twitter.
Prof. Hawking quickly amassed a horde of followers, with 2 million people deciding to follow his account within the first few hours alone.
His first post was written in both English and Chinese and expressed the scientist’s interest in Chinese culture and his desire to share his work with a Chinese audience.
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