acquisition
Samsung mulls sale of Dutch e-ink display subsidiary to Amazon
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/22/samsung-mulls-liquavista-sale/
It’s not often that we hear of Samsung suffering from buyer’s remorse, but it looks like it should have kept e-ink manufacturer Liqavista’s receipt in the box-file marked “Important.” Bloomberg’s Person Familiar With The Matter(TM) believes Samsung is trying to flog the Dutch electrowetting display outfit it bought two years ago — back when such technology was the holy grail of screens. Now the Korean giant is looking for a sub-$100 million sale to Amazon, which might be able to use the tech in future iterations of the Kindle. When asked, a Samsung spokesperson said that the acquisition didn’t meet its expectations, which makes us sad for the future of e-ink devices beyond e-readers — now the folks at YotaPhone are our only hope.
Yahoo Is In Talks To Buy A Big Stake In Video Site Dailymotion (YHOO)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-is-in-talks-to-buy-a-big-stake-in-video-site-dailymotion-2013-3
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer could be on the cusp of her first big acquisition-like move.
The Wall Street Journal reports Yahoo is in talks to buy 75 percent of Dailymotion, a YouTube-esque video service that’s popular in Europe.
Dailymotion is owned by a French Telecom. It’s sort of a mess of different videos. Some are user generated, some are professional.
Yahoo would buy the stake at $300 million valuation with an option to buy the remaining 25 percent later, says the Journal.
Yahoo’s HR leader Jackie Rees told employees recently Yahoo was working on two large acquisitions. A lot of names have been floated around since then.
We’re not sure how Dailymotion fits Mayer’s vision for Yahoo. It’s never struck us as a great technology or media property. And, it’s not a big mobile property as far as we can tell.
However, the Journal says it had 116 million unique visitors in January, making it the twelfth biggest site in the world. It’s also popular outside of the U.S., which could be valuable to Yahoo since it’s largely a U.S. based business.
Logitech gambled big on video conferencing, lost
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/23/logitech-video-conferencing-slowdown/
Logitech’s PR machine is on the loose this morning, trying to dampen expectations before the company announces its quarterly financial results later in the day. The key message is that we shouldn’t expect any great shakes from the video conferencing side of the business. In fact, there’ll be a $211 million charge against earnings, which is big enough to wipe out the previous quarter’s income four times over, and which stems entirely from this source of pain:
“The enterprise video conferencing industry has experienced a slowdown in recent quarters and consequently, through this period, the video conferencing unit has not sustained the growth Logitech originally anticipated.”
That’s a blanket statement, describing a whole section of the industry and not just pinning the blame on LifeSize, the video conferencing company that Logitech picked up in 2009 for $405 million. It so happens that Polycom and Cisco have also reported ongoing slides in video conferencing sales, so Logitech’s explanation is entirely justified — not that it makes the LifeSize acquisition look any smarter.
Filed under: Peripherals, Internet
Source: Reuters
Adobe acquires Behance, sets sights on community-driven Creative Cloud
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/20/adobe-acquires-behance/
Well, it looks like Adobe is wrapping things up nicely before the long holiday weekend. Mere days after the most recent round of updates, the software outfit has just announced its acquisition of Behance, the online portfolio community for creatives in a number of disciplines. Founded in 2006 by CEO Scott Belsky, they NYC-based outfit will remain it’s current location and retain all of its 32 current employees. Touting over 1 million active users and 90 million project views in the past month, Behance is an online repository for portfolios, feedback, inspiration and the hiring of creative pros. Adobe is planning to fully integrate the design community’s wares into it’s Creative Cloud arsenal “allowing members to seamlessly create content, seek feedback, showcase their work and distribute it across devices.” For now, there won’t be any changes for free and paid members of the Behance offerings, but Adobe is evaluating how to integrate the paid portions into Creative Cloud memberships with the free option from the community remaining as such. Head on past the break to take a gander at the full announcement.
Continue reading Adobe acquires Behance, sets sights on community-driven Creative Cloud
report
Source: http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/11198-mobile-marketing-mainly-used-for-customer-acquisition-report
However, as search is second only to email as the most popular smartphone task, there is certainly value in using mobile for customer acquisition and awareness.
The survey also asked respondents which mobile marketing tactics they use.
Reflecting the fact that social media is a hugely popular activity on smartphone, 66% of marketers said they invest in social mobile advertising.
Display was the second most popular activity (44%) followed by mobile web landing pages with promotions and location-targeted advertising (both 37%).
Interestingly, only 22% said they invest in mobile paid search, which suggests advertisers are missing the opportunity presented by this channel. We’ve seen numerous surveys which show that although mobile search spend is increasing rapidly, it’s still a relatively untapped area for marketers.
For example, data from Marin Software revealed that mobile devices accounted for 13% of search spend in June 2012, yet took a 20% share of clicks.
This is despite the fact that separate surveys shows that search spend increased 250% in Q1 and 333% in Q2 2012 compared with the same periods in 2011.
KPIs
Forrester also asked respondents what KPIs they use to assess their mobile marketing initiatives.
The most common answer was web traffic and visitors (63%), followed by CTR (58%), brand awareness (54%) and revenue (44%).
The report takes this as further evidence that too many mobile advertisers are using desktop marketing tactics and haven’t yet adapted to the opportunities presented by mobile.
It recommends that marketers use mobile to deliver highly contextual, relevant information that directly engage individual consumers.
For further information on this topic check out our blog posts on whether your mobile strategy is fit for purpose and seven best practice tips for mobile marketers.
Google buys BufferBox, might give Amazon Locker a run for its money
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/30/google-buys-bufferbox-lockers-online-purchases/
Google has just snapped up BufferBox, a Waterloo, Ontario-based startup that offers temporary lockers for online purchases much like the ones recently deployed by Amazon. Instead of 7-Elevens and RadioShacks however, the relatively young startup has only just started a deal to install parcel kiosks in Canada’s Metrolinx GO Transit stations. The Mountain View company hopes to keep BufferBox alive through the acquisition, with plans for 100 kiosks in Greater Toronto and Hamilton in the next year. Of course, we can’t help but think this could all be part of Google’s master plan for a rumored same-day delivery service that might make Amazon a touch nervous. Hopefully this means future Nexus deliveries will be a just little faster, eh?
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google
Source: Financial Post, BufferBox
Imagination Technologies snaps up CPU designer MIPS in an attempt to wrestle ARM
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/06/imagination-technologies-scoops-up-chip-designer-mips/
Looks like we can kiss goodbye to any lingering politeness in the rivalry between these two UK chip houses, because the smaller one has just embarked on a cheeky expansion. Having been known mainly for its PowerVR graphics processors, not least in many Apple products, Imagination Tech could potentially push into the CPU arena too, through its $60 million acquisition of MIPS Technologies. Just Like ARM, MIPS designs low-power RISC processors for consumer electronics, but it has generally focused on smaller chips for devices like routers and TVs rather than smartphones and tablets. In addition to a portfolio of 82 exclusive patents, a squad of 160 MIPS engineers will now be transplanted to Imagination, where they’ll no doubt be debriefed and reassigned to conquering the world. Meanwhile, in some sort of flanking move, ARM has paid a far higher sum of $170 million to gain access to a number of other MIPS patents.
[Thanks, Michael]
Imagination Technologies snaps up CPU designer MIPS in an attempt to wrestle ARM originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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These Timelines Break Down Every Facebook, Twitter And LinkedIn Acquisition Ever
Everyone remembers when Facebook bought Instagram for a headline-friendly billion dollars last April. But what about the 10 companies it acquired after that? Or the 29 prior?
The social media landscape is in such a constant state of flux that it’s sometimes hard to remember who did what when.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and The Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc (JEGI) teamed up to take snapshots of what the social media ecosystem looks like right now.
Among other things, its report also breaks down the acquisition timelines for major digital players, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Google.
Facebook’s acquisition timeline:
According to the report, ”Facebook has acqui‐hired talented staff f! rom a nu mber of companies in addition to its traditional M&A, focusing on enhanced content sharing/discovery (FriendFeed, Face.com), IP (Tagtile), location awareness (Gowalla), ecommerce/gifts (Karma) and mobile (Glancee, Lightbox).”
Furthermore, Facebook is known to scoop up its competition for hefty chunks of change. When threatened by Instagram in the image and mobile space, Facebook bought the start-up for a cool billion dollars.
Twitter’s acquisition timeline:
Twitter’s acquisitions help boost user experience and its ad-based business model.
The report notes that “areas of interest include keyword bidding, social marketing automation, geo‐targeted ads, and social analytics,” which is reflected by recent buys.
LinkedIn’s acquisition timeline:
LinkedIn acquired SlideShare, a company that allows users to easily share business documents and presentations, for $119 in May 2012. Apart from that, LinkedIn’s acquisitions “have typically focused on tuck‐ins and tend to acquire businesses that are pre‐revenue.”
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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