commerce Archives

The Weekend Brief by Greyhound Research | April 6, 2025

by connect@thofgr.comApril 6, 2025April 6, 2025Leave a comment

Greyhound Research's Weekend Brief provides essential insights for CXOs by analyzing significant global tech developments. The latest edition celebrates the 12th anniversary of the company, emphasizing the importance of independent, conviction-led research in a vendor-dominated market. Key topics include the implications of viral content on data governance, potential shifts in Indian IT caused by U.S. tariffs, the unveiling of bootloader vulnerabilities by Microsoft's AI, and Airtel's transformative 2Africa cable project influencing cloud latency and digital sovereignty. Additionally, IBM and L’Oréal's development of domain-specific AI for the beauty industry is highlighted as a notable trend.

Reliance Aims To Embed JioMart In WhatsApp

by connect@thofgr.comJanuary 22, 2021January 22, 2021Leave a comment

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ltd plans to embed its e-commerce app JioMart into WhatsApp within six months, allowing the 400 million users of India’s most popular messaging service order products without having to leave the app, two officials aware of the…

An American PE That Backed Alibaba And Airbnb Has Turned Bullish On India Amid The Pandemic

by connect@thofgr.comOctober 8, 2020October 8, 2020Leave a comment

In a year that’ll be remembered in history for a devastating pandemic and an unprecedented economic slowdown, an American investor is flooding India with money. Experts believe having this giant in the roster will give Indian firms’ street cred globally. Silver Lake…

Can India’s Legacy Businesses Beat Amazon and Walmart?

by connect@thofgr.comOctober 7, 2020October 7, 2020Leave a comment

From Flipkart versus Amazon to Uber versus Ola, and even Swiggy versus Zomato, India’s internet has so far been a battleground for young local startups and global tech giants—either fighting each other or among themselves. “The investments from the…

Festival Season Sales: JioMart Set To Upset The Cart For Flipkart, Amazon

by connect@thofgr.comOctober 7, 2020Leave a comment

This year’s e-commerce festival season sale, to be kicked off by Flipkart with its flagship ‘The Big Billion Days’ sale on October 16, followed by Amazon with its ‘Great Indian Festival’ sale on October 17, is expected to be a…

Why The World Needs To Wake Up To India’s Jio

by connect@thofgr.comOctober 6, 2020October 6, 2020Leave a comment

Billion-dollar investments, marquee shareholders, and a business built without any Chinese footprint, India’s 10-month old Jio Platforms appears to have all the right ingredients to become the next big global tech giant. The biggest strength of Jio Platforms is…

Vodafone AGR Case Will Impact Connected Cars In India

by connect@thofgr.comSeptember 17, 2020Leave a comment

The Vodafone case in the Supreme Court related to the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues will have some dramatic consequences for the Indian connected car market. Vodafone had indicated that the Supreme Court didn't grant a minimum time of 15 years…

TikTok’s Suitors: Among Microsoft, Walmart, Oracle, and Reliance, Who Makes The Best Match?

by connect@thofgr.comSeptember 17, 2020September 17, 2020Leave a comment

Just about a year back, when afaqs! did a cover story on TikTok, it seemed like the short video platform was nearing the end of its problems in India. It seemed like the major concern for the ByteDance-owned video juggernaut…

TikTok Deal With Oracle May Not Lead Easing Of Ban In India

by connect@thofgr.comSeptember 16, 2020September 17, 2020Leave a comment

The ‘technical partnership’ deal struck between US-based business software provider Oracle and ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is unlikely to bring cheers to users of the mobile app in India as the Centre is reportedly in no mood…

The Big Race For TikTok In India: What’s In It For The Buyer?

by connect@thofgr.comSeptember 16, 2020September 17, 2020Leave a comment

In the US, TikTok might be on the last legs of negotiation to find itself an American buyer but the big race is on In India. While several names like Microsoft, Twitter, Reliance Jio and now Oracle have come to…

Oracle Running TikTok In India Doesn’t Make Sense: Here’s Why

by Sanchit Vir GogiaSeptember 14, 2020September 14, 2020Leave a comment

Earlier today, we published a research report on the possibilities and the likely outcomes if Oracle was to land TikTok. Since then, I've received many calls from friends in the media about the implication for TikTok's India business and whether or not…

Oracle Landing TikTok Means A Lot Of Things, But Definitely Not An Ad Network

by Sanchit Vir GogiaSeptember 14, 2020Leave a comment

Sunday night just got exciting, and how! Reports have confirmed that Oracle has won the bid for the U.S. operations of TikTok (a ByteDance company), leaving behind both Microsoft and Walmart from the race. It's being touted that this deal will not…

The Race To Build An Indian Social Network

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

Over the past three months, home-grown variants of short-video social networking apps have cruised through some unusual times. Border tensions and #BoycottChina campaigns had already resulted in a steady uptick in their user base. And then came the ban on 59…

Engagement, User Experience Critical For Homegrown Apps To Succeed

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

The ban on 59 apps with Chinese links has opened up opportunities for homegrown players to accelerate growth but they will have to ensure good user experience and engagement on their platforms to be successful, according to industry analysts. …

Ban On ‘Made-in-China’ Apps Gives India’s TikTok Rivals A Boost

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

India's decision to ban 59 'made-in-China' apps is proving a blessing to local software developers, especially alternatives to video-sharing social networking service TikTok, which until the ban had 200 million users in the country. Some experts, however, see challenges…

Google-Reliance Partnership Heats Up Indian eCommerce Race

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

TOKYO -- Google's surprise decision announced on July 15 to invest $4.5 billion into Jio Platforms, the digital business arm of India's biggest family-owned conglomerate Reliance Industries, has so far not been accompanied by any announcement on Google's role in Reliance's…

Airtel Inks Strategic Alliance With Amazon Web Services To Tap SMB Opportunity

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

Bharti Airtel is set to sign a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud services arm of retail giant Amazon, to tap small-and-medium businesses (SMBs). The pairing will be pitted against the Reliance Jio Infocomm-Microsoft combine as they compete for a share…

Reliance Likely To Acquire TikTok In India For $5 billion

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 16, 2020Leave a comment

India's most valuable company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is reportedly the latest bidder for the Bytedance-owned TikTok in India. The Mukesh Ambani-led firm had begun talks last month with the Chinese firm to acquire its operations in India. The deal…

Does Acquiring TikTok In India Make Sense For RIL?

by connect@thofgr.comAugust 16, 2020Leave a comment

Reliance Industries Ltd could gain a deeper connection with consumers by acquiring TikTok in India, but its existing strategic partnership with Facebook — which owns Instagram — could put the deal under the scrutiny of the Competition Commission of India,…

Is Reliance Jio Shaping the Future of Digital India?

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 21, 2020January 22, 2021Leave a comment

India’s struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped the deal making spree at Reliance Industries. As the country slows down, Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate by sales and market capitalization has only seemed to speed up. In fact, some critics point out that Reliance…

What Next For Cash-Rich Jio?

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 21, 2020Leave a comment

Raising $15 billion through 11 deals over three-months in a normal environment is impressive for any company. But, doing it during a global pandemic when stock markets are fluctuating, confidence in investing is low and the effects of said pandemic…

Reliance-Owned Jio Platforms To Beef Up Its Capabilities With Qualcomm’s Investment

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

Jio Platforms, the digital arm of India’s largest conglomerate Reliance Industries, which has raised USD 15.7 billion in the last 12 weeks from 11 high-profile investors, has got American chipset maker Qualcomm as its newest backer. According to Sanchit Vir…

Jio Ready With 5G Solution, Ropes In Google For Affordable Smartphone

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

Mukesh Ambani unveiled his blueprint to build a complete technology ecosystem around Jio Platforms that includes developing India’s first 5G network solutions and affordable 4G smartphones in partnership with global giants such as Facebook, Qualcomm, Intel and Google. "The decision…

Google To Invest Rs 33,737 Crore For 7.73% Stake In Jio Platforms

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Google and development of in-house 5G solutions, in a bid to win over new customers and create a platform for future growth. "The decision by Google to invest in Jio is a…

For Home Grown 5G, RJio Bets On Free Platform Open RAN

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

Mukesh Ambani’s plans to build home-grown 5G network solution is based on an open source telecom platform called Open RAN. This network platform, similar to how open source software became a game changer in the 1990s, attempts to build telecom…

From Jio Glass To 5G Network, Reliance’s New Announcements Hint At Its Ambition To Dominate Everything Digital

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

When Mukesh Ambani—the world’s sixth-richest person—and chairman and managing director of India’s largest conglomerate, Reliance, made a slew of big announcements during the company’s 43rd annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, his message was clear: Reliance would dominate everything digital, including 5G, smartphones,…

Mukesh Ambani Gave Google And Facebook A Discount On Reliance Jio Stake ⁠— Here’s Why

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 18, 2020July 19, 2020Leave a comment

During the Reliance Annual General Meeting, Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced that Google has invested ₹33,737 crore in Jio Platforms for a 7.7% stake. Google became the second largest investor in Jio after Facebook which has a 9.9% stake in the…

Google Invests In India’s Red-Hot Jio Platforms To Build Cheap Cellphones

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 15, 2020Leave a comment

On Wednesday, Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited Mukesh Ambani announced that Google will invest $4.5 billion to take a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms, the telecoms and digital arm of Ambani’s vast Reliance conglomerate. "This is a marriage of equals and hence of massive possibilities,"…

Why Has Google Made A $10 Billion Bet On India Now

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 14, 2020July 14, 2020Leave a comment

In 2014, even before he became the CEO of Google, Chennai-born Sundar Pichai had envisioned Google placing big bets on India. Back then he had predicted that the growth in internet user base would make India not only a huge…

Bullish Google Looks To Invest $10 Billion Over 7 Years To Digitize India

by connect@thofgr.comJuly 14, 2020Leave a comment

Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai pledged to spend $10 billion in India over the next 5-7 years to get more businesses and people online, the internet giant’s biggest bet yet to tap one of the world’s fastest growing internet markets. Sanchit Vir…

Tag: commerce

Reliance Aims To Embed JioMart In WhatsApp

Festival Season Sales: JioMart Set To Upset The Cart For Flipkart, Amazon

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