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Tag: incentive

  • Apple is spending Millions on new Games for Arcade

    Apple is spending Millions on new Games for Arcade

    Last month, Apple Arcade was unveiled. Set to launch this fall, the service will offer subscribers access to over 100 “groundbreaking” new games. The Arcade will be available on all Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad and the Mac. And the only cost will be the monthly subscription fee; there are no in-game extras that Arcade members will have to shell out for. Besides allowing a family with up to six members to share, a whole new family of accessories certified MFi (made for iPhone, iPad), such as game controllers, will make playing games on an iOS device much easier.

    With iPhone sales struggling, the company is looking to take advantage of the large number of active units (nearly 1 billion at last count) by selling owners of these handsets subscription services such as Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. Apple is looking to double its services revenue from the $25 billion it collected in 2017 to the $50 billion it hopes to garner next year. For the fiscal first quarter of 2019, the period covering October through December of last year, Apple grossed nearly $11 billion from its services unit, putting it on track to meet its goal for fiscal 2020.

    Apple has budgeted more than $500 million this year to spend on games for Arcade. In other words, the company is spending millions of dollars on each game. Will there be a payoff for the company after it keeps cutting such large checks? Global banking giant HSBC believes so. The firm’s analysts see Apple Arcade grossing $370 million next year, overtaking Apple TV+ by 2022 with $2.7 billion in sales, and generating $4.5 billion in revenue by 2024. In that year, HSBC expects Apple TV+ to bring in $4.1 billion in revenue, while Apple News+ takes in approximately $2.7 billion.

    To help generate business for Arcade, Apple is offering incentives to developers who are willing to give the new service exclusivity on new games for a few months. That would keep popular titles off of other platforms, including the Google Play Store, for a period of time. Apple is hoping that this will lead to developers debuting their games on Arcade first, which was a pattern seen years ago when App Store users spent much more money on games than Android users. Now, with Android’s huge global market share, new games are apt to launch on both platforms at the same time.

    The $500 million Apple has reportedly budgeted for Arcade is half the $1 billion it originally expected to lay out for Apple TV+. Games already announced for Arcade include one based on Sega’s popular Sonic the Hedgehog character. Subscribers will also be able to select titles from Cartoon Network and Lego. There will even be a new version of Frogger available. Independent developers, who have proven themselves with games listed on the App Store, have received larger than normal advances from Apple to deliver new titles for Arcade.

    HSBC forecasts that Apple Arcade will have 29 million subscribers by 2024, paying $12.99 a month for the service. But that is only an estimate. Only time will tell whether Apple has made the right move by laying out half a billion dollars for new, unproven games for its service. And if Arcade ends up being a big money maker for Apple, competition will surely follow. Still, Apple will have the advantage of plucking apples from the low hanging trees. Those are the nearly one billion owners of an active iPhone who will be receptive to Apple’s marketing of Arcade.

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  • Frost & Sullivan calls for strong incentive policy for electric vehicles in Malaysia

    Frost & Sullivan calls for strong incentive policy for electric vehicles in Malaysia

    Frost & Sullivan which is “mildly positive” on growth of total industry volume (TIV) for vehicles in 2019, said a strong incentive policy is required for electric vehicles (EVs) to take off in Malaysia. “Currently what we are waiting for is if the (NAP) National Automotive Policy mentions anything about EV. Unless there is a strong policy coming up focused on EV, otherwise we will not see any major uptake in EV sales in Malaysia,” said associate partner and senior vice president of mobility at Frost & Sullivan, Vivek Vaidya.

    He said the uptake for EV will also depend on factors such as incentives for manufacturers, forward distributors and customers coupled with the development of infrastructure for charging stations. Vivek added that there is a possibility of the new national car being an EV given leads of it being low energy and technology neutral.

    A survey carried out by Frost & Sullivan found that 30% of its respondents were willing to consider EVs even though such vehicles are yet to make a presence in Malaysia, signaling a latent demand for EVs.

    On the overall automotive market, Vivek expects Malaysia to registers vehicle sales of 609,700 units in 2019, 1.4% growth against 601,300 units in 2018, driven by growth in domestic consumption, private investments and new model launches.

    The passenger vehicle segment is expected to perform better than the commercial vehicle segment, which is likely to be impacted by low public spending.

    The passenger vehicle volume is projected to grow to 544,121 units in 2019 from 536,371 units in 2018, while the commercial vehicle volume is estimated to rise to 65,579 units from 64,929 units.

    Worth noting is that demand for vehicles went up by 4.2% during the tax holiday period last year.

    “Usually after a tax break period, the volume shrinks in the subsequent quarter but in 2018, strong consumer sentiment ensured Q4 volume matched last year figures to end the year on a positive note,” Vivek said.

  • Car wash more than just a job for Minds trainees

    Car wash more than just a job for Minds trainees

    For 15 years, Ms Lim Sock Leng, who has intellectual disabilities, has been travelling from her home in Woodlands to a car wash in the southern part of Singapore for work. The trip takes her more than an hour, but she looks forward to seeing her friends at the car wash each day.

    “The customers buy drinks and food and I’ve friends here. I’m not bored,” she told The Straits Times, a big grin on her face.

    Ms Lim, who is in her 30s, is one of 30 trainees with intellectual disabilities who have found work at the car wash opened by the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) in 2001.

    Minds chief executive Keh Eng Song said: “I think it is very successful that we’ve sustained Minds Wash for 15 years.”

    This is something that the voluntary welfare organisation could not have done without the support of SPC, which provides Minds with the car wash facilities, he added.

    Minds Wash was started in 2001 at a BP petrol station in Pasir Panjang with funds from Merrill Lynch.

    Three years later, SPC acquired BP’s retail network in Singapore.

    In 2007, SPC moved Minds Wash from Pasir Panjang to Telok Blangah “where the station is more prominently located and in clear view of the customers”, said SPC managing director Xia Hongwei.

    “Since 2004, SPC has been providing the venue to Minds Wash at no cost, with the aim of helping them integrate into society and encourage their development as independent and self-supportive individuals,” he said.

    In 2001, the aim of Minds Wash was to increase public awareness and social acceptance of the group. Then, the car wash serviced 14 cars a day on weekdays.

    Today, it services an average of 70 customers a day and Minds Wash project officer George Koh estimated that 80 per cent are regular clients who come by with food and drinks for the trainees with intellectual disabilities.

    This helps Minds pay the trainees allowances of $250 to $350 per month. Any leftover funds are channelled to the other 1,100 trainees in Minds’ three vocational centres.

    Retiree Yat Ah Kwok, 66, has been visiting Minds Wash weekly from his home in Punggol since he stumbled upon it four years ago while pumping petrol. Now, this is the only car wash he visits because he wants to support the cause.

    “I won’t go to other places. These people are all my friends. I’ve also told my friends who live nearby to wash their cars here,” he said.

    Asked if Minds will consider opening another car wash, Mr Keh said he would do so if any other kiosk wants to provide Minds with the space. He said Minds wants its trainees to go out of the sheltered workshops if possible.

    “And if you ask me, this is much better than public education, public awareness, exhibitions and roadshow. You actually experience people with intellectual disabilities doing the work, you experience their capabilities,” he added.

    “That’s why we always remind them to smile!”

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