Techonomics — IBM’s Weekly Newsletter
February 23, 2018
Market Activity and Trends
Airbnb CEO Announces New Offerings| CNN| February 22, 2018 |
Airbnb started as a popular option for travelers on a budget. Now, however, Airbnb will expand its offerings to reach luxury and business travelers. The new offerings include a loyalty program which rewards preferred guests with experiences like fitness classes.
The new offerings are called Airbnb Plus, Beyond Airbnb, and Airbnb Collective and include: luxury accommodations; boutique hotels; and group accommodations for weddings and business travelers.
This announcement follows Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky’s ten-year plan to host more than one billion guests by 2028.
UPS and Workhorse to Create and Deploy Fifty Electric Delivery Trucks|Tech Crunch| February 22, 2018 |
UPS announced a partnership with Workhorse, a battery-electric transportation company. The two companies plan to create fifty electric delivery trucks with zero emissions. The trucks will be piloted and tested in the urban centers of Atlanta, Dallas, and LA. Currently, the trucks are forecasted to have a driving radius of 100 miles before having to recharge so their use will be limited to city centers.
Although the initial creation and testing will be expensive, UPS aims to make the cost of an electric delivery truck the same as a traditional fuel-based truck. UPS believes electric trucks will not only help decrease their carbon footprint but will also save money on fuel and vehicle maintenance.
First Commission-Free Crypto Trading Platform Launched| Bloomberg | February 22, 2018 |
Robinhood, a popular commission-free app for buying and selling stocks, launched new capabilities to trade the digital coins Bitcoin and Ethereum. Over 4 million new Robinhood accounts have been created since the announcement. Robinhood joins popular cryptocurrency trading platforms Binance and Coinbase in the digital asset trading platform space. However, all of Robinhood’s competitors charge fees for cryptocurrency transactions.
Currently, only Robinhood users in Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and New Hampshire can trade digital assets on the app; the rest of the United States can expect access by mid-2018.
Fintech Temenos to Acquire Fidessa Group for $1.96 Billion| Crowd Insider | February 22, 2018 |
Tenemos, a banking software provider, announced a 1.96 billion acquisition of Fidessa, another banking software provider. While Tenemos offers a wide range of banking services from retail banking to wealth management, Fidessa focuses on asset management and trading.
Experts believe the acquisition will create a powerhouse provider of banking software. This is easy to imagine as Tenemos provides software to over 2,000 banks including 41 of the top 50 and Fidessa software supports 85% of financial institutions worldwide.
The announcement of the potential trade caused Fidessa shares to jump up 34%.
Amazon Joins Netflix to Compete for Spanish Speaking Viewers| Variety|February 21, 2018|
Amazon announced a partnership with the Mexican media group Televisa. Televisa will be creating Spanish content for the streaming giant. The new Spanish shows will include a culturally diverse set of characters and will be available to over 200 countries. Although this is Amazon’s first foray into productions targeted towards Latin America, rival Netflix has already entered the space with the Mexican-based production of Club de Cuervos.
The move is expected to help Amazon challenge Netflix in creating cross-cultural content as well as cement Televisa as the largest TV producer in the Spanish-speaking world. The partnership will help Televisa increase revenues after a poor performance in 2017.
