Introduction to ThailandMobile, Web and Startups"

Mobile Monday Beijing!14th May 2012!!Ville Kulmala – Monday Monday Thailand!Twitter/Weibo: @villekulmala!

Who am I?!"Ville Kulmala (Finland) – Managing Director – Mobile Spark!!-  Over 12 years technology and business consulting

experience for global companies such as Nokia, Accenture, ING, ABN AMRO, Heineken, KPN, Areva, Logica and Fortis.!

!-  Mobile Spark is a mobile marketing agency, with offices in

The Netherlands, Finland and Hong Kong. !!-  Chairman for +1000 members strong Mobile Monday

Thailand – www.momobkk.com!! !

Mobile Monday Bangkok!

Thai Mobile Community !!Operators, Manufacturers, Developers, !Designers, Vendors, Startups, !Ad Agencies, etc. Thai and International.!!Translations provided at events!!Events held every 2-3 months, 150-250 !Participants. Next one expected 300.!!Next event 28th of May in Bangkok!!If you’re around, be welcome to join in!!

!!

Mobile Monday Bangkok!

Thailand – Stats & Opportunity!

Why Thailand?!!!

Thailand - Key Stats !

Ref: we are social(2012)!!

Mobile  web  should  Kill  entry  barriers  for  rural  popula5on  

Already  fully  mobile  

Thailand – Online Gaming Huge!!

Ref: we are social (2012)!!

Reality Check!Hardly anyone pays.!

Thailand Case study: Foursquare Wine Connections!Already  back  in  2010  Thailand  one  of  the  most  ac5ve  on  foursquare  

Thailand Case study: Foursquare Wine Connections!In  2010..  

Thailand Case study: Rocket Internet!

Crea5on  of  clone  e-­‐commerce  web  sites  from  popular  American  sites  such  as  Amazon,  Zappos  and  Pinterest.    -­‐  Hired  200  people  since  arrival  on  early  2012  -­‐  Simple  yet  high  quality  clone  websites  

Thailand – Usage of Blogs!

Ref: Effective Measure (2012)!!

Thai  blog  web  page  consump5on  by  far  the  largest  in  SE  Asia.  

Stats – Thailand Blogs!

Ref: Effective Measure (2012)!!

Orange colour indicates that market share is higher than the market average in SE Asia.! !-  Blog readers mostly high income Thai’s with high

education!

-  Relatively the most wealthy web population in SE Asia "

Thailand Mobile App Sales!In  2011,  Thailand  was  ranked  26th  globally  in  terms  of  iOS  revenue.    WW  iOS  revenue  =  288%  growth  in  2011  Thailand  iOS  revenue  =  553%  growth  in  2011    WW  iOS  downloads  =  81%  growth  in  2011  Thailand  iOS  downloads  =  165%  growth  in  2011    Reality  check,  it  is  s5ll  26th  in  the  world.  

Ref: App Annie (January 2012)!!

Stats – Instagram!Instagram Thailand uploads !!More than 11 million photos uploaded.!

Thai Business EnvironmentPros & Cons!

Thailand Technology Business Environment!

Pros!!-­‐  Startup  web/mobile  eco  system  s:ll  largely  un-­‐tapped  

market  –  finally  showing  some  evidence  of  real  growth  

-­‐  Cheap  workforce  -­‐  pleasant  environment  to  live  

-­‐  Mobile  opportunity  large,  one  of  the  wealthiest  Southeast  Asian  economies  

-­‐  Good  place  to  access  the  region      (northern  southeast  asia,  malaysia,  cambodia,  burma,    laos,  vietnam)  -­‐  good  connec5ons  for  travel.  !

!

Thailand Technology Business Environment!

Cons!!-­‐  Foreigners  cannot  own  more  than  49%  of  the  Thai  

company  equity.      Possibili'es  exists  to  manage  the  ownership  and  BOI  can  be  done.  Eventually  s'll  not  really  easy  or  transparent  process.      -­‐  Educa:on  is  issue  in  technology  -­‐  difficult  to  find  right  tech  

employees  –  language  too  

-­‐  Cultural  barriers  to  tap  in  to  ecommerce  opportuni5es  not  always  easy  to  understand    

-­‐  Poli:cally  unstable  environment  

Thank you!"Ville Kulmala – Chairman Mobile Monday Thailand""www.momobkk.com""Twitter/Weibo: @villekulmala"www.mobile-spark.com"