Tag: e-commerce

Kabam makes a deal with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Kabam has received backing from the e-commerce giant, which recently announced that it has invested $120 million in the California startup based out of San Francisco and has entered a partnership with the mobile gaming company to publish and distribute Kabam’s free to play mobile games.

The deal values Kabam at over $1 billion.

In recent years, Alibaba has invested in more than twenty companies that specialize in a diverse range of products and services. Since starting its investment group in Silicon Valley in October 2013, the Chinese company has already funded a minimum of ten startups, some of which include TangoMe Inc., Peel Technologies, Quixey Inc., and Lyft Inc.

Now, with their latest investment, Alibaba will be able to reach even more consumers via mobile games. Kabam has users in over 150 countries that play its many games. This partnership with the mobile gaming firm will help give Alibaba a major push into this mobile sector, where some of its competitors have already enjoyed success. For instance, in order to bring games to its users, Tencent has invested $330 million in Epic Games Inc., $231 million in Riot Game Inc., and an unknown amount in Activision Blizzard Inc.

Kent Wakeford, Kabam’s chief operating officer said about the deal that “Asia is 50% of the gaming market. It is a strategic priority for us.” Wakeford also added that choosing Alibaba “was a very competitive process” because before selecting them, Kabam had also talked to “every major player in China” including Tencent and Baidu.

Alibaba can provide Kabam with a publishing and distribution platform in the company’s target market that it desperately needs. 70% of Kabam’s consumers are on mobile and the company is tracking to achieve revenue of over $550 million this year.

Alibaba’s mobile gaming investment will result in the launch of 10 games within the next three years.

Part of the agreement Kabam made with the massive Chinese firm is to release 10 games over the course of the next three years via Alibaba. The first game is already under development and is based on “The Lord of the Rings”. The other games will be made up of a mixture of popular titles that already exist such as “Dragons of Atlantis”, “Kingdoms of Camelot” and others that could come from studios the mobile gaming company means to buy.

Company’s new smartphone may help it better understand the mobile space

As one of the world’s leading digital retailers, Amazon is highly interested in seeing where the e-commerce space is heading. The company has been spending time investigating trends that have emerged in the commerce space, hoping to determine the evolution of commerce and how people are shopping for and purchasing products. Amazon has seen the commerce become more mobile-centric, and this is one of the reasons behind the company’s development of its Fire smartphone.

Amazon Fire will provide more insight into a new era of digital commerce

Amazon unveiled its Fire mobile device earlier this year. The smartphone includes a variety of features, many of which are actually meant to promote mobile commerce and make shopping from a mobile platform easier for consumers. The mobile device is meant to serve as Amazon’s way of understanding how important mobile commerce is becoming to consumers and whether or not it is a simple trend or the way of the future in digital retail.

Amazon is losing money, but is investing heavily in a promising future

Amazon has announced that it has managed to lose $126 million during the second quarter of this year, but the company’s sales grew by a staggering 23% during the same period, reaching $19.3 billion. Mobile commerce played a major role in higher sales. Amazon is not troubled by its losses, however, because it is investing heavily in the future of commerce through its Fire smartphone and various other ventures.

Mobile commerce is beginning to shape the future of the retail industry

Mobile commerce is becoming a very powerful trend that is dictating the course of the retail industry. Many companies are rushing to engage mobile consumers through new commerce platforms and services, hoping to make a lasting impression on a demographic that is notoriously fickle. Amazon is no different, but the company has been able to leverage its massive following to find significant success in the mobile commerce field. The Amazon Fire smartphone may further establish the company as a major player in the mobile space and a rival to companies like Apple and Samsung.