The reality of wealth - "RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE"

While reading, i came across a good story or reminder that i wanted to share with all my readers.

The story goes like this...

In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. But let's examine what happened to them 25 years later. 

1. President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

2. President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.

3. One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.

4. President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

5. A member of the President's Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in peace.

6. The greatest "bear" on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore, committed suicide.

7. President of the world's greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.

8. President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed suicide.

They were money making machine but what they forgot how to make a good and meaningful life with all their wealth!

Money in itself is not evil! Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy. Money is only a medium of exchange.

We need two kinds of education. One that teaches us how to make a living and one that teaches us how to live. There are people who are so engrossed in their professional life that they neglect their family, health, spiritual life and social responsibilities. If asked why they do this they would reply that they were doing it for their family. Our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come home. Twenty years later, we'll turn back, and they'll all be gone.

Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face problems. What was once a means of living for the ship will now become a means of destruction.

Similarly we live in a time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will be become a means of destruction. So take a moment and ask yourself....has water entered my ship? RICHNESS is not Earning More, Spending More Or Saving More, but "RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE".

And the first person that came to mind was Bill Gates. All his wealth are being put to good use, helping others and most importantly i think Bill is enjoying his life. Why carry on making more money when you cant even keep any of it at the end of the day. We work to live and not live to work...

China's Dianping - Mobile Apps Usage surpasses PC

According to the first mobile lifestyle report recently released by China's leading local platform which connect people with local businesses, Dianping (a chinese version of Yelp), daily views of Dianping's mobile apps have shown explosive growth, exceeding those of its PC.

Views of Dianping's mobile apps have grown over 100 times since early 2010, with the number of its mobile apps' unique users jumping over 110 times, according to data from Dianping.

Through Dianping mobile apps, users can have access to extensive information about restaurants, beauty, leisure, shopping, hotels and lifestyle services. In addition, the demand is increasing as pharmacies, banks, parks, Internet cafes, cinemas, gas stations, nail salons and table games, among others, are becoming the most commonly used search keywords in some cities, which reflects the diverse characters of mobile lifestyle.

Information search and having access to discounts remain the two core needs of mobile lifestyle. Over 70 percent of Dianping mobile apps' users prefer to use the three functions: keyword search, neighboring businesses search and group buying.

It appears in the report that iPhone users are more apt to prefer a lifestyle that is "elegant" and "romantic". Not so the ordinary Android users who prefer a more "common" lifestyle. Illustrating the difference Dianping notes that over half (54%) of iPhone users choose restaurants costing at least CNY80 ($13) per head, compared to 46% of Android users selecting restaurants that cost CNY50 ($8) or less.

As of Q2 of 2012, Dianping has more than 48 million monthly active users, over 20 million reviews, and more than 1.5 million local businesses covering approximately 2,300 cities across China. As of Q2 of 2012, Dianping (including Dianping.com and Dianping mobile apps) has nearly one billion page views monthly, out of which, over 50% comes from mobile users. And mobile apps have more than 33 million unique users.

Its not surprising that Dianping's total view on mobile had surpassed that of PC, its just a matter of time where most eyeballs will be focusing largely on mobile. 

China - Mobile Internet Users surpassed Internet Users on desktop

The latest data from the Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) shows that China has more than 538 million Internet users, of which 388 million are mobile Internet users. This is the first time that the number of mobile internet users has surpassed desktop users indicating that China's internet users are relying more and more to smartphone to get online. With more affordable and accessible mobile devices, smart phones are now the top choice for on line surfers.

A bi-annual statistical report says that by the end of June, 2012, the number of websites had risen to 2.5 million. Meanwhile, the number of mobile internet users reached 388 million, accounting for 72.2% of total web users.

The popular usage for mobile internet is mobile video, mobile searches, communication and e-commerce.

The report also finds that on line video users are growing rapidly. Over 100 million people watch videos on their mobile phones, accounting for 27.7% of total mobile internet users.  And more than 210 million people made purchases through e-commerce sites. 

SMS revenues is still massive and will hit $722.7bn by 2016

New data from Informa Telecoms & Media shows SMS isn't as dead in the water as reports would have you believe, as traditional text messaging is set to generate $722.7 billion in revenue between 2011 and 2016.

The report expects a small decline in P2P SMS revenues in some developed regions and countries, though total global SMS revenues will increase at 3% the next five years.

Meanwhile, Western Europe will lead SMS revenues with $174.1 billion, followed by developing APAC regions with $173.8 billion. It's an impressive sum, as smartphone OEMs have begun to adopt the trend of preloading their devices with mobile messaging apps such as BBM, Samsung ChatOn, iMessage and WhatsApp. 

Transition China 2012

I will be speaking at Transition China 2012 event on May 11. Transition China 2012 features Asia's leading business thinkers, entrepreneurs, innovators and 'transitional' businesses. With leading key note addresses, interactive panel discussions, a live debate and spotlighting 'transitional' companies in China, T12 will deliver an incredible experience for sponsors and guests.

If anyone of you are in the city, drop by to get the best business vibes in China. Check out the promo video below....

Venue : Shanghai Centre, Shanghai, China
WWW.TRANSITIONCHINA.COM

Samsung is No 1 mobile handset manufacturer overtaking from Nokia

Nokia’s 14-year stint as the world’s largest handset-maker had finally came to an end in Q1, according to a Reuters poll of analysts, which suggests the Finnish vendor has been overtaken by Samsung.

Based on average estimates, the poll shows that Samsung is expected to have sold 88 million devices in the period, compared to 83 million for Nokia. Samsung is not due to release its official Q1 numbers until 27 April.

Nokia became the world's largest handset maker in 1998 when it overtook Motorola at a time when Samsung had just entered the industry. The Finnish vendor maintained a 40 percent share of the market for some years prior to the launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007. Nokia was still the smartphone leader at the beginning of 2011 but has since been surpassed by both Apple and Samsung.

Losing the top spot would be a blow to Nokia, but would have little impact on its attempt to turn around its fortunes. Regardless of where they are positioned, they are as good as screwed and its just a matter of time where others will over take them. Nokia's decision to go Microsoft has certainly been miscued by its CEO, Stephen Elop and I don't see how the launch of the new Nokia Lumia would change anything.

At Nokia's current market cap of under $12B, they are certainly a target for acquisition but i wonder who would like to pick up a huge luggage of liabilities. Perhaps they should just copy Samsung's track and adopt Android but even then i think its a little too late....

China Approaching the 1st Billion Mobile Subscribers

According to the released data from three telco operators in China, there are 987.58 million mobile subscribers in China by end January 2012. China Mobile is the largest mobile operator with over 655 million subscribers including 53.94 million 3G subscribers.

Netease - Mobile Internet Data Report 2011

Netease released an info graphic in chinese on Netease mobile Internet in 20111. Below are some of the findings include:

- HTC, Samsung and Motorola are the top three brands for Android devices
- Guangdong province has the highest penetration rate in smartphone usage
- 9pm-11pm is the period with the highest mobile usage on both iOS and Android devices
- For news related applications, the highest usage is during 8am-9am
- On iOS devices, games (20%), entertainment (10%) and books (9%) are the top three most popular categories; while on Android, it’s tools (21%), games (21%) and entertainment (7%)
- on AppStore, the number of free apps download equals to that of paid apps; but there are twice the number of free apps downloaded on Android Market
- Games is the favorite category (33%) for Netease Apps on iOS but tools (22%) are the most popular on Android.