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Sitharaman meets stakeholders on FDI in e-commerce

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Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: With retail store operators going to court seeking parity between online and offline retailers, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met industry representatives from both e-commerce and retail companies on Friday to discuss opening up the e-commerce sector to foreign direct investment (FDI).

A source in the department of industrial policy and promotions told IANS here that DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant told company representatives at the meeting that the sensitive issue of opening the retail sector to foriegn investment required detailed consultations with all stakeholders and that the union commerce minister is slated to meet with ministers concerned from the various states next Wednesday.

Significantly, Sitharaman and DIPP officials met bankers on the matter on Friday, prior to their meeting with the e-commerce and retail companies.

Almost all stakeholders, including representatives of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had been invited to Friday’s meeting.

“In the meeting, CAIT urged the government not to turn the Indian retail market into an e-commerce dumping yard by allowing FDI in e-commerce,” CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal told IANS.

Noting Indian retail trade is a source of livelihood for tens of millions people in the country, Khandelwal said that “though 100 percent FDI is allowed in retail in B2B model, the e-retailers are openly circumventing the norms and indulging in B2C model which is creating an uneven playing field.”

India currently allows 100 percent FDI in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, but not in B2C companies selling directly to consumers.

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) moved the Delhi High Court in May seeking a level playing field between online and offline retailers. The association, representing large brick-and-mortar retail companies, had boycotted the consultations with the minister on the matter in May.

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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

CasinoDays India

The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

CasinoDays India

Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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