Microsoft Will Not Adjust Xbox Store Revenue Split

Microsoft has announced that it will be taking only a 12% cut from games sales via the Microsoft Store starting 1 August. But it looks like this is exclusive to games on the PC store. So come August, Xbox game prices will not see any change to the amount game devs get per sale.

The Verge reports that a partially redacted Microsoft document from January indicated the 12% cut change. The document states that the change would come to the Microsoft Stores of both PC and Xbox. You can see this on page nine of the document.

Microsoft has since denied that it will be changing the revenue share rate on Xbox. That being said, the company did not specify if the document was inaccurate, or plans have changed since then.

The document in question also mentions the importance of the revenue split changes for games on the PC Microsoft Store. In exchange for the Epic Games Store-like 88/12 split, game devs would also need to grant the company streaming rights.

Which makes sense, considering the way xCloud is such an important part of the company’s games ecosystem. But for now it’s not known whether the condition is part of the announcement over the weekend.

Revenue Monster Partners With Alipay To Expand Reach of Local F&B Businesses

Malaysian fintech company Revenue Monster is integrating its core service and hence its F&B merchants into the Alipay platform through a so-called mini program. This means more reach and more potential revenue for the merchants as well as a greater array of choices for Alipay users.

Through the mini program, Revenue Monster’s core service – called à la carte – will be  integrated directly into the Alipay app. à la carte essentially helps businesses set up their own online store that’s capable of handling contactless in-store ordering, delivery, comprehensive payments (like e-wallets) and more.

In short, it’s a digitalisation tool. à la carte was apparently launched in early 2020 during the first MCO and serves prominent merchants such as Sushi King, Kenny Rogers Roasters and Dragon-I.

“With the Alipay mini program, we hope to increase our merchant base whilst also bringing more value to more than 6,000 merchants on the Revenue Monster platform by extending their digital reach to new customer segments,” said Revenue Monster CEO Amanda Chin.

The company claims to offer the “lowest platform fees” at 18% for merchants who join the mini program. As an additional benefit to merchants, from now until 31 May 2021, the company said that merchants who sign up for a minimum of one year will also receive one payment terminal for free.

In addition to its participation in the Alipay mini program, Revenue Monster said it plans to further expand its base and bring its service to other platforms this year.

Google Parent Company Alphabet Beats Revenue Expectations Thanks to Ad Sales

Google’s parent company Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of USD$56.9 billion (~RM230.3 billion), up 23% year-on-year and beating market expectations, on the back of strong ad sales. Analysts had instead forecast quarterly revenue of USD$53.13 billion (~RM215.12 billion), reported CNBC citing Refinitiv.

“Google’s products and support have been a lifeline for millions of small medium businesses hit hard by the pandemic,” said Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on a conference call with analysts, according to Reuters. Google has predictably benefited from lockdowns across the globe that have pushed businesses online and towards Internet advertising.

Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said as much when she noted that the tech giant’s stellar performance “was driven by Search and YouTube, as consumer and business activity recovered from earlier in the year.”

YouTube ads alone brought in USD$6.89 billion (~RM27.9 billion), up by 46% year-on-year. CNBC report stated that analysts were expecting USD$6.11 billion (~RM24.74 billion), according to StreetAccount.

“We now reach more 18-49 year olds than all linear TV networks combined,” remarked Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler, CNBC reported.

Still, it wasn’t all good news. Google’s cloud division reported an operating loss of US$1.24 billion (~RM5.02 billion). Bloomberg noted that Alphabet CEO Pichai has been looking into cloud services to diversify away from Google’s main search and advertising business. However, the tech giant still lags behind Amazon and Microsoft when it comes to the cloud market.

Apple’s Quarterly Revenue Tops US$100 Billion; Becomes World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

There are plenty of smiling faces at Apple HQ this week. The tech giant has just reported that its quarterly revenue (Q4 2020) exceeded US$100 billion for the first time in its history. And at least for the last three months of 2020, Apple was the biggest smartphone seller in the world, thanks in large part to the stellar performance of its new 5G-capable iPhone 12 lineup in China.

The company said its quarterly revenue grew by 21% to US$111.44 billion (~RM450 billion). Reuters, citing data from research firm IDC, said that Apple captured 23.4% of the global smartphone market last quarter, making it the reigning king of the hill – at least for awhile.

Apple has now 1.65 billion devices active throughout the world, company CEO Tim Cook told Reuters, and that includes over 1 billion iPhones. Once again, China came in strongly for the company – surging sales in the country by 57% to US$21.31 billion (~RM86.2 billion). Cook noted that two of the top three selling smartphones in urban China were Apple products and added that, “upgraders in particular set an all-time record in China.”

The rosy numbers for Apple are somewhat surprising, considering that smartphone sales were largely battered by the COVID-19 pandemic last year. But even back then, there were strong indications that Apple was doing better than other smartphone makers, including chief rival Samsung. Lo and behold, Samsung recently reported that its mobile business declined by 11% in the last quarter.

But will that change with the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21? We’ll have to see in the upcoming first quarter revenue report for 2021.

Grab Revenue Surges Back To Pre-COVID 19 Levels; Grew By 70 Percent In 2020

The new normal might be something that Grab could get used to. On 4 January, the president of the ride-hailing and food delivery service, Ming-Maa, announced in an emailed newsletter that group revenue has surged back to “well over 100% of pre-COVID 19 levels,” according to Vulcan Post.

He noted that total group net revenue grew by about 70% year-on-year in 2020. The firm also slashed its monthly EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) expenditure by roughly 80% over the last 12 months.

The numbers, if they are to be believed, are a significant turnaround for a company that was especially hard-hit by the global pandemic. In April last year, Grab CEO Anthony Tan told investors and partners that the pandemic was the “single biggest crisis” in the company’s history, Bloomberg reported.

Take Malaysia as an example – after the MCO (Movement Control Order) was implemented in March last year, Grab country manager Sean Goh said that demand for its ride-hailing business fell by over 90% (see this Focus Malaysia report which cites Goh’s interview by BFM).

But Grab’s attention to its food delivery business has clearly paid dividends. It said its food delivery revenue almost tripled year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020. The company expects it to break even by the end of this year.

Grab’s apparent upswing is likely to amp up industry talk about its rumoured merger with Indonesian rival Gojek. Reuters reported that hours after the above-emailed newsletter was released, Grab and one of its subsidiaries sought a five-year loan of US$750 million (~RM3 billion) for general corporate purposes.