Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

The Thai Corona Crisis: Impact and Response

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Thai Corona, Kalbe Pharma, and SingTel's "Discount"

Thai Corona Crisis (April): Bangkok and Phuket Become Ghost Towns!

Reality Check XX: How Can Streaming Outfits Benefit from the Return of Digital TV Licenses?

Reality Check XXIII: How Does the New GPS Measures Benefit Telcos?

Telecom Review (October 2019): IPhone 11 Delays and Apple Arcade

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Thailand Diversified telecommunication services / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In this review, we highlight a few developments in the Thai telecom industry:<ul>
<li>
5G bidding results. The NBTC sold Bt100bn of 5G spectrum to 5 rival bidders on Feb 16 with AIS taking the lion's share. True has some blocks on the core 2.6GHz spectrum, while an over-cautious DTAC stands to lose subscribers in the near future.</li>
<li>
Boost from related products. The listing of Copperwired last year adds urgency to the accessory competition just as Apple Watch's global sales exceed the entire Swiss watch industry combined.</li>
<li>
China overhang. iPhone 11's lower price has improved its sales outlook here. Yet, sales of Apple-based gear could be held back by its high reliance on China-based manufacturing and the disruption surrounding those facilities.</li>
<li>
Thailand's streaming wars heats up. As myriad reasons begin to favor video streaming in Thailand, both True Corp and AIS Play start to offer more compelling options to customers.</li>
</ul>

In this review, we highlight a few developments in the Thai telecom industry:

5G bidding results. The NBTC sold Bt100bn of 5G spectrum to 5 rival bidders on Feb 16 with AIS taking the lion's share. True has some blocks on the core 2.6GHz spectrum, while an over-cautious DTAC stands to lose subscribers in the near future.

Boost from related products. The listing of Copperwired last year adds urgency to the accessory competition just as Apple Watch's global sales exceed the entire Swiss watch industry combined.

China overhang. iPhone 11's lower price has improved its sales outlook here. Yet, sales of Apple-based gear could be held back by its high reliance on China-based manufacturing and the disruption surrounding those facilities.

Thailand's streaming wars heats up. As myriad reasons begin to favor video streaming in Thailand, both True Corp and AIS Play start to offer more compelling options to customers.


Telecom Review (Feb 2020): 5G Bidding, Apple Watch Surge