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 Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma -Thailand's Outperformance, SE Asian Banks, and Thai Hospitals

Snippets #29: Nomura Considers De-Listing, Return of Chinese Tourists

Snippets #30: Singha Buys Santa Fe, DTAC's Downgrade

The IPhone X Hits Thailand in Another Stalemate

The Seven Masters of Thai Consumer Electronics

AsiaSoft's First Profit & Ride With the Devils

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 Wireless telecommunication services / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In this review, we discuss Apple's most important product and service launch (and plans) in Thailand for the year 2019.<ul>
<li>
Hampered by device shortage, Apple delayed the iPhone 11 launch from Sept 10 to October 11. Nevertheless, it has been observed that the new iPhone 11 comes with a much reduced price tag that matches with the Thai economic downturn. We also note that Thai consumers are more loyal to iPhones than global peers, as seen from the much smaller gap vis-a-vis Samsung.</li>
<li>
The Apple Arcade was launched on September 17 for only Bt99/month with options to share up to 6 users. The structure of this platform (no 'pay-in-game' or Internet access needed) as well as its really low prices makes the offering very appealing to casual gamers in our view.</li>
<li>
Apple TV, which launched even earlier but now comes pre-installed with the new iOS 12.4.1, is less compelling in our view, thanks to the expensive a-la-carte offerings and limited appealing content.</li>
</ul>

In this review, we discuss Apple's most important product and service launch (and plans) in Thailand for the year 2019.

Hampered by device shortage, Apple delayed the iPhone 11 launch from Sept 10 to October 11. Nevertheless, it has been observed that the new iPhone 11 comes with a much reduced price tag that matches with the Thai economic downturn. We also note that Thai consumers are more loyal to iPhones than global peers, as seen from the much smaller gap vis-a-vis Samsung.

The Apple Arcade was launched on September 17 for only Bt99/month with options to share up to 6 users. The structure of this platform (no 'pay-in-game' or Internet access needed) as well as its really low prices makes the offering very appealing to casual gamers in our view.

Apple TV, which launched even earlier but now comes pre-installed with the new iOS 12.4.1, is less compelling in our view, thanks to the expensive a-la-carte offerings and limited appealing content.


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