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).

Telecom Review (August 2018): The Connected World of Thai Network Contractors

Telecom Review (Sept'18): Regulatory Wranglings

The IPhone X Hits Thailand in Another Stalemate

Telecom Review: DTAC's Costly Decision in the Spectrum Wars

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)

United states Telecom services / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Apple has announced the release of iPhone Xs and its phablet version called Max, clearly to differentiate itself from Samsung's 'Plus' suffix. We note a couple of interesting things about the product release and how it may affect the Thai sector in the short term:<ul>
<li>
Basic details: 1) Launch date likely October or November, typically a month or so after the US and Singapore; 2) a greater focus on gaming given the specs of the new A12 Bionic chips; 3) pricing around US$100 cheaper than 2017's iPhone X...looks like capitulation of sorts.</li>
<li>
Thai stocks involved. Biggest beneficiary likely to be <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27411" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27411:1">Com7 PCL (COM7 TB)</a>, which operates the most iStudios in Thailand. AIS and True Move are both better positioned than industry laggard DTAC to benefit from this new data-intensive device, though the DTAC subscribers stranded on 1800MHz are unlikely to be part of this game.</li>
<li>
Market position. In Thailand, iPhone has not really lost market share against Samsung despite the hefty price tag of iPhone X last November. We believe they may start to gain market share this year. The heavier subsidies Samsung put into its Galaxy S9 suggests it is struggling in this race.</li>
<li>
More indirect beneficiaries of this development includes gaming companies and network contractors, such as SKY and Garena, which in turn is owned by Tencent-backed Sea Ltd.</li>
</ul>

Apple has announced the release of iPhone Xs and its phablet version called Max, clearly to differentiate itself from Samsung's 'Plus' suffix. We note a couple of interesting things about the product release and how it may affect the Thai sector in the short term:

Basic details: 1) Launch date likely October or November, typically a month or so after the US and Singapore; 2) a greater focus on gaming given the specs of the new A12 Bionic chips; 3) pricing around US$100 cheaper than 2017's iPhone X...looks like capitulation of sorts.

Thai stocks involved. Biggest beneficiary likely to be Com7 PCL (COM7 TB), which operates the most iStudios in Thailand. AIS and True Move are both better positioned than industry laggard DTAC to benefit from this new data-intensive device, though the DTAC subscribers stranded on 1800MHz are unlikely to be part of this game.

Market position. In Thailand, iPhone has not really lost market share against Samsung despite the hefty price tag of iPhone X last November. We believe they may start to gain market share this year. The heavier subsidies Samsung put into its Galaxy S9 suggests it is struggling in this race.

More indirect beneficiaries of this development includes gaming companies and network contractors, such as SKY and Garena, which in turn is owned by Tencent-backed Sea Ltd.


Telecom Review: There's Life After IPhone X