Showing posts with label IIPM-News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IIPM-News. Show all posts

Thursday, April 4, 2013

B&E Indicators

Asian liquidity remains solid

Liquidity remains solid for non-financial, speculative-grade companies in Asia. The region’s Liquidity Stress Index was 12.3% in June, unchanged from May, and far below the 37% high it hit during Q4 2008 amid the global economic recession. In fact, the Asian Liquidity Stress Index has remained near its current level since the start of 2011 and is at its lowest levels in three years.

A low probability of default in the region

The high level of corporate liquidity in Asia suggests a low probability of default for the region’s speculative-grade companies. In fact, there were no defaults during the first half of 2011. Even the Asia-Pacific (ex Japan) trailing-12 month speculative-grade default rate has remained at 1.7% since the beginning of 2011. This situation, coupled with manageable refinancing needs, indicates that the default rate will continue to stay low for the rest of the year as well.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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Monday, November 26, 2012

The second hand car market is on a roll

With rising disposable incomes & soaring aspirations, the second hand car market is on a roll

One thing that surely brings both the organised and unorganised players onto a common platform are the kind of bottlenecks and hurdles that the Indian used car industry is facing. Soaring oil prices, hardening interest rates, imminent entry of Nano et al, are making the ride bumpy and uncomfortable. Discounting the competition on this front, Ravi Bhatia, Chief GM, Sales & Support, Maruti Suzuki True Value asserts, “Nano will only make the market more lucrative. Also, the price of it is yet to be finalised, so the end picture can be totally different.” What’s more? The consumers in this segment have smartly shifted to CNG vehicles to balance the oil price rise crisis. “The recent hike in CRR by 25bp and Repo Rates by 50bp is expected to push the interest rates higher might impact demand of this auto segment,” explains Vaishali Jajoo, Automobile and Transportation Analyst, Angel Broking. However, on the flip side, since the second hand car has a higher interest rate than a first hand car, this might deter consumers.

Nonetheless, the industry is eying an unprecedented growth to support the shift from two-wheelers to four-wheelers or to a higher model. “Second hand car market is growing at 19% and the new car market is growing at 12%. With this outlook, used car market would overtake the new car market by 2012,” explains Bhatia of Maruti True Value. Be that as it may, the fast growing used car market has grabbed the eyeballs of at least three global players who are planning to park their moolah and set shop here. Japan’s Gulliver International, Britain-based Manheim & a Dubai-based operator are expected to set up local operations on the Indian shores. Rising interest rate and oil prices, notwithstanding, increasing income levels & soaring aspirations is sure to fuel the used car market to hitherto never before seen heights.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Friday, November 23, 2012

Who needs Veronica Lodge ?

The debate (!) has gone on ad nauseum. For the sake of the aye-sayers and naysayers, B&E gives a final spin

There was more bad news for the exchequer this June besides skyrocketing inflation, which almost touched the 12% mark (11.63%). At first, it was the Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme, which became operative on June 30, putting a burden of Rs. 716.80 billion on the exchequer. Then came a recommendation by the government to form a committee of bureaucrats, which would look after the recommendation of increasing the salary of government employees by as much as 40%. The total burden of the two acts would put an additional burden of Rs. 1,147.8 billion on the exchequer. And it’s all because of the fact that the government can now see an election round the corner and hence is busy squandering money in an attempt to improve its brand image.

Well, it’s nothing new (in fact, even saying this fact sounds quite stupid), as when elections come closer, governments start spending their ‘populist belly button’ more. The fate of the loan waiver scheme implemented by Devi Lal in 1990 rewrote bankruptcy models. The negative impact of the scheme was so strong that the country is still trying to recover from the fiscal gap formed by it. Dharmakriti Joshi, Principal Economist, CRISIL, added to what we already knew, “The [current] loan waiver would not only increase the inflation, it would also put a huge fiscal stress on the country.” Moral hazard and increase in default rate will be the consequences, news of some of which has already started to come up. Many experts also confirm that the clauses in the scheme actually stop many small and marginal farmers from taking benefits, which itself kills the main objective of the scheme. Besides this, infrastructural bottlenecks and no clarity on the clauses in the scheme give ample opportunities for corruption to crop up in the process. NREGA is a living example.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, November 19, 2012

These eleven remind you of 300

The BCG report elaborates how MNCs struggle in RDEs like India, win-win partnerships are the best option

W e admired their supreme fighting skills as depicted in the Hollywood flick 300, as they resisted a much larger Persian army that came in scores. Fact is that Spartans were indeed phenomenal warriors. It is said that the world learned a lot from their fighting techniques. Cut to the 21st century corporate world, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) seems to have identified some such Spartans in the RDEs (Rapidly Developing Economies) of the world! In its latest report titled ‘The BCG 50 Local Dynamos’, BCG has highlighted 50 such companies from ten key RDE countries like China, India, Brazil et al, which have successfully resisted competition, both from MNCs as well as state owned companies in their respective domestic markets. Eleven companies from India have been identified as among the 50 dynamos like Bharti Airtel, Titan (from Tata), ITC Limited, ICICI Bank et al as leading the pack, ranking it second in the list. China ranks number 1 with 15 companies in the list.

“Proper supply chain management, local understanding and above all, market penetration are factors, which help these domestic companies to stay far ahead of their foreign counterparts,” explains Sushil Dungarwal, Senior Analyst, FICCI. Agrees Harit Shah, Analyst, Angel Broking, who feels that, thanks to the local expertise, once the companies have “proper execution skills in place, the job is already half done.” The report cites, for instance how ICICI Bank is having a great run, with around $5.2 billion in interest income in comparison to around $1.07 billion of HSBC. Two companies from the Tata group are in the list – Indian Hotels and Titan Industries. Bharti Airtel has been included for making Hutch (now Vodafone) run for their money with its ever increasing subscription base, which currently stands at 62 million. BCG agrees that many more companies fit the bill, but their selected 50 are ones with a unique business model and excellent performance in highly challenging environments.

Actually, one can well make an argument regarding whether these local dynamos are achieving success due to their own strengths or due to the shortcomings of MNCs. In essence, the report only seeks to highlight how MNCs find it typically difficult to compete in new markets and the perils they face if they make an oversimplified analysis of these markets. “Understanding the local buying behaviour and pattern with vast differentiation on region to region basis is a tough nut to crack for these MNCs,” comments Shah.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

A distant shore... royal davui island resort Fiji

“Man has always been audacious enough to think beyond the usual. He has always envisioned being a king in a kingdom of his own. In Fiji one does feel like a king as the Fijians would pamper you like no one on the planet would, all the islands are separated from one another giving you absolute privacy. Fiji is a dream place for many, having beautiful aquamarine beaches and sand as white as snow. This place is heaven, even for those who just wish to lay back and do nothing on their vacation! This island nation in the South Pacific Ocean occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands of which 106 are permanently inhabited and there are 522 smaller islets. In fact, the name Fiji is a Tongan version of Viti, the original pronunciation for the island, spread over 426,000 square miles.

The two most important islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu – mountainous with peaks up to 1,300 meters – covered with tropical forests. Viti Levu hosts the capital city of Suva, and is home to nearly three-quarters of the population. Geologists believe that Viti Levu has been submerged a number of times, and has been covered by lava and other volcanic material due to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. No wonder then, the terrain of this island is rugged and is roughly divided into equal halves by a north-south mountain range. However, that should not be a cause of worry since these volcanoes now stand dormant.

Fiji has a diverse culture comprising Indian, Chinese, and European traditions. This multicultural society has not been neutralised even by mass tourism. The official language of Fiji remains English; however Fijian and Hindustani are the most spoken tongues thereafter. Due to the diversity in culture that can be seen in Fiji, visitors are encouraged to dress modestly on tours to villages and when attending cultural events, though when in resorts they can dress casually.

Fiji is not for the laidback clan alone, even the sporty ones can try a hand or more, at diving, sailing or even snorkeling. The privacy, the beautiful white sand beaches, and the spectacular views offered in Fiji makes it a fantasy for the newly-weds as it surely accounts for a picture perfect honeymoon.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Friday, November 9, 2012

The ironies of Growth

For years, ever since the UPA came to power - and even before that when NDA ruled - PMs and FMs have espoused that India’s is the next growth story.

They have hinted that India, not China, will be the next economic superpower. Everyone thought they were right - stockmarkets boomed, forex reserves shot up, growth threatened to cross the double-digit mark, and India became the global services czar. But now, slowly but steadily, red signals are flashing on many economic fronts. Economists talk about a slowdown. Stockmarkets are volatile, and no one knows whether stock prices will move northwards, or downwards. And inflation remains a key concern. All this is happening when the UPA coalition is getting ready for the general elections in 2009. B&E analyses the future of the exuberant India growth story. By A. SANDEEP, ASIF AHMED, VIRAT BAHRI, MANISH K. PANDEY AND GYANENDRA KASHYAP

A manufacturing slowdown?

The name ‘Gorilla’ comes from the Greek word Gorillai, which means a ‘tribe of hairy women’. Gorillas are seriously interesting creatures. Tamed, they can fight a pride of lions for you, er, as long as you have a two-metre, 250-watts electric shock-rod ready at your hand. Well, that’s exactly the India growth story right now. Undoubtedly, India’s growth saga is thundering upwards like nobody’s business; and, till now, almost all the indicators prove that. Strangely, some of the very factors that have led to this flamboyant growth in the recent past are now playing truant by restricting us from experiencing what could have been a dramatic transformative economic upswing, much more than the growth rates that we so proudly flaunt globally! And the blame lies completely with the policy makers, who have clearly erred in not utilising most required control measures in a timely fashion.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

She’s back in the race

The Hillary-Obama contest is a fascinating show piece of American elections

Former US President Bill Clinton called Barack Obama a “kid” ahead of the Nevada Caucus. His wife & Democratic contender for presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, said that electing Obama would tantamount to electing “another Bush” to the White House. On the eve of the Caucus, the Hillary camp complained that their supporters in the state’s unions were threatened by the union leaders, who backed Obama. The Obama backers hit back saying they received many telephone calls, which made continuous references to “Barack Hussein Obama.” Nevada saw it all. Still, Obama, the charismatic Illinois Senator who changed the entire arithmetic of Democratic contest, could not defeat the former first lady in Nevada.

What went wrong for Obama? He failed to keep up the hype, set by his own media managers, as the campaign spread to other parts of the country. His vulnerability to attract different demographic votes was visible in New Hampshire & Nevada. Although the Obama camp, having understood this fact, attacked the Clintons, saying they haven’t done much for the Hispanic community, it failed to pay. The Hispanic groups, the growing number of Democratic supporters, voted for Clinton in large numbers. She could also walk away with women votes as Obama managed to retain support of the blacks. Obama’s stunning Iowa victory has started to fade away with his straight losses in New Hampshire & Nevada.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Buddha smiled, but not his critics

SANJAY BASAK finds out how the West Bengal CM faltered, and almost tripped, while running on the reforms’ road. And now, he has decided to take the bull by the horn

Only a few months back, West Bengal was burning. From Nandigram to Ketugram, hundreds of houses were razed to the ground. While some of the people fell to police bullets, others were burnt alive or hacked to death by the red ‘Marxist’ brigade. The most progressive face in India’s Marxist history, CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was compared to the Chinese Premier, Deng Xiaoping, for his reforms, reverted back to a seemingly-dictatorial image of USSR’s Joseph Stalin.

Thanks to such tensions, governance, which was the key mantra until recently, has come to a standstill in West Bengal. Yet, when Buddhadeb took charge, he moved swiftly to change the skyline of Bengal, plagued by strikes and lack of development. His closest ally, Bengal’s industry minister, Nirupom Sen, had then told this correspondent, “The time has come to move forward.” And Bengal did start running.

But the journey to push Bengal up the industrialisation ladder wasn’t easy. The CM initially faced opposition from within his cadre. The most powerful trade union, CPI(M) affiliated CITU, rose against reforms. And the all-powerful party politburo frowned upon them. The electoral and ideological allies of the CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP were jolted by the speed at which the new CM rushed to make Bengal a ‘Shilpabandhu’ (industry friendly) state.

For example, Buddhadeb wanted to eliminate trade unionism in the IT sector. He indicated that if the IT employees wanted “to resort to strikes, they have to abide by the rules of the Essential Services Act.” The move rang alarm bells. The first one to raise his voice against it was the sports minister, Subhash Chakraborty, an arch rival of the CM, and he threatened to form unions. CITU remained firm too. Despite the former CM Jyoti Basu’s backing, nothing has been formalised till date.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Friday, October 26, 2012

SPACE MISSIONS: RUSSIA

Russia becomes a space educator

In 2005, Russia’s federal space agency further declared their preparedness towards cosmic tourism. It will have moon visit programs costing $100 million. This announcement was in line with the launch of NASA’s space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Station. In order to exploit this opportunity to the maximum, Russia is investing around $100 billion in their space stations (Soyuz capsule and Progress craft) and cosmonaut centres. Russia has opened up its cosmonaut centres to the common man to perhaps make the new age Russian take more pride in erstwhile glories of USSR.

Hopefully, these endeavours of Russia would revive the interest of youth in space with an emphasis on knowledge rather than on using the same for war. Space truly contains the final frontiers for mankind, an ‘enterprising’ voyage surely; and perhaps, just perhaps, one day, the urge to explore space will go beyond exhibitionism – on who reached Mars first – and reach the realms of exploration for the advancement of mankind.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 19, 2012

GENERAL MOTOR CO.: FAILURE

...and the shareholders get their pants walloped! 

Swing & Miss #3: GM’s premature focus on hybrids cost the company too much. Despite being in the news for over 15 years now, hybrids only contribute to about 2.15% of all vehicle sales! Then there are reports which prove how by 2020, oil production will cross a smashing 1,600 million barrels annually – 6667% more than what was produced in 2003! In other words, hybrids are not required in the near future year, but Wagoner still believes it, for he has to swing!

Swing & Miss #4: Wagoner’s confused branding strategies have ensured that high-end sports cars (like the Corvette Z01) & small cars (like the Spark) are sold under the same tag, Chevrolet? Apparently, he skipped branding management lectures too! Swing & Miss #5: During his tenure, this “easy-going” CEO destroyed a blood-freezing 98% of GM’s Mcap, shaving-off of a clean $90 billion of shareholder wealth. And just before he was booted-out by the Obama administration last month, he had the most wonderful gift for all at GM – a record $52.8 billion in losses for FY2008!

Well, today, Wagoner’s out, but GM has to live on. But will it? “A lot of things depend on the survival plan that GM will present but filing for bankruptcy makes sense as of now,” claims Christian Breitsprecher, Industry expert, Sal Oppenheim. Well, June 1 is not far away. Fingers crossed...


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Monday, October 15, 2012

EMBRYO STEM CELL RESEARCH: ETHICAL CONCERNS

Don’t play against nature, it will surely bite you back later...

Obama’s decision may revolutionise the medical research world but everything comes at a cost. US alone has 400,000 embryos in labs and it’s only a matter of time when selling embryos would become a vibrant business. Worse, some individuals have certain genetic uniqueness which make their body more resistant to chronic diseases than rest. Michael Crichton’s best seller named ‘Next’ precisely talked about how such people can be hounded by the research agencies for commercial cultivation of such blood. There are several instances where experiments with stem cell research created severe anomalies on those treated. Even if one keeps aside the religious reservation against stem cell research, if the objective is to create more healthy people then on any given day such artificial mutations are less effective than natural healing, something mankind has forgotten nowadays. Isn’t it better to do yoga to heal the body than tamper with genes? Think once..


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Monday, October 8, 2012

This is my road ahead...

Bill Gates writes about his theory of creative capitalism... inputs coordinated by B&E’s Ruchika Chawla

Capitalism has improved the lives of billions of people – something that’s easy to forget at a time of great economic uncertainty. But it has left out billions more. They have great needs, but they can’t express those needs in ways that matter to markets. So they are stuck in poverty, suffer from preventable diseases and never have a chance to make the most of their lives. Governments and non-profit groups have an irreplaceable role in helping them, but it will take too long if they try to do it alone. It is mainly corporations that have the skills to make technological innovations work for the poor. To make the most of those skills, we need a more creative capitalism: an attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off.

There’s much still to be done, but the good news is that creative capitalism is already with us. Some corporations have identified brand-new markets among the poor for life-changing technologies like cell phones. Others – sometimes with a nudge from activists – have seen how they can do good and do well at the same time. To take a real-world example, a few years ago I was sitting in a bar with Bono, and frankly, I thought he was a little nuts. It was late, we’d had a few drinks, and Bono was all fired up over a scheme to get companies to help tackle global poverty and disease. He kept dialing the private numbers of top executives and thrusting his cell phone at me to hear their sleepy yet enthusiastic replies. As crazy as it seemed that night, Bono’s persistence soon gave birth to the (RED) campaign. Today, companies like Gap, Hallmark and Dell sell (RED)-branded products and donate a portion of their profits to fight AIDS. (Microsoft recently signed up too.) It’s a great thing: the companies make a difference while adding to their bottom line, consumers get to show their support for a good cause, and – most important – lives are saved. In the past year and a half, (RED) has generated $100 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, helping put nearly 80,000 people in poor countries on lifesaving drugs and helping more than 1.6 million get tested for HIV. That’s creative capitalism at work.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face


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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Officer - Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India

B&E: Amongst all auto majors, Maruti was best able to withstand the slowdown period. The secret(s)?
MP: One of the major factors that has worked in our favour in this case is our network expansion in the rural areas. We decided to go to the rural markets much before competition realised the potential. So, when other players were busy tapping the rural consumers, we were targeting the rural markets to generate future growth for the company. If a Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 in a developed market like US, it will hardly affect the consumer who is living in a Tier-III city in the Indian market. Once, close to 3% of our total sales used to come from rural markets but today, the percentage has risen to 18% and that too in a span of just two years. We have even broken many myths. In fact, 2% of our total sales come from villages which have less than 200 people! All in all, the rural strategy has worked well for us.

B&E: What is the progress on your planned R&D Centre at Rohtak?
MP: We have earmarked close to Rs.25 billion for the R&D project at Rohtak. We have already purchased land for the same and aim to build a world-class test-track on it. The central idea is to conceptualise, test, develop, design and manufacture a car for India in India.


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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

F-bomb diplomacy!

All Obama requires to ensure that US is seen as a great ally by the world is to force US officials to control their urge to humiliate people

That Americans use the F-word quite conveniently in their daily communication is no Brezhnevian state secret. But the fact is that the usage of this word and the philosophy it propagates (of course figuratively) – of caring two hoots – unfortunately has filtered into the attitude of American officials when they deal with representatives of other nations, and in fact even with their own ilk.

First, some examples of how brilliantly even top US officials have gone over the board in their executive communication:

December 2003: US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry uses the F word in an interview in the magazine Rolling Stone.

June 2004: During a heated exchange at the US Senate, VP Dick Cheney tells Democratic senator Patrick Leahy, “Go f*** yourself!”

May 2007: US Senator John Cornyn objects to John McCain’s perceived intrusion into a Senate meeting on immigration, to which McCain replies, “F*** you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room.”

August, 2009: Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff, at a weekly strategy session featuring liberal groups and White House aides [on a plan to run advertisements against conservative Democrats] reportedly rebukes them by calling them “F***ing retarded!”

March 23, 2010: US VP Joe Biden whispers into Obama’s ear, “This is a big f***ing deal” (for the healthcare plan).

April 22, 2010: Cheney appears on The Dennis Miller Show and takes a compliment about his “F*** yourself” comment from the host and responds, “That’s sort of the best thing I ever did.”

Why are these examples shocking? To understand that, imagine your own country’s Vice President speaking the same words Dick Cheney spoke in public! Or the words US Vice President Biden spoke. The hypothesis is not even a conjecture anymore. The fact is that American officials, while being quite comfortable with their “hire and f-off” attitude – both in language and behaviour – have started assuming that the same attitude can be blindly exercised upon the representatives of foreign nations.


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Monday, August 20, 2012

Finally, a wrong move?

You can look at it as an advantage or as a drawback, but when Apple makes any kind of play, it is bound to invite numerous discussions, debates and scrutiny. The same is true for its latest acquisition of Intrinsity. Is Steve Job’s new penchant for semi-conductors the ‘wrong move’ that experts had been waiting for so long? by Amir Moin

It’s hard to discount the ability of Apple Computers to offer differentiated, futuristic and well designed products that enthrall customers across the globe, a fact that the iPod and iPhone have proved beyond doubt. But Steve Jobs also realises the perils of not watching his back. In what comes out as the latest edition of Apple’s endeavours towards becoming a fully integrated consumer electronics company, Apple has acquired Intrinsity, a small Austin-based firm for $121 million, that makes embedded processor cores, circuit design tools, design services and intellectual property based on their proprietary Domino Logic.

The reason why this acquisition is ringing alarm bells in the industry is because Apple had acquired another fabless semiconductor company, P.A. Semiconductors in April 2008; subsequently, in April 2009, Apple hired two former ATI/AMD chip designers. One was Raja Koduri, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at AMD’s graphics group and the other was Bob Drebin, who held the same position at AMD before Koduri.

The induction of these highly skilled hires also coincided with Mark Papermaster’s official return to work at Apple. Papermaster was instrumental in developing the PowerPC architecture with IBM. His return at Apple was delayed owing to the legal settlement between them and his former employer, IBM. These developments have led the industry to believe that Apple plans to have the chips custom made in its own backyard. Tom R. Halfhill, Senior Analyst, The Linley Group, US, tells B&E, “By developing custom SoCs and embedded-processor cores, Apple is assuming more risk, but the potential payoffs are great: less dependence on third-party suppliers, greater differentiation, higher retail prices and richer profit margins.” Given the super secretive nature of the company, this revelation shouldn’t come as a surprise.

But there is more to this than meets the eye. By acquiring Intrinsity, Apple buys four things: Intrinsity’s Fast 14 technology, exclusive access to Intrinsity’s processor cores, a skilled processor design team and a multi-gigahertz Fast 14 implementation of ARM’s Cortex A9 Dual core processor. The last item has been in development for the past one year and could figure in Apple’s plans for future iPhones, iPads, and other gadgets.

With the acquisition of Intrinsity, Apple is poised to do what IBM did in the 1980s. It will be ‘legitimizing’ tablet computers, just as IBM had legitimized personal computers with its first PC in 1981. IBM was late in the market, but set a standard that soon dominated the market. In order to make tablets practical, five technologies have to mature – lightweight rechargeable batteries with high energy density; low-power microprocessors with enough performance to run complex software; flat, lightweight screens with pen or touch sensitivity; sophisticated graphical user interfaces; and smartly incorporated broadband wireless networking. These technologies are now on the verge of a boom. “With iPad, Apple is adding its usual extra elements: superlative user interface, trendy industrial design, cultural caché & unmatched marketing hype,” says Halfhill.


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