The reason behind Pfizer’s paying a lot of money to Merck KGaA

Pfizer is one of the most prominent names in the health care sector that is working for a disease free, healthier and safer world. The sole business of the company is to produce and sell medicines globally. The company came into existence in New York City in the year 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Earnest. PFE is apopular name in the healthcare sector and they have come up with many products that have revolutionized the paradigms of healthcare.  The company is now focusing on buying back stocks which is now their major aim.

However, despite of failing many times in various attempts to sign AstraZeneca, the company switched its attention and signed a block buster deal with Merck KGaA in previous months. This decision left analysts and the board of AstraZeneca inshock as they were expecting that Pfizer will be coming back with another bid to lure the company. According to the deal between Pfizer and Merck KGaA, Pfizer will make an upfront payment of $850 million, with additional payment of $2 billion contingent on regulatory and commercial milestones.

According to Forbes, “The transaction is certainly very significant for Merck KGaA which has found a partner with deep pockets and a quicker entry in the U.S. oncologymarket. From Pfizer’s perspective, this is a massive investment considering the drug’s stage. However, the potential reward could also be big as immuno-oncology market is expected to pick up over the next few years.”

The company is confident in signing a huge cancer deal with Merck KGaA.

AstraZeneca’s boss believes that the future is bright for the company

Pfizer and AstraZeneca are the powerhouses and giants of the pharmaceutical industry.  Both of these companies have dominated the market for many years now in order to make the world a better place to live. However, a few months ago, Pfizer planned to sign a block buster deal to purchase AstraZeneca which the company rejected without having second thoughts. According to the boss of AstraZeneca, he said that “Pfizer ordeal was one of the most testing moments of my career.” This will not be wrong to say as Pfizer gave a very tough time to Pascal Soriot after putting a couple of tempting deals.

The boss of the company and the company itself believes that AstraZeneca is betteroff alone and it was the right decision to reject multiple bids from rivals Pfizer. Moreover, it is believed that the future of pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca is bright and it can do better business being independent. As Pascal Soriot puts it, “It was a testing period but also a building period for all of us. It really helped the company come together.”

It is sure from the company’s point of view that they are not interested in any other bid from Pfizer and it will be rejected whatsoever. Telegraph reported that “It is not that the AstraZeneca boss feels immune to another approach, though City consensus would suggest he could. It is because the Frenchman has learnt to face the threat of a corporate predator with a philosophical Gallic shrug.”

According to the company officials it was said that Pfizer backed off after the first bid was rejected by AstraZeneca. But Pascal Soriot in his interview with Telegraph said “I tend to be trusting. Back in January when Pfizer said they were withdrawing and no longer interested, I believed it. Then they returned out of the blue.”

AstraZeneca is doing an outstanding business and has been performing well in the market in recent times. Hence, it might be a correct decision to not sign a blockbuster deal with Pfizer.

Alibaba has the potential to dominate the United States market

Alibaba is one of the most fast growing businesses in the world. Recently the company has emerged to be one of the top names in the industry after becoming the giants of e-commerce industry as well as the company has largest B2B business in the world. The company has surpassed as well as broke its own records. Alibaba has had great success over the past years which have bolstered its domestic and international status and position. It is believed that the Chinese giant and powerhouse, Alibaba, will be huge by 2020.

In recent times, BABA Group is looking forward and working hard to spread its operations in the US market as well. Hence, the retailers of United States warn of Chinese giant Alibaba's impact in U.S. market. Reuters reported that “Several of the largest U.S. retailers warned that Alibaba Group Holding Inc may "decimate" local companies unless Congress closes tax loopholes for online retailers, singling out the Chinese company before it has even established a major American consumer presence.”

Alibaba presently sells to American consumers through its global retail service AliExpress. But its core Taobao service, often likened to eBay's marketplace, is not yet available to U.S. customers in English.

The company is looking forward to start its services which will solely be targeted to American consumers. It is believed that an entry in the US market might decimate the local companies as the e-commerce giant Alibaba’s business is huge as anything. In the coming times, it is believed Alibaba will become as huge as Wal-Mart and EBay in terms of international market presence.

Amazon’s Fire Phone was a sales disaster

Amazon is the benchmark for retail corporations. The company has been the best out there and has dominated the market for many years now. When compared to its peers and competitors, Amazon is way ahead of them as it provides best quality products in comparatively lower prices. The retail stores such as Wal-Mart, EBay, and Target etc. have been chasing and trying to match the prices with the largest retailer in the United States. The company expanded its business into more product categories, but it failed to make its mark in the phones market.

To be very honest, Amazon’s Fire Phones were an absolute sales disaster. The company entered the market of smartphones a little too late where Apple introduced its 6^th series of iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Phones introduced its 5^th version. Moreover, Amazon took a bold step to price tag its Fire Phone at just $199. Financial Post reported that “The Seattle-based technology company cut the price of its Fire Phone to just US$199 unlocked, a vast reduction from the US$649 price tag it originally carried during the device’s much-hyped launch in June.”

According to a tech savvy Carmi Levy based in London said “It’s no secret that the Amazon Fire Phone has been an absolute sales disaster in the U.S. And the reason being is that it didn’t offer a compelling enough reason to smartphone owners to switch from the phones they currently has and are satisfied with.”

The phone did not make an impact in the market because of many reasons. First of all, the phone was extremely overpriced considering the company being a new entrant in such a competitive market where Apple and Samsung have been dominant for almost a decade. Moreover, when compared to Apple’s latest products as well as Samsung Galaxy phones, Amazon Fire Phone is bulky and heavy. The Amazon Phone is the heaviest and thickest of all the smartphones in its price range. The phone has lack of differentiation as well as fewer applications.

In a nutshell, in terms of performance, prices, and anything else, Amazon Fire Phones became sales disaster as soon as they were launched in the market.

EBay believes smart stores are the future of shopping

EBay is one of the biggest retail store chains in the United States. It has been doing a great business over the years but the company has fall behind Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon in recent times. The verge reported that “Over the last year eBay’s brand has struggled a bit. It was hit with a massive security breach and announced that it was spinning out PayPal, a divorce precipitated by the overwhelming investor sentiment that eBay was holding PayPal back. Still, the company has shown steady growth and profit, giving it the breathing room it needs to try and reinvent itself.”

Despite of struggling a lot to revive its business, the company has various plans for its future. The company’s new smart stores are the future of shopping. It includes magic mirrors, massive touchscreens, and dressing rooms that know what you need next. The newest adventure of the company is to reinvent itself in which a partnership with the designer Rebecca Minkoff for a new "smart stores" in New York and San Francisco will take place.

The company officials explain the mechanism of these smart stores as “Walking into the store, shoppers are greeted with massive mirrors that double as touchscreens. They can browse the aisles the old-fashioned way, or swipe through the store’s inventory. Rather than lugging an armful of clothes to the dressing room, you simply tap the items you want to try on. When everything is ready to try on, you get a text alert. Oh, and feel free to order a drink while you’re at it.”

The smart stores will totally help you in selecting different outfits as well as lets you select the mood and adjust the lightning to see how certain dressings will look in different settings.

Amazon UK has its best Black Friday ever

Amazon is the largest retailing stores and it is one of the largest retail store chain operators in the country and the world respectively. Amazon knows how to keep its customers content with providing the best quality products at cheaper prices when compared to its peers and competitors such as Wal-Mart, EBay etc. Prior to the massive shopping holiday season that is Black Friday and Thanksgiving, Amazon starts its massive holiday sales a week before Black Friday. Hence, the online super retailer is sliding ahead of the competition when compared to EBay and Wal-Mart.

On record, Amazon UK had its busiest day following Black Friday holiday sales festival. The company said “Black Friday was the busiest day on record for online retailer Amazon UK, with sales that surpassed all expectations.” The website of the company recorded orders for more than 5.5 million goods. Hence it is believed that the company sold around 64 items per second. The company believes that the appetite for public at Black Friday was bigger than ever and it was the busiest day to date for the company. Last year's Black Friday was also a record day for Amazon when it sold more than 4 million items.

Xavier Garambois is the vice president of EU retail at Amazon who believed that “Ever since we introduced Black Friday to the UK in 2010, sales have increased year-on-year but this year really has surpassed all of our expectations. The public's appetite for Black Friday has been bigger than ever, kicking off the Christmas shopping period in earnest and establishing Black Friday as a fixture on the UK Christmas shopping calendar.”

Whatsoever, this has gone as the best business day in the history of the company. Selling 64 items per second is exceptional and the company believes that it will keep up the good work following Cyber Monday and the normal business days as well.

Alibaba working on its expansion

Alibaba is known as the leading company of China. It is one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world and the largest B2B Company in the world. The company provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals. The founder of the company, Jack Ma, has worked really hard in order to bring the company where it stands today. The company has been showing positive results in the market and is posting strong results to maintain its stability and keep growing as the fastest growing business in the world.

After making a great impact in the market in a short span of time, Alibaba planned to work on its expansion. Hence, Alibaba along with Haier Electronics launched its Internet TVs in China. In the past few years, Alibaba has done its business through computers and mobile phones. Now the company moves on to captivate another technology to capture the market. Alibaba Group is expanding into the living room with new Internet television sets, complete with shopping and entertainment features.

Wall Street Journal says “Alibaba and its partner Haier Electronics  launched new TVs in China Wednesday that provide users with access to the e-commerce company’s Taobao and Tmall online marketplaces as well as movies and video games. The new TVs with Haier represent Alibaba’s renewed push into the Internet TV market.”

In 2013, the company launched a smart TV in collaboration with the Chinese TV manufacturer named Skyworth. However, it did not even make a slightest impact on the market and hence there was no traction gained on that product. It was because its online offerings of entertainment were very limited.

The company officials said “the new Internet TV’s online shopping mall offers selected items sold by a limited number of Taobao and Tmall merchants who have already earned high reputation scores on the websites. Only the merchants whose products and services have met high standards will be allowed on the TV platform.” Hence as the company has said so far, there will be over 200,000 items available for selling.