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Third Quarter 2021 Citi Residential Property Ownership Survey

Less respondents expect an increase in property prices

The average age of first-time home buyers is 31

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – Citi Hong Kong conducted a survey in September 2021 on residential property ownership in Q3 2021. According to the survey results:

  • 38% of the respondents expected property prices to rise further in the coming year, a lower percentage compared with the previous quarter but higher than the level recorded in the same period last year.
  • 4% of the respondents considered that it was a good time to buy a property, a figure easing back to pre-pandemic levels and down from the previous quarter and the same period last year.
  • 13% of the respondents expressed interest in property ownership, similar to previous quarter. Based on the survey results, close to 320,000 people toured new home developments in August or September this year.
  • Young respondents aged 21 to 24 expressed the highest interest in home ownership, with the average age of first-time buyers being 31.
  • On average, the respondents considered HK$5.8 million to be the price of a property that can meet their accommodation needs, double the price of HK$2.7 million estimated 10 years ago.
  • Nearly 60% of the respondents who have purchased a residential property in the past 10 years made their purchase decision after touring five properties, and a similar percentage of respondents decided to buy a property within three months after touring the first property that came their way. Those who purchased a home 10 years ago found making a home-buying decision easier than their counterparts in recent years.
  • Nearly 70% of the respondents who managed to buy a home in the past 10 years did so with financial support from their family, a higher figure compared with a decade ago. At an average of HK$1.86 million, the amount of financial assistance from family was also higher compared with 10 years ago.

 

Nearly 40% of respondents expect property prices to rise in the coming year, and it’s estimated that close to 320,000 people visiting properties in August or September this year

Compared with the exceptionally strong positive sentiment seen in the previous quarter, a lower level of optimism about the housing market was recorded in Q3 2021, with 38% of the respondents expecting a rise in property prices in the coming year. However, an average of 42% of respondents expected property prices to rise for the whole year of 2021, a higher percentage compared with an average of 23% recorded in the previous year. However, the percentage of respondents considering it “a good time to purchase a home now” and expressing “interest in purchasing a property” – both being indicators of the public’s attitude towards the property market – eased back slightly. In Q3 2021, 4% of the respondents considered now a good time to buy a property, down from the previous quarter and the same period last year. On the other hand, 13% of the respondents expressed interest in buying a home, representing a slight decrease of 1% from the previous quarter. Estimated based on the survey results, approximately 317,000 people conducted property hunting in August or September this year. The overall percentage of respondents expressing optimism about the property market fell from the previous quarter, reflecting a wait-and-see attitude among the respondents towards home ownership.

 

Driven by earlier expectations of an easing pandemic and a reopening of the economy, property owners may have proceeded with buying property early, contributing to a particularly positive outlook for the property market among the respondents in the previous quarter. The property market may have experienced readjustment this quarter, after seeing a premature release of the local population’s purchasing power, and the transaction volume may drop. In view of the temporary impact of other macro factors, including uncertainty in recent stock market sentiment and wealth effect, citizens’ property market outlook may be affected in the short run. That said, the local property market remains supported by positive structural factors such as undersupply and long-term economic growth upon border reopening.

 

Average age of first-time home buyers is 31, with an estimate of HK$5.8 million as the average price of a property meeting respondents’ accommodation needs

 

The survey also explored the views and experiences of the respondents regarding home ownership. It was found that young respondents aged 21 to 24 were most interested in home ownership, with the average age of first-time buyers being 31. The respondents put the average price of a property that can meet their accommodation needs at HK$5.8 million, 115% higher than the price of HK$2.7 million estimated 10 years ago, reflecting the rising trend of property prices during this period. Respondents who bought a home 10 years ago found it easier to make a purchase decision compared with their counterparts during recent years. 58% of the respondents who bought a home in recent years made their purchase decision after touring five properties , and 58% of the respondents decided to buy a property within three months after touring the first property that came their way. 70% of the respondents who bought a home 10 years ago made their buying decision after touring five properties, and 68% made their purchase decision within three months after touring the first property that came their way. On the other hand, 67% of the respondents who managed to purchase a home for the first time in the past 10 years said they did so with financial support from family, a figure that is 15 percentage points higher compared with 10 years ago. The amount of family assistance has also increased from an average of HK$500,000 a decade ago to the current HK$1.86 million.

How do you think home prices will trend in the next 12 months?

Percentage of Respondents

 

Q3 2020

Q4 2020

Q1 2021

Q2 2021

Q3 2021

Upward

23%

22%

33%

54%

38%

Flat

34%

43%

47%

35%

37%

Downward

43%

36%

20%

12%

25%

If you do not own any property now, taking your current standard of living and family finances into consideration, do you think it is a good time to purchase a home now?

Percentage of Respondents

 

Q3 2020

Q4 2020

Q1 2021

Q2 2021

Q3 2021

A good/an excellent

time to purchase

10%

8%

7%

7%

4%

Neutral

36%

39%

37%

38%

41%

A bad/terrible

time to purchase

54%

54%

56%

55%

55%

How interested are you in purchasing a property now?

Percentage of Respondents

 

Q3 2020

Q4 2020

Q1 2021

Q2 2021

Q3 2021

Very/rather
interested

17%

17%

17%

14%

13%

Neutral

28%

27%

29%

28%

33%

Very/rather
uninterested

55%

56%

54%

58%

54%

“The survey results show that local citizens were holding a wait-and-see attitude towards the property market in Q3 2021,” said Josephine Lee, Head of Retail Bank at Citi Hong Kong. “Nearly 40% of the respondents expected property prices to rise in the coming year. The percentage of respondents who considered it a good time to buy a property has slightly decreased from the previous quarter, and the proportion of respondents expressing interest in buying a property has also dropped a bit from the previous quarter. The younger respondents were more interested in buying a property, with the average age of first-time buyers being 31. The price of a property the respondents considered suitable to meet their accommodation needs has doubled in 10 years. We recommend that young people interested in buying a property start reviewing their asset allocation as soon as possible, accumulating their wealth and gradually becoming empowered to realise their aspirations in home buying. Other potential homeowners should also assess their financial condition comprehensively and seek an appropriate mortgage plan to fulfil their dream of home ownership.”

 

Citibank commissioned the University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre to conduct the survey, interviewing a random sample of more than 500 Hong Kong respondents by phone in September 2021. Since 2010, Citibank has been conducting quarterly surveys on the Hong Kong housing market to assess the current state of home ownership in the SAR, gauge public intentions towards home ownership, and track public expectations of future housing price trends.

Source: Citibank Q3 2021 Residential Property Ownership Survey

Please download the Mortgage Survey Press Conference Photo Here.


About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

#Citi

Appier’s ascent accelerates in Q3 with revenue up 50% to a record high and revises full-year forecast second quarter in a row

Strong revenue and profit growth follows a strong second quarter and underscores demand for AI solutions that deliver holistic customer insights

Highlights in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 include:

  • FY forecast revised 5.5% upwards from 11.7 billion JPY to 12.3 billion JPY
  • YoY revenue up 50% to historical high of 3.2 billion JPY
  • EBITDA margin turns positive for full quarter for the first time in company history, up 16 percentage points YoY
  • Gross profit up 62% YoY
  • Annual recurring revenue (ARR) up 48% YoY
  • Operating income margin improvement of 14 percentage points YoY
  • Quarter-on-quarter customer growth of 7.7% with a historical high of newly added customers


New quarter, new record

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – Appier Group Inc (TSE: 4180), henceforth referred to as Appier, today announced its Q3 earnings results for its third quarter ended 30 September 2021. The period shows a continuation of the strong post-IPO trajectory reported for Q2 in August. Revenue reached a record high of 3.2 billion yen, repeating the 50% year-on-year (YoY) increase seen in Q2 despite a much higher base in Q3 2020. Gross profit outpaced revenue growth to increase by 62% YoY. This was due in part to a gross margin increase from 46% to 50%, and in part to revenue growth acceleration. Demand from sectors such as e-commerce for AI-enabled customer insights, and for tools to support transformation from businesses in a wide range of industries, helped to fuel growth.

 

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) climbed 48% to 11.7 billion yen. Appier’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin rose 16 percentage points to achieve profitability for the first time in Appier’s history with a two percent margin. Accelerated revenue growth was again a driver, together with strong operating leverage. Operating income margin improved 14 percentage points YoY. The results mean Appier has overachieved on more than 10% of its business goals and is increasing its forecast from 11.7 billion yen to 12.3 billion yen.

 

“We are extremely proud of our achievements this quarter, especially our  50% revenue growth on a much higher comparative quarter,” said Dr. Chih-Han Yu, Appier’s CEO and co-founder. “Our growth this quarter can be attributed to clarity of purpose and goals. Supporting our customers on their AI-enabled digital transformation journey continues to be a driving force for Appier. Our solutions have transformed industry trends into a tailwind and accelerated our growth. We have demonstrated that we help our customers comply with third party data restrictions as well as achieve their business goals with superior AI technologies. At Appier, our solutions mainly require first-party data and have demonstrated its value to our customers, as reflected by this quarter’s results. This creates a sustainable business model for us to continue supporting our customers’ growth.”

 

As our relationships with customers grow, so does the impact of our services on their business. Our momentum is also down to changing business needs, the growth of data-led consumer experiences, the industry’s move towards a privacy-first landscape and the recognition that AI-powered digitalization will be a key enabler of business success post-pandemic.

Adoption of AI solutions deepens

 

This quarter’s strong performance reflects the growth of the industry and the demand for AI-powered digital transformation among our customers. This expansion of relationships reflects Appier’s commitment to customer growth and ethos of growing in line with the businesses it serves.

 

The rate of net new customers rose 7.7% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the highest organic incremental increase yet, and 28.6% YoY. In terms of business sectors driving growth, e-commerce continued to show strong demand, together with businesses in more traditional areas undergoing transformation and looking to strengthen their ability to connect with consumers in a digital-led environment.

 

Customers in Northeast Asia continued to account for the largest share of global revenue at 64%, followed by Greater China (26%), Southeast Asia (7%) and other markets (3%), mostly from the US. Having entered the US in Q4 2020, Appier is finding traction in the market and expects business to grow steadily based on the ongoing global demand for AI and in particular AI that is readily applicable to business objectives.

 

Integration of services drives value

 

Last quarter, Appier noted the importance of conversational commerce in business and in its own future development. Since the acquisition of BotBonnie, an omnichannel chatbot platform in May, Appier has integrated BotBonnie with its AI solutions and has created cross-product synergies with AIQUA to unify cross-channel structured behavior data and unstructured conversational data. This means Appier is able to capture both web and conversational data to deliver even more relevant and personalized messages to users, driving the prospect of conversion, improving engagement and achieving greater campaign results.

 

Appier’s solutions are designed to make it easy for companies to apply AI technology to make precise, data-driven decisions, overcome business challenges and achieve growth. AIXON, a first-party-data centric data science platform, is able to unify fragmented data sets with advanced AI technology to build a holistic view of the users across multiple first party data sources. Powered by the scenario-based prediction with AutoML models, AIXON allows clients to successfully unify their first party data from multiple sources, enrich their understanding via AI inferences and predict their future behaviors through AutoML in real time, from churn to conversions and even the likelihood of users visiting a certain webpage or more unknown user affinities.

 

Appier sees the combined effect of its network of services continuing to drive value. As businesses place emphasis on achieving a complete view of their customers, Appier’s multiple, complementary solutions become increasingly important in the new normal.

 

About Appier

Appier is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that uses artificial intelligence to power business decision-making. Founded in 2012 with a vision of democratizing AI, Appier now has 17 offices across APAC, Europe and U.S., and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Visit www.appier.com for more information.

#Appier

Revolutionary FWD Care recovery plan provides unique rehabilitation support and care

Recovery nurse to assist customer recovery journeys with tailored physical and emotional support

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – FWD Insurance (‘FWD’) is reimagining critical illness recovery support with the new FWD Care recovery plan (‘FWD Care’), a six-month recovery programme designed to offer critical illness survivors with tailored physical and emotional support assisted by a registered Recovery Nurse. The plan is available for FWD customers with individual medical, Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (‘VHIS’) or critical illness insurance (‘Medical and Critical Illness Insurance’), who are survivors of cancer, heart attack or stroke. It also takes care of bereaved family members, providing emotional support services in the unfortunate cases of customers passing away (See Appendix 1 for details).

 

 

FWD’s revolutionary FWD Care recovery plan provides physical and emotional support through a 6-month tailored programme to customers surviving from cancer, stroke, and heart attack, who would be assisted by a registered Recovery Nurse throughout the whole recovery journey.

 

Demand for recovery support is soaring as medical advances increase critical illness survival rates. Studies show that cancer, stroke, and heart attack are becoming more common among the 25 to 44 age group[1],[2],[3] whose chances of survival are higher. However, typical recovery plans in Hong Kong usually only provide treatment summaries and health care information[4]. FWD Care aims to fill this service gap with a suite of professional and personalised psychosocial and physical rehabilitation services.

Kelvin Yu, Chief Product Officer of FWD Hong Kong & Macau, said, “FWD Care takes a holistic approach in closing the recovery service gap with bespoke support for our customers and their family members that meet their physical and emotional needs. By launching FWD Care, we aspire to enhance the post-claim experience for our customers as we continue realising our commitment to providing ‘better coverage, more comprehensive protection’.”

FWD Care covers a wide range of professional services and immediate care, ranging from consultation services provided by physiotherapists, sports therapists, Chinese medicine practitioners, dietitians, and clinical psychologists to home assistants and transportation services. The assigned Recovery Nurse will personalise a care plan and be at the customer’s side throughout the whole recovery journey once the claims are approved. This hassle-free service ensures that customers can focus on their recovery, overcome their emotional challenges, and prepare for lifestyle readjustments. 

FWD Care is also available for bereaved families of deceased customers with an approved death benefit claim from FWD. It provides a family member, who is the spouse, a child, or a parent of the diseased customer, six months of emotional support and home care services. During this time, a Recovery Nurse will help the family member cope with grief and assist in resuming a normal life.

Appendix 1

FWD Care recovery plan provides timely physical and psychological support to the following customers in need:

–       Insured persons of FWD’s individual Medical and Critical Illness Insurance plans who have successfully claimed their crisis benefit or reimbursed their hospitalisation and surgical expenses or hospital cash for cancer, heart attack or stroke, which are the most common critical illnesses in Hong Kong; or

–       An immediate family member (i.e. spouse, child, or parent) of the deceased insured person with an approved death benefit claim from FWD.

 

Service flow of FWD Care recovery plan:

1.       Reach out by FWD: Once the eligible claim is approved from now until 30 June 2022 (both dates inclusive), FWD will contact the insured person or an immediate family member of the insured person.

2.       Provide consent: The insured person or immediate family member will receive a request for consent to the terms of the service, including the consent for the transfer of personal data needed for FWD Care to provide services.

3.       Hear from a nurse: An assigned Recovery Nurse will contact the participant and be a companion throughout the recovery journey.

4.       Get the support you need: The Recovery Nurse will discuss and coordinate the support services best suited for the participant after he/she has completed the first consultation with a clinical psychologist or cardiologist.

5.       Plan completion: The FWD Care recovery plan lasts for six months with full access to the Recovery Nurse during the period.

 

The FWD Care recovery plan is provided by third-party service providers. FWD will not be responsible or liable for any services offered by the third-party providers under the plan. Terms and conditions apply to the plan. For details, please visit www.fwd.com.hk/en/fwd-care/fwd-care-recovery-plan/

 

If the insured person did not use the FWD Care recovery plan before passing away, one of his/her family members (include spouse, children or parents of the insured person) can enrol the counselling and/or home assistant services for free one time upon the approval for the death claims of the insured person.


[1] Source: International Medical Centre (Hong Kong) ‘Interesting Trends in Cancer Incidence in Hong Kong’

[2] Source: The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong “Secret of the stroke” ‘(中風之迷)’

[3] Source: HK01’s news article with the title of “The tendency of early incidence of heart attack – Bad habits may cause heart attack”  ‘(年輕化趨勢?生活壞習慣隨時出現突發性心臟病’)

[4] Source: The University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care ‘How to prevent lost in transition? – Self-management-based cancer survivorship clinic’

About FWD Hong Kong & Macau

FWD Hong Kong & Macau are part of the FWD Group, the primary insurance business of investment group, Pacific Century Group. FWD Group spans ten markets in Asia, including Hong Kong SAR & Macau SAR, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Cambodia.

FWD Hong Kong has been assigned strong financial ratings by international agencies. It offers life and medical insurance, general insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning. FWD Macau provides a suite of life and medical insurance.

FWD is focused on creating fresh customer experiences and making the insurance journey simpler, faster and smoother, with innovative propositions and easy-to-understand products supported by digital technology. Through this customer-led approach, FWD aims to be a leading pan-Asian insurer by changing the way people feel about insurance.

For more information about FWD Hong Kong & Macau, please visit WWW.FWD.COM.HK and WWW.FWD.COM.MO.

#FWD

Laos Confirms 945 New Cases of Covid-19 and Two Deaths

Covid update Champasack


Laos has recorded 945 new cases of Covid-19 across the country today, as well as two deaths.

Style Theory to Rock with House of Gucci: Latest Offers Allow Users to Rent ANY Designer Bag at Zero Cost or Only HK$449.5

Register NOW to Expand Your On-Demand Closet that Covers 2,000+ Designer Bags, ONLY available for November & December!

Hong Kong SAR – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – The House of Gucci movie premiere is approaching and the temptation to own a Gucci purse is stronger than ever. Eyes will be ogling over Gucci’s Dionysus, GG Supreme, GG Marmont, Sylvie bags, and more. And as luck would have it, Style Theory’s bag rental collection gives you access to these cult favourites and more!

To celebrate Gucci’s 100th anniversary, Style Theory is offering the first 100 fashionistas a FREE month of their Designer Bag Rental Membership to new users until end of November. And the first 300 buy-one-get-one-free Membership offer of two months for HK$449.50 each (HK$899 original price for one month), this offer is available until end of December.

Cut Loss & Embrace the Trend

Did you know that the moment you purchase a designer bag, its value can depreciate by over 50%? Adding on the space, effort and money to keep and maintain the bags in good conditions, why would you still want to own them if you can rent from an on-demand Style Theory collection with 2,000+ designer bags from brands like Gucci, Chanel, Celine and more in their best conditions? Sustainable and circular fashion is already the trend and Style Theory is the game changer who is here to help fashionistas cut loss in style.

 Unparalleled Attention to User Journey

In just a few steps, you can rock some of Hong Kong’s top pick designer bags: register as a Member on the Style Theory app and you can browse and cart out any bag to start renting. Got too many choices? Save your favourites in the wish-list cart for future reference. Once you cart out, you will be prompted to schedule a time to get the bag delivered to your address at your convenience.

Style Theory prides ourselves in helping women wear their power, whilst making sustainable fashion choices. They do this by offering an infinite repertoire of luxury bags, from which customers can choose to rent for HK$899 per month.

Circular fashion is in and overconsumption is out. Leveraging on the unique platform that Style Theory offers, Hong Kong fashionistas are now seizing the benefits of:

  • Paying less for getting more;
  • Staying on top of latest fashion trends;
  • Saving storage space and bag maintenance needs;
  • Expanding lifecycle of classic It bags; and
  • Contributing to sustainable fashion


The Limited Offers: Register NOW!

New Style Theory Members can get the chance to rent and flaunt the hottest Gucci purses to work, for dinner or at the House of Gucci movie premiere. Simply download the Style Theory app, create an account, and activate your Membership with one of the following promo codes:

  • TRIALGUCCI – A free month, limited to first 100 redemptions. Valid until 30 Nov 2021
  • STGUCCIBOGOF – A discounted monthly fee of HK$449.50 for each of the 2 months, limited to the first 300 redemptions. Valid until 31 December 2021.

*The House of Gucci promotion codes entitles new users a full Membership experience and access to the full catalogue. Rentals are not limited to Gucci bags only.

 

Play the FB Mini-Game to Get Your House of Gucci FREE Tickets

The promotions don’t stop there! Style Theory is also giving away 2 FREE House of Gucci movie premiere tickets to 5 lucky winners! Here’s how to enroll in the game:

  1. Like the Style Theory HK Facebook page
  2. Share the House of Gucci promo post on Facebook (The post will be live on 15 Nov 2021)
  3. In the comments, tag 3 of your friends whom you would want to take to the movie premiere and mention why you like renting bags from Style Theory
  4. Style Theory HK will directly message and announce the winners on 30 Nov 2021

About Style Theory

Style Theory is Southeast Asia’s largest circular fashion platform offering women the opportunity to build their Infinite Wardrobe in an affordable, convenient and sustainable manner. Founded in Singapore in 2016 by Raena Lim and Chris Halim, Style Theory operates in the sharing economy as a solution to fashion consumption that is making significant strides towards ending today’s buy-and-throw-away culture. In late 2017, the company launched into the Indonesia market and has recently entered Hong Kong in 2020.

Carrying more than 50,000 high-quality designer apparel and more than 2,000 designer bags for its growing base of over 200,000 users, Style Theory is all set to be the future of fashion where renting is equivalent with – if not better than – buying. In its initial rollout in Hong Kong, Style Theory Members will have access to over 2,000 designer bags.

Follow Style Theory socials for latest news and updates:

Facebook: styletheoryhk

Instagram: styletheoryhk

YouTube: Style Theory

#StyleTheory

Health Authorities in Laos Prepare Covid-19 Self-Care Handbook

Laos to allow Covid-19 recovery at home
Laos to allow Covid-19 recovery at home.

Health authorities in Laos plan to allow people infected with Covid-19 with mild symptoms to isolate at home in the near future.

CASE President Visits Eight Design, Highlights the Importance of CaseTrust Accreditation Scheme in Counteracting Renovation Scams

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) President Melvin Yong paid Eight Design a visit in their West Tradehub Showroom. Eight Design was mentioned specifically by Yong in a post he made on Facebook, reiterating the value and significance of local renovation contractors being able to secure a CaseTrust accreditation, a step that is beneficial to both the client and the service-provider to counteract the renovation scams occurring in the industry. Consumers have been complaining about contractors who underdeliver or leave completely during a project. It was even recorded that the renovation sector has received 621 complaints in the first half of 2021 alone, almost double than last year’s numbers. Because of the mishaps caused by COVID-19, businesses in the industry were greatly affected. Yong’s intention in his visit was to understand better the measures being done by renovation companies in providing assurance to their clients.

 

According to Melvin Yong, in today’s time, consumers are likely to spend more in the renovation of their new homes—with most even paying larger sums of deposits upfront to the contracting party they are engaging with. As compared to how consumers behaved 10 years ago, this recent practice in the industry is becoming a cause for concern. He stresses that when people pay huge deposit amounts ahead of time, it will be challenging to seek for recourse in case there are difficulties that arise during the entirety of the project. To avoid this, Singapore Renovation Contractors and Material Suppliers Association (RCMA) joined forces with CASE to create a CaseTrust-RCMA Joint Accreditation Scheme through a Memorandum of Understanding.

 

CaseTrust is the accreditation arm of CASE; it is also Singapore’s de facto standard that reliable companies refer to and follow when offering and executing services that are only truthful and ethical. Melvin Yong expressed his high spirits in Eight Design. The company has been CaseTrust accredited since 2016 and they find the policies and practices helpful in guiding the company’s internal operations and processes, benefiting the company and the customers, as well as in setting the expectations of home renovation projects to minimize disputes.

 

Accredited businesses like Eight Design – Top Residential & Commercial IDs help consumers find legitimate contractors that provide fair trading and transparency. Only those that are listed in RCMA are eligible to obtain the joint accreditation. Through this course of action, the consumers’ deposit payments are protected by a deposit performance bond—effectively safeguarding it from closure, potential liquidation, and other unfavorable incidents.

 

The CASE president himself highlighted the benefits that consumers will get from engaging with an accredited business:

1.  The contractor will be carrying out consumer friendly-policies and good business practices.

2.  The consumers’ deposits will be protected through the aforementioned deposit performance bond.

3.  The contractor will be committed in resolving and minimizing disputes through a peaceful and professional mediation.

4.  A CaseTrust Standard Renovation Contract will be adopted by the accredited contractor to ensure cost transparency and accountability for every listed deliverables in the renovation project.

 

According to The Straits Times, home renovation costs have increased by 10 to 20% industry-wide. With this inevitable upsurge, the demands of the modern consumers are also increasing. To bridge this gap, businesses should ensure fair trading while consumers do their due diligence. To check for a renovation company like Eight Design’s accreditation, one can easily navigate through CaseTrust’s web listing or view the CaseTrust-RCMA’s logo that businesses display in their shop fronts and marketing materials as an outward sign of commitment.

About Eight Design Pte Ltd

Eight Design has been offering exceptional services as an interior and renovation contractor in Singapore for more than 15 years, and has a wealth of knowledge to provide comprehensive solutions in a variety of contexts. From design and decoration to carpentry and renovation, we can deliver the best possible result for your commercial or domestic project. Our passionate team of creative designers will always put your needs first and will take care of you from start to finish including all planning, management and construction processes. We hold ourselves to the highest standards across the board and maintain these expectations of ourselves through thorough methods of quality control and our very own team of skilful carpenters. To speak with the best renovation contractor available, visit eightdesign.com.sg and find out what we can help you achieve.


#EightDesign

Niantic Opens Lightship Platform Globally, Empowering Developers to Build Their Visions for the Real-World Metaverse

Niantic, developer of the world’s first and only scaled AR platform, releases Lightship, the vault of technology that powers Pokémon GO; Niantic Ventures will also invest $20 million in companies building the future of AR

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 11 November 2021 – AR technology company Niantic, Inc.(HQ: San Francisco, CA USA; CEO: John Hanke), the developer of the world’s first and only scaled AR platform, has announced the release of the Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit (Lightship ARDK) to all AR developers around the world. Available at Lightship.dev, the company has also shared a glimpse of the possibilities this technology affords through its launch brand partners like Coachella, Historic Royal Palaces, Lifull, the PGA of America, Science Museum Group, Shueisha, Softbank, the artist JR and Superblue, TRIPP, Universal Pictures and Warner Music Group. 

 

The Lightship Platform is the foundation for Niantic’s products, built on years of experience developing and running titles ranging from Ingress to Pokémon GO and Pikmin Bloom. As part of the Lightship Platform, the ARDK is a cross-platform software development kit that runs seamlessly on billions of Android and iOS devices around the world. It brings together the tools and technologies that power the top three AR features — Real-Time Mapping, Understanding and Sharing — so developers can create unique AR experiences that seamlessly utilize some or all of the ARDK tools. 

 

Niantic is also announcing the formation of Niantic Ventures to invest in and partner with companies building the future of AR. With an initial $20 million fund, Niantic Ventures will invest in companies building applications that share Niantic’s vision for the Real-World Metaverse and contribute to the global ecosystem that they are building. To learn more about Niantic Ventures, go to Lightship.dev.

 

“Transforming humanity’s relationship with technology by merging the physical and virtual worlds will require the ideas and perspectives of as many people as possible,” said John Hanke, Founder and CEO of Niantic. “That’s why we’re so excited to open the vault of technology that powers our own games, so developers, creators and brands globally can build inclusive experiences that push the boundaries of what’s possible in AR.”

 

More information on the launch can be found in Niantic’s Blog post, John Hanke’s announcement and Lightship AR video channel.

#Niantic