I read a report from Bloomberg mentioning that Playstation VR2 has very low sales of about 300K units up until now. I honestly was expecting it, because everyone I know including myself stopped using the first VR after few times only. It was a nice experience, but then there wasn’t much to do. When preorders went live for PS VR2 in Kuwait, I didn’t see much interest and none of the stores sold out. The price tag is higher than the console itself, which made a lot of people lose interest. Few of my friends bought it, but majority weren’t interested at all. Now what worries me the most is the usual cycle of the end of a device or console.
Low Hardware Sales --> Game Developers Lose Interest in Developing Games --> Scraping AAA Titles --> The End of The Device
I believe to increase sales they need to have a better price and have lots of games in development including AAA games. I have seen it during Nintendo 3DS times were people thought it was the end, but it was’t. They dropped the price and developed tons of amazing games. It made people want to buy the device where Playstation dropped the support of the PS Vita immediately back then.
I still think Playstation should have developed a new Playstation Portable that competes with Steam Deck, but learn from their past mistakes. I mentioned how they can do it in a previous article.
I have been a Google Pixel fan for a very long time. I started using Nexus phones from the Nexus 4, and went up to Google Pixel 7 Pro. Every release I hope Google fix few things that will definitely improve sales, but sadly they never did and I don’t think they will anytime soon. These are the things that they need to fix
VoLTE in the Middle East: Until today, this was never turned on, and people in the Middle East have been asking for it in the forums for many years. Among my friends and family, we are all struggling with Google Pixel phones for not having VoLTE, and this is a very important feature. The sad thing is that some people are turning using the root access
Airdrop: I need a feature like Apple Airdrop to easily move files between my Pixel phone to my PC or Mac. This will make my life much easier, and I never liked any of the 3rd party apps
Ease of Transfer: I personally prefer the way when iPhone users transfer their data from one iPhone to another because they continue exactly where they left of. All apps and settings are exactly the same, and Android should do it the same exact way.
Availability in the region: The Google Pixel lineup and parts should be available everywhere, because right now it is hard to buy and hard to repair. Few times I sent my Google Pixel phones to the US for repair. Last time I bought a new screen and fixed it in Kuwait, but i had to wait a long time for the screen to arrive.
Value: The Google Pixel should be like Toyota cars where it retains value. The iPhone retain value in a an impressive way where the price barely drops compared to Android. My last experience was when I bought Samsung Z Fold 2 for more than 600 KD, and in less than 2 years, no one wants to buy it for more than 100 KD. I don’t mind a price drop, but not that much.
The above items people have asked for aren’t new, and people have asked for a very long time. I don’t mind if Google start with #1 ASAP and do the rest later.
Every now and then I see concepts that are really worth looking into, because they cater for segments that no one catered for in the past. There was a segment in the market that was so obvious for many years but no one catered for it in a professional way. It never crossed my mind that women are facing an issue where they buy each sport piece from a different store to maintain a modest or conservative look. They buy the top from a store, the bottom from another store, and the jacket or hoodie from another store. The overall look isn’t perfect or consistent, but that was the only option available, because majority aren’t doing it in a professional way. The majority I have seen are instagram accounts that contract with local tailors, which eventually doesn’t last long due to durability issues. For manufacturers to produce durable high quality products, they need the right equipments and machinery. QYNDA is the brand that covered the segment in a very interesting way where they spent a long time creating very nice designs with ultimate functions. They were getting feedback from women playing various sports, and each were giving feedback from their own experience to improve the function further. QYNDA is so focused on research and development to constantly lead the market in terms of design and function. They also manufacture in the top manufacturing facilities in the world to compete with the top sport brands in the world. QYNDA is one of the brands that reminds me of Vessi shoes, where they have a very unique concept that focuses on making the best waterproof shoes ever. This in my opinion differentiate the product and have a perfect competitive edge. QYNDA is competing with brands on an international level where it earned the title of the best premium modest activewear for women among athletes. If you are thinking of buying modest workout clothes for women then check them out.
Check out Qynda on Instagram and check their posts and stories, which I personally liked.
At the company where I work at, I have worked with lots of branders and designers both locally and internationally. The majority of the ones in Kuwait aren’t that good, and they have no clue what branding really is. They think a brand is just a logo, which isn’t the case at all. A brand differentiate the products and services of a company and it is derived from the founder’s history, values, mission, and vision. I worked with those who create logos as cheap as 3 KD and big companies that creates brands as much as 33,000 KD. I also had meetings with the top companies in the US and they cost 75,000 KD per brand.The best brander that we found at our company is Farelo Studio which is a branding company based in Portugal. The founder’s name is Pedro Farelo and he has been doing branding for more than 20 years, and he really gets it. The process is very simple, where he ask lots of the question about the brand and founders. That step requires effort in terms of thinking and answering to the best degree, because he will take every single answer, and you will see it in the brand development. Farelo Studio team are very familiar with the Kuwaiti market since a lot of his clients are based in Kuwait, UAE Dubai, and the rest of GCC. When it comes to pricing, which I believe is really good for what you get. There is a basic package which is enough for startups or new businesses. Of course requirements is what determine the package price . The big companies will go for the big packages because they have a lot to brand and bigger requirements than smaller businesses. Brands that Farelo Studio developed are Back Combined,GraphoGame, CrossField,Wedian, SushiCorner, and more.
Farelo Studio secret process for brand development is the briefing and What, How, and Why. You will get what that means once you see the branding PDF’s below
Wedian is the brand that I liked the most, and once you see the briefing and What, How, and Why of the brand. You will realize the effort that went into the brand development. Check the full brand in the link and go over it slide by slide while reading the content in details (Wedian Brand)
Ufff is my second favorite brand, and it is the extreme opposite of Wedian. Check out (Ufff brand)
The founder of Farelo Studio is currently in Kuwait for the next few days and he will be giving a lecture at Kuwait University tomorrow 7th, March, 2023.
I highly recommend Farelo Studio for branding, and I am recommending this company after working with them for the past 8 years. I personally wanted to brand Ryukers with Farelo Studio, but I wanted to start lean because I am not selling anything so far. Once the blog grows more, I will rebrand it with Farelo Studio for sure. If you want to check out their work, checkout his Website, Instagram, and Behance
I used to eat strawberry chocolates all the time, but these days I am so addicted to La Fraise Raspberry Bites. The combination is perfect where you have raspberry, white chocolate, milk and biscuits. Each bite is so perfect due to the crunch of the biscuits. The problem with the raspberry bites is that once you have one, you will eat one after the other. Now I order 3 orders all the time from La Fraise, and the first one is chocolate strawberries with caramel. The second one is the raspberry bites, and the last one is the chocolate with extra qamardin. I rarely see a concept where they have multiple signature products. Try the raspberry bites and the chocolate with extra qamardin, and let me know what you think of La Fraise signature products.
I have been getting comments and emails about scheduling a tour to Hectare’s factory in Kuwait. Of course it is fun to see how potato chips or popcorn is made. What I did was I called the management of Hectare’s and told them that I am getting emails and comments for people who wants a factory tour. They told me that they are fully booked for the next 4-5 months, which is really impressive. The reason people want to visit Hectare’s factory is because it is by far the most luxury factory in Kuwait and their products is known for top quality. Soon Hectare’s will release their meat products which is expected to crush the market.
To arrange a tour, call Motaz at 66230177 and let him know that you got his number from Ryukers Blog.
This is the best news I have heard in a while, because that was making my experience so frustrating. I bought from couple of websites and businesses where they overcharge for the delivery charges, and when it comes to payment. They want to pass the credit card charges from Visa or Mastercard to me. As you know, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express charge businesses 2-4% on each transactions and some businesses pass it to the customer. I faced this first time when I bought a product and the business sent me My Fatoorah link, and I was surprised to see the price increase when I click on credit card. I didn’t like the experience as a customer because it felt cheap, but it makes a lot of sense from the business stand point.
Starting December 6th, 2022 at 9 AM, Businesses will no longer be available to charge credit card fees to customers. This is an official law by Central Bank of Kuwait
I am not a big fan of VR since I only tried the first one for 1 time then stopped using it, but lets see if this a game changer. There are rumors that they might have Metal Gear Solid, so lets see if that is true. If it is then I will buy it. Playstation VR2 will offer a much better experience than the first one, especially that it uses better controllers and less cables attached to the device. Now I will be tracking the Playstation VR2 stock in Kuwait.
I am monitoring all sites for restocking so follow me on Twitter and turn on post notification because I will tweet the moment they come back in stock.
The first thing that came my mind is how expensive this pro controller is. It cost 64.9 KD in Kuwait and I consider it a very high price for a pro controller. I just bought one for a family member who wanted one so bad, because he is a pro COD player. For me, I am very happy with the regular controller, and it is more than enough for my basic use. The DualSense Edge controller sold out everywhere in Kuwait, and I can’t find it in stock anywhere. So far I just saw it at two places and monitoring the rest of the sites. Lets see if the demand is real, and I will know for sure during the release in January 2023.
Playstation 5 (PS5) DualSense Edge Controller in Kuwait:-
To this day, I am extremely surprised that lots of people in Kuwait use Knet for all their purchases where they can get tons of free money using credit cards. Few months ago, I got the NBK Visa Infinite Credit Card and I was surprised how fast I got a free laptop from Want it Buy it. I got the card right before I travelled, and a month after getting back to Kuwait. I had 100 KD in rewards and I redeemed them on Want it Buy it. My wife was very surprised, because she was using a horrible credit card that was barely giving any rewards. What happens is basically Visa charges the stores 2-3% or so, and they share some of that percentage with you in form of rewards. What I suggest to maximize rewards is the following
Use credit card whenever is possible, and if the store decline, this is when you can use Knet
Some stores try to charge you extra for using a credit card, use Knet by then
Avoid paying credit card interest, so settle every month so you don’t get charged high interest rate
Check the deals that your credit card is offering. For example NBK Visa Infinite Credit Card is offering 50% cash back on digital entertainment subscriptions
There are other benefits such as the lounge access and travel insurance benefits, which are very useful if used. Find the best credit card, and apply ASAP to maximize your rewards.
