Apple's pressure to curb reliance on China; Alibaba, Tencent US investment ban

TOP NEWS IN TECH

* While analysts and industry experts largely consider a Biden presidency to be a positive for Apple Inc., they said it remains crucial for the company to prioritize diversifying its global supply chain to protect itself from future geopolitical risks.

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. faces the risk of being delisted in the U.S. as the outgoing Trump administration considers a potential ban on U.S. investments into the company and its peer Tencent Holdings Ltd., compounding problems for the Chinese e-commerce operator amid a regulatory crackdown at home.

* SoftBank Group Corp.'s rumored plan to go private via share buybacks would require the company to significantly compromise on its long-term strategy, experts said. While the Japanese company's plan is feasible, its disadvantages may outweigh the advantages, they told S&P Global Market Intelligence.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

* The New York Stock Exchange has reversed an abrupt decision to keep three Chinese telecom giants listed, marking yet another U-turn for the U.S. exchange.

* S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC will go ahead with its original plan to remove three Chinese telecom stocks from its indexes following a similar decision by the New York Stock Exchange, its second time to reverse its policy in less than a week.

STREAMING

* Discovery Inc. will enter the aggregated direct-to-consumer arena in January 2021 with a hybrid offering.

* T-Mobile US Inc. will become the exclusive U.S. wireless provider for China-based OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.'s OnePlus Nord N10 5G and Nord N100 smartphones on Jan. 15.

TECH POLICY AND REGULATION

* U.S. officials are considering adding Alibaba and Tencent to a list of Chinese companies prohibited to U.S. investments, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 6, citing people familiar with the matter.

* U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 5 signed an executive order banning transactions involving several Chinese software applications in a move that is likely to worsen ties with Beijing.

* Swedish technology company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) on Jan. 1 filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc. over alleged patent infringement.

* The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, or PTA, said it notified Google LLC and Wikipedia to remove content deemed "sacrilegious" to Islam.

DATA CENTER

* Global Switch Holdings Ltd. owner Jiangsu Shagang Group Co. Ltd. and other investors are considering selling the company, along with other strategic options, in a deal that could value the U.K.-based data center operator at no less than £8 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

* LG Electronics Inc. secured a controlling stake of over 50% in TV data and measurement company Alphonso Inc. through the South Korean company's subsidiary, according to a Jan. 6 press release.

GAMING

* Apple took down more than 46,000 apps from its app store, including 39,000 games in China, Reuters reported Dec. 31, 2020.

* Esports sees a big scale-up in brands and sponsorship in Europe and Asia with 1.96 billion people globally aware of esports and 495 million of them esports enthusiasts or viewers in 2020, according to a report from esports analytics company Newzoo.

PODCAST

* Amazon.com Inc. said it agreed to acquire podcast creator and producer Wondery Inc. Wondery will become part of Amazon Music, which began offering podcasts in September in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan.

This is the first issue of our new weekly feature covering the latest technology developments in the Asia-Pacific region, spotlighting exclusive insights from news and research within S&P Global Market Intelligence. The weekly Asia-Pacific tech roundup has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time and is published every Friday.