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Alibaba buys Kaola; Axiata, Telenor scrap merger; Rakuten Mobile delays launch

TOP NEWS

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is buying NetEase Inc.'s import online shopping platform Kaola for approximately US$2 billion. Following the transaction, Kaola will continue to run as an independent brand. Alibaba also agreed to invest US$700 million in NetEase Cloud Music alongside Yunfeng Financial Group Ltd. NetEase will continue to be the controlling shareholder of the music streaming app following the deal.

* Axiata Group Bhd. and Telenor ASA agreed to end talks regarding a non-cash merger of their Asian telecom and infrastructure assets due to deal "complexities." The companies did not rule out a potential transaction in the future.

* Rakuten Inc. is delaying the full launch of its mobile services to April 2020 from the planned October rollout, as the company still needs to install more network base stations, The Japan Times reported. Rakuten Mobile Inc. now plans to offer voice and data services free of charge to 5,000 customers from Oct. 1 until March 2020 before rolling out its full network service.

JAPAN

* SoftBank Corp. is ending its mobile plan system that locks customers into two-year contracts in exchange for monthly discounts. The company will be the first major Japanese carrier to scrap the practice of imposing penalty charges for early contract cancellation.

* NTT DATA Corp. is launching trials of its pipitLINQ digital bank account service, which uses robotic processing automation, with seven regional government offices and 13 financial institutions in Tokyo.

SOUTH KOREA

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will make QLED televisions, or LCD TVs that use quantum dot technology to enhance performance in key picture quality areas, a major focus after the company sold over 2 million QLED TVs in the first half of 2019, a more than two-fold increase from the year-ago period, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

* LG Electronics Inc. will invest to expand its built-in home appliance business, with a goal to become one of the top players in the domain globally by 2023, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. The company will also fortify the connectivity of different gadgets using artificial intelligence and internet of things technologies in a bid to get ahead in the smart home market.

GREATER CHINA (MAINLAND CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN MARKETS)

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. introduced Kirin 990, a new 5G processor for its mobile devices, CNBC reported. The processor will power the Chinese company's upcoming Mate 30 flagship smartphone, which will be released later this month. The development signals Huawei's stance to lessen dependence on U.S. chipmakers such as Qualcomm Inc. amid the ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.

* Huawei Consumer Business CEO Richard Yu said the company's upcoming P40 smartphone, which is expected to hit the market in March 2020, might use its in-house operating system HarmonyOS if Google LLC's Android services are still not accessible to Huawei during that period, IThome reported.

* Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon said the company is still waiting to hear from the U.S. Commerce Department regarding its license to sell technology to Huawei, a Chinese company which has been placed on a U.S. entity list, CNBC reported. Amon said he is optimistic that the uncertainty surrounding Huawei will be resolved soon.

* Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd. denied a merger of its short video apps Huoshan and Douyin, according to 36Kr. The denial comes after LatePost reported that the two apps will be merged to compete with Kuaishou, a rival short video app backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

* China's National Radio and Television Administration is considering capping the number of episodes for local drama series to 40 following the pay cuts for TV and movie actors, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

* Beijing-based Wanda Sports Group Co. Ltd. appointed Yimin Gao president and CEO of Wanda Sports China. Gao succeeds Dongwei Yang, who resigned from his role due to personal reasons. Previously, Gao was CEO of Wanda KIDSPLACE, an operator of children's early-education centers and playgrounds in China.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is considering dropping a clause from its draft intermediary guidelines for companies, requiring them to develop automated tools to actively monitor content on platforms such as Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and WhatsApp Inc., The Economic Times (India) reported. A senior government official said the final rules could instead order social media platforms to develop mechanisms using artificial intelligence to find and take down accounts that post illegal or inflammatory content.

* The Indian government may infuse funds into struggling state-owned mobile operators BSNL and MTNL, with the cabinet to decide on their 4G spectrum allocation this month, The Economic Times (India) reported, citing IANS.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* Google Cloud's data center in Indonesia is expected to be completed by mid-2020, IndoTelko reported. The Indonesian Minister of Communication and Informatics expects the data center to help attract more foreign investment in the country.

* PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk launched an embedded SIM, a technology that allows customers to activate their cellular plans without having to use a physical SIM card, Liputan6 reported.

* Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is preparing to propose alterations to a plan to change the country's fixed line telephone number format to 10 digits from nine digits, Prachachat reported. The regulator plans to inform the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society that state-run telco TOT PCL is unable to meet its January 2021 deadline to upgrade its fixed line telephone system due to budget constraints.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* QMS Media Ltd. completed its acquisition of TLA Worldwide (Aust) Pty. Ltd. and TLA-ESP Ltd. (U.K.). The expanded entity will see TLA CEO Craig Kelly become QMS Sport Australia's new chief executive. Meanwhile, QMS expects to complete its purchase of Stride Sports Management Holdings Pty. Ltd. within this week.

FEATURED NEWS

Data Dispatch: Warner Bros. hopes it can float on 'It: Chapter Two': Warner Bros.' film studio is looking for a win after a bloody 2019, and it looks like horror blockbuster "It: Chapter Two" will put some stitches on the wound.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Technology: Global streaming media device sales forecast to flatten in 5-year outlook: Streaming media player and stick shipments grew 10.3% to an estimated 65.8 million in 2018, but increasing saturation in North America and competition from smart TVs are expected to cut into demand.

Joji Sakurai, Hyegyu Park, Frances Wang, Kevin Osmond and Patrick Tibke contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later