trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/J6CRfePfoT8HbwQYJ2Fh2A2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Google's Pixel production; Apple in India; Amazon's GoJek investment

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 50: InfoSec spending up, again…

Blog

Broadcast deal market recap 2021

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Price wars in India: Disney+ Hotstar vs. Amazon Prime Video vs. Netflix


Google's Pixel production; Apple in India; Amazon's GoJek investment

TOP NEWS

* Alphabet Inc.'s Google LLC is moving its Pixel smartphone manufacturing to Vietnam from China starting this year amid rising labor costs in China and the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. The U.S. search giant started working with a partner this summer to convert an old Nokia Corp. factory in the northern Vietnamese province of Bac Ninh to manage the production of Pixel phones.

* Apple Inc. is set to start selling devices such as iPhone, iPads and Apple Mac computers online in India in the coming months, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person with the knowledge of the matter. The news came as India relaxes rules that compelled companies to source 30% of their products locally to include exports as part of the requirement.

* Amazon.com Inc. held preliminary investment discussions with Indonesian ride-hailing company PT GoJek Indonesia, The Wall Street Journal reported. The companies have contemplated an arrangement wherein Amazon would "make a sizable investment" in the company. However, the discussions do not guarantee that a deal will take place.

* Ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China should not have a significant impact on sales of Apple's newest iPhones but still pose a risk to the tech giant's long-term position in China, analysts said.

PAN-ASIAN NEWS

* PCCW Media Ltd.'s pan-regional over-the-top video service Viu teamed up with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.'s Warner Bros. International Television Production to produce the latest international adaptation of "Pretty Little Liars" in Asia. Localized in Bahasa and filmed in Bali, Indonesia, the series is expected to begin airing late this year.

* In other Viu news, the OTT platform and Singapore-based HBO Asia jointly announced their partnership in the second season of Viu Original's "The Bridge," which will begin shooting its second 10-episode season this year and will be simulcast on Viu and HBO Asia's channels and services in early 2020.

JAPAN

* French officials probing a global sports corruption case believe Athletics Management & Services, a Swiss partner of Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc., played a key role in deals used to embezzle sponsorship money, Reuters reported, citing a source and some documents. Authorities reportedly asked Switzerland to raid the company's office for evidence.

* Video game developer BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. formed a strategic alliance with U.S-based anime and manga distributor Crunchyroll Games LLC. Under the deal, Bandai plans to roll out browser games, allowing users across the U.S. to play "Naruto X Boruto Ninja Tribes" initially, followed by other games on Crunchyroll's platform.

* NEC Corp. inked a partnership with United Nations' World Food Programme that will allow the program to develop systems that can be used by WFP as well as other humanitarian agencies seeking safe and efficient food assistance. NEC will provide knowledge-based support to the WFP to improve its digital identity and beneficiary services management platform SCOPE.

SOUTH KOREA

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and SK Telecom Co. Ltd. conducted data transmission and livestreaming on a racing car running at the speeds of up to 213 kilometers per hour, using ultra-high frequency at 28 GHz spectrum, Yonhap News Agency reported. In the test, livestreaming speed reached up to 1Gbps, and handovers between base stations were conducted smoothly.

* In other Samsung news, the tech giant is set to launch premium tablet Galaxy Tab S6 in South Korea on Aug. 29, Newsis reported.

* South Korean food delivery startup Woowa Brothers Corp. rolled out a new webtoon platform called Manhwakyung, with 27 comic artists, ZDNet Korea reported. The platform takes on a comic magazine format, updating content biweekly.

CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* Chinese phone manufacturer Oppo entered a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to include the latter's artificial intelligence smart robot into OPPO's ColorOS, Jiemian reported. Following the link-up, users can control Microsoft's AI assistant Xiaobing through OPPO's Breeno assistant.

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s mobile internet business sector will invest 1 billion yuan this year to enhance content creation, Jiemian reported. The company has also pledged a viewership of two billion and 10 billion yuan of resources for the project.

* Taiwan-based Advantech Co. Ltd. will collaborate with Japan-based Internet Initiative Japan Inc. in an effort to promote WISE-PaaS, an Advantech-developed internet of things software platform, in Japan, DIGITIMES reported.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* The planned merger of Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s Kenyan unit with Telkom Kenya Ltd. has been suspended by the Communications Authority of Kenya in the wake of an ongoing investigation by the anti-corruption watchdog into how the deal was brokered, Business Daily reported. A separate investigation is also underway to determine the circumstances under which the Treasury ceded further ownership of Telkom Kenya to French telco Orange SA.

* Tiger Global Management LLC is in advanced discussions to invest in three Indian startups, The Times of India reported, citing two people aware of the matter. MyGate, formally known as Vivish Technologies Pvt. Ltd., is set to receive a US$50 million investment. Tiger Global is also expected to inject less than US$10 million into each of Infra.Market and UrbanPiper Technology Pvt. Ltd.

* The Competition Commission of India is considering evaluating the country's media and broadcasting sector in a bid to ensure that competition concerns are identified and resolved swiftly, Reuters reported. The country's finance minister recently asked the antitrust watchdog to initiate more cases on its own to investigate antitrust practices and conduct market studies.

* Amazon Prime Video confirmed that it will launch its Indian youth reality show "Skulls and Roses" on Aug. 30, Rapid TV News reported. The Amazon original series, which will be available to stream across 200 countries and territories, will be hosted by Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd. will invest US$500 million in Vietnam over five years to expand its transport, food and payments networks in the South Asian country, the company announced Aug. 28.

* Thailand's Central Administrative Court has ordered state-owned telco TOT PCL to pay an interconnection fee of 201 million baht to Total Access Communication PCL, Kaohoon reported. The interest of 7.5% per annum also applies from the date on which the legal battle commenced.

* Thai telco Advanced Info Service PCL signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Finland-based Nokia Corp. and ZTE Corp. on 5G research and development in Thailand, Techoffside reported.

* Indonesian ride-hailing app GoJek partnered with healthy-lifestyle promoting company DOOgether to launch a new service called GoFitness, CNBC Indonesia reported. The service will allow users to reserve classes in sports studios in Jakarta and its neighboring areas.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Australia on Aug. 28 completed laying the A$137 million Coral Sea Cable, an undersea cable that will bring high-speed internet to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, Reuters reported. Australia agreed to fund the construction of the cable in 2018 in place of Huawei amid Canberra's fear that a deal with the Chinese company could potentially jeopardize the broadband network.

* Australia-based Pureprofile Ltd. announced that Nic Jones has resigned as the company's CEO and managing director. The role will be filled by Chairman Andrew Edwards, who will take over in an ongoing executive capacity. In addition, the company promoted former CFO Melinda Sheppard to the role of COO.

FEATURED NEWS

Data Dispatch Asia-Pacific: Vodafone Idea losing steam after 2018 merger as disruptive rival makes gains: India's newly merged telco Vodafone Idea Ltd. has gradually lost market share and revenue, while recent entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has seen rapid growth thanks to its aggressive pricing strategy.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Advertising: FOX's sports strategy results in telecast rating win in July: FOX's commitment to live sports resulted in a viewership win during the slow summer month of July. The broadcaster's coverage of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup finals and the 2019 MLB All-Star game were among the top telecasts for the month.

RECENT EARNINGS

ZTE ramps up 5G efforts, secures 25 commercial contracts globally: The Chinese telecom equipment provider reported a 13.12% year-over-year increase in first-half operating revenue.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Myungran Ha, Emily Lai, Ed Eduard and Wil Hathaway 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.