trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/ezkfzagd7gcs3rvkp0aklw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Amazon, HBO strike Japan license deal; SK Telecom to launch streaming service

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Volume of Investment Research Reports on Inflation Increased in Q4 2021

Blog

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

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future


Amazon, HBO strike Japan license deal; SK Telecom to launch streaming service

TOP NEWS

* Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video in Japan reached a deal with Home Box Office Inc. to offer roughly 50 original series such as "Game of Thrones," "Westworld" and "Silicon Valley" on its streaming service from April 1, Variety reports. The shows will be available six months after their linear debut in Japan on Tohokushinsha Film Corp.'s Star Channel. HBO previously had an exclusive deal with Hulu LLC's Japanese unit for some premium series.

* SK Telecom Co. Ltd. is partnering with South Korean entertainment labels S.M. Entertainment Co. Ltd., JYP Entertainment Corp. and BigHit Entertainment Co. Ltd. to launch a music streaming service. The entertainment labels take up about 15% of the entire South Korean digital music market and over half of the CD market, according to The Korea Herald.

* Netflix Inc. entered into an anime co-production deal with anime studio Bones Inc., and Production I.G Inc. and its sister studio Wit Studio, both of which are Japanese studios under the IG Port Inc. umbrella, Anime News Network reports, citing Anime! Anime! Biz. The co-produced anime episodes will be streamed in 190 countries.

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which raised its revenue guidance for fiscal 2018 to a range of 55% to 56%, agreed to acquire a 33% equity stake in Ant Financial Services Group. In return for the newly issued equity in Ant Financial, a payments company that operates Alipay, Alibaba will provide "certain intellectual property rights owned by Alibaba exclusively related to Ant Financial." In a joint statement, the two companies said there would be no cash impact to Alibaba after the acquisition closes.

PAN-ASIAN NEWS

* Monster Worldwide Inc. agreed to sell its Asia-Pacific business to increase focus on its North America and Europe businesses. The company said Jan. 31 that it is selling its business in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East to Quess Corp Ltd., an integrated business services provider in India. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JAPAN

* Nintendo Co. Ltd. announced a partnership with U.S. studio Illumination Entertainment to create an animated movie starring the Mario character from the game title "Super Mario Bros." The release date was not announced. The Japanese gaming company is also bringing "Mario Kart" to smartphones, with the mobile app due to be released in the fiscal year ending in March 2019. Nintendo raised its operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March to ¥160 billion from ¥120 billion on the back of strong sales of its Switch game console. Nintendo projected Switch sales of 15 million units for the year, increasing its previous forecast by 1 million units.

* Hitachi Ltd., Fanuc Corp., an industrial robot and automation company, and AI startup Preferred Networks Inc. announced they will launch a joint venture to develop AI and edge computing technologies for manufacturing systems. Intelligent Edge Systems LLC will be capitalized at ¥30 million.

* NTT Communications Corp., the ICT solutions arm of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., announced it bought remaining shares in RagingWire Data Centers Inc. to take full ownership of the U.S. data center provider. NTT Com acquired an 80% stake in RagingWire in 2014.

SOUTH KOREA

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. confirmed that it started manufacturing application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, chips for cryptocurrency mining based on a foundry contract with a Chinese mining hardware company, IT Chosun reports. The Samsung Group unit declined to disclose more details of the client.

* LG Uplus Corp. posted consolidated total revenue of 12.28 trillion South Korean won and operating income of 826.3 billion won for the full year of 2017, up 7.2% and 10.7% year over year, respectively, underpinned by stable growth in both wired and wireless businesses. The telco plans to continue the momentum by focusing on IPTV, the internet of things, artificial intelligence and 5G businesses this year.

CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* China's DeZerlin Media Co. Ltd. and U.K.-based Zycon Media are teaming up to co-finance and produce a slate of films and TV animation, which includes 10 feature films and 10 TV shows that will be made over a period of 8 years, Variety reports. Entire production value is estimated to be US$160 million.

* Tencent Holdings Ltd. suspended the public testing of its new product Tencent Credit, a personal credit monitoring service, Caixin reports. The order came from China's central bank, which also ordered Tencent to halt its loan products.

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will open its first Taiwan flagship store in April in Taipei, China Times reports. The store will sell all Huawei products, including smartphones, wearable devices and notebooks.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated 100 billion Indian rupees in 2018 to 2019 for the "creation and augmentation of Telecom infrastructure" when he presented India's general budget for 2018 to 2019 before the Parliament. He also doubled the budget on the Digital India program to 30.73 billion Indian rupees for 2018 to 2019. The Indian government is aiming to provide 50 million rural citizens with net connectivity, in an effort to expand broadband access in villages across the country. The minister also said that the National Institution for Transforming India will create a national program focusing on artificial intelligence.

* India's Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal is directing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to "take appropriate action" against Reliance Jio for violating tariff reporting rules, The Economic Times (India) reports, citing an order from Justice Shiva Kirti Singh, chairperson of the tribunal.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* Uber Technologies Inc. plans to expand its business in Japan and Singapore despite speculation on its withdrawal from the Asian region, Today Online reports. Uber is looking to partner with local taxi company in Japan and is also trying to gain more market share in Singapore.

* GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd., a Southeast Asian ride-hailing platform, partnered with Samsung Electronics to develop technology solutions for ride-hailing industry and mobile payment. The multiyear agreement will include the development of micro-financing scheme for drivers, customer booking experiences, and new mobility solutions.

* PT Mitra Komunikasi Nusantara Tbk plans to issue 2 billion shares through a limited public offering in the third quarter of 2018, Industry reports. The company aims to raise up to 1.2 trillion Indonesian rupiahs and plan to use thee proceed to increase its operating capital.

* A new system of compulsory biometric ID checks for new SIM card buyers was launched nationwide in Thailand on Feb 1., Prachachat reports. All buyers of new prepaid and postpaid SIM packages, including foreign nationals, must now undergo facial or fingerprint recognition scanning before purchasing.

* Samart Corp. Public Co. Ltd. said it aims to generate 20 billion Thai baht in revenue in 2018 by restructuring from a holding company to an operating company, Prachachat reports. Samart will focus on three main revenue streams in 2018: ICT solutions, air traffic control services and Samart digital business products.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Telstra Corp. Ltd. is considering a relocation of its digital business support services to Indonesia from India, The Australian reports, citing chief executive Andy Penn. The telco is aiming to build momentum in telkomtelstra, its joint venture with Telkom Indonesia in the Southeast Asian country, a move that could mean the creation of several hundred new jobs in Indonesia.

* Qatar-based beIN Media Group LLC's beIN Sports signed a long-term deal with Tennis Australia that expands their broadcast relationship until 2024. The deal includes extensive coverage of the Australian Open, lead-in tournaments, AO qualifying and the Laver Cup, which will be broadcast across the Middle East and North Africa region.

* Fox Sports Australia Pty. Ltd. will be broadcasting the first season of Football Federation Australia's e-League on its platforms. Rounds 1 to 9 of the e-League, starting Feb. 15, will be streamed live on foxsports.com.au, while the 2018 e-League grand final will be aired live on Fox Sports channel and livestreamed on foxsports.com.au. Fans can also watch e-League events through Twitch Interactive Inc.'s streaming platform Twitch.

* Singtel Optus Pty. Ltd. will start rolling out a 5G fixed network in early 2019 after successfully achieving speeds 15 times faster than current technologies in trials, with the most recent one an outdoor trial for 5G New Radio that will be presented at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, including tests of the Australian telco's mobile network, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

FEATURED NEWS

Samsung agreement helps Qualcomm ease one dispute, but Apple battle lingers: A new agreement with Samsung Electronics could help Qualcomm ease some of its regulatory and legal scrutiny, but the company remains locked in a long-running dispute with Apple.

Vodafone CEO: India merger will go smoother than Australian JV: British mobile operator Vodafone Group moved to reassure investors that its Indian merger would succeed where its Australian tie-up in 2009 with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa disappointed.

Washington Watch: Lawmakers debate nationalized 5G, broadband expansion at House hearingFEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of TV & Film: Family-friendly films rule February video release charts: Family-friendly films appear to be the order of the month when it comes to the DVD and Blu-ray home video releases for February. The top three films on the February video release report are all geared toward families with children.

Economics of Internet: Hulu content spend on significant upward path: Hitting 17 million subs from both the stand-alone SVOD service and Hulu Live TV, Hulu has shown substantial growth over the past year due in large part to its original series "The Handmaid's Tale."

Economics of Internet: Music channels surge to the top of the YouTube charts in 2017Joji Sakurai, Myungran Ha, 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.