TOP NEWS
* Baidu Inc. is preparing for a Chinese depository receipts issuance application, just days after Xiaomi Corp. won Hong Kong stock exchange approval for its US$10 billion IPO and filed for a listing on a mainland exchange, China Money Network reports. News of the listings comes after China's securities regulator adopted rules that will allow foreign-listed Chinese companies to raise funds in the domestic market, a move that will enable local investors to access U.S.-listed firms.
* Reliance Industries Ltd. will seek shareholders' approval to issue redeemable nonconvertible debentures at its July 5 annual general meeting. The Indian conglomerate plans to raise 200 billion Indian rupees, or US$3 billion, Bloomberg News reports. The news comes a month after it was reported that Reliance Jio was looking to receive 600 billion rupees from its parent company Reliance Industries to fund the launch of its broadband services.
* While Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. commands an estimated 60% of the fiercely contested cloud computing market in China, the e-commerce giant finds itself challenged by tech rival Tencent Holdings Ltd., largely due to the company's rapidly expanding gaming and video business.
JAPAN
* Mercari Inc. priced its initial public offering at ¥3,000, the top of the targeted range. The Tokyo-based peer-to-peer marketplace app plans to sell 43,554,800 shares in the offering, which could raise as much as ¥117.6 billion. Mercari is set to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market on June 19.
* KDDI Corp. invested an undisclosed sum in London-based internet of things device management platform provider Resin.io Ltd. The investment is being carried out by the Soracom IoT Fund Program, an investment program of KDDI Group. The project is anticipated to include business collaboration with KDDI unit Soracom.
* Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. and the Tokyo Institute of Technology co-developed an ultra-high-speed integrated circuit for wireless front-end that operates on a terahertz frequency band and succeeded in developing 100 gigabit per second wireless transmission data rate in the 300 GHz band.
* NTT Communications Co. Ltd. appointed NTT Korea President Takuya Enoshima director of planning for its global business. NTT Singapore's Hideaki Niikura will succeed Enoshima to lead the South Korean unit.
* NEC Corp. partnered with Tokyo-based research company Macromill Inc. to collaborate in the use of artificial intelligence for marketing, The Nikkei reports.
SOUTH KOREA
* SK Telecom Co. Ltd. invested 10 billion won in mobile video content startup MAKEUS Corp. The company plans to use the startup's expertise in content creation as it prepares to launch its new music streaming platform in the second half of 2018.
* KT Corp.'s satellite business arm KT Sat expects to launch a satellite service in North Korea. The company also has a goal to become the seventh-largest satellite operator in the world by 2025.
* Netflix Inc. General Counsel David Hyman will visit South Korea on June 21 to meet with officials from the Korea Communications Commission, Money Today reports. Hyman will reportedly review regulations in the country before the streaming giant makes a more aggressive rollout in South Korea.
CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN
* Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., known as Foxconn, launched an investigation into a Chinese plant that manufactures devices for Amazon.com Inc. following allegations by advocacy group China Labor Watch about harsh labor conditions at the factory, Reuters reported. The advocacy group's report claimed that workers at the Hengyang Foxconn plant were paid low wages, did not receive proper training, worked excessively long hours and that the factory relied too heavily on temporary workers.
* Xiaomi booked a net loss of 7 billion yuan, or US$1.1 billion, in the first quarter of the year, Bloomberg News reports. The Chinese smartphone maker revealed the figure as it prepares to persuade investors to buy into its upcoming Hong Kong IPO, pegged as the biggest listing in 2018.
* Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co. Ltd. is teaming up with Foxconn and its newly listed smart factory unit Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd. to jointly work in areas related to over-the-top streaming services, internet of things-enabled smart cities and 8K ultra high definition TVs.
* Baidu launched its third smart speaker this year, cutting the original price to 89 yuan from 249 yuan, in a bid to join the ongoing price war over smart speakers, The Paper reports.
INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA
* Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s Kenya unit ditched plans to merge with Telkom Kenya Ltd. due to "cold feet," an industry source told Reuters. The proposed merger reportedly broke down over a number of issues, including Airtel's refusal to commit in making significant future investments in the company.
* Eros International PLC appointed Rachin Khanijo as vice president of marketing for its digital platform Eros Now. According to Television Post, Khanijo has been in the media industry for more than 13 years and has worked for companies including Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., Viacom18 and AXN.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
* NFC Indonesia, a digital exchange platform, will launch an IPO in July. The company will offer up to 166,667,500 new shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange at an IPO price ranging between 1,500 rupiah and 2,000 rupiah per share, according to E27.
* The website of Indonesia's tax office has been hacked and is currently in recovery phase, Tempo reports. Hestu Yoga Saksama, PR director of the taxation directorate general, assured that taxpayers' data are safe as only the front page of the website was hacked.
* Tokyo-based information security provider LAC Co. Ltd. opened an office in Singapore to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia. LAC Singapore begins operations July 1.
* Malaysia-headquartered media tech company Circle International Holdings formed a partnership with Chinese payment gateway provider Lakala to provide cross-border payments services between Malaysia and China, The Star reports.
* GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd.'s annual revenue has passed the US$1 billion mark, Deal Street Asia reports, citing Yicai. However, Grab President Ming Maa said the company has yet to be profitable.
* Thai TV stations True4U, Amarin TV and Channel 5 will broadcast the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening match live on June 14, Prachachat reports. Sixty of the 64 matches will be distributed evenly between the stations with the remaining four to be shown by all networks simultaneously.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* Bill Shorten, leader of Australia's Labor Party, said state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. will get its A$83 million funding cut reversed if the opposition wins the next election. According to The Australian, the cut from this year's budget comes on top of more than A$200 million worth of cuts in previous years.
FEATURED NEWS
Conference Chatter: E3 2018: Microsoft boosts gaming with new acquisitions, streaming initiatives: Microsoft did not announce new hardware at its Xbox E3 2018 briefing but did announce numerous new titles, studio acquisitions and streaming initiatives.
The Week Ahead: Net neutrality rules end as judge decides AT&T/Time Warner case: It is a big week for the media and communications sectors, as federal net neutrality protections end June 11 and then a U.S. district court judge decides June 12 whether to block or allow AT&T's proposed purchase of Time Warner.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Broadcast Investor: Kagan MediaTalk Podcast: TV's Summer Soccer Fever: Fox and Telemundo's World Cup coverage highlights soccer's global brand.
Nozomi Ibayashi, Myungran Ha, Emily Lai, Ed Eduard 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.
