DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Google giggles at China tech’s shrinking act
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - As an $18 trillion economy home to 1.4 billion people, China is a natural font of statistical superlatives. The country’s internet giants, however, are dwarfed by American colossi like the $1.3 trillion Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O). Access to cheap capital helped founders like Alibaba’s Jack Ma quickly diversify and build sprawling empires with global ambitions. Meanwhile, the top eight U.S. tech names, led by Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Alphabet, are worth $8 trillion today. The American tech giants already generate three times more revenue and nearly five times more free cash flow than their aspirant Chinese challengers, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.

☆ China's Meizu unveils first smartphones since deal with Geely founder
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A company run by Geely Chairman Eric Li took a majority stake in Meizu last year, making the Volvo owner the first established carmaker to enter the premium smartphone sector. He later named the company Xingji Meizu, with the brand as its smartphone arm. Other tech-auto partnerships in China include Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL), whose Harmony operating system powers Seres cars. Meizu, a two-decade-old Chinese consumer electronics company, rose to prominence early in the 1ast decade as an up-and-coming Chinese Android. ($1 = 6.8766 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Josh Horwitz, Zhang Yan and Brenda GohOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's revenue and profit slides
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI, March 24 (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) on Friday reported a record drop in fourth-quarter revenue as the company weathered a slowdown in consumption and disruptions due to China's COVID-19 curbs. Xiaomi's sales in the fourth quarter of 2022 reached 66.05 billion yuan ($9.6 billion), down 22.8% from 85.58 billion yuan a year earlier. Net income fell to 1.46 billion over the period, down 67.3% from 4.473 billion yuan a year earlier. The company's revenue for 2022 was 280.04 billion yuan, a drop of 14.7%, while net income came in at 8.52 billion yuan, down 61.4%. China's smartphone sales endured a record fall in 2022, down 14% to 287 million units, Canalys data shows.

☆ Wall Street says TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had a 'disaster' day in Congress — but the internet is loving him
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Reena Koh | Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Wall Street slammed Chew's testimony, dubbing it a "disaster moment" for TikTok. The video has over 1.2 million views, over 215,000 likes, and a range of comments expressing their approval for Chew. Two days before the Congressional hearing, TikTok's official account shared a rare video of Chew casually introducing himself to people. In the video, Chew gave context about the hearing and asked viewers to tell him what they enjoyed about the app.

☆ A key indicator says a recession is guaranteed in 2023 — and Bill Ackman, Nouriel Roubini, and others are warning of trouble ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

From the central bank's latest rate hike to new developments in the ongoing bank crisis, a lot has happened in my absence. And all the while, Jerome Powell's favorite bond-market indicator is quietly telling us that a recession is all but guaranteed this year. Talk of basis points, yield spreads, and other market jargon is obscuring the key message here: Markets think a recession is guaranteed in 2023. How much credence as a recession signal do you give the bond market indicator? He said the current bank crisis isn't a redux of that era, or even of 2008.

☆ Shou Zi Chew: Who is the TikTok CEO testifying before Congress?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMarch 23 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew has mostly kept a low profile since taking the job in 2021 but on Thursday he is testifying before U.S. lawmakers, many of them suspicious of the popular Chinese-owned social media app. Chew previously worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and investment firm DST, which was an early backer of ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok. TikTok pointedly said in a letter to lawmakers last year that Chew was not from China and that the company is independent of ByteDance. Chew, who is married and has two children, raised his public profile last year by creating his own TikTok account, @shou.time. Chew has told media that TikTok does not threaten U.S. interests.

☆ Softbank-owned Arm seeks to raise prices ahead of U.S. IPO - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Arm Ltd, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), is seeking to raise prices for its chip designs, as it aims to boost revenue ahead of an initial public offering in New York, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The British chip designer recently notified several of its customers of a "significant shift" to its business model, the newspaper said, citing several industry executives and former employees. Arm intends to alter its royalty program, ceasing to charge chipmakers royalties for using its designs based on a chip's value, and instead charge device makers based on the value of the device, the report said. As a result of this change, Arm anticipates generating multiple times more revenue for each design it sells, since the value of an average smartphone far exceeds that of a single chip. Reporting by Baranjot Kaur and Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Huawei touts camera on latest premium smartphone without 5G
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Huawei, also a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, has been the target of successive rounds of U.S. export controls since 2019. The company's former budget unit Honor claimed 18% of the market last year, with 30% annual growth, Canalys said. Huawei sold Honor to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers to keep it alive in late 2019. Huawei also launched the more premium P60 Pro and foldable Mate X3, with prices starting at 6,988 yuan and 12,999 yuan respectively. ($1 = 6.8230 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by David Kirton; editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

While Xiaomi remained focused on selling mobile phones under 10,000 rupees ($120), Indian consumers were willing to pay up for better looking models with richer features. According to Counterpoint, the market share of the sub-$120 phones in India fell to 26% in 2022 from 41% two years ago. And premium phones - priced above 30,000 ($360) - saw their share double to 11% in the same period. Xiaomi and Samsung both count India as a key growth market, with smartphones their top selling electronic device. And premium phones accounted for only 0%-1% of Xiaomi's total India phone shipments in the last two years, when Samsung's higher-end phones more than doubled their share to 13%, Counterpoint data showed.

"Pre-installed apps can be a weak security point and we want to ensure no foreign nations, including China, are exploiting it. India has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses since a 2020 border clash between the neighbours, banning more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. Currently, most smartphones come with pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted, such as Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's app store GetApps, Samsung's payment app Samsung Pay mini and iPhone maker Apple's browser Safari. While European Union regulations require allowing removal of pre-installed apps, it does not have a screening mechanism to check for compliance like India is considering. An industry executive said some pre-installed apps like the camera are critical to user experience and the government must make a distinction between these and non-essential ones when imposing screening rules.

☆ Chinese smartphone giants are making a high-end play against Apple and Samsung
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Huawei spin off Honor had one of the most prominent booths at Mobile World Congress in February 2023. It was right next to Samsung's stand in a sign that Honor is targeting the South Korean firm in the premium end of the smartphone market. Chinese smartphone makers are looking to push into the high-end device market to challenge the dominance of Apple and Samsung after one of the worst years for the market on record. Last month, Oppo, the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, launched its foldable smartphone called the Find N2 Flip which was priced at more than $1,000. Honor, a company spun off from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, then launched its $1,690 foldable smartphone called the Magic Vs.

☆ Morgan Stanley says this EV-adjacent stock can rally nearly 40% as adoption in China accelerates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Hesai can outshine peers with its laser imaging, detection and ranging technology for electric vehicles, Morgan Stanley said. Analyst Tim Hsiao rated the stock overweight with a price target of $26.50. Hsiao's price target implies an upside of 39.5% from Monday's close. "We think Hesai outshines peers, with its superior scale and margin, and its strong project pipeline." The company also has a strong project pipeline that includes partnerships with established automakers such as Li Auto and SAIC and newer entrants including Jidu and Xiaomi .

☆ Xiaomi Billionaire Leads New Fund to Boost China’s Chip Industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Dan Strumpf | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Xiaomi has managed to avoid U.S. sanctions and has been expanding aggressively overseas in recent years. HONG KONG—Smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp., founded by Chinese tech billionaire Lei Jun , has set up a fund to invest in China’s chip industry, the latest effort to shore up the sector targeted by U.S. restrictions. Xiaomi and software and cloud company Kingsoft Corp. are investors in the 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) fund, which is also backed by a handful of government-backed investors, according to a Kingsoft regulatory filing announcing the fund.

☆ At China political meeting, internet bosses are out, chip execs are in
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HARDWARE FOCUSNewcomers to the events include representatives from chip firms Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), state-backed Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd, Shandong Youyan Semiconductor Materials Co. in the NPC and Cambricon Techologies Corp in the CPPCC. Other new NPC delegates come from robotics, laser, aerospace and aeronautics firms. Delegates for the NPC and CPPCC are chosen every five years by the Communist Party and have the option to resign. Some celebrity CPPCC delegates did not reappear on this year's list, such as Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, film director Feng Xiaogang and state television anchor Bai Yansong. Yao Ming, a retired basketball star who heads the Chinese Basketball Association, has moved from the CPPCC to the NPC.

☆ China eases data security deadline pressure for multinational companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 1 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have eased some deadline pressure on multinational companies struggling to comply with new rules requiring them to seek approval to export user data, according to lawyers advising clients on the matter. In theory, global companies operating in China had until Wednesday, March 1 to submit extensive documentation that maps out their users' data flow as well as complete a security review and gain government approval. The rules were introduced in September by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to strengthen cyber and national security. The issue affects a wide range of global companies that need to share Chinese user data with overseas offices and how strictly data security is enforced in the future will determine how far businesses may have to go in "localising" their data. The CAC on Friday also issued separate data security rules that apply to organisations with smaller user bases.

☆ Chinese startup Realme launches $649 smartphone it says can be fully charged in just over 9 minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chinese smartphone upstart Realme has looked to push into international markets with its flagship phones. BARCELONA, Spain — Chinese smartphone maker Realme wants stand out in a crowded space of mid-tier devices. So on Tuesday, it launched a smartphone it claims can be fully charged in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The company took the wraps off of its GT3 smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the largest mobile trade show in the world. But the timing has been tough, with the global smartphone market in 2022 suffering its worst year since 2013 in terms of shipments.

☆ Chinese tech giant Xiaomi debuts prototype augmented reality glasses joining Microsoft and Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Xiaomi took the wraps off its Xiaomi AR Glass Discovery Edition at Mobile World Congress 2023. The concept glasses work on augmented reality technology. BARCELONA, Spain — Xiaomi on Monday took the wraps off a pair of prototype augmented reality glasses as the Chinese technology giant looks to sell more products beyond smartphones. Augmented reality refers to digital media that can be superimposed over the real world that a person sees in front of them. Apple hasn't officially acknowledged or launched any kind of virtual or augmented reality headset.

☆ Qualcomm, Android phone makers developing satellite messaging feature
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) on Monday said it was working with a group of Android smartphone companies to add satellite-based messaging capabilities to their devices. Satellite-based communications can send and receive data in remote or rural regions where other telecommunications networks are not available. Qualcomm did not say when the new satellite messaging features from the Android smartphone brands named on Monday would become available. Earlier this year, Qualcomm said that some Android phones would have the features by the second half of this year. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi takes aim at Samsung and Apple with latest $1,000 device
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Xiaomi is trying to push into the high end of the smartphone market with the Xiaomi 13 Pro. Xiaomi launched its flagship smartphone globally on Sunday as the Chinese electronics giant attempts to take a slice of the high-end market and challenge Apple and Samsung . The Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro were originally launched in China in December, but now the Beijing, China-headquartered company is bringing the devices to markets overseas. The Xiaomi 13 Pro device sports a 6.73-inch display and the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset from U.S. firm Qualcomm . The Xiaomi 13 starts at 999 euros ($1,053) while the 13 Pro starts at 1,299 euros.

BARCELONA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A clash between Big Tech and European Union telecoms firms over who will underwrite network infrastructure is set to dominate discussion at the world's largest telecoms conference this week. More than 80,000 people, including tech executives, innovators, and regulators, are set to descend on this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Thursday launched a 12-week consultation on its "fair share" proposals, under which Big Tech platforms would bear more of the costs of the systems which give them access to consumers. By contrast, Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) have been actively lobbying for Big Tech to pay the fees. "This discussion around 'fair share', or what we sometimes call the 'investment gap', is going to be a threshold question," said John Giusti, GSMA's chief regulatory officer.

☆ Chinese companies have rushed to fill the gap in Russia left by brands exiting from the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Chinese manufacturers were already popular in Russia before the war, accounting for approximately 40% of the smartphone market in December 2021. Tough times for consumersAlthough Chinese brands are reaping the rewards of the Western embargo, the Russian market is shrinking as its economy slumps. If the war in Ukraine ends, Apple and Samsung will likely rebuild operations in the country — and quickly recapture smartphone sales, Stryjak said. Even then, with the return of international brands, Chinese players could retain their foothold, particularly given how long it could take to rebuild supply chains. “Stating this a bit harshly, but the Russian brands and the Chinese brands are kind of stand-ins for the real players,” said Le at Sino Auto Insights.

☆ Is the iPhone's 'Made in India' era beginning as Apple breaks with China?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Apple was already making between 5% and 7% of its products in India. His comments come at a time when Foxconn (HNHPF), a top Apple supplier, is looking to expand its operations in India after suffering severe supply disruptions in China. For years, Apple had relied on a vast manufacturing network in China to mass produce iPhones, iPads and other popular products. China headaches mountBut the world’s most valuable company posted shockingly weak earnings this month, partly because of its recent problems in China. According to Counterpoint’s Pathak, India accounts for 16% of the global smartphone production, while China constitutes 70%.

☆ Chinese lidar maker Hesai to raise up to $171 million in U.S. IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

A lidar sensor from Hesai company on top of a vehicle in Shenzhen, China on Jul. China's Hesai Group on Friday announced plans to raise as much as $171 million in an initial public offering in the United States, according to a term sheet. The Shanghai-based lidar maker will offer up to 9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at between $17 and $19 apiece. To date, Hesai has raised over $500 million, according to the company's website. Hesai's IPO is the first major offering by a Chinese firm since the country scrapped most of its Covid curbs and reopened its borders.

☆ Xiaomi demands payout from supplier after car designs leaked
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi <1810.HK) said on Thursday it had imposed a 1 million yuan ($149,000) penalty on a supplier after it leaked early design drafts of an upcoming car model. Xiaomi did not disclose the name of the company and Reuters could not identify it. As punishment, the smartphone-turned-car maker said it would impose "economic compensation" of 1 million yuan ($148,763) on the supplier. The spokesperson added it had instructed the supplier to strengthen its information security management, and develop plans to upgrade its confidentiality measures. The company has said it hopes to reach mass production of its cars in the first half of 2024.

☆ Smartphone shipments plunge to a low not seen since 2013 — their largest ever decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Apple maintained its position as the world's largest smartphone maker by shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to IDC. Global smartphone shipments plunged in the fourth quarter of 2022 — usually a big holiday shopping period — thanks to macroeconomic weakness and soft consumer demand, according to market research firm IDC. The U.S. tech giant shipped 72.3 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, down 14.9% year on year, IDC said. Samsung, the second-largest smartphone player, saw shipments decline 15.6% year on year to 58.2 million units. That was the biggest decline among the top five smartphone players, which also include Chinese smartphone makers Oppo and Vivo.

Search resuls for: "XIAOMI"

25 mentions found