technology | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

09/05/2013

* Nokia Unveils $99 Asha Smartphone

WSJ: “Nokia Corp., NOK1V.HE +0.30% struggling to regain ground in the competitive smartphone market, unveiled a $99 touch-screen smartphone for India and other emerging markets to help drive sales.

At a product launch event in New Delhi Thursday, Nokia said its Asha 501 will run on the new Asha platform.

The Finnish handset maker said the smartphone will initially run on a second-generation network, but it plans to expand the device for faster 3G services.

Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop at a news conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the smartphone was built on the design inspired by the company’s higher-end Lumia smartphone and is targeted at “young, socially inspired” people.

The smartphone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, weighs 98 grams and has a memory capacity of 4 gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes. It comes in different colors including red, green, yellow and white, the company said in a statement.

Nokia, once the world’s largest phone maker, has struggled to compete in the high-end smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc. AAPL +1.12% and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +1.81% Adding to its woes is stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers as well as other low-cost Indian phone makers such as Micromax Informatics Ltd.

Up until last year, the Finnish mobile company’s last stronghold was India, but it is seeing increasing threat from Samsung in the country.

Nokia held a 26% share of the 170 million handsets shipped to India in 2012, with Samsung following closely behind with 22% of the market, data from Singapore-based mobile research firm Canalys shows.

In the fourth quarter, Nokia ranked second globally with 18% of the market, down from 23.4% a year earlier. Samsung ranked first with 22.7% and Apple Inc.’s market share rose to 9.2%.

Despite losing share to Samsung, Nokia’s handset sales improved due to strong demand for its Asha series and Lumia Windows phones, market research firm Gartner said.”

via Nokia Unveils $99 Asha Smartphone – WSJ.com.

Posted in Digital communications, Economics, India alert, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apple, Asha, gadgets, India, informatics ltd, mobile, Mobile World Congress, Nokia, Samsung, samsung electronics co, stephen elop, technology, Windows Phone

06/05/2013

* Chinese buyers lured by local goods

China Daily: “Foreign brands no longer top choice for Chinese customers, says survey

Buyers lured by local goods

Chinese customers are no longer swayed by the lure of foreign brands and would instead prefer to buy more brands that are made in China, a survey said.

According to the 2013 China customers’ loyalty study conducted by marketing research firm Epsilon, six out of the 10 Chinese respondents endorsed foreign brands. However, there is a growing preference to buy products that are made in China. Local-brand supporters have grown to 43 percent from 31 percent in 2011, the report said.

Such trends are already visible in the Chinese fashion industry. In March, China’s first lady Peng Liyuan sparked off a craze for Chinese brands after dressing up in Chinese-made apparel for diplomatic visits.

Her elegant dressing code was dubbed by netizens as “Liyuan style”. Analysts argued that Peng’s support for domestic labels had stirred interest in local products and also helped attach a new, sophisticated image to Chinese-made clothes.

“Since local brands started to improve quality, establish appeal and step up their sophistication, they have garnered a bigger share from Chinese shoppers,” said Viven Deng, client services director of Epsilon China.

Chinese brands have started to win hearts not only from buyers pursuing extensive product features, but also from picky local consumers who previously stuck to foreign labels, she added.

Qi Lulu, a Beijing college student, who used to be a customer of leading international clothing brands such as Burberry and Polo Ralph Lauren, said she now focuses more on local brands.

“I buy dresses online, and I have found some domestic brands that have exquisite taste,” the 22-year-old woman said. Recently, Qi fell in love with a Beijing brand called Liebo, which featured traditional Chinese flavors and colorful patterns.

Self-branded products from other industries, such as cars and consumer electronics, are also growing in popularity. More Chinese people said they would support Chinese-made cars, especially after the Diaoyu Island dispute between China and Japan. Currently, Japan is still the major car vendor in the Chinese car market.

With a more than 1.1 billion mobile population in hand, China has grown into the world’s biggest smartphone market. The country manufactured the most number of smart devices, 224 million units, across the world last year.

Four out of the top five smartphone vendors in the Chinese market are domestic brands, with the South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co the only international player in the list.

Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp even successfully ranked as the world’s third and fifth smartphone manufacturer in the fourth quarter last year, according to research firm IDC Corp.”

via Buyers lured by local goods[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Chinese labels, Consumer, Economics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: advertising, Apple, Beijing, Business, China, Chinese people, internet, Made in China, Peng Liyuan, technology

30/04/2013

* Samsung Galaxy S4 lands on Bangalore, hundreds get in line

reutrs: ““I’m very excited. I’ve been waiting a couple of hours; I couldn’t get any sleep last night,” said Arif, an employee of UK retailer Tesco. He was near the front of the line of hundreds of people to line up at the UB City Mall in Bangalore to buy the new Galaxy S4 smartphone.

The phone went on sale at the Samsung store on Saturday, and Arif waited for about two hours for the privilege of spending 41,500 rupees, or about $763, on the new model, which comes with a 5-inch screen and 13-megapixel camera, and runs on Google’s Android platform.

Samsung is trying to increase its lead over Apple, a possibility for the South Korean company, considering the preference of many Indian shoppers for a good discount over products priced at the top of the line compared to their competitors. Both companies are now handing out discounts on some of their older models. The S4 also is competing with other phones on sale in India such as the HTC One and the BlackBerry Z10, not to mention Apple’s iPhone 5 — its primary rival.

Manu Sharma, Samsung India’s director for its mobile business, said Samsung is looking forward to selling more Galaxy S4s than previous phones in the line. The S3 has sold more than 50 million units since its launch last year, the Wall Street Journal reported in March.

Sharma also promised that there would be no supply problems that forced it to begin selling the S4 later than planned in the United States. The S4 is going on sale in the United States on Saturday as well, and warned that supply problems might strike there. Its reason for this? Better-than-expected demand, of course.

In Bangalore, crowd control was more of a problem than availability. People waited impatiently in a queue that snaked past a near-empty Apple Imagine store. Some people tried to shove and jump the queue, while some got into arguments with store guards who were trying to maintain order. For technology fans in India’s IT capital, arguing that it’s “just a phone” probably wouldn’t make much of an impression anyway.”

via Samsung Galaxy S4 lands on Bangalore, hundreds get in line | India Insight.

Posted in Affluence, Digital communications, Economics, India alert, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apple, BlackBerry Z10, gadgets, India, IPhone, iphone 5, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy S4, technology

25/04/2013

* China Unicom 1Q Net Jumps 89% on 3G, Fixed-Line Broadband Growth

WSJ: “China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. 0762.HK -0.18% said Thursday net profit surged 89% in the first quarter from a year earlier as its third-generation mobile communications network and fixed-line broadband businesses continued their rapid growth.

China Unicom (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chinese telecommunications carriers are scrambling to ramp up their networks to accommodate the rapid increase in data traffic in the world’s largest mobile market, as more people replace their basic cellphones with smartphones. China has already overtaken the U.S. as the world’s biggest smartphone market.

Fierce competition between China Unicom and its rivals China Telecom Corp. CHA +1.75% and China Mobile Ltd. 0941.HK +1.21% has led to increasing costs, as carriers spend more on building networks and subsidizing handsets to attract more valuable subscribers who pay for speedier wireless services. In the latest quarter, China Unicom said revenue growth outpaced that of costs.

China Unicom, the country’s second-largest mobile operator by subscribers after China Mobile, said net profit was 1.90 billion yuan ($308 million) in the period ended March 31, up from 1.01 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose 15% to 70.6 billion yuan from 61.19 billion yuan a year earlier.

China Unicom, the first of China’s carriers to offer Apple Inc.’s AAPL -0.16% iPhone, has seen profitability rise on its efforts to offer high-end smartphones and attract users with more expensive cellphone plans. Still, the increasing popularity of low-cost smartphones has led to falling average revenue per user—a key metric of telecom carriers’ health. First-quarter average revenue per user for its 3G business fell to 78.2 yuan from 93.9 yuan in the same period last year.

Subsidies for 3G phones rose to 2.23 billion yuan in the quarter from 1.98 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Major local carriers are also preparing to launch faster fourth-generation networks. Capital expenditure for network infrastructure and subsidies for smartphones continue to put pressure on major local carriers, even though smartphone users are boosting their data communications revenue.”

via China Unicom 1Q Net Jumps 89% on 3G, Fixed-Line Broadband Growth – WSJ.com.

Posted in China alert, Digital communications, Economics, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apple, China, China Mobile, China Telecom, china telecom corp, China Unicom, chinese telecommunications, IPhone, technology, telecom carriers

05/03/2013

* China Internet Executives Get a Seat at the Table in Beijing

WSJ: “Between questions of censorship, laws that require complicated listings in U.S. markets, and fierce and often public confrontations between companies, China’s Internet industry has always had an uncomfortable relationship with the government.

So it’s no small thing that this year, for the first time, the government took special steps to ensure more representatives from the industry could join China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, and its advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

According to two people who were part of the consultation process to choose delegates, the change primarily reflects the government’s recognition that leaders of the relatively new industry can be counted among China’s most important business leaders. In August, the United Front Work Department, the branch of the party in charge of bringing in useful people who are not party members to cooperate with the party, held a meeting attended by representatives from about 20 of China’s most important Internet companies, according to a person who attended. At the meeting, the representatives were asked about issues facing the industry, what leaders they thought should be nominated and also what other people should be consulted, according to the person.”

via China Internet Executives Get a Seat at the Table in Beijing – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Internet, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, internet, National People's Congress, politics, technology, United Front Work Department, Wen Jiabao

02/03/2013

* China targets 15 pc of satellite launch market

SCMP: “China is looking to increase its share of the global commercial satellite launching business, targeting a 15 per cent share by 2020.

China has just 3 per cent of the market now, but the goal laid out on Saturday by a leading space programme official points to its ambitions to be a major player in space.

The deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Liang Xiaohong, told the official Xinhua News Agency that China hopes to accomplish that by establishing strategic alliances with major launch services providers and satellite manufacturers, along with developing its own technology.

China’s main competition in the launch market comes from Europe and the US

Liang said China’s first solid-fuel rocket that could be launched on short notice would make its first flight by 2016.”

via China targets 15 pc of satellite launch market | South China Morning Post.

Posted in Aerospace, China alert, Economics, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: aviation, China, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Satellite, science, Solid-fuel rocket, Strategic alliance, technology

27/02/2013

* Apple Acts to Crack India Market for iPhone

WSJ: “Apple Inc. is overhauling its iPhone operations in the crucial Indian market, attempting to chip away at Samsung Electronics Co.’s dominance by adjusting to the country’s retailing rules and convoluted distribution process.

But the Cupertino, Calif., company still has a long way to go.

That’s no small matter as Apple’s growth slows in the U.S. and other mature markets. India is poised to become the world’s third-largest smartphone market this year, behind China and the U.S., according to Strategy Analytics.

Apple doesn’t have any of its own retail outlets in India and relies on distributors and resellers, such as this Croma store in Mumbai.

Apple is sidestepping wireless carriers to seize greater control over marketing in India and offering no-interest loans to lure lower-income consumers. The company has also boosted staff in India by 30% to 170 employees in the past six months. And it is ramping up the introduction of other products, with the Apple TV video-streaming gadget expected to reach stores in coming weeks, people familiar with the matter say.

The result is that Apple shipped more than 252,000 iPhones to India in the quarter through December, more than triple the number in the previous three months, according to research firm Canalys.

Yet Apple accounts for just 5% smartphone shipments to India, compared with 40% for market leader Samsung. The South Korean company surged ahead by making India a high-priority market earlier than Apple did and offering a range of phones based on Google Inc.’s Android software that start at just over $100. An older generation iPhone sells for around $500 while the latest model starts at nearly $850.”

via Apple Acts to Crack India Market for iPhone – WSJ.com.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: android, Apple, gadgets, Google, google inc, India, IPhone, Samsung, samsung electronics co, south korean company, technology

18/02/2013

* Outsourcers turn to China to plug India’s skills gap

The Times: “India is running out of the skilled engineers needed to man its giant software industry, forcing companies to hire staff overseas, especially from China, one of the industry’s pioneers has warned.

An Indian employee at a call centre provides service support to international customers

Kris Gopalakrishnan, the co-founder and executive chairman of Infosys, said that the outsourcing sector was facing a manpower shortage. India, he said, was not producing enough properly trained engineering graduates to meet expanding global demand for its services.

The country may have a population of more than 1.2 billion people, but the dearth of trained graduates is driving up salaries in its IT industry by 15 per cent a year. That, in turn, is eroding the sub-continent’s global competitiveness and forcing companies such as Infosys, Tata Consulting Services and Wipro to invest in finding foreign workers.

“A lot of the tertiary education in India is done by private colleges and there are significant quality issues there,” Mr Gopalakrishnan said.

India produces about 700,000 engineering graduates every year, but of these only about 25 per cent are sufficiently well trained to be considered for a job in IT, Mr Gopalakrishnan said.

Infosys — whose customers include BP, GlaxoSmithKline and Tesco — was planning to treble its workforce in China from 3,500 to more than 10,000 to help cope with constraints at home, where most of its 155,000 staff work.

“Apart from China, there are not many countries in the world where we can recruit large enough numbers,” Mr Gopalakrishnan added. Infosys, which generated revenues of $7 billion last year, already operates large software development and outsourcing operations in Shanghai, Dalian, Beijing, Hangzhou and Jiaxing. The wages in China are higher than in India but are rising at a more modest pace of about 10 per cent annually.

Infosys has also been expanding its overseas presence in other low-cost countries, such as the Philippines, and has explored opportunities in Egypt.

In expanding fields such as data analytics, there are only about 50,000 engineers in India with the right programming skills. Demand is at least five times that number, according to Heidrick & Struggles, a recruitment company.

India’s software and outsourcing industry employs about three million people directly, an increase of 188,000 from a year ago. It generated $75.8 billion in exports in 2012-13, making it India’s largest single export industry, and is continuing to grow at more than 10 per cent a year even as India’s overall rate of economic growth has nearly halved over the past three years, to just over 5 per cent.

Mr Gopalakrishnan said that as well as hiring overseas, Infosys was trying to improve the quality of education in India by funding teacher training programmes at 350 engineering colleges. The group has also built a private campus in the southern city of Mysore capable of training 14,000 students.

“We will have to continue to invest heavily in education and training,” he said.”

via Outsourcers turn to China to plug India’s skills gap | The Times.

India’s Infosys to fire up to 5,000 workers: media (scooprocket.com)
Wipro More Cautious on 2013 Than TCS and Infosys (beta.fool.com)
2013 to be a better year for IT sector: Infosys (rediff.com)
Infosys Profit Beats Estimates on Bank, Manufacturer Outsourcing – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
Infosys denies report of plans to fire 5,000 underperforming staff (itpro.co.uk)
More IT jobs in 2013: Infosys (news.in.msn.com)

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Digital communications, economic inter-dependence, Economics, higher education, India alert, IT, labour shortage, Outsourcing | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Business, China, economy, GlaxoSmithKline, global competitiveness, Gopalakrishnan, India, Information technology, Infosys, Kris Gopalakrishnan, manpower shortage, software, technology, Wipro

07/02/2013

* NTPC Share Sale Oversubscribed

WSJ: “The Indian government sold 9.5% of power producer NTPC Ltd. on Thursday, which will raise around 114 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) as it seeks to plug its fiscal deficit by selling stakes in state companies.

The NTPC sale followed the successful auction Friday of a 10% stake in oil producer Oil India Ltd. The government raised more than 31 billion rupees in that sale, which attracted strong demand from foreign investors.”

via NTPC Share Sale Oversubscribed – WSJ.com.

Posted in Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bombay Stock Exchange, Business, economy, India, Morgan Stanley, National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC, Oil India, technology

27/01/2013

* China’s mobile phone users reach 1.11 billion

China Daily: “The number of Chinese mobile phone users reached 1.11 billion as of the end of 2012, according to official data unveiled Thursday.

China's mobile phone users reach 1.11 billion

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement that mobile phone users represent 80 percent of all phones users in the country.

A farmer in Huojiatai village, Yongdeng county, Northwest China’s Gansu province, receives a text message on his phone from the local agricultural technician about growing vegetables, Jan 22, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

The number of mobile phones owned by every 100 people reached 82.6 by the end of 2012, up by nine from a year earlier, according to the statement.

Last year, the country recorded 125.9 million new mobile phone users, among whom 104.38 million were 3G mobile phone users, bringing the total number of 3G users to 232.8 million, the MIIT said.

The ministry said the number of Internet users rose by 51 million to 564 million people, among whom 74.5 percent, or 420 million people, surf the Internet with their mobile phones.

The Internet penetration rate reached 42.1 percent by the end of last year, up 3.8 percentage points from a year earlier.”

via China’s mobile phone users reach 1.11 billion |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn.

MIIT Shares China’s October Numbers: Internet Gets More Mobile, Land Line Phones Dying (techinasia.com)
Research and Markets: Mobile Phones in Asia-Pacific (sys-con.com)

Posted in China alert, Digital communications, Economics, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Internaut, MIIT, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, mobile, Mobile phone, mobile phone users, number of internet users, technology

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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