India's big tech valuations fall
SoftBank's Vision fund is ready to rumble again and looking at... AI (of course)
Hi folks,
I’m publishing a little late this week on account of the dramatic/promising weekend election result (well, preliminary result) here in Thailand that saw opposition parties crush the ruling party aligned with the junta/coup.
Politics aside, there’s plenty for you this week including a slew of valuation cuts among India’s biggest tech firms, SoftBank is ready to go again with its Vision Fund (it is, of course, said to be looking at AI), there’s concern again about doing business in China, and how Sea—once a Wall Street darling—turned a profit after making some drastic cuts to its sprawling business.
See you again next week,
Jon
Stories in focus
India’s big tech valuation crunch
It’s not a great time to be an established tech company in India right now as a myriad of valuation cuts have spooked investors, employees and others:
Invesco has cut its valuation of Swiggy by half to $5.5B link
That revaluation also caused shares of rival firm Zomato to plunge link
Meanwhile, Vanguard reduced ride-hailing giant Ola’s valuation by 35% to approximately $4.8B—Ola had previously been valued at $5.7B in a private funding round in January 2019. link
Finally, Pine Labs and PharmEasy face markdowns by Neuberger Berman link
Despite those drops, Byju’s—India’s highest-valued tech company and the world’s top-valued edtech—continues to be valued at $22B after securing $250M in fresh funding from New York-headquartered investment firm Davidson Kempner—it it said to be close to securing an additional $700M from a sovereign fund link
Xiaomi’s India star fading
India was once Xiaomi’s fastest growing market but now it is riddled with challenges, from plunging sales and frozen assets amid rising geopolitical tensions with China link
After a 41 percent plunge in its smartphone shipments in India last quarter, Xiaomi continues to face hurdles in what has become one of its biggest markets outside China amid geopolitical tensions that have resulted in heightened scrutiny of Chinese technology firms.
China rattles overseas consulting firms
The recent targeting of consulting and advisory firms with foreign ties through raids, detainments and arrests has reignited concerns about doing business in China. Executives, whether at midsize manufacturers or large corporations, are exploring how to reduce the threats to their businesses and protect their employees link
Case in point: China has targeted another global business consulting firm on national security grounds, launching an investigation of the Shanghai-based Capvision Partners as part of a broader crackdown on the industry link
How Sea got profitable from his Covid sick bed
In his first interview for two years, Sea founder Forrest Li explains how—while laid up with Covid—he devised a plan to cut costs and get his firm profitable, culling ambitious expansions across the world. It worked as Sea reported its first quarterly profit link
China v USA
As China and the United States jockey for tech primacy, wireless carriers in dozens of states are tearing out Chinese equipment. That has turned into a costly, difficult process. link
Leading Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies is going ahead with a listing in Shanghai that will fund major expansion, after receiving confirmation the chipmaking equipment it needs will not be subject to US export controls link
‘De-Americanize’: The New York Times looks at how China Is remaking Its chip business link
The US government is investigating whether Rockwell Automation, one of the world’s largest industrial technology and information companies, is exposing critical US infrastructure, military and other government assets to a potentially serious cyberattack through one of its China-based facilities link
China
A former executive at ByteDance has accused the company of a “culture of lawlessness,” including stealing content from rival platforms Snapchat and Instagram in its early years, and called the company a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party” link
Alibaba logistics arm Cainiao is reportedly aiming to raise up to $2B from a Hong Kong IPO link
Shein joins Chinese rival Temu in Dublin after opening a regional office as e-commerce firms seek refuge from political scrutiny link
China’s internet watchdog has launched a rare on-site inspection of Tencent-backed game streaming platform Douyu link
Binance.US is exploring ways to cut founder Changpeng Zhao’s majority stake to lessen the direct link link
Related: Binance exited Canada after citing regulatory tensions link
LinkedIn has phased out InCareer, its local jobs app in China link
Police in China have arrested a man for using ChatGPT to create and spread fake news link
ByteDance is laying the groundwork to launch its own publisher link
TikTok has delayed the rollout of its shopping platform in the U.S. as concerns over the video-sharing app’s future deter merchants from joining link (TikTok denies the report)
China’s SMIC says its profits halved in first quarter with ‘no sign’ of a full market recovery yet link
Profits fell by 53.1 per cent year on year to US$267 million during the March quarter, while revenue dropped 20.6 per cent
Phone giant Oppo has disbanded its chip design unit as its shipments continue to slump link
JD.com CEO Xu Lei steps down as e-commerce giant appoints former CFO Xu Ran as new leader link
India
India plans to reopen the application process for $10B in incentives and assistance intended to lure prospective chipmakers as projects already disclosed are taking time to get off the ground link
In a ‘reverse flip’, Razorpay parent entity plans to return to India from the US link
Apple’s top suppliers are on a hiring spree in India link
Disney’s Hotstar lost 8.4 million subscribers as JioCinema ascends link
JioCinema rolls out Premium Subscription Plan, offers exclusive HBO shows link
WhatsApp rolls out back-end fixes to address spam calls impacting Indian users link
Hyundai Motor to invest $2.45B in India by 2032 to boost EV ecosystem link
India's competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into Google after some companies alleged the service fee the firm charges for in-app payments breaches an earlier antitrust directive link
Southeast Asia
Vietnam may take a leaf from China and require social media users to verify their identity link
On the flip side, Rest of World reports on the Vietnamese military and its troll army which uses Facebook as a weapon link
WhatsApp now allows Singapore-based users to pay businesses within the app link
WhatsApp has built the feature using Stripe Connect and Stripe Checkout solutions, making in-app payments available online and offline. Customers can pay businesses using credit cards, debit cards, or Singapore’s PayNow fund transfer system.
Singapore-based cybersecurity startup SquareX raised $6M from Sequoia link
Apple's online store will expand to Vietnam next week as it continues its commerce push in Asia link
Execs from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC spoke to Axios about losing money with FTX and finding good investment deals including Stripe link
Japan
Rapidus is an ambitious startup aiming to create a globally competitive semiconductor manufacturer in the country from scratch—it is already backed by the government and is investing billions to create a cutting-edge chip foundry by 2027 link
Nexon, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world and the developer of MapleStory, is creating a blockchain-powered ecosystem based on the twenty-year-old massively multiplayer online game link
Samsung will build a chip development facility in Japan link
Softbank moneyball
SoftBank nears deal to sell its asset management firm Fortress to Mubadala for up to $3B link
The Vision Fund’s yearly losses widened to $32B thanks to some major startup valuation cuts link
Yet SoftBank, flush with some cash after selling almost its entire stake in Alibaba, is ready to go on the offensive again with its focus on AI companies (of course) link
Taiwan
TSMC’s decision to go with Europe for its new fab makes more sense, it is argued, that the US as it allows it to meet demand and skip some of the current political pressure link
Taiwan’s world-dominating microchip sector was built by TSMC’s skilled employees. But a demographic crisis, demanding work culture and flagging interest threaten its lead link
South Korea
Coupang reported better-than-expected revenue growth after spending to expand and lock in customer demand during an online shopping slowdown. link
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