Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Bamboo Airways unveils mystery buyer

    Bamboo Airways unveils mystery buyer

    Bamboo Airways has found a buyer who is also willing to help disgraced former chairman Trinh Van Quyet deal with the financial consequences of his alledged crime.

    A spokesperson said Thursday that the identity of the investor would be revealed later.

    The buyer has agreed to take over the airline’s entire debts and provide Quyet with the money he might have to pay as fines and indemnification for the stock manipulation which led to his arrest last year.

    Property developer FLC held a 51.24% stake in Bamboo Airways, and Quyet personally owned 40.03%. His 30.3% stake in FLC took his total ownership of the airline to 55.5%.

    Bamboo Airways said the sale of shares has been approved and supervised by authorities.

    The carrier now flies to 21 out of 22 airports in Vietnam and in April will add Ca Mau to its destinations.

    Internationally, it has been resuming services to Europe and Australia post-Covid.

  • SpaceX, Netflix, Boeing to join ‘biggest-ever’ US business mission to Vietnam

    SpaceX, Netflix, Boeing to join ‘biggest-ever’ US business mission to Vietnam

    SpaceX, Netflix and Boeing are among the companies joining the “biggest-ever” U.S. business mission to Vietnam next week to discuss investment and sales opportunities in the booming Southeast Asian nation, the organizer said.

    More than 50 companies, including defense, pharmaceutical and tech firms, will participate in the mission organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, an industry body, according to a list seen by Reuters.

    The delegation is a sign of rising interest in the global manufacturing hub, which is benefiting from a shift away from China amid Sino-U.S. trade friction.

    Vietnam, with a population of 100 million people, also has a rapidly-growing consumer market as its middle class expands.

    “This is the biggest-ever mission in Vietnam,” said Vu Tu Thanh, the US-ASEAN Business Council’s representative in the country, noting that the body had been organizing these events for three decades.

    Streaming giant Netflix, which Reuters last month reported was planning to open an office in Vietnam, is among the companies joining the trip. Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

    Aerospace manufacturers Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Bell will hold meetings with state-owned Vietnamese defense procurement companies, Thanh told Reuters, adding that it was the first time in about a decade that security firms had decided to join the annual mission to Vietnam.

    In December, the same companies held talks with Vietnamese government officials about the possible sale of helicopters and drones, as the country seeks new suppliers.

    “Helicopters is one of the things the companies hope to sell to the Vietnamese,” Thanh said, although he cautioned that defense deals took time to be completed and no immediate breakthrough was expected.

    Boeing said in a statement that its discussions with officials would focus on its growing partnership with Vietnam and ways to strengthen the country’s aviation and defense capabilities.

    Lockheed Martin and Bell did not respond to requests for comment.

    The majority of the companies joining the business mission already have a business or manufacturing presence in Vietnam, including Apple, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Thanh said, with some planning to expand it.

    Participants will have meetings with Vietnam’s top political and regulatory leadership, including with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

    Thanh said some companies were interested in Vietnam as a manufacturing hub and in providing services to increasingly wealthy consumers at a time when economic growth reached more than 8% last year.

    Among them is SpaceX, which is looking to sell its satellite internet services to Vietnam and other countries in the region, Thanh said. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

    The mission will also include semiconductors companies, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, medical device maker Abbott, financial firms Visa and Citibank, internet and cloud companies Meta and Amazon Web Services, the list showed.

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  • Snapchat doubles down on Family Center, adds new controls for parents

    Snapchat doubles down on Family Center, adds new controls for parents

    Introduced last year, Snapchat’s Family Center was one of Snap’s most important steps toward allowing parents to control the accounts of their offspring. Today, the social app announced more improvements are coming to Family Center, which includes additional controls for parents who aren’t content with what they received in 2022.

    Suggestively dubbed “Content Controls,” the latest feature for Family Center allows parents to limit the type of content their children can watch on Snapchat. Surprisingly, this wasn’t available when Family Center was launched last year, but at least the feature if finally here.

    Particularly, the newly added controls enable parents to filter out Stories from publishers and creators that they feel are not a good match for their kids. Either they’re creating sensitive, suggestive content or their views are in contradiction with what parents believe about a particular topic, it’s now possible to filter out Stories based on who creates them.

    Snap’s policies are designed to prevent “unvetted content from going viral,” so it’s harder for certain content you can find on TikTok or other social networks to share widely on Snapchat. Not to mention that Snap moderates public-facing content from creators and Snapchatters before it’s eligible to get reach on Stories or Spotlight.

    Of course, to take advantage of the latest feature for Family Center, you’ll need to have an account set up with your child. The Family Center account is free and can be created in just a few minutes.

    In related news, Snap revealed plans to add even more new features to the Family Center. Some of these upcoming features will be built around My AI, Snap’s experimental chatbot, and are meant to provide parents with more visibility and control around their children’s usage of My AI. Other new features might be in the pipeline too, but these are the only ones we know of so far.

  • Luckin Coffee to make Southeast Asia debut in Singapore this month

    Luckin Coffee to make Southeast Asia debut in Singapore this month

    Luckin Coffee, the once-troubled Chinese coffee chain, is slated to open up locations in Singapore as early as this month.

    The development follows the coffee chain’s job postings earlier this year looking for store managers in the city-state. It also aims to fill marketing, project management, and engineering roles.

    The firm also previously told Chinese media that it was conducting preliminary testing in Singapore and reiterated its core focus in its home country.

    Luckin Coffee was once considered China’s answer to Starbucks. However the US Securities and Exchange Commission slapped the company with a US$180 million fine after it was revealed that the firm had misreported financial statements. It went into restructuring and emerged in April last year.

    In its most recent financial report, Luckin Coffee said it logged US$1.9 billion in total net revenue for its 2022 financial year. It has over 8,200 stores in China.

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  • AirAsia X continues to recover quarter by quarter

    AirAsia X continues to recover quarter by quarter

    Malaysian long-haul low-cost AirAsia X is returning to recovery, reporting improvements in revenues, profits, and costs after some very difficult years during the Covid crisis. The carrier expects to benefit this year from the relaunch of its most profitable routes and gradually grow the fleet again, it said on February 22. AirAsia X continues to recover quarter by quarter.

    After changing the accounting period for its financial year 2022 from July instead of January, FY22 includes six quarters between July 2021 and December 2022. This makes comparisons with previous years meaningless. The net profit for FY22 was RM 33 million, with revenues of RM 878.2 million, as it carried 417.195 passengers at a 78 percent load factor. Almost all of that was generated in the second half of 2022 when lockdowns and travel restrictions in most of its key markets in Asia were lifted. The airline already reported a profit for its September quarter.

    As far as a fifth or sixth quarter says anything, they at least confirm that the airline is further recovering. Revenues grew from RM 100.1 million in Q5 (July-September) to RM 339.3 million in Q6 (October-December), with a net profit from RM 25.1 million to RM 153.5 million. Just for reference, in Q4 (October-December) FY19, AirAsia X produced an RM-95.8 million net loss, revenues of RM 1.196 billion, and carried 1.6 million passengers.

    Passengers carried grew significantly quarter on quarter, from 79.557 to 337.638. That had a positive effect on revenues per available seat kilometer (RASK), which improved from RM 17.62 to RM 19.96, while costs per available seat kilometer (CASK) excluding fuel went down from RM 6.95 to RM 1.42. AirAsia X resumed services to Australia (Perth, Melbourne, Sydney), New Zealand (Auckland), Japan (Tokyo Haneda and Sapporo), Taiwan (Taipei), Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), and Indonesia (Bali) in the final quarter of 2022, growing the network to fourteen destinations.

    AirAsia X has high hopes for the reopening of China, although bookings are currently below expectations. It recently resumed services to South Korea (Busan) and will launch flights to Turkey later this year. Istanbul was already announced as a new destination in June last year.

    The airline currently operates a fleet of seven Airbus A330-300s with seven more to join shortly but has an appetite for three more. “As we rise up to meet the ever-thriving demand for flights, we are diligent in ensuring that aircraft within the Company’s fleet will be operational within the stipulated timeline, with all safety requirements met. As we speak, we are also in varying degrees of engagement with third-party aircraft lessors for the induction of additional aircraft within its fleet. By the year 2024, we expect to have a total of seventeen A330s within our fleet, active and operational,” CEO Benjamin Ismail said in a media statement.

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  • Beverage industry lobbies against taxing sweetened drinks

    Beverage industry lobbies against taxing sweetened drinks

    Drink makers are lobbying against levying a special consumption tax on sweetened beverages, arguing that they do not contribute to health problems such as obesity.

    At a Wednesday workshop to discuss draft amendments to the Law on Special Consumption Tax, Nguyen Thi Lam, former deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, cited data showing that obesity is related to an imbalance between energy intake and outtake, and the frequency of physical activity.

    “Fat in food causes overweightness and obesity more than drinking soft drinks. There is no link between sweetened beverages and obesity,” she said.

    The Ministry of Finance is again considering imposing a tax on sweetened beverages eight years after failing to get other ministries to back it. The ministry said that a “reasonable” special consumption tax on sugary drinks would help protect people’s health in line with World Health Organization recommendations and international practices.

    Chris Vanloon, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) in Da Nang, said there is currently no definition of “sugary drinks,” so on the basis that the Ministry of Finance provides, the special consumption tax could be imposed on milk, dairy products, special foods for children and women, as well as sports drinks with electrolytes.

    Do Thai Vuong at the Vietnam Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Association said the beverage industry is still recovering from the Covid pandemic, facing global economic uncertainties and increased production costs.

    Beverage businesses need a stable tax policy environment to return to the numbers they were putting up pre-pandemic, Vuong said.

    He added that imposing the tax would be discriminatory without solving any public health problems.
    The proposed policy would also cause unwanted consequences for related industries, such as sugar, retail, and packaging, he said.

    A manager of Heineken Vietnam stated that the Ministry of Finance’s introduction of barley and non-alcoholic beverages into the taxable category was unreasonable.

    According to him, similar factors in terms of materials, processing, forms and flavors are not a legal basis for imposing a special consumption tax.

    “It is also inconsistent with the purpose of this tax — restricting or discouraging the consumption of products that are harmful to health,” he said.

    Businesses say they want to give regulators more time to analyze and evaluate relevant factors comprehensively and thus develop a suitable tax schedule to avoid negative impacts on consumers and businesses.

    However, Dinh Trong Thinh, an expert from the Vietnam Academy of Finance, said the tax rate could be 10%, similar to what Cambodia now applies.

    In 2014 the Ministry of Finance had formerly proposed a similar 10% special consumption tax on sweetened beverages, but other ministries opposed it.

    It is also considering hikes in the special consumption tax on beer, other alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

    Between 2016 and 2019 it had increased the rate on beer and certain alcoholic beverages from 55% to 65% and on cigarettes and cigars from 70% to 75%.

    At the workshop, businesses suggested delaying the hikes, at least until 2025.

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  • Expat community flocks to Tay Ho for real estate opportunities

    Expat community flocks to Tay Ho for real estate opportunities

    Tay Ho has become an increasingly popular residential area among foreigners in Hanoi as the infrastructure and social amenities continue to flourish alongside a diverse range of convenient services.

    In Ho Chi Minh City, the areas of Phu My Hung and Thao Dien long ago emerged as cultural melting pots that attract both locals and expats from all over the world. However, in Hanoi, neighborhoods with a foreign presence are generally scattered and divided into separate communities.

    For instance, Keangnam-Me Tri is the hub of the Korean community, while Dao Tan-Kim Ma attracts many Japanese expats. Meanwhile, the Quang Ba area in Tay Ho is a gathering place for Western tourists, workers, experts and diplomats.

    In recent years, foreign residents have gradually gravitated towards the Tay Ho area. This area has received comprehensive investments in infrastructure and transportation. The neighborhood is rapidly developing with the emergence of international schools, hospitals, commercial centers, restaurants, and cafes, transforming it into a bustling hub of convenient amenities.

    In the near future, after the launch of major projects, such as the Samsung R&D office building, the Lotte Mall complex, and the 5-star Shilla Hotel, this neighborhood will become even more vibrant and dynamic.

    The growing appeal of this area among successful foreign residents and young Vietnamese will form an elite community, which will drive the potential for real estate rentals in the future. This will pave the way for developing upscale real estate products tailored to the needs of well-to-do people, such as SOHO Heritage West Lake.

    SOHO Heritage West Lake sits on Lac Long Quan Street, just a few minutes’ walk from the West Lake and the Lotte Mall, offering easy connectivity to the city center and the airport. It only takes 10 minutes to reach the Hanoi Old Quarter in Hoan Kiem District or 20 minutes to get to Noi Bai International Airport.

    The project features 202 SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) units designed for flexible use, with effortless switching between living and working spaces. This work-life blended lifestyle has gained popularity in foreign countries and has only recently made its way to Vietnam, and it is especially suitable for new-generation entrepreneurs who want to integrate their personal and professional lives.

    With modern designs and the availability of top international-branded products, each SOHO Heritage West Lake unit is a luxurious living and working space that meets the needs of both well-heeled Vietnamese and foreign experts.

    SOHO Heritage West Lake also owns 30 top-notch facilities, including a sky gym, a rooftop four-season swimming pool, and a well-designed commercial service area. The developer of SOHO Heritage West Lake has also collaborated with Toong, the leading coworking space chain in Indochina, to create an advanced coworking space spanning over 900m2 on the 5th and 6th floors of the building.

    These facilities not only provide a comfortable and convenient life for all, but also serve as a link connecting an exclusive community of entrepreneurs to expand their relationships.

    This project is backed by CapitaLand Development – a leading real estate developer in Asia. In 2021, CapitaLand Development (Vietnam) received the Outstanding Sustainable Developer Award at the PropertyGuru Vietnam 2021 awards for its innovative residential projects and constructing environmentally sustainable green buildings.

    Find more information about the SOHO Heritage West Lake Tower of the Heritage West Lake project at:

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  • Providers of pre-activated SIM cards face suspension

    Providers of pre-activated SIM cards face suspension

    The Ministry of Information and Communications has announced that it will suspend network providers found distributing pre-activated SIM cards or cards registered under incorrect personal info.

    The providers need to publish a list of authorized salespoints on their websites and ensure that their employees only register subscribers who submit personal details in line with the national database, the ministry’s Telecommunications Authority announced Tuesday.

    The moves comes as part of a government effort to make sure that phone subscriber data matches the national database. Millions of subscribers have used pre-activated SIM cards registered under false information for years.

    Some salespeople even sell thousands of SIM cards registered with the same data, and buyers continue using them without updating the info.

    Pre-registered SIM cards are taken advantage of by many businesses for cold calling purpose. Last year, the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications had to request network providers suspend 882 subscribers from making spam calls and sending mass text messages to advertise their products or services.

    Network providers have been ordered to send text messages to falsely registered subscribers asking them to make corrections. After 15 days, if no changes are made, the user will be locked from making calls, while still being able to receive calls.

    There are 127 million phone subscribers in Vietnam, 96% of them belonging to VinaPhone, Viettel and MobiFone.

    Each of these three providers has 1.1 million to 1.4 million phone subscriptions with data that needs to be corrected.

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  • Fonterra profits increase despite volatile market conditions

    Fonterra profits increase despite volatile market conditions

    Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd today released its 2023 Interim Results which show the Co-op has delivered a half year Profit After Tax of $546 million, an earnings per share of 33 cents, and a decision to pay an interim dividend of 10 cents per share alongside a forecast Farmgate Milk Price range of $8.20 – $8.80 per kgMS.

    The Co-op also upgraded its full-year forecast normalized earnings from 50-70 cents per share to 55-75 cents per share and announced a proposed tax-free capital return to farmer-owners and unit holders of around 50 cents per share, subject to completion of the sale of its Chilean Soprole business.

    Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell says the results for the year’s first half show the Co-op is performing well, with profit up 50 per cent, against a backdrop of ongoing market volatility.

    “Our Co-op’s scale and diversification across channels and markets has enabled us to navigate through disruption and make the most of favorable market conditions in a number of areas.

    “While milk powder prices have softened recently, impacting our forecast Farmgate Milk Price range, protein prices have been high, and this is reflected in the lift in earnings we’re reporting today.

    “Our improved earnings and strong balance sheet have enabled us to pay an interim dividend of 10 cents per share which is positive news for our farmer owners and unit holders. We also expect to be able to pay a strong full year dividend, in addition to our proposed capital return.

    “The outlook for high quality sustainable New Zealand dairy remains positive. We have a clear strategy and are well-positioned to take advantage of this demand,” says Mr Hurrell.

    The Co-op has delivered a Profit After Tax of $546 million, up $182 million compared to the same time last year, and a Return on Capital for the last 12 months of 8.6%, up from 6.1% in the comparable period.

    “This lift in earnings is thanks to our Co-op’s scale and ability to move our farmer owners’ milk into products and markets with favorable prices.

    “With whole milk powder prices down, we moved more milk into skim milk powder and cream products to optimize our Farmgate Milk Price.

    “We also made the most of favorable margins in our cheese and protein portfolios by moving a higher proportion of current season milk into these products which has benefited our earnings.

    “Our ability to capture these higher margins is reflected in our Ingredients channel performance, with normalized EBIT up $494 million, or 118%, on the same time last year to $911 million.

    “Our Consumer and Foodservice channels benefited from improved in-market prices, with Foodservice normalized EBIT up $81 million, or 95%, to $166 million. However, higher input costs and ongoing pressure on margins have impacted overall Consumer channel performance.

    “Our domestic consumer business, Fonterra Brands New Zealand (FBNZ), has been under margin pressure for some time and is not improving as fast as planned. Performance of our Asia consumer brands has been impacted by weakening currency in the markets they operate, higher interest rates and a declining economic environment in some South East Asian markets.

    “For these reasons, we have revised down the valuation of FBNZ by $92 million and our Asia consumer brands Anlene, Chesdale and Anmum by $70 million.

    “As a result of market conditions and the impact of impairments, our overall Consumer channel normalised EBIT is down $177 million to a loss of $94 million.

    “This year our reportable segments have been updated to reflect an organisational change to better support our strategy. Group Operations is shown as a separate segment and the previous results of the AMENA and Asia Pacific segments are now combined into the new Global Markets segment.

    “Group Operations represents the business activities that collect and process New Zealand milk through to selling the products to our customer-facing regional business units, Global Markets and Greater China.

    “Group Operations normalised EBIT increased $412 million to $501 million, due to higher Ingredient prices, in particular proteins and cheese, relative to the products portfolio that informs the Farmgate Milk Price.

    “Looking at our customer-facing regional business units, Global Markets normalised EBIT was down 4% to $267 million. Global Markets’ Ingredients channel in-market earnings increased by $145 million, mainly due to higher sales volumes and improved pricing. However, this was offset by the impairments and increased operating costs in its Consumer channel.

    “Greater China normalised EBIT decreased 1% to $215 million, with the Foodservice channel showing resilience to market disruption from COVID-19. However, this was offset by the Consumer channel, which included a proportion of the Anlene brand impairment.

    “We continue to exercise financial discipline with a focus on delivering returns, while managing higher costs and ongoing market disruption.

    “Our Total Group normalised operating expenses are up from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion due to the New Zealand consumer business and Asia brands impairments, increased costs including inflation and foreign exchange, and last year having a one-off favourable item.

    “Since year end we have improved our net debt and working capital position through improved earnings and clearing the higher year-end inventory.

    “Severe storms and flooding across the North Island in January and February temporarily delayed some product getting onto ships. We remain focussed on inventory management, which seasonally peaks through February and March.

    “Our improved earnings and strong balance sheet put us in a position to pay an interim dividend of 10 cents per share,” says Mr Hurrell.

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  • Retail sales up 3.5% in first two months, thanks to government’s pro-growth measures

    Retail sales up 3.5% in first two months, thanks to government’s pro-growth measures

    China is gradually shrugging off the negative impact of the pandemic, as official data showed that retail sales in the first two months of 2023 expanded, following China’s optimization of its COVID-19 response.

    Chinese experts predicted that retail sales will continue to increase, given concrete government measures to boost consumption.

    Retail sales totaled 7.71 trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion) in January and February, a year-on-year increase of 3.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Wednesday. Retail sales fell 1.8 percent in December.

    The catering industry experienced a rapid recovery, with annualized growth of 9.2 percent in the first two months, compared with a decrease of 14.1 percent in December.

    “The rebound of consumption was a major bright spot of China’s economic operations in the first two months of this year,” Fu Linghui, a spokesperson of the NBS, told a press conference in Beijing.

    The fast recovery came amid the rebuilding of consumers’ confidence, and on-site consumption has rebounded since China revamped its COVID-19 management in light of the evolving situation, Zhou Maohua, an economist at Everbright Bank, said told the Global Times on Wednesday.

    The retail, catering and travel sectors have seen a surge in demand, and the boost from China’s Spring Festival holidays also helped lift consumption, Zhou said.

    The NBS also released other statistics on Wednesday, such as the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size, fixed-asset investment and employment, which Fu said showed that “China’s overall economic performance is showing a trend toward stabilization and recovery.”

    China has set a GDP growth target of about 5 percent in 2023, with a CPI target of about 3 percent, according to this year’s Government Work Report, which was delivered at the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress.

    China will seek to expand domestic demand in 2023, prioritizing the recovery and expansion of consumption, according to the report.

    The key to economic growth is lifting domestic demand, as the external environment remains uncertain and volatile, Fu said. Support measures have been rolled out nationwide, such as consumption promotions and vouchers for vehicle purchases.

    Vehicles occupy an important position in China’s consumption, accounting for approximately 10 percent of retail sales, according to a report released by Fitch Bohua on Wednesday.

    Some carmakers have launched subsidies this month to improve sales, and Fitch Bohua believes that automobiles will remain the primary big-ticket spending item this year, with more preferential policies to come. Promoting consumption is high on the government’s agenda this year, as the annual Central Economic Work Conference held in mid-December noted that the country would prioritize the recovery and expansion of consumption.

    A State Council executive meeting held in late January also urged prompt measures to promote an early recovery of domestic consumption to revive the economy. Boosted by this positive outlook, local governments have been moving to unveil an array of pro-consumption measures designed to fuel the growth of specific spheres.

    Cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province, have announced detailed plans to offer consumption coupons, which will nurture sales of vehicles and home appliances, experts said.

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  • Samsung steals Xiaomi’s crown in India’s premium smartphone market

    Samsung steals Xiaomi’s crown in India’s premium smartphone market

    Xiaomi Corp is reviewing its India strategy after misjudging consumer tastes for mobile phones. This costly mistake allowed Samsung Electronics to lead the Chinese company to the top spot in the world’s second-largest market for these devices.

    While Xiaomi continued to focus on selling mobile phones below Rs 10,000 ($120), Indian consumers were willing to pay more for better-looking models with richer features. Samsung of South Korea launched products that met those aspirations and offered innovative financing schemes that made them affordable for most.

    These measures have helped Samsung take the lead of the Indian mobile phone market from Xiaomi. Data from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research shows that Samsung had a market share of 20% in the last quarter of 2022, compared to 18% for the Chinese company.

    “The Indian market is witnessing a ‘premiumization’ trend. (But) Xiaomi is underprepared for this shift with a portfolio full of cheap phones,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint.

    The loosening of Xiaomi’s grip on India’s 626 million smartphone users – the largest after China – shows how companies that fail to respond to changing consumer preferences are penalized in a fast-growing economy with rising disposable incomes.

    Best known in India is Tata Motors’ Rs 100,000 ($1,200) Nano, which was heralded as the world’s cheapest car, shunned by consumers who associated its low price tag with inferior quality.

    Indians’ demand for more expensive mobile phones to consume videos and other content is also beneficial for social media app providers like Meta, and iPhone maker Apple Inc, which so far has a small market share in the country as it focuses exclusively on high-end phones, with prices ranging from $605 to a whopping $2,304, according to its website.

    According to Counterpoint, the market share of the phones under $120 in India has fallen to 26% by 2022, from 41% two years ago. And premium phones – above 30,000 ($360) – saw their share double to 11% over the same period.

    Xiaomi and Samsung both view India as a major growth market, with smartphones being their top-selling electronic device. The Chinese company posted a total revenue of $4.8 billion in India in 2021-22, while Samsung posted $10.3 billion in revenue, of which $6.7 billion came from smartphones.

    However, Xiaomi is already struggling in India with the departure of at least five top executives and increased government scrutiny over frosty relations with neighboring China. The company has had $674 million frozen by the country’s Financial Crime Bureau over alleged illegal remittances to foreign entities, which Xiaomi denies.

    A Reuters review of the product listings on Xiaomi’s website revealed the mismatch between consumer needs and the products the company offers. Xiaomi had six smartphones priced over $360, compared to Samsung’s 16. Under $120, Samsung had seven models, while Xiaomi had 39 – most of which turned out to be out of stock.

    And premium phones accounted for just 0%-1% of total shipments of Xiaomi’s Indian phones over the past two years, while the share of Samsung’s more expensive phones more than doubled to 13%, according to data from Counterpoint.

    But Xiaomi, which has admitted to introducing “too many” models in the past, is revamping its product line to focus on premium smartphones.

    In January, the company launched the Redmi Note 12 with a top price of over Rs 30,000, and recently launched the Xiaomi 13 Pro at Rs 79,999 ($970) – its most expensive phone in India. The strategic shift seems to have paid off immediately, as the Redmi Note 12 posted sales of $61 million within two weeks of its launch.

    “We have established a streamlined and cleaner portfolio with a focused approach to build expertise in the top segment, and the launch of our latest flagship, the Xiaomi 13 Pro, is a step in that direction,” said Indian President Muralikrishnan B.

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  • Waze makes it easier to find EV charging stations on its map

    Waze makes it easier to find EV charging stations on its map

    Waze is adding new features to its navigation app almost every month. March is no exception to this unwritten rule, so if you own an electric vehicle, this month’s update has been specifically tailored for you. As the title says, Waze’s newly added feature makes finding charging stations for electric vehicles easier than ever before.

    Whether you’re using an Android or iOS device, starting today, you’ll be able to find relevant EV charging stations along your route. Despite saying that the feature will be available starting today, Waze also mentions that this will be rolled out globally over the coming weeks, so if you don’t see the option to find EV charging stations in your Waze app, give it some days and check again.

    The latest Waze update is important because it adds up-to-date EV charging information to its map. More often than not, charging station information is not exactly accurate or it’s downright outdated and unreliable, making the navigation experience disappointing for many owners of electric vehicles.

    According to Waze, in order to provide the most accurate information to the map, all EV data is reviewed and updated in real-time with the help of the local Map Editors from the community.

    Most likely the new EV-related feature is now available in North America, so if you drive an electric vehicle, you can plug type into the Waze app to find all relevant EV charging stations along your route. As far as the accuracy goes, its Waze users who will decide how reliable the new feature truly is, but considering it’s curated by the community, it’s safe to say that it’s going to be updated in real time.

    Here is hoping that the expansion of the new EV feature won’t take so many weeks as Waze suggests, especially since there are many electric cars in Europe and other regions of the world.

  • Chinese growers put Vietnamese durian, dragon fruit in risky oversupply

    Chinese growers put Vietnamese durian, dragon fruit in risky oversupply

    Vietnamese dragon fruit is at risk of oversupply, while durian prices will likely plummet as China, the local fruits’ largest importer, continues growing an increasing amount of the two trees.

    Late last month, China announced its dragon fruit output reached 1.6 million tons a year, 200,000 tons higher than Vietnam’s output.

    According to Chinese customs’ statistics, Chinese demand for dragon fruit is two million tons a year.

    Regarding durian, China imported over 800,000 tons of fruit worth some US$4 billion last year.

    But the giant economy it is likely to import less this year because after years of failed experiments, the country’s farmers are finally growing the fruit successfully in China’s southern regions, according to experts.

    The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Hainan Province reported that China’s southern provinces are growing over 2,000 hectares of durian, amounting to 45,000-75,000 tons of the fruit expected to be sold in 2024.

    Durian cultivation will also be expanded to the North, according to the academy.

    About 90% of Vietnam’s major agricultural products are exported to China.

    So the northern neighbor’s plan to ensure its own local supply of agricultural products puts key Vietnamese farm items exported to the Chinese market at risk of oversupply.

    According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, 90% of Vietnamese dragon fruit is exported to China.

    Tran Ngoc Hiep, director of Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Company in Binh Thuan Province said that Vietnam’s dragon fruit exports to China in the first months of this year have are already slowing under the weight of increasing supply to the north.

    In previous years, China imported more than 300 containers of Vietnamese dragon fruit every day through Vietnam’s northern border gates, Hiep said.

    But he added that the figure is now already less than 100 containers.

    Currently, Vietnamese dragon fruit prices remain high because local farmers can grow off-season fruit.

    But when Chinese dragon fruit in season, from March to September, Vietnamese dragon fruit will face the risk of oversupply and dropping prices.

    Ngo Tuong Vy, vice director of Chanh Thu Export and Import Fruit Company in Ben Tre Province, said if the quality of Vietnamese fruits could improve, they will retain the Chinese market to Chinese rivals.

    Vietnamese durian must also compete with Thai and Malaysian fruit in the Chinese market.

    Phan Thi Tra My, president of the Provisional Vietnamese Business Association in China, said Chinese demand for durian is still high, but if Vietnamese exporters continuing paying more attention to quantity than quality, they will soon find it hard to compete with Thai, Malaysian and Chinese durian.

    Vietnam currently has 246 durian growing regions that export China totaling 12,000 hectares. And 97 Vietnamese durian packing establishments are certified for official export to China.

    According to the Department of Crop Production at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of last year, Vietnam’s total durian-growing area had reached 110,000 hectares, some 35,000 hectares higher than the initial plan.

    In the first two months of this year, ass durian prices surged dramatically, many farmers in the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands region replaced their coffee, pepper, and rice fields with durian trees.

    The department warned that the uncontrolled increase in durian acreage would lead to oversupply.

    To overcome the challenges, Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, asked the State to help with better planning of growing areas. He also asked the State for help in building a brand for Vietnamese durian.

    According to Nguyen, farmers should strengthen their off-season fruit production because Thailand and China cannot.

    In China, prolonged cold winters make it difficult for durian trees to bear fruit.

    “The Chinese acreage of banana, mango and dragon fruit is increasing sharply, but China still has to import large quantities of fruits when they are not in season,” he said.

    Fruit farms and traders should also further tap the domestic market, he added.

    Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable exports in the first two months of this year increased by 17.8% year-on-year to $592 million.

    China accounted for 57.5% of all Vietnamese fruit exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s department of agricultural products processing and market development.

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  • AirAsia Announces New CEO for Superapp Business

    AirAsia Announces New CEO for Superapp Business

    AirAsia on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mohamad Hafidz, who is currently the chief fintech officer, as the acting CEO of AirAsia superapp from April 1 onwards.

    With nearly 30 years in the payments industry, Hafidz, populary known as Mo, will succeed Amanda Woo in his new role.

    Woo was appointed CEO of the superapp in May 2021, she was then the chief commercial officer.

    Speaking to Skift earlier, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, had said that AirAsia would now be killing its other operations in the superapp to focus on what he calls its bread and butter — travel.

    “Now that travel has returned, we’ve shifted our focus to making the superapp very much a travel fintech superapp,” Fernandes told Skift.

    In his new role, Hafidz would continue to drive the platform’s fintech vision that will further help to boost the superapp’s choices for its users and bring more revenue to the business, the company said in a release.

    Having assisted in shaping regulatory policies in several regional markets, Hafidz has been a strong advocate for payments innovation and security in the Asia Pacific region.

    Hafidz’s appointment follows the recent leadership transition announcement at AirAsia Digital, which include AirAsia superapp and BigPay.

    Colin Currie will be taking on dual roles as AirAsia Digital’s CEO and president, commercial of Capital A.

    Currie will lead the effort to forge a closer collaboration between AirAsia superapp and BigPay to create a better user experience in travel and payment for users within the Capital A ecosystem, a company release said.

    Capital A also appointed its head of investments John Cheing as the chief financial officer for AirAsia Digital and AirAsia superapp.

    Calling fintech an essential part of travel, Fernandes had earlier spoken about the role that BigPay, Capital A’s fintech arm, would play in creating lending for travel as well as for insurance.

    In its fourth quarter results, the company had showed strong performances in both its superapp and fintech business.

    “We are excited to be launching the next phase of growth in our digital portfolios,” Fernandes had said earlier.

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  • Spain’s Mango plans U.S. expansion after China retreat

    Spain’s Mango plans U.S. expansion after China retreat

    Chief Executive Officer Toni Ruiz said that Spanish fashion retailer Mango is focusing on U.S. expansion after turning its back on China.

    After two previous attempts failed, mango is returning to the United States to offer higher-priced clothes meant for special occasions and parties. It will target states where online sales are already strong.

    The brand is already gaining more recognition in the U.S., dressed actress Amber Valletta for the Oscars after-party on Sunday, Ruiz told Reuters.

    “Something has changed,” he said in an interview at the company’s headquarters near Barcelona. “They now have a different and better perception of European brands.”

    Mango’s U.S. relaunch began with opening a flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue in May 2022. That was followed by expansion in Florida. This year, it will open stores in Texas, Georgia and California.

    The company hopes to have 40 stores in the U.S. by 2024, compared with 10 at present. That would place the U.S. in its top five global markets.

    Growth will be supported by the extension of a logistics centre in Catalonia, allowing it to shift 160 million items a year to serve shops and online customers globally, the company said.

    In contrast, Mango closed its remaining two stores in China last year. It maintains four franchise outlets and online sales through Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform.

    “We are divesting in China,” said Ruiz. “We find it unattractive and have decided that it is not the priority for the next three years.”

    Mango reported record sales last year, helped by selling more items at higher prices. Its biggest rival, Inditex-owned label Zara, is expected to report record sales on Wednesday, partly due to its aggressive U.S. expansion.

    The recent aggressive entry of Chinese fast-fashion brands Shein and Temu into the same market is not a concern for Mango, said Ruiz.

    “It’s not our war,” he said. “If you were fighting with these brands you would be constantly lowering prices.”

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