Retail sales in South Korea increased 8.4 per cent in October from a year earlier on the back of the pandemic and consumption-boosting events. Sales of furniture and other consumer goods moved up 18.6 per cent over the period, according to the data.
Author: Mei Ling Tan
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Alibaba CEO hails China’s draft anti-monopoly rules ‘timely and necessary’
China’s move to draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic behavior by Internet platforms is “timely and necessary”, Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said on Monday (Nov 23).
Speaking at the World Internet Conference, Zhang said Chinese Internet companies have moved to the forefront of the global industry with the help of government policies, but regulations need to evolve.
The industry’s “development and government supervision is a relationship that promotes and relies on each other, so that platform enterprises cannot only develop well themselves, but also serve the sustainable and healthy development of the whole society”, he said.
The annual event from Nov 23 to 24 organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China takes place as the country’s Internet giants including Alibaba, Tencent Holdings and Meituan face increasing government scrutiny.
Earlier this month the planned US$37 billion share market listing of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group was suspended after regulators warned its lucrative online lending business faced tighter scrutiny.
Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplaces and payment services are also expected to face greater oversight under the draft rules published on Nov 10 by China’s market regulator, which said it wanted to prevent platforms from dominating the market or from adopting methods aimed at blocking fair competition.
Zhang is one of the few Chinese technology chiefs to appear publicly at the event after it was scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other chief executives such as Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf delivered remarks via video.
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Google will bring Stadia gaming to iOS via a web app
It seems that the Stadia conundrum on iOS continues. Although Stadia has an official app on the App Store, you can’t use it to play actual games without downloading them first. Google’s true game streaming service was first brought to iOS devices via a third-party app – the Stadium browser. It was then taken down by Apple for violating certain guidelines and then brought back again after the developer fixed the issue.
Now there’s another development to the saga. Google announced that it plans on developing a web app that will allow iOS users to play Stadia games on their phones and tablets without the need to download them. The company will initiate “public iOS testing” in the following weeks and it will use a web app in order to bypass Apple’s guidelines stating that:
“Games offered in a streaming game service subscription must be downloaded directly from the App Store, must be designed to avoid duplicate payment by a subscriber, and should not disadvantage non-subscriber customers.”
Even though the Stadium browser is technically available on the App Store and it can run games with the native Stadia controller hooked up, it’d be nice to have something official from Google regarding iOS users. We have to wait and see how Apple will react to all this.
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Daimler Aims To Double Sales Of Mercedes-Benz’s Maybach Vehicles
German luxury carmaker Daimler on Thursday said it plans to double sales of its Maybach-branded Mercedes-Benz vehicles, after selling 12,000 vehicles last year.
Daimler unveiled its new flagship vehicle, which is based on a Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine, and which retails starting at $173,000 but can quickly add up to more than $250,000 once options like $3,200 silver champagne flutes are added.
Daimler plans to make a range of Maybach models, including fully electric variants, Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said during a virtual presentation of the car.
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Hanoi-HCMC world’s second busiest domestic air route
The Hanoi-HCMC route is the world’s second-busiest in November after South Korea’s Jeju-Seoul, according to British aviation analysis company OAG.
The flight route connecting Vietnam’s two largest cities, which takes around two hours, has nearly 893,000 seats scheduled for November, while the route between South Korean capital Seoul and Jeju Island has 1.3 million.
The route between Chinese capital Beijing and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport is third with 768,184 seats, followed by the two routes in Japan –Sapporo-Tokyo Hanenda and Fukuoka-Tokyo Hanenda.
Of the top 10 busiest domestic routes in November, China and Japan have four each.
“International flights have felt the impact most acutely due to border controls and mandatory quarantine requirements, domestic routes are starting to recover as people are generally able to move more freely within their countries,” OAG said.
Asia is a standout, home to all 10 of the world’s busiest domestic routes this month, the company added.
Vietnam has reopened six international flights to mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from September 15, followed by Laos, Cambodia from September 22. It had suspended all international routes in March to contain the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
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Grab’s reign over Vietnam ride-hailing market continues
Grab remains the dominant player in the Vietnamese ride-hailing market with close to a 75 percent share, and is widening the gap with competitors. Global market advisory firm ABI Research said Grab completed 62.5 million rides in the first six months of 2020, or 74.6 percent of the market, an increase from last year’s 73 percent.
The market share of FastGo, a Vietnamese competitor, dropped to 0.7 percent from 1 percent.
But, the Covid-19 pandemic came as a huge blow to the market as Grab’s figures showed. Its 62.5 million rides were a mere 20 percent of the 313 million it completed in the first half of last year.
The overall market shrunk to 19.5 percent of last year’s 429.5 million rides.
Two new Vietnamese apps, HCMC-based Viservice’s viApp, and GV Asia’s GV Taxi, made their debuts during the year. But analysts are skeptical about their prospects.
With the ride-hailing field being extremely competitive, even strong players like Grab, Be and Gojek have turned to the food delivery market for profits.
Vietnam was the fourth largest ride-hailing market in Southeast Asia last year behind Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, according to a report by Google, Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek and U.S. management consultancy Bain.
ABI Research estimated the market at US$1.1 billion last year and said it could rise to $4 billion by 2025.
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Restaurants find silver lining in cloud kitchens
Amid business blues courtesy of the Covid-19 pandemic, cloud kitchens are finding increasing favor from restaurants in Vietnam’s two major cities.
Nguyen Van Tung saw revenue from the two restaurants he runs in Saigon plunge 70 percent after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted daily life in Vietnam. He cut his staff from four to two, but the business continued to suffer.
Then he joined two cloud kitchens, centralized food production facilities set up for multiple restaurants to prepare food, specifically for deliveries. Things began to look up for Tung, then.
The two kitchens, operated by ride-hailing company Grab, have helped increase revenue, Tung said.
Another restaurant owner in the city, Ton Nu Quy Nhi, joined a cloud kitchen after demand for her traditional Saigon food surged two to three times amidst the pandemic. Expanding and managing her restaurant would have been expensive and difficult, so she decided to partner with a cloud kitchen service.
“I don’t know if the business will continue to thrive next year, so I went with the cheapest expansion option, using the cloud kitchen.”
Tung and Nhi are among many small business owners in Vietnam who want to take advantage of rising demand for food delivery services in major cities.
There are at least seven cloud kitchens operating in HCMC and Hanoi, three of them operated by Grab, two by South Korean ride-hailing company Baemin and another two by independent companies.
The cloud kitchens help lower costs, being located outside of high-rent locations. They help established restaurants with dining-in services to expand their delivery operations without adding stress to the existing kitchen, free up parking space taken by the delivery vehicles, and expand users’ reach to new neighborhoods.
Hoang Tung, founder of the FoodHome cloud kitchen in Hanoi, said that his facility was fully rented and he was mobilizing funds to open a new one in the Old Quarter area.
Tung said restaurants are moving their cooking to cloud kitchens because they want to focus on selling via apps to access a market of 20 million users that is growing by 30 percent annually.
Industry insiders said that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a catalyst in the recent transition from traditional brick and mortar kitchens to cloud kitchens.
Nguyen Ngoc Giao, manager of GrabKitchen, said that this model allows restaurant owners to expand quickly at minimum cost. “Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, opening a physical store carries greater risks than an online one.”
Huy Ngo, founder of a fast food and dessert restaurant chain in Da Nang City and Hoi An Town, has recently started trying out the cloud kitchen model after having to close five of seven branches due to Covid-19 impacts.
The new model allows Huy to focus only on ensuring high food quality inputs. The cloud kitchen employees will help prepare food for delivery, which means operating costs are just half or one-third of his traditional physical store.
Even big and established restaurant chains are also jumping on to the cloud kitchen bandwagon, though it is yet to become a tried and tested concept in Vietnam. Fried chicken chain Otoke Chicken, with 15 outlets, has established a cloud kitchen in Saigon’s Binh Thanh District, seeking to expand its delivery service.
Details of average investment and rents charged were not available at the time of writing.
When Grab launched a cloud kitchen in Saigon’s Thu Duc District last year, it had 12 restaurants make food exclusively for GrabFood drivers to pick up and deliver to customers.
Then Grab had given them space to cook for free, with the restaurants having to pay their utility bills and a commission on orders received.
Jerry Lim, CEO of Grab Vietnam, had said then the cloud kitchen model has great potential in Vietnam, and that his company would open more such facilities in Saigon, Hanoi and Da Nang.
However, this concept does not guarantee success for all restaurants. The cloud kitchen service, Now Station, began operations in 2017, but closed a year later.Giao of GrabKitchen said there have been cases where restaurants and the service have had to part ways. He declined to get more specific.
The food delivery services have also come under scrutiny for excessive use of plastic wrappings and cutlery. Giao said his company is studying the possibility of using more environment-friendly materials.
Tung of FoodHome said that joining a cloud kitchen doesn’t mean young business owners will not fail, but it will help them “fail fast and fail cheap” so they can get back up fast and try out other new ideas.
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Vietnam allows taxman greater scrutiny of bank accounts
The decree requires banks to provide the account balance and transaction details to tax authorities upon request.
While the current law does state that the banks are required to provide authorities with information, the nature of such information was not specified.
Under the decree, banks will also need to provide monthly details on the newly opened or closed accounts of taxpayers.
The stated purpose of the decree is to allow authorities supervise and examine the tax responsibilities of citizens as e-commerce develops rapidly in Vietnam.
The decree also requires banks to pay tax dues on behalf of foreign organizations doing e-commerce and digitized business in Vietnam with local organizations and individuals.
The banks are also required to submit to tax authorities every month a list of transfers from customers to foreign organizations.
The decree had earlier received mixed responses from lawmakers. Pham Thi Thu Trang, a National Assembly deputy from the central province of Quang Ngai said that the decree contradicts regulations on personal information security and should not be imposed.
Another lawmaker, Bui Thi Quy Tho, supported the new decree but proposed that transaction fees be reduced to boost cashless spending and better tax management.
Vietnam is trying to tighten its tax policies as e-commerce booms as foreign service providers like Netflix expand their reach in the country.
An official of the General Department of Taxation said last month that, in Hanoi alone, there were over 18,300 organizations and individuals making a total of VND1.46 trillion ($62.9 million) from online sales via Google, Facebook, and YouTube in Hanoi alone, according to data from 45 commercial banks.
The department had collected nearly VND14 billion from them, the official said but did not mention the time frame for the figures.
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Older workers in Australia have significantly been impacted by COVID-19
As Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 6.9% in September amidst the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, 42% of older workers said they had recently lost their job or had their hours reduced, a Humanforce survey has revealed.
As a result of the challenges faced during COVID-19, older workers are now more open minded to different types of employment and are looking to explore opportunities within the retail sector, with 41% open to casual employment and 39% open to any type of work.
“We know that COVID-19 is changing the face of work across the world, as unemployment rates continue to rise. Our research shows that one of the flow-on effects could be that older Australians who lose their job because of the pandemic will be transitioning into different types of work, including casual work in the leisure field. This means employers need to look closer at how to support older Australians as casual employees.”
Older Australian workers said the key factors they would look for in casual retail employment would be a stable income (70%), a reliable number of days and hours (65%) and flexibility with days and hours (62%).
“A common misconception about older workers is that they aren’t open to learning new technologies or skills as part of their job,” added Bruce Mackenzie. “Yet the overwhelming majority of older workers we surveyed were supportive of casual jobs where automated technologies were used or where they could retrain or learn new skills.”
Almost three-quarters (73%) of older workers said they are open to using automated technologies and 85% are open to retraining or learning new skills in a new role. Most of them (65%) also said that the best way to support older workers in using technology at work would be through training provided by a manager or colleague.
“Australian retail businesses are going to need casual workers to assist in their recovery from COVID-19. As older Australians become more open to casual work due to the pandemic, this is an opportunity for employers to also become more open minded about employing and supporting them in casual roles.”
Methodology
Humanforce contracted Zoho Survey to survey 500 older worker respondents (workers of ages 45 and over) as part of this research project.
About Humanforce
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Almost every shift has its no-shows, late arrivals, and special requests, but, you’ve also got to deal with the big shifts in how people work – everything from new employee expectations to new technologies, new regulations, and other major changes. Humanforce brings a whole new approach to managing your teams where you can simplify the process, see everything at once, and stay ahead of the curve. That’s why thousands of businesses of all sizes – hotels to hospitals, resources to recreation, stadiums to shops and more – use Humanforce to get ready for the next shift. www.humanforce.com
Media Contact:
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Mulberry Marketing Communications
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Vietnam has most adult gamers globally
Vietnam has the highest number of adult gamers in the world in 2020, according to a recently released global consumer survey by German data portal Statista.
Ninety four percent of Vietnamese said they gamed at least occasionally while nearly 20 percent said they were frequent gamers, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.
Eighty five percent said they gamed on smartphones.
Besides Vietnam, other developing countries like Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines also reported high numbers of adult gamers, aided by their younger demographics.
Smartphone gaming has won over people not previously invested in the activity by giving them easy access at low or no initial cost.
The Statista Global Consumer Survey polled 1,000-4,000 respondents between 18 and 64 years of age in 55 countries and territories.
Vietnam is a growing market for e-sport and online games. An earlier Statista report said online game revenues in the country this year are expected to top $10.1 million, up 16 percent from 2019.
Another study by market research company Niko Partners and Google earlier this year forecast Vietnam’s e-sport market to achieve the highest five-year compounded annual growth rate in Southeast Asia, from 2018, of 28 percent.
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Google accidentally reveals new icon and name for a key Android app
Over the last few weeks, Google has been making changes to the icons for its apps like Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and more. Google added more of the company’s traditional colors (blue, red, yellow, and green) to the icons belonging to its apps. Now, an eagle-eyed Reddit user (vihas spotted what seemingly will be the new icon and name of the app currently known as Phone by Google. The leaked icon and name were spotted in an ad found on YouTube.
Based on the ad, the new name of the app will be Google Call and the icon resembles the illustration of a on the new Google Voice icon. One major difference is that the illustration of the landline ear and mouthpiece is done up in Google’s four colors. Note that the new name and icon are not yet in use in the Google Play Store and when the change will be made is anybody’s guess. The current icon shows a landline hand and mouthpiece in white against a blue background.
The ad that leaked the new name and logo for what is now Phone by Google highlights the app’s “reliable” caller ID that Google says “lets you answer with confidence.” Google has been adding new features to the mundane app including Hold for Me. This feature comes into play when you’re placed on hold after dialing a toll-free number. you will see a prompt that reads “Don’t hang up” prompt with the option to “Return to call” always available. When a real live person starts talking, the phone will ring and vibrate alerting you that the call is no longer on hold. A transcription at the bottom of the screen keep tabs on what is being said while you are on hold. As Google states, the Google Duplex technology used to drive Hold for Me “not only recognizes hold music but also understands the difference between a recorded message (like ‘Hello, thank you for waiting’) and a representative on the line.”
Hold for Me is the typical new Android feature that Google adds to its mobile OS to make to help with the little things in life that can be a big pain in the butt. We probably all agree that waiting on hold is generally as much fun as hammering a nail through your skull.
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Huawei, Qualcomm, and Oppo are arguably the three most innovative firms in wireless technology
This might not come as a surprise to some people living in China, or to those who make a living by following the goings on of the wireless world, but there is a good case for calling Huawei the most innovative outfit in this realm. The company’s Mate series phones are traditionally one of the top technologically based smartphones in the world each year. However, the powerful 5nm chips it designed for this year’s Mate 40 line can no longer be shipped to the company because of a new U.S. export rule. The rule bans foundries like TSMC from shipping cutting-edge chips to Huawei without a license if said chips were produced using American technology.
An industry report cited by the South China Morning Post states that from the beginning of this year through the end of October, Huawei filed 8,607 patent applications related to wireless technology. That put the firm at the top of the pack, well ahead of San Diego, California based chip designer Qualcomm; the latter sought 5,807 patents during the same January to October time period. Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo was third with 5,353 patent applications. Database provider incoPat, headquartered in Beijing, is responsible for the data used to compile the list.
According to incoPat, both China and the U.S. led the way with each making up 32% of the patents filed from January through October. Japan was next with 15% followed by the 7% submitted by South Korea. IncoPat says that the information it uses comes from patent filings available to the public in the field of wireless communications. This includes patents filed to protect inventions related to 5G technology. The report issued by incoPat notes “As a key area of modern communications, wireless communication network technology has always been a very important part in the 5G research and development process. With the new technological competition and new globalisation situation, wireless communication network technology is becoming an important strategic choice for enterprises to face international competition.”
5G is the next generation of wireless connectivity and the countries that control 5G will have an advantage economically. That is why, seeing how innovative Huawei is and not wanting to be left behind, back in June the U.S. Commerce Department amended the entity list ruling that prevents Huawei from working and doing business with U.S. based firms. Now, American tech companies are allowed to work alongside Huawei to help create global 5G standards. The U.S. feared that being left out of the meetings attended by Huawei would hold the U.S. back in terms of the development of 5G.
Huawei is also the leader in helping the 3GPP develop standards for 5G. 3GPP (the 3rd Generation Partnership Project) is a term that covers standards organizations that help create protocols for mobile telecom. After Huawei, Ericsson and Qualcomm provide the most contributions to 3GPP for 5G standards. According to SCMP, this year 3GPP completed its next set of standards for 5G which include possible applications for 5G such as autonomous driving, smart factories, and remote surgery.
Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said that the country has built nearly 700,000 base stations in 2020 topping its original target of 500,000 for the whole year. As the world’s leading provider of networking equipment, Huawei is also an important supplier of 5G base stations. In fact, published reports indicate that Huawei will replace Ericsson this year to become number one in 5G base stations. Ericsson is expected to see its market share decline from 30% last year to 26.5% in 2020. Huawei, on the other hand, should see its 5G base station share rise from 27.5% last year to a leading 28.5% in 2020. That is, along as it can find enough 5nm Kirin 9000 chipsets to power these base stations. As we mentioned earlier in this article, the U.S. is preventing Huawei from receiving cutting-edge chips from TSMC.
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Samsung refreshes Black Friday offers with TV discounts
The 20th might be behind us, but that doesn’t mean that the Black Friday offers are over! Samsung has refreshed its store with a new slew of offers, bringing the prices of many TV models down.
You can save up to $3,000 on a nice new QLED or browse through the many offers on smartphones, smartwatches, washers, and other electronics — many of these are still live!Samsung is slashing the prices of its wide portfolio of TVs. From small UHD sets to gargantuan QLED beasts that can transform your living room into a cinema. Head over to the link below to view all Samsung Black Friday TV deals:
Samsung’s S20 line starts with the budget-friendly Galaxy S20 FE 5G and tops off with the behemoth Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. All of them have exquisite displays with 120 Hz refresh rates, the perfect camera to help you capture the moment, and the processing power to play all your favorite games.
The Note line has always been the productive person’s phone — “For those who do”. Huge, beautiful screens, powerful hardware, and the best stylus you can find bundled up with a smartphone — the S Pen.
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Kia Motors India Issues A Recall For Seltos Diesel Over Faulty Fuel Pump
Kia Motors India has issued a recall for the diesel models of the Seltos compact SUV to fix potential damage to the fuel pump. While the company is doing this a service campaign, it has notified its dealer partners to inspect the fuel pump of the diesel Seltos that come for servicing and if its damaged, the part needs to be replaced. When reached out to Kia Motors India, the company said, “The recent communication, involves inspection of fuel pump and in-case of any observation dealer is required to carry out repair/replacement as the case may be.” It’s certainly encouraging to see manufacturers take such proactive initiatives.
Furthermore, according to a leaked service bulletin that’s circulating the internet, the affected Kia Seltos units were manufactured between October 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020. The damaged fuel pump could cause problems like excessive vibrations, poor pick-up, or in some cases, the vehicle might face a starting problem. So, Seltos owners facing similar issue should reach out to their nearest service centre and get the vehicle examined. As of now, the company is not sending out any communication to vehicle owners, but the faulty part will be replaced by the service centres free of cost.
According to a leaked service bulletin, the damaged fuel pump could cause problems like excessive vibrations, poor pick-up, or starting problem.
The Kia Seltos diesel is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine that is tuned to produce 113 bhp and 250 Nm of peak torque. The motor comes mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and an option 6-speed automatic torque converter unit. It worth mentioning that the same engine is used in the Hyundai Verna, and the Kia Sonet, however, considering both these models were launch after March 2020, they are not likely to be affected by this problem.
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New-Gen Volvo S60 Sedan To Be Unveiled This Month
The new-generation Volvo S60 sedan will be unveiled in India on November 27, 2020. Of course, given the current situation with the pandemic, the car will be revealed via a digital event, while the official launch will take place in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. While the car was supposed to be launched this year itself, the COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown has forced the company to push the launch to next year. Last year, Volvo India had announced that it will be introducing 4 new electrified cars in the country in the next 3 years, so the S60 coming to India could be the plug-in hybrid version.
Volvo Cars plans to slowly phase out conventional powertrains and focus only on electrified vehicles like PHEVs and fully electric vehicles (EVs). The company has already committed to a goal of featuring some form of electric propulsion in its models from 2019 onwards and now India too is part of this plan. Every new Volvo from 2019 onwards will be electrified.
Volvo India had announced that it will be introducing 4 new electrified cars in the country, so the S60 could get a plugin hybrid version.
The Volvo S60 coming to India has been in the global market for a couple of years now, and we have already driven the global-spec model. Overall, the car has become much sleeker now and flaunts some bold character lines that give it a sculpted look. Upfront the car comes with a wide grille with a chequered grille and the Volvo badge at the centre. It’s flanked by a set of sharper-looking headlights with the signature Thor Hammer LED daytime running lamps, and a sporty bumper. The car also comes with a set of 19-inch alloy wheels, along with a new rear design featuring S90 style C-shaped LED taillights, centrally positioned Volvo lettering, and the muscular rear bumper.
The Volvo S60 is a petrol-only model and it comes with a 2.0-litre in-line 4-cylinder engine, mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
The regular petrol model gets a 2.0-litre in-line 4-cylinder engine which is turbo-charged and pumps out 310 bhp and 400 Nm of peak torque, while mated to an 8-speed automatic. The plug-in hybrid version though gets the same 2.0-litre motor, but, with an electric motor at the rear. The combined power output is about 413 bhp and the total torque output stands at 670 Nm. In pure electric mode, the car can cover a range of up to 45 kilometres.