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Category: Electronics

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Electronics news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Dell quits retail in Singapore, Malaysia moving online only

    Dell quits retail in Singapore, Malaysia moving online only

    It appears retail stores in Malaysia and Singapore will not be carrying Dell products in the near future. According to an official statement from the company, Dell will “transition out of the retail market in Singapore and Malaysia,” though that doesn’t mean you cannot buy a Dell laptop anymore in these two markets.

    This news was first shared by Lowyat.NET, which has received an internal memo sent to Dell retailer partners in Malaysia and Singapore. According to the memo, Dell is exiting the retail market in these two countries after the company reviewed its presence in a number of regions. As such, effective immediately, Dell will no longer accept new orders from retail stores.

    Of course, any form of an existing contractual agreement between Dell and its retail partners – as well as customers – will still be honored despite this move.

    Now, it’s worth noting that this does not mean retail stores will immediately cease the sales of Dell products. You can still head to your local retail store and pick up a Dell laptop, but if you want the latest product offerings from the company, you can only get them from Dell’s Malaysian online store.

    Speaking of which, that will be the only channel to get new Dell products – for those in Malaysia and Singapore – moving forward. These include the latest XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 with Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake processors. Basically, retail stores will only be carrying older Dell products from now on.

    In the grand scheme of things, this does not affect the availability of Dell products in Malaysia and Singapore; you can still purchase them directly from the company on its online store. Of course, this does mean you won’t be able to try out new Dell laptops at retail stores in the near future.

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  • iPhone 12 mini fails to enthuse Vietnamese customers

    iPhone 12 mini fails to enthuse Vietnamese customers

    The iPhone 12 mini is ostensibly the least popular of Apple’s four new smartphones in Vietnam, with consumers apparently preferring bigger and more expensive models. Data from four major smartphone distributors shows that of 30,000 inquiries made about the four new iPhone 12 models Apple unveiled last month, less than 10 percent were about the mini.

    Half was for the Pro Max, the largest and most expensive model, and 64 percent costlier than the mini.

    Since they are not officially in Vietnam yet, they are sold at a premium by individual sellers who buy them in places like Singapore and Hong Kong.

    But many said they do not import the mini because there is almost no demand for it.

    A smartphone seller in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, who asked not to be identified, said most iPhone 12 buyers now in Vietnam are affluent people who want to own one early and often buy the most expensive models.

    Sellers also said the small screen and low battery capacity of the mini are also negatives.

    Most stores in Hanoi and HCMC have the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, and customers have to pay VND20-21 million ($862-905) in advance if they want the mini.

    “Some women buyers are interested in the mini, but I tell them to wait for another two weeks for the official release,” Nguyen Hoang, owner of a store in Hanoi, said.

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  • Huawei sells Honor to consortium of resellers including Suning

    Huawei sells Honor to consortium of resellers including Suning

    Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is selling its budget brand smartphone unit Honor to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers in a bid to keep it alive, the company and the consortium said on Tuesday.

    The deal comes after U.S. government sanctions have restricted supplies to the Chinese company on grounds the firm is a national security threat – which it denies. The consortium issued a statement on Tuesday announcing the purchase, which will be made via a new company, Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology. Huawei will not hold any shares in the new Honor company after the sale, the statement said.

    In Huawei’s statement, the company said its consumer business has been under “tremendous pressure” due to the “persistent unavailability of technical elements” for its phone business.

    “This move has been made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival,” Huawei said.

    The change of ownership will not impact Honor’s development direction, both statements said. Sources with knowledge of the matter say U.S. government restrictions have forced the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker – after South Korea’s Samsung Electronics – to focus on high-end handsets and corporate-oriented business. One source said on Tuesday the U.S. government will have no reason to apply sanctions to Honor after it separates from Huawei.

    Honor sells smartphones through its own websites and third-party retailers in China, where it competes with Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo in the lower-priced handset market. It also sells phones in Southeast Asia and Europe, and ships 70 million units annually, according to the Huawei statement.

    Electronics products and appliance store Suning.com is listed among the buyers, which include several state-owned investment firms in Huawei’s hometown of Shenzhen.

    Honor will look for more investment partners in the future, with the possibility of an eventual listing, the source said.

    Reuters reported earlier this month that Huawei was in talks to sell Honor in a 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) deal to a consortium led by handset distributor Digital China and the Shenzhen government.

    Digital China was not part of the final buyer group, the source said.

    Huawei has said its higher-end smartphone line is also under threat from the U.S. sanctions, with the head of its consumer business saying in August that it would be unable to continue making the Kirin chips that power its premium models.

    Offloading Honor will give Huawei some “breathing room” on the sourcing side for its premium business while it focuses on developing its proprietary HarmonyOS for smartphones, said Nicole Peng, vice president of mobility at industry research consultancy Canalys.

    The sale will help to sustain the brand, while allowing the possibility of buying Honor back some day, said Will Wong, an analyst at IDC.

    “It will be easier for Huawei to make a potential buyback in the future from this consortium, which might not be so easy if they sell it to other smartphone or electronics makers,” he said.

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  • Apple suppliers have started testing foldable iPhone prototypes

    Apple suppliers have started testing foldable iPhone prototypes

    Samsung and Motorola have been selling foldable smartphones to the public for quite some time, but Apple is still in the development phase. However, according to one report, Apple’s foldable prototype testing has now started.

    Economic Daily News claims Apple recently sent out prototype foldable iPhone units to assembly partner Foxconn with the aim of releasing the final version of the device as soon as September 2022, presumably alongside the iPhone 14 series.

    The focus of testing, per sources familiar with the matter, is the foldable display. Apple is evaluating the use of either OLED or micro-LED tech, as well as their respective assembly methods.

    Before heading into mass productions, laptops like the MacBook Pro need to be opened and closed between 20,000 and 30,000 times. With the foldable iPhone, Apple has asked Foxconn to evaluate everything over 100,000 opening and closing tests.

    Apple has relied on Samsung for recent iPhone OLED panels and it appears the South Korean company has been chosen to supply foldable iPhone panels too. Whether there will be other suppliers too remains to be seen.

    The overall design of the product wasn’t described in today’s report. However, tipster Jon Prosser previously revealed that early prototypes offer a Microsoft Surface Duo-like design with separate displays and a slim forehead for Face ID.

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  • China’s Xiaomi takes third place in Vietnam smartphone market

    China’s Xiaomi takes third place in Vietnam smartphone market

    China’s Xiaomi grabbed a 12 percent market share in the third quarter to surpass Vivo and become the third-largest smartphone brand in Vietnam.

    Xiaomi reported sales growth of 114 percent year-on-year despite Covid-19 impacts, Singaporean technology market analysis firm Canalys said in a recent report.

    South Korea’s Samsung stayed on top with a 33 percent market share, followed by China’s Oppo (15 percent); but sales of both brands dropped sharply at 6 percent and 21 percent year-on-year respectively.

    VinSmart, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest listed company, Vingroup, was fourth with a 9 percent market share.

    VinSmart had launched its first product at the end of 2018, and produced its first 5G smartphones in collaboration with U.S. chip giant Qualcomm last month. The brand is focusing on the low-end segment with 12 offerings all priced at below VND5 million ($212).

    China’s Vivo also grabbed a market share of 9 percent in the third quarter after growing 75 percent.

    Almost 10 smartphone brands have been vying for third place in recent years, with Apple, Xiaomi, and Vivo the most notable names. No brand has remained in that position for more than six months.

    According to We Are Social, a social media marketing and advertising agency, around 75 million people, or almost 80 percent of the country’s population, use smartphones.

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  • Samsung launches improved version of Galaxy S20 FE 5G

    Samsung launches improved version of Galaxy S20 FE 5G

    Samsung fans who haven’t yet caved and bought a Galaxy S20 FE are given another alternative if they’re still in the market for one. The South Korean giant has just revealed an improved version of the Galaxy S20 FE that will go on sale this week.

    The new Galaxy S20 FE announced today packs 256GB storage, as opposed to the original model that offers just 128GB of internal memory. Apart from the fact that it comes with double the memory, the new Galaxy S20 FE retains all the features of its twin brother.

    The Galaxy S20 FE 5G with 256GB of storage will be available for purchase starting November 6 for $770. It will go on sale in Cloud Navy at select carriers, but Samsung will also offer the smartphone unlocked through its online store.

    Customers who choose to buy the unlocked version from Samsung can get it for $320 or $13.34 a month with eligible trade-in value up to $450. According to Samsung, this is a limited time offer, so those of you looking to grab one might want to hurry.

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  • Apple Watch picks up another update today

    Apple Watch picks up another update today

    Today is a happy day for Apple fans, as the Cupertino-based company is rolling out new software updates for three of its popular products: iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. If you’re rocking one of the first two, you should be able to download iOS 14.2 today.

    On the other hand, Apple Watch owners can download watchOS 7.1, a rather important update that brings some interesting new features for select users. The first one is the ability to be notified when your headphone level could impact your hearing.

    Then, we have a fix for an issue that prevented some users from unlocking Mac with Apple Watch. Another fix included in the update should address an issue where the screen may be dark on wrist raise for some people using the Apple Watch Series 6.

    The next two new features are specifically aimed at Apple Watch users in two countries: Korea and Russia. Those users living in one of the two countries will finally get support for the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later, as well as support for irregular heart rhythm notifications.

    Make sure that you check your Apple Watch app via your iPhone to see whether or not the new watchOS 7.1 update is available for download. You should find it by heading to General / Software Update.

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  • Did Siri affected Biden or Trump with some votes?

    Did Siri affected Biden or Trump with some votes?

    Over the years we have knocked Apple for its failure to make Siri as good and accurate a digital helper as Google Assistant is. Siri has been known to make the occasional blunder. For example, let’s say that last weekend you had forgotten when Election Day was. So you turned to  Siri. iPhone users were told by their virtual assistant that Election Day was scheduled for November 8th. The problem with that answer is that it is wrong. Very wrong. Election Day was November 3rd  so if you were relying on Siri’s response to remind you when to visit your polling place, you would have arrived five days too late missing your opportunity to vote for president.

    This is not the first time that the iPhone told users the wrong information about time and date. For years, the idea of Daylight Saving Time continued to elude the grasp of iOS. One year, instead of moving iPhone clocks ahead an hour, it moved the clocks back an hour instead which really helped iPhone users get their day off to a very poor start.

    The interesting part of Siri’s most recent screw up is that November 8th was the date of the last U.S. presidential election back in 2016. On the other hand, November 8th 2022 will be when the U.S. holds its next major election, the mid-terms. Either way, Siri’s response was wrong and we wouldn’t vote for either one.

    While only the most clueless would have ended up missing election day because of Siri’s response, well, such clueless people do exist. Luckily, the number of those who listened to Siri was probably not large enough for its faux pas to impact the election results.

    So here’s a word to the wise. If you ask Siri for the date of an upcoming event that you must attend, it might behoove you to confirm the answer with another source even if that goes against the reason for Siri’s existence in the first place. Like any digital assistant, Siri is only as good as the data bank it gets its information from.

  • Samsung killing yet another redundant service in December

    Samsung killing yet another redundant service in December

    Samsung has always been trying to make people use its tools on their phones, regardless of whether or not there were better alternatives out there. That’s one of the reasons we’re seeing the South Korean giant closing many of them due to few people using them.

    For example, S Translator was launched as an alternative to Google and Microsoft Translator services but didn’t manage to find too many fans among Samsung smartphone users. Add to that the S Translator was available on high-end Galaxy devices for the most part, and you have a recipe for failure.

    Well, it looks like come December 1, Samsung will be shutting down S Translator, the company announced earlier this week. The announcement mentions that all information the service collected from users will be destroyed on the same day.

    In the meantime, we would like to thank those who have used the S Translator service. We inform you that the above service, which has given us a lot of interest and love, can no longer be provided due to the company’s operating policy. Upon termination of this service, your personal information collected for the purpose of providing the service will be destroyed without delay in order to protect your personal information.

    Apparently, Samsung is trying to streamline its mobile app ecosystem, so many apps and services that have become redundant, such as S Voice, Mirrorlink, and Find My Car. It’s hard to say if Samsung is done killing its unpopular services, but Bixby might next on the list.

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  • Snapdragon 875 crushes Samsung’s first 5nm chip in benchmark leak

    Snapdragon 875 crushes Samsung’s first 5nm chip in benchmark leak

    Qualcomm’s next flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 875, will likely be unveiled on December 1. Leaker Abhishek Yadav has apparently managed to get hold of the chip’s AnTuTu scores and they are quite impressive.

    The chip is apparently codenamed Lahaina and per the leaker, it scored 847,868 on the benchmarking website. This makes it around 25 percent faster than the Vivo iQOO 5 Pro, which is powered by the Snapdragon 865 and is the current top scorer.

    The Snapdragon 875 will reportedly be made using the 5nm process, which will give it a huge performance and power efficiency advantage over the current premium chip which is based on the 7nm fabrication technology.

    The alleged scores also leave Samsung’s first 5nm chip, the Exynos 1080, in the dust, but doesn’t really come as a surprise, as it is a mid-range chip.

    The result also suggests that Snapdragon 875-powered phones will have a huge lead over Huawei phones fueled by the in-house Kirin 9000, such as the Mate 40 Pro. This again is hardly surprising as although the Kirin 9000 is also a 5nm SoC, it features older Arm cores.

    The Snapdragon 875, on the other hand, will likely have the new Cortex-X1 and Cortex-A78 CPUs. Samsung’s upcoming flagship silicon, the Exynos 2100, is also expected to employ Arm’s new design, and leaked benchmark results imply the two will be pretty similar in performance.

    Both chips are expected to have one Cortex-X1 core, three Cortex-A78 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores.

    The Snapdragon 875 is also expected to have the X60 5G modem onboard.

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  • Apple’s environmentally-motivated decision is boosting sales of its new wireless earphones

    Apple’s environmentally-motivated decision is boosting sales of its new wireless earphones

    The new iPhone 12 series, as well as older models that Apple continues to sell, don’t come with a power adapter or EarPods. Apple claims it took this step to cut down on environmental waste. Although rivals like Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus have mocked the company for removing these accessories, a new precedent may have been set. Apple is already benefiting from the removal of the EarPods from the iPhone 12 retail box.

    Beats, which is owned by Apple, announced the new neckband-style $49.99 Beats Flex on October 13, the same day the iPhone 12 series was revealed. The release of the neck-mounted headphones was also perfectly timed – they went on sale on October 23, which is when the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro hit the shelves.

    According to supply chain insiders, the Beats Flex is off to a good start, and the sales momentum is expected to continue well into the first half of the next year.

    The report also claims that the AirPods, which had 35 percent of the True Wireless Earphones (TWS) market in the second quarter of 2020 per research firm Counterpoint, continue to do well.

    Usually, TWS sales peak in the third quarter, before edging down in the fourth quarter. The case is different this year, as demand remains strong, probably because many people continue working from home.

    Supply-side sources also believe that other vendors will also stop bundling headphones with their new smartphones. Needless to say, this would further boost wireless earphone shipments.

    According to a forecast by research firm Canalys, TWS sales will grow 29 percent in 2020.

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  • Vietnam PM tells Samsung to set up chip plant

    Vietnam PM tells Samsung to set up chip plant

    Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on Samsung Electronics to build a semiconductor plant in Vietnam. He made the suggestion at a meeting on Tuesday with the South Korean company’s vice chairman, Lee Jae-yong, who is on a three-day business trip to Vietnam to explore business opportunities, the Government news site reported.

    He said a semiconductor plant would enable the company to have a closed production chain in Vietnam where it already has smartphone and consumer electronics plants.

    Samsung has two factories making smartphones in the north and a consumer electronics manufacturing plant in Ho Chi Minh City.

    Phuc promised Vietnam would create the best possible conditions for Samsung to invest, including in R&D and hi-tech projects.

    He said Vietnam has managed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and would be the only country in Southeast Asia to achieve positive growth this year, possibly emerging as the fourth-largest economy in the region this year.

    Lee said Samsung’s $220 million research and development center in Hanoi, the first of its kind outside South Korea, would begin functioning in 2022. Construction began in March this year.

    With more than 3,000 engineers it would become the company’s key R&D center globally, he said.

    He thanked the Vietnamese government for allowing more than 3,000 Samsung personnel to enter the country to work since March through the Covid-19 pandemic.

    If Samsung’s production units in Vietnam did not function normally, it would disrupt its global production and supply chain, he said.

    He plans to visit TV screen producer Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex (SEHC) at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park in HCMC’s District 9 and consider expanding it.

    The PM told him the government had agreed with HCMC’s proposal to allow SEHC to become an export processing company to enable it to expand and strengthen its global competitiveness.

    Vietnam is Samsung’s largest smartphone production base, with half of all its phones being made in the country. It has invested over $17 billion in Vietnam so far.

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  • Samsung heir visits Vietnam to discuss possible investments plan

    Samsung heir visits Vietnam to discuss possible investments plan

    Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong departed for Vietnam for a three-day visit to explore business opportunities. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday to discuss possible investment plans and visit Samsung’s plants in Hanoi.

    The focus will be on whether Lee announces new investment plans including the construction of a factory for electronic-car batteries in Vietnam.

    Lee is also expected to inspect the progress of a Samsung Electronics research center that is currently under construction in Hanoi.

    Construction of the $220 million research and development center, the first of its kind outside South Korea, began last March.

    It is Lee’s first visit to Vietnam since October 2018. He is exempt from mandatory quarantine after the government scrapped the quarantine requirement for foreign managers, investors, and diplomats visiting the country for less than 14 days.

    Vietnam is Samsung’s largest smartphone production base, with half of all its phones being made in the country at plants in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces in the north. It has invested over $17 billion in Vietnam so far.

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  • LG Uplus opens seven-storey product showroom targeting Gen Z

    LG Uplus opens seven-storey product showroom targeting Gen Z

    South Korean telecom giant LG Uplus Corp. said Thursday it opened a seven-story product showroom in southern Seoul by partnering with local popular establishments as part of its broader efforts to capture young customers.

    The seven-story building, including its underground floor, in the posh southern district of Gangnam houses a cafe, a bookstore and a photo studio popular among South Korean millenials and the younger Generation Z, or those born after the mid-90s.

    LG Uplus said the store allows visitors to experience its 5G services and content, such as augmented and virtual reality, although it does not directly sell the company’s products.

    The telecom operator said it also partnered with Google to set up a filming studio for YouTubers. Visitors to the building can take part in live YouTube broadcasts by reserving a spot through a proprietary application.

    LG Uplus has recently focused on beefing up its services to cater to tech-savvy younger generations.

    The carrier said in July that it started live shopping broadcasts on its online store that allow users to directly interact with shopping hosts via live chats.

  • Sony launches Apple TV app on select smart TVs running Android TV

    Sony launches Apple TV app on select smart TVs running Android TV

    Apple launched a brand-new Apple TV app last year, which is now available in more than 100 countries. The app is available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, select Samsung smart TVs, and, starting this week, select Sony smart TVs.

    Sony announced that the Apple TV app will begin rolling out today in the United States on its X900H series via a software update. The good news is Sony plans to expand the availability of the Apple TV app to more smart TVs by the end of the year, including on select 2018 models and most 2019 and 2020 models.

    In case you didn’t know, the app features Apple TV+, Apple’s new video subscription service that offers original shows, movies, and documentaries, including The Morning Show, See, Defending Jacob, Ted Lasso, Greyhound, Boys State, and Beastie Boys Story.

    Furthermore, customers can use the Apple TV app to subscribe to Apple TV channels, such as SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, and Starz, as well as watch ad-free and on-demand, directly on the Apple TV app.

    The Apple TV+ subscription on the Apple TV app on Sony’s smart TVs is available for $4.99 per month. However, for a limited time, those who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, or Mac are getting one year of Apple TV+ for free.

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