Today's headlines
HEADLINE NEWS
Kneeling on one knee to announce his return, Internet celebrity anchor Simba: Now is the darkest moment for live streaming e-commerce
On October 14, Kuaishou's popular anchor Simba posted three videos in a row announcing his "return". In the video, Simba and his partners knelt on one knee and claimed to "pay tribute to all users". According to Simba's dynamics, he will resume live broadcasting on October 19. Simba also said: "Big anchors are in danger, user trust has collapsed, and the media has followed suit and criticized them", "Now is the darkest moment for live broadcast e-commerce".
Simba also said that as one of the millions of live streaming practitioners, he wanted to say sorry to all Internet platforms and all live streaming e-commerce users, and asked everyone to believe in Simba and practitioners in this industry again.
It is reported that Simba's return is his first public appearance after his "fight" with Xiao Yangge. Earlier, Simba was involved in a dispute with the Three Sheep and said he would compensate consumers 100 million yuan, but last month, Simba's Kuaishou account homepage showed that his account's live broadcast function was banned, and it has been more than a month. (Kuai Technology)
Domestic Information
DOMESTIC NEWS
It is said that Sima Nan was persuaded to stop live streaming at Pang Donglai and was kicked out. Pang Donglai responded: Any live streaming activities are prohibited in the store
On the afternoon of October 13, Sima Nan started a live broadcast at Pang Donglai Angel City Store in Xuchang, Henan Province. The name of the live broadcast was "Sima Nan's Stroll·Pang Donglai in Xuchang, Henan Province". According to a third-party data platform, Sima Nan started the live broadcast at 17:10 on the 13th and was taken off the air after only 13 minutes. According to the live broadcast room screen, Sima Nan's live broadcast was stopped by Pang Donglai staff.
On October 14, the supermarket staff of Pang Donglai Angel City responded that this incident did happen. Pang Donglai is a shopping mall with a large flow of people. In order to protect the privacy and personal safety of customers, Pang Donglai currently prohibits any live broadcast activities. If any live broadcast is seen on site, it will be stopped immediately. In addition, it is not open to any Internet celebrities or organizations to report live broadcasts, and the mall does not have the conditions to carry out live broadcast activities.
On the other hand, Sima Nan also responded on his personal Weibo, saying: "Someone spread rumors that Sima Nan was kicked out of Pang Donglai's live broadcast. They glared and lied to the point of completely disregarding basic facts. It is obvious that they are afraid that Sima Nan's topic will cool down, and they keep adding fuel to the fire. Thank you. I am touched by the enthusiasm of Pang Donglai's reception. It is not that Sima Nan is not allowed to live broadcast, but because of the complaints, all live broadcasts have been dissuaded recently." (Blue Whale News, Sanyan Technology)
Xiaohongshu's Q1 net profit soared 4 times, revenue exceeded US$1 billion for the first time, and it may be listed in Hong Kong
On October 14, according to media reports, Xiaohongshu's revenue in the first quarter of 2024 exceeded US$1 billion for the first time, reaching a level slightly above US$1 billion, and its net profit soared to US$200 million, a four-fold increase from US$40 million in the same period last year. As one of the fastest-growing social media in China, Xiaohongshu achieved US$3.7 billion in revenue and US$500 million in net profit last year. Compared with 2022, not only did its revenue increase significantly, but it also successfully turned losses into profits.
The report pointed out that this strong growth was mainly due to Xiaohongshu's increased advertising efforts targeting female consumers of Generation Z. According to previous reports, advertising has always been Xiaohongshu's main source of income, accounting for about 80% of total revenue in 2022. Although Xiaohongshu introduced e-commerce functions in 2021, aiming to increase revenue by promoting brand sales, most of its revenue currently still relies on advertising.
The operating company of Xiaohongshu reached 312 million monthly active users in 2023, an increase of 20% over the previous year. The steady growth of this user base provides a solid foundation for the commercialization process of Xiaohongshu. It is reported that Xiaohongshu is considering listing in Hong Kong to further expand its business scope. Xiaohongshu's financing history has also attracted much attention. In July this year, Xiaohongshu completed a new round of financing with a valuation of up to US$17 billion. Since its establishment, Xiaohongshu has received investments from many well-known companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, GGV Capital and Sequoia Capital. (ITBEAR, Fast Technology)
I was sexually harassed while looking for a job on Zhaopin.com. The customer service responded: The company account has been frozen and the recruitment content has been removed
On October 12, Ms. Duan said that she was "selected" when looking for a job on Zhilian Recruitment. Ms. Duan recalled that on October 7, she saw the recruitment information for the new media operation assistant of Hangzhou Xingjie Brand Design Co., Ltd. on Zhilian Recruitment, and exchanged WeChat with the company's human resources manager Mr. Hu to arrange an interview time. Mr. Hu asked Ms. Duan on WeChat whether she lived with her boyfriend. Ms. Duan said, "I don't have a boyfriend, I live with a friend." On the afternoon of the 7th, Ms. Duan went to the company for an interview. Only Mr. Hu was in the company, and the interview process went smoothly and normally. After the interview, Mr. Hu notified Ms. Duan that she would start work on the 9th.
At noon on the 8th, Mr. Hu suddenly told Ms. Duan that because the boss was not there on the day of the interview, he needed to discuss with the boss again and would give an accurate reply within 3 days. Then, Mr. Hu changed the subject and asked Ms. Duan if they could be "friends" and "I'm afraid you mind my age" and "What if I want to pursue you?" To avoid trouble, Ms. Duan directly said that she already had a boyfriend, "After I sent this message, he never talked to me again." On the 9th, Ms. Duan browsed the job information of "New Media Operation Assistant" on Zhaopin.com and found that the recruitment information was more "detailed", adding "requires singleness, non-single people may not be focused on work, in other aspects, single people don't have so many things to do, and the communication cost is low.
On the morning of the 11th, Ms. Duan reported Hangzhou Xingjie Brand Design Co., Ltd. to Zhaopin.com for "sexual harassment"; in the afternoon, Zhaopin.com showed that "the account has been frozen by Zhaopin.com due to violations." On the 12th, Zhaopin.com's customer service said that the company had indeed violated the rules, and that the company's account had been dealt with, and the platform had removed the company's recruitment content. (News)
The industry is generally losing money! 16 photovoltaic companies reached a consensus to prevent "involutionary" vicious competition
On October 14, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association published an article on its official WeChat account titled "The photovoltaic industry has reached a consensus on strengthening industry self-discipline and preventing 'involution' vicious competition".
The article stated that in recent times, the market price of photovoltaic products has continued to decline, and the entire industry has fallen into a vicious cycle of irrational competition.
On October 14, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association held a special symposium in Shanghai to prevent the industry's "involution" vicious competition.
At the forum, entrepreneurs and representatives had a full exchange of views and reached a consensus on "strengthening industry self-discipline, preventing "involution" vicious competition, strengthening the market survival of the fittest mechanism, and unblocking the exit channels for backward and inefficient production capacity" and the healthy and sustainable development of the industry.
A total of 16 companies participated in the forum, including Canadian Solar, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, LONGi Green Energy and Aiko Solar.
According to previous reports, Wang Bohua, honorary chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, once said that in the first half of this year, the photovoltaic industry experienced "ice and fire". "Hot" is reflected in the expansion of scale and export growth, and "cold" is reflected in price declines, reduced output value, and reduced export volume. Among them, the price of polysilicon and silicon wafers fell by more than 40%, and the price of battery cells and modules fell by more than 15%.
With the price of polysilicon and other links breaking the cost price, the photovoltaic industry generally suffered losses in the first half of this year. (
Red Star Capital Bureau)
iPhone 16 Pro is reported to be unable to connect to Huaqiangbei headphones, Apple customer service responds
Recently, some netizens on social media broke the news that they had just changed to iPhone 16 Pro and found that their Huaqiangbei headphones could not be connected, while it was normal to connect on iPhone 12 before. Netizens commented that piracy should not be supported and it is normal that it cannot be connected. There is also a view that it is a free choice to buy any device and should not be blamed or restricted. At present, many posters have stated that they have successfully connected through some method. In response
to the news that iPhone 16 Pro cannot connect to Huaqiangbei headphones,
Apple's official customer service said that it may be that the firmware version of the headphones is not compatible with the iOS18 system and has nothing to do with the phone model. You can contact Huaqiangbei to upgrade the firmware. Regarding the question of whether Apple has set technical restrictions on pirated products, customer service said that no relevant notification has been received for the time being.
It is reported that the Huaqiangbei version of airpods had a version that could bypass Apple's piracy detection mechanism two years ago. However, many review bloggers still recommend that consumers choose carefully and remind that the quality of non-genuine products is uneven and there are risks in using them. (Phoenix Network Technology)
Kudi's cross-border milk tea shop "Chamao" was reported to have a closure rate of up to 22%, and franchisees said: the brand effect is not strong
Kudi's crossover from coffee to milk tea seems to be not going smoothly. Its new sub-brand "Cha Mao" was established at the end of last year, and its first test store was launched in Pingnan County, Ningde City, Fujian Province. "The price is benchmarked against Mixue Bingcheng, and the product is benchmarked against Bawang Chaji", an industry insider once positioned Cha Mao in this way. Although the initial development momentum seems good, it has encountered many obstacles in actual operation. Recently, it was reported that Cha Mao's first store in Guangzhou was officially closed, and Cha Mao has closed at least 25 stores across the country, with a closure rate as high as 22.32%.
It is reported that most of Cha Mao's stores were opened in April and May this year, and most of them were only open for 4 or 5 months. A Cha Mao franchisee revealed that Cha Mao's brand effect is not strong, and some franchisees said frankly, "I will close (the store) if I lose money." As of September 12, there are 108 stores on the Kudi official mini program, and at least 4 stores are not included in the mini program. Based on this data, its store closure rate has reached 22.32%. (Inside reference for restaurant owners)
Meituan expands its content portfolio, testing a takeaway version of Xiaohongshu
After trying live broadcasts, short videos, and short dramas, Meituan has made new moves in terms of content. According to reports
, Meituan is testing a service called "Local Eating" in Beijing, Shanghai and other places. The service is embedded in the takeaway service of the Meituan APP. It is similar to a takeaway version of "Little Red Book". Users and KOLs can share their purchased takeaway orders through the way of creating grass-planting creations, allowing other users to discover treasure products and merchants.
Users can click on the corresponding "Buy these products" to place an order.
The service also adds an AI writing function to further lower the threshold for users to create.
Content seeding has been one of the hottest tracks in recent years.
In 2022, Meituan e-commerce had "aimed" at the "seeding" track.
In February of the same year, Meituan launched the content seeding function "Zhenxiang", which displays users' seeding notes on products and can be used as a reference for other users in product selection.
(Tech Planet)
Douyin, the original wholly-owned shareholder of TuChong.com, withdraws from the shares and transfers all the shares
On October 14, according to media reports, Shanghai TuChong Network Technology Co., Ltd. recently underwent important industrial and commercial changes, and the original wholly-owned shareholder Douyin Co., Ltd. has officially withdrawn from the company's equity structure. At the same time, Beijing Xueyun Ruichuang Technology Co., Ltd. has become its new wholly-owned shareholder, achieving full control of the company.
Shanghai TuChong Network Technology Co., Ltd. has been engaged in many fields since its establishment in September 2011. Its business scope is wide, covering the production and operation of radio and television programs, various engineering construction activities, network cultural operation, information system integration services, computer system services, as well as enterprise management consulting and various information consulting services.
It is worth mentioning that before this industrial and commercial change, the registered capital of Shanghai TuChong Network Technology Co., Ltd. had achieved a substantial increase in August this year, from the original amount to 80 million yuan, an increase of 300%. (Fast Technology)
A woman cancelled her account but did not unbind it from Baidu Netdisk, which led to the leakage of her photos. Customer service responded: You can enable account login protection
On October 14, a Guangzhou woman reported that after canceling her mobile phone number, she did not unbind the Baidu network disk associated with the number. The new owner of the mobile phone number logged into the Baidu network disk, saw her photos, privacy and contacts, and harassed her many times.
Ms. Wu, the victim, said that in March this year, the new owner kept applying to add Ms. Wu through WeChat. In April, the new owner called Ms. Wu and verbally harassed her. On October 10, Ms. Wu added the new owner's WeChat. The other party sent Ms. Wu's private photos and asked if the person in the photo was Ms. Wu, and verbally harassed her again.
Baidu has not responded to this matter yet. Baidu Netdisk customer service said that if you find that your account has a login record that is not yours, you can check the specific details and kick out the login status of other devices. For the sake of account security, you can turn on login protection, and your identity will be verified when you log in from a different location or on a web page. (Sina Technology)
Valuation: 47.3 billion, Middle Eastern tycoons invest, another IPO of Liu Qiangdong is coming
Recently, JD.com's spin-off JD Industrial applied for listing in Hong Kong. Including JD.com, JD Logistics, JD Health, Dada, and Deppon, which have already been listed, Liu Qiangdong's sixth IPO is coming. Under the leadership of CEO Song Chunzheng, and with Liu Qiangdong as chairman of the board, the company eventually grew into a leading player in China's industrial supply chain technology and service market, with annual revenue exceeding 17 billion yuan and successfully achieving profitability.
After receiving about $635 million from Sequoia China, GGV Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, Abu Dhabi Investment Fund 42Xfund, Abu Dhabi Sovereign Fund Mubadala, large asset management group M&G, and BPEA EQT (formerly Baring Asia Investments), the Asian platform of global private equity giant EQT, JD Industrial's valuation reached about $6.7 billion (about RMB 47.3 billion). (Venture Network)
JD CEO Xu Ran: We will recruit at least 10,000 purchasing and sales personnel in the next three years
On October 14, JD.com CEO Xu Ran said at the Double 11 press conference that in the current fierce market competition, there is still a phenomenon of "vicious internal circulation" and bad money driving out good money in the industry. In the next three years, JD.com will recruit at least 10,000 buyers and salesmen. They will source from all over the world and bring back more good products with low prices for users, so that users can truly feel that they are "cheap and good", and also let brand merchants sell well, have growth, and make money. (Bianniushi)
Huawei's largest R&D center welcomes its first batch of employees, and Shanghai Qingpu customized bus service opens
Huawei's largest R&D center in the world, Lianqiu Lake R&D Center, welcomed its first batch of employees today. The public transportation system customized for Huawei in Qingpu, Shanghai, began operation on the same day. On July 9, Huawei's Shanghai Qingpu project was completed and officially named Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center.
Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center project is located in Xicen Community, Jinze Town, Qingpu District, and is a key project in Shanghai. Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center covers an area of 2,400 acres, with a total construction area of 2.06 million square meters and a total investment of over 10 billion yuan. In the future, more than 30,000 Huawei R&D talents will be introduced one after another. It is Huawei's largest R&D center in the world. (IT Home)
IBM Greater China responds to internal reports against the chairman: We attach great importance to and thoroughly investigate any behavior that may violate the company's business code of conduct
In response to the internal report against IBM Greater China Chairman Chen Xudong, IBM Greater China responded that it attaches great importance to and thoroughly investigates any behavior that may violate the company's business code of conduct. We do not discuss the personal circumstances of our employees. IBM will continue to focus on serving customers in Greater China. (Sina Technology)
International News
FOREIGN NEWS
Intel plans to lay off 15,000 employees. All departments have submitted the list to their superiors. The layoffs will reach a climax this week.
According to Intel's previously announced layoff plan, the company will lay off about 15% of its employees, affecting about 15,000 employees, and the peak of large-scale layoffs will come this week.
According to media reports, heads of various departments at Intel have submitted lists of employees recommended for layoffs, and these employees will soon receive notices, many of whom will learn of the layoffs as early as this week.
The first phase of layoffs began in August, mainly targeting employees who voluntarily resigned. Many employees who chose to voluntarily retire received relatively satisfactory compensation.
According to the compensation plan, employees who have served the company for 5 years can receive 4 months' salary, employees who have served for more than 10 years can receive 10 months' salary, and employees who have served for more than 30 years can receive 19 months' salary after retirement.
In mid-September, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced that the company had achieved more than half of its year-end layoff target through voluntary early retirement and severance services.
He also pointed out that the company still needs to make difficult decisions and will notify affected employees in mid-October. (Fast Technology)
Foreign capital quickly withdrew, Samsung's market value evaporated by nearly 90 trillion won, and it was sold off for 23 consecutive days
On October 14, according to media reports, foreign funds are rapidly withdrawing from Samsung Electronics, and its stock price has fallen to "50,000 points" for the first time in 1 year and 7 months. According to data from the Korea Stock Exchange, from the 3rd of last month to the 11th of this month, foreign capital has reduced its holdings in Samsung Electronics for 23 consecutive trading days, with a cumulative sales amount of up to 10.6593 trillion won (about 55.656 billion yuan). Samsung Electronics' stock price plummeted 20.3% from 74,400 won to 59,300 won, and its market value shrank from 444 trillion won to 354 trillion won, evaporating nearly 90 trillion won (about 469.924 billion yuan).
At the same time, the proportion of foreign shareholdings also fell significantly, from 56.02% in August to 53.75% in September, a drop of 2.27 percentage points, the largest drop since 2004. Rival SK Hynix's foreign shareholding increased to 54%, surpassing Samsung Electronics for the first time since September last year. Foreign investors' optimism about SK Hynix may be partly due to its exclusive supply of fourth-generation HBM3 to Nvidia and the start of supply of fifth-generation HBM3E 8-layer products.
The most direct reason for this round of selling is that Samsung Electronics' third-quarter performance was lower than market expectations. On the 8th of this month, Samsung Electronics released a financial report showing that the company's third-quarter sales were 79 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%; operating profit was 9.1 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of 274.5%, but a month-on-month decrease of 12.8%, and lower than the market expectation of 10.3 trillion won. The reason is the weak demand for PC and mobile storage semiconductors. (Fast Technology, Jiemian News)
Huang Renxun said Musk is like Superman: 19 days to build the "strongest" AI training cluster
In an interview broadcast on October 13, Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun talked about Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI building the AI training cluster Colossus in a short period of time, praising Musk and his team for being incredible and like Superman. Huang Renxun said, "xAI completed in 19 days what others would take a year to complete, and no one has ever done it before. That is something that only Superman can do, and there is only one person in the world who can do this, and that is Elon Musk. His understanding of engineering, architecture, large systems, and resource allocation is unique."
It is reported that xAI built the world's most powerful AI training cluster, Colossus, in Memphis, Tennessee, in just 19 days. According to Musk, the Colossus cluster is equipped with an astonishing 100,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, breaking the industry record in one fell swoop. It uses liquid cooling and a single RDMA (remote direct data access) network interconnection architecture, making it the world's most powerful AI training cluster.
It is understood that xAI will use this cluster to "train the world's most powerful artificial intelligence in all aspects" before December this year to create "the world's most powerful artificial intelligence." (IT Home)
After 16 years of sales, Apple's external optical drive has been discontinued and is gradually being removed from online stores around the world
Apple's last MacBook Pro with an optical drive was discontinued on February 1 this year, but Apple is still selling an external USB SuperDrive. As fewer and fewer users need CD/DVD drives, Apple has gradually abandoned this product.
MacRumors found that Apple's external optical drive has been sold out in the United States for "several months" and is now sold out or removed from shelves in all countries and regions (it seems that only one store in Dalian can pick it up in China, but the official website shows that it is sold out). Given that it has not resumed sales to date, this 16-year-old accessory is expected to be no longer in production and is waiting for the inventory to be gradually cleared.
Public information shows that this optical drive was released in 2008 and can be used with the first-generation MacBook Air (without a built-in optical drive) that was launched at the same time. The US official website shows that it is 79 US dollars (currently about 559 RMB), and the domestic version is 564 RMB. Given that CD/DVD optical drives have become a niche market, it is reasonable for Apple to stop selling SuperDrive. For customers in need, there are many cheaper third-party products to choose from, and third-party products do not need to be used with a USB-C adapter like this one. (IT Home)
Google faces pressure from app store ruling, asks US court to suspend ban
On October 14, according to foreign media reports, Google hopes to suspend the ruling requiring it to open the Play Store to competitors. According to Reuters on October 12, citing a court document, the technology giant argued that the ban issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato earlier this month would harm its business and bring serious safety, security and privacy risks to the Android ecosystem.
Donato's order, issued last week and set to take effect Nov. 1, bars Google from paying developers for exclusive use of its app store and prevents it from prohibiting developers from telling customers how to download apps directly. The order also prohibits Google from letting developers use its billing features and says it must allow rival app stores to access its catalog.
The ruling is part of an antitrust case brought by Epic Games after a jury ruled that Google Play Store policies constituted an abuse of power by Google. According to Reuters, Google hopes the judge will stay the ruling during its appeal. If the judge rejects the company's request, Google can apply to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco to stay the antitrust ruling. (Bianniushi)
Threads "Loop" is under development, will challenge
????
, Reddit social media features
According to foreign media reports, there are signs that Threads is developing a community-like social function to further challenge
????
As well as the status of Reddit, another famous European and American Internet community. Meta's social platform Threads seems to be developing a new feature called Loop, where users can create their own communities and allow other users to join and participate. Meta's relevant person in charge confirmed in an interview that the Loop feature is being developed, but no internal or external testing has been carried out yet. When asked about the specific plans for Loop, Meta responded that the feature is still in the early stages of development and no further details can be disclosed at present.
It is reported that Musk
????
's community function is very important and is considered the key to its future growth. After acquiring Twitter, he vigorously promoted the development and transformation of the community function. In April this year, he shared a post stating that
????
The time users spend on the community has increased by 495%, and the overall usage time has increased by more than 600% compared to the same period last year. (Shilun.com)
SpaceX used "chopsticks" to grab the Starship booster for the first time. US experts: The cost of space exploration will drop significantly
On October 13, local time in the United States, SpaceX successfully conducted the fifth test flight of the Starship system at the Starbase base in southeastern Texas, creating a new milestone in space exploration. In this test flight, SpaceX not only successfully launched the Starship rocket, but also for the first time during the booster return process, used the robotic arm nicknamed "chopsticks" to grab the 71-meter-high "Super Heavy" booster on the launch pad. This feat marks a major breakthrough in SpaceX's fully reusable rockets.
Wendy Cobb, a professor at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Aerospace Studies, said in an interview on October 14 that this successful move will make "the cost of entering space drop at an astronomical rate." She explained that historically, most rockets were used once and discarded after completing their missions. However, the new generation of space companies have realized that the key to making space flight more economical and more popular is the reusability of rockets. (The Paper)
Meta CTO confirms that Quest Pro 2 will be abandoned, and lightweight headset is under development
On October 13, according to foreign media reports, Meta's Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth confirmed the previous news that the company canceled a high-end headset to be released in 2027 and is developing another ultra-lightweight headset.
The news comes from an August report that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Bosworth canceled a high-end headset codenamed La Jolla, which was originally scheduled to be launched in 2027, most likely the Quest Pro 2. Five days later, the media reported that in the same meeting where the decision was made, they approved an ultra-lightweight headset also planned to be launched in 2027, which will be equipped with a wired computing module. (Zhongguancun Online)
Apple to launch 'Apple Vision' headset for around $2,000 as early as 2025, canceling EyeSight
On October 14, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple still plans to launch a low-end Apple Vision headset priced at about $2,000 as early as next year. Gurman said that the low-end headset may use a lower-performance processor and cheaper materials. The Vision Pro is currently equipped with an M2 chip, so it is expected that Apple may equip the cheaper headset with an A-series chipset, such as the A18 Pro, which has similar performance to the M1. As for materials, more plastic may be used instead of completely aluminum and glass.
The report also claims that the headset may abandon the EyeSight feature that Apple introduced on the Vision Pro, which uses a lenticular lens display to transmit the user's eye image to the outside of the headset, allowing people around them to still "see" their eyes. (IT Home)
(Welcome to add WeChat: Lxx_5320, learn more about smart hardware related dynamics, and communicate with more friends)
Microsoft and KT Telecom announce $1.8 billion AI partnership in South Korea
On October 14, according to Korean media reports, Microsoft and South Korean telecommunications company KT Corp. have established a partnership and pledged to invest 2.4 trillion won (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the next five years to promote the development of artificial intelligence, cloud services and infrastructure in South Korea. They plan to launch a customized AI model based on Microsoft's multilingual GPT-4o in the first half of 2025.
To support this initiative, the telecom company will set up a subsidiary focused on AI transformation in the first quarter of next year to provide consulting and design services to assist companies in integrating AI technology. The partnership aims to boost KT's AI transformation business revenue to 1.4 trillion won in 2029, up from an estimated 269 billion won in 2025. (Bianniushi)
South Korea's semiconductor exports hit a record high of $13.63 billion in September
According to data released by the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea on October 14, the export value of South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) in September this year increased by 36.3% year-on-year to US$22.36 billion, maintaining an upward trend for 11 consecutive months and setting the second highest monthly record in history. By field, thanks to the artificial intelligence (AI) technology boom that boosted server investment, semiconductor exports reached US$13.63 billion, a record high.
Among them, storage semiconductor exports increased by 60.7% year-on-year to US$8.72 billion, and system semiconductors increased by 5.2% to US$4.37 billion. According to the analysis of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the increase in market demand for high-value-added products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has driven a surge in storage semiconductor exports, contributing to the record high in semiconductor exports. (Titanium Media)
Citigroup hires two former JPMorgan executives to lead Asia operations
On October 14, according to a statement, Citigroup hired two former JPMorgan Chase executives, Anand Goyal will serve as head of foreign exchange institutional sales in South Asia, Japan, North Asia and Australia, and appointed Hooi Wan Ng as head of the Malaysian market. (Cailian News Agency)
Australia's TPG to sell fibre assets to Vocus for $3.5 billion
On October 14, Australia's TPG Telecom announced that it had signed a binding share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell its fiber and fixed network infrastructure assets to Vocus Group for an enterprise value of A$5.25 billion (US$3.54 billion), including a potential A$250 million contingent value payment. The two parties aim to complete the transaction in the second half of 2025. (Jiemian News)
京公网安备 11010802033920号