H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (8 November 2018) – Japanese Game-Maker Bandai Namco’s First-Half Profits Up 29 Percent. ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,’ which it co-developed for Nintendo, is expected to be a huge seller when it is released next month + The psychology of success relies on disappointment

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (8 November 2018) – Japanese Game-Maker Bandai Namco’s First-Half Profits Up 29 Percent. ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,’ which it co-developed for Nintendo, is expected to be a huge seller when it is released next month + The psychology of success relies on disappointment

Companies

• Robot maker Fanuc lives on the ‘edge’ of data processing (Nikkei); Fanuc ‘in top form’ in US as Chinese capital investment slows (Nikkei)
• Japanese Game-Maker Bandai Namco’s First-Half Profits Up 29 Percent. ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,’ which it co-developed for Nintendo, is expected to be a huge seller when it is released next month. (HWR)
• Amazon Go Has a Real Rival in Japan; Signpost up 50-plus percent since cashierless kiosk announced (Bloomberg)
• Yahoo Japan chases Chinese rivals with new video platform; Roster of 200 influencers to produce how-to clips and other bite-sized content (Nikkei)
• Keyence, a Japanese company with a $64bn market capitalisation, specialises in making all sorts of electronic widgets used in the automation of factory assembly lines. It also has a bulging bank balance. Just 5.6 per cent of all free cash flow generated in an 18 year period has been returned to shareholders. The rest is in the piggy bank. (FT)
• Nidec plans to apply electric motor expertise to car industry; The company’s initial offer is an 83kg motor – half the weight of an equivalent engine (FT)
• The stock of Apple supplier Minebea Mitsumi Inc. soared after its proposed acquisition of a Japanese lock maker, in a deal clouded by controversy over aggressive trading ahead of the buyout. (Bloomberg)
• HK-based social media publishing platform PressLogic raises US$10M from Meitu; By analysing popular topics in each interest community, PressLogic’s MediaLens platform suggests specific content that are likely to go viral for the specific interest com (e27)
• Hiwin showcasing smart ball screws at JIMTOF 2018 (Digitimes)
• Koh Young America Highlighting Smart Factory Solutions at SMTA Guadalajara (iconnect)
• Bravura Solutions, a supplier of wealth management and funds administration technology, is expanding its London presence; The past 18 months has seen Bravura announce new clients in all key markets globally, across both the Wealth Management and Fun (IAM)
• Xero increases dominance of cloud accounting with 37 per cent growth (Age)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Softbank, Samsung

• Tencent executive says it will protect minors who play its games regardless of the impact on revenue (SCMP)
• Pony Ma says Tencent is ‘seriously considering’ VR enabled WeChat (Technode)
• QQ takes leaf from sibling WeChat’s mini-program book (Technode); WeChat reaches 1M mini programs, half the size of Apple’s App Store (Techcrunch)
• Tencent Slashes Game Marketing Budget Amid Freeze (Bloomberg)
• Samsung to mass produce foldable phone in coming months; Device can simultaneously run three apps, company says at developers conference (Nikkei)
• How Singles’ Day Became Biggest Shopping Spree Ever (Bloomberg)
• Ant Financial invests tens of millions RMB in IT leasing enterprise RRZuJi (KRA)

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Facebook’s Nostalgic Mood Isn’t Helping; Yes, it solved mobile, but that’s not the answer to every challenge. (Bloomberg)
• Google is looking more like Baidu with new Discover feed (TIA)
• Microsoft CEO pitches efficacy of AI, cloud computing; “The sense of purpose (at Microsoft) is to make tools, platforms, capability and mainframes so that you can build your own digital capability, that is our mission.” (Investor)
• How Apple is losing its grip on India (Reuters)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• 3 AI trends that are changing the Asian tech scene (TIA)
• SoCar, Korea’s mobility platform most famous for its car-sharing services, showcased how its app can be used with an autonomous driving technology. (Investor)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Silicon Valley Investor Admits ‘Start-Up Economy’ Is A Ponzi Scheme; They “habitually invest in on another’s companies during later rounds, bidding up rounds to valuations that allow for generous markups on their funds’ performance”. (ZH)
• AMD Stock Is Soaring on a Deal With Amazon Web Services (Barron’s)
• Roku Keeps Growing, but Investors Don’t Like the Profit Outlook (Barron’s)
• Big Tech Sets Up a ‘Kill Zone’ for Industry Upstarts; Today’s star companies hire the best engineers and copy the novel ideas of startups, choking off potential competition. (Bloomberg)
• S. Likely to Accelerate Slowly to Using Autonomous Vehicles (Morningstar)
• Henrik von Scheel on Industry 4.0 and the AI investment opportunity (RG)
• Slack wants to be your ‘virtual chief of staff’; CEO envisions business messaging app as ‘hub for everything’ (Nikkei)

Life

• The psychology of success relies on disappointment (qz)
• When Things Get Wild by Morgan Housel (Morgan Housel)
• You Don’t Need a Goal, You Need a Theme; Happiness is rarely a result of what you accomplish (Medium)
• Why having a Plan B can sometimes backfire (TED)
• If You Can Master These Ancient Laws About Yourself, You’ll Become Unstoppable (Medium)