H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (27 March 2019) – Coding will be mandatory in Japan’s primary schools from 2020

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (27 March 2019) – Coding will be mandatory in Japan’s primary schools from 2020

Companies

• Meituan adds grocery delivery to its ‘everything’ app (Technode)
• Livestream app Inke’s 2018 profits fall on lack of innovation as segment weakens (Technode)
• China video-streaming firm iQIYI targets raising $1.1 billion in convertible bonds (Reuters)
• Google charts its own course to the future in Japanese maps; Users gripe about quality as internet powerhouse pulls back from local partner Zenrin (Nikkei)
• Global firm Hosokawa Micron launches state-of-the-art lab facility at Sci-Tech Daresbury (BMS)
• Viva Republica finalizes consortium for internet-only Toss Bank which includes Korea Electronic Certification Authority (KH)
• Sea’s e-commerce platform could turn profit ‘in couple of years’; Shopee has focused on building scale to face competition (FT)

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

• Technology and big data analysis drive 80-time average growth in fund size at world’s most-used money market fund platform; Since its move to include funds from outside managers, Yu’e Bao has expanded into a cash management platform with 20 funds (SCMP)
• Alibaba’s Tmall online supermarket aims to cover almost all Chinese households (KRA)
• com and Alibaba export AI and robot logistics expertise; E-commerce giants expand delivery and warehouse solutions beyond China (Nikkei)
• Huawei bets on high-end handsets to dethrone Samsung in Europe (Nikkei)
• Move Over Warren Buffett–For This $200 Billion Man From Japan (Forbes)

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

• Apple Stock Will Plunge Because There’s Not Much Profit in New Services, Goldman Sachs Says (Barron’s); All the Businesses Apple Wants to Disrupt — and Whether It Can (Barron’s); With iPhone sales slowing, Apple bets on video, gaming, news and a credit card (Economist); Apple’s new services could either be Netflix ‘poison’ or barely meaningful (MW); Apple Is Reinventing Itself as the Ultimate Middleman; The company just launched three new ways to take a cut of your paycheck-and one card to pay for it all. (Slate); Apple’s Services Event (Stratechery); Apple spotlights services with TV, gaming and credit card offerings (Reuters); Apple News+, at $10 a month, could deliver more content than multiple subscriptions (Reuters); Apple Card puts customer first, Goldman second (Reuters); Goldman’s Apple pairing furthers bank’s mass-market ambitions (Reuters); The real choice you make when you subscribe to Apple services (Wired)
• As Amazon Leads Cashless Charge, States and Cities Push Back (Bloomberg)
• Netflix pilots $4 mobile plan in India to woo users (Reuters)
• Nvidia-Mellanox deal underestimates China anti-monopoly risk (Technode); Nvidia CEO says no plans for more acquisitions after Mellanox deal (Reuters)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Beijing gave its biggest electric-vehicle maker $1 billion in help toward a single year of sales (qz); China Scales Back Electric-Car Subsidies to Spur Innovation (Bloomberg)
• Bytedance reportedly launches reading app (Technode); Douyin tests long videos to win new users (KRA)
• Can China’s tech industry up its game and take the lead when it comes to innovation and research? (SCMP)
• This 31-Year-Old Built A Billion-Dollar Business By Developing AI-Powered Facial Recognition Tech (Forbes)
• Japan’s mom-and-pop shops gain global e-commerce platform (Nikkei)
• Coding will be mandatory in Japan’s primary schools from 2020 (Nikkei)
• D-WAVE’s “Leap”, which will lease approximately 1.7 billion yen of quantum computers for free, will finally be officially released in Japan (TC)
• Indonesia to fix motorbike ride-hailing rates; may hurt Grab, Go-Jek (Reuters)
• Indian Railways has earned $3 million in just parking charges from taxi aggregators (qz)
• Coles turns to robots in grocery home-delivery overhaul (Age); Welcome to supermarkets 3.0: Robots, AI and dark stores (Age)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Spotify acquires true crime studio Parcast to expand its original podcast content (TC); Spotify to buy podcasting business Parcast for more than $100m; Music streaming group makes third podcasting acquisition in two months (FT)
• Adobe and Salesforce announce Customer Data Platforms to pull data into single view (TC); Adobe announces two new analytics tools to help marketers fill in the customer picture (TC); Adobe launches its Commerce Cloud, based on its Magento acquisition (TC); Adobe announces deeper data sharing partnership with Microsoft around accounts (TC); Adobe, Microsoft to take on Salesforce’s marketing software, with LinkedIn as a weapon (Reuters)
• Unicorns aren’t profitable, and Wall Street doesn’t care (TC)
• Hello Alfred launches new platform to reach more buildings and improve accessibility (TC)
• Lola.com raises $37M to take on SAP and others in the world of business travel (TC)
• How the Internet of Things is making the world a safer haven (e27)
• Vlocity nabs $60M Series C investment on $1B valuation (TC)
• Travis Kalanick’s new venture buys UK ‘dark kitchens’ business; Ex-Uber chief looks to expand outside US through acquisitions; Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens would enable restaurants to share facilities and cut overheads (FT)
• The PDF is dead: e-invoicing surge to speed up payment times (Age)
• McDonald’s $300 Million Deal Is Another Feat for a Tech Dynasty (Bloomberg)
• Oracle Trims Staff During Difficult Transition to Cloud Services (Bloomberg)
• Online furniture retailer Wayfair Inc. will open a physical store in its home state this year, the latest e-commerce company looking to impress customers with showrooms and displays rather than just websites and Facebook posts. (Bloomberg)
• Online mattress retailer Casper to hire IPO underwriters – sources (Reuters)
• 3 New SaaS Venture Rounds And Their Supporting Growth Metrics (CB)
• Depressed and Anxious? These Video Games Want to Help (NYT)

Life

• How to pursue your dream when everyone says it won’t work (FastCo)