H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 April 2019) – Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (13 April 2019) – Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot

Companies

• China’s Ctrip to sell Japan rail tickets via app (Nikkei)
• Hikvision’s New Business Team To Develop Intelligent Solutions For Fentanyl-Related Substances Regulation (SI)
• EU clears Nidec purchase of Whirlpool unit subject to conditions (Reuters)
• Netwealth Group reports the largest quarterly increase in FUA since listing (KKM)

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

• Alibaba’s AutoNavi commercializes HD map by charging automakers license fee (KRA)

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

• Google Cloud takes aim at verticals starting with new set of tools for retailers (TC)
• Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are changing how we interact with the world by doing it for us (TNW)
• Google’s AI is growing up (qz)
• Google sees rays of Sun in new cloud dreams; Tech group takes page out of Java creator as it takes on Amazon and Microsoft (FT)
• Netflix Just Dropped $8 Billion in Market Value on Disney+ News (Bloomberg)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China to include businesses in credit score database plan; Record of SMEs’ misdemeanours to be included in databank and shared with commercial bank (FT)
• SenseNets: the facial recognition company that supplies China’s Skynet surveillance system (SCMP)
• China’s Ant Financial amasses 50 million users, mostly low-income, in new health plan (Reuters)
• TikTok owner Bytedance said to be planning Spotify-like music streaming app for overseas market; The Chinese company is currently the world’s most valuable unicorn with a valuation of US$76 billion (SCMP)
• Mobile game developer Kunlun to pay $50M for 3% shares in China’s Waymo rival (Technode)
• Didi steps up financial drive as it courts car leasing companies (TC)
• Japan’s quest for display king ends as Taiwan-led group buys JDI; State-directed effort to merge Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony units lacked vision (Nikkei)
• Kudo’s untold story: how it enabled Indonesia’s unbanked and got acquired by Grab (TIA)
• Grab faces $2bn payout to Uber if no IPO by 2023 (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Salesforce and Other Business-Software Companies Are in a Sweet Spot, Analyst Says (Barron’s)
• Marvel, monsters and ‘Mandalorian’ coming to Disney+ app (Reuters); Disney already has a booming streaming service. It’s called Hotstar (CNN); Disney Stock Is Soaring Because Its New Streaming Service Might Be a Better Deal Than Netflix (Barron’s)
• Password manager Dashlane closes on $30M, adds former Spotify CMO to board (TC)
• Naspers-owned PayU doubles down on India with $70M deal to buy Wibmo (TC)
• Fintech Insurer Lemonade Valued At More Than $2 Billion After $300 Million Funding Deal (Forbes)
• Profits Can Wait As Freshworks Targets A Cloud Market Dominated By SAP And Salesforce (Forbes)
• Uber’s IPO is a lesson in the true cost of toxic culture (qz); Uber admits its culture is IPO risk (FT); Uber’s conflicting self-driving fleet vision (FT); Uber Freight Is a Surprisingly Big Business. Truckers Take Note. (Barron’s); Uber aims to maintain heavy spending to keep rivals at bay; Ride-hailing app’s ‘winner-takes-all’ strategy will continue to cost billions (FT)
• How Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians) (Ep. 374) (Freakonomics)
• Why ‘Loot Boxes’ May Unlock Trouble for the Videogame Industry (Barron’s)
• Italian payments group Nexi to sell €1.3bn shares in IPO; Company to start public trading in Milan next week with initial market cap of €5.4bn (FT)
• Jumia becomes first African start-up to list in New York; E-commerce company dubbed ‘Africa’s Amazon’ valued at more than $1bn (FT)
• Pinterest’s myth-busting chief leads his ‘silent unicorn’ to IPO; Publicity-shy founder Ben Silbermann has long defied Silicon Valley stereotypes (FT)
• The Cash Party Is Almost Over for Unicorns Like Uber; Winners and losers have been determined by who can raise the most money, not necessarily those with the best product or service. (Bloomberg)

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