H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (1 May 2019) – Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity + A $4.4 Billion Accounting Error Burns Investors in China; One of China’s largest listed drugmakers Kangmei Pharmaceuticals said it overstated cash holdings by $4.4 billion

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (1 May 2019) – Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity + A $4.4 Billion Accounting Error Burns Investors in China; One of China’s largest listed drugmakers Kangmei Pharmaceuticals said it overstated cash holdings by $4.4 billion

Companies

• Momo Announces a Recent Development about Tantan (PRNW); Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of Momo Inc (Yahoo)
• Subsidies gas up turnaround at Buffett-backed BYD (Reuters)
• Smartphone maker Xiaomi sets up technical committee to build an engineering culture as it pushes into artificial intelligence (SCMP)
• MakeMyTrip acquires corporate travel firm Quest2Travel; India’s largest online travel aggregator enters the corporate travel business with the buyout of the Mumbai-based firm (Forbes)
• Afterpay reveals quick-off-the-mark UK strategy (AFR)

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

• Alibaba’s grand strategy to feed China’s middle class (Technode)
• Ant Financial sells out its stake in micro-lender Qudian (KRA)
• Tencent may enter ride-hailing business, its trademark registration information shows (KRA)
• Long freeze between Tencent and Alibaba thaws; Chinese tech giants have been following each other into the same investments (FT)
• Taiwan economy stumbles as global tech downturn worsens; Minister hopes wave of companies returning from China will spur growth; The slowdown in global demand for electronics gadgets triggered the steepest slide in net earnings at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in more than seven years (FT)
• Samsung may stay true to its bleak words (Reuters)

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

• Facebook Unveils Major App Redesign With Focus on Groups (Bloomberg); Facebook overhauls design as it pivots to private messaging (Reuters)
• Instagram will now let creators and influencers sell items directly (TC)
• Amazon targets $5 billion in Indian exports on its global marketplace by 2023 (Forbes)
• Services really are becoming a bigger part of Apple’s business (TC); Apple Stock Is Up Because the Shift to Services Seems to Be Working (Barron’s); Apple’s old age beats Google’s adolescence (Reuters); In streaming wars, Apple says it can coexist with Netflix (Reuters)
• Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity (BT)
• Alphabet’s revenue breakdown? You can’t Google that (AFR); The cost of being woke, Google edition; Demonetisation of questionable content is principled but costly. (FT); Google’s Ad Revenue Mystery: Five Possible Theories (Bloomberg); FAANG Stocks Drop $100 Billion as Alphabet Loss Bites Hard (Bloomberg)
• Netflix and rivals have to up their user-experience game to compete with traditional TV for ad dollars, says new report (MW)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Food delivery platforms push into lower-tier cities, new retail for growth: report (Technode)
• Bytedance acquires database company Terark; Terark develops algorithms that speed up databases by compressing the data, and enables direct searches on the highly compressed data (Technode)
• ByteDance faces global learning curve as TikTok runs afoul of local regulators; TikTok’s rapid expansion has been marred by regulatory problems in India, the United States and Indonesia (SCMP)
• Tencent-Backed Waterdrop Seeks Valuation of More Than $1 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Chinese sneaker-trading platform becomes unicorn with latest funding round (TIA)
• Vlogs may be hot in China but investors remain cool (Technode)
• More than 1,500 Chinese apps found to be collecting excessive personal information (KRA)
• Server maker Super Micro to ditch ‘made-in-China’ parts on spy fears (Nikkei); Supermicro breaks ground for new plant in Taiwan (Digitimes)
• Go-Jek investment arm makes first deal and it is an Indian e-sports startup (e27); Go-Jek collaborates with Tiket.com to launch Go-Travel (KRA)
• Sofian Hadiwijaya of Warung Pintar, Transforming traditional kiosks: Startup Stories (KRA)
• India’s Data Localization Remains A Key Challenge For Foreign Companies (Forbes)
• Mobileground India: The Chinese invasion; The first wave of internet businesses may have belonged to America, but China’s startups and investors are now leading the wave to dominate the mobile internet in developing markets. What does this mean for India? (Forbes)
• For Airbnb, India is the next China: Nathan Blecharczyk (Forbes)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• The WeWork IPO Is Still Confidential. Here’s What We Know So Far. (MW)
• Golden unveils a Wikipedia alternative focused on emerging tech and startups (TC)
• IM raises $25M to help publishers engage with readers (TC)
• Online pet-food retailer Chewy.com files to go public (CHWY) (BI)
• Industrial-Technology Stocks Zebra Tech and Cognex Both Tumbled. That’s Great for Savvy Investors (Barron’s)
• Shopify’s Latest Earnings Keep the Hot E-Commerce Stock Climbing (Barron’s)
• I.P., Anki: yet another home robotics company powers down (Wired)
• AI-Powered UiPath Scores $568M At $7B Valuation (CB)
• This is why Spotify isn’t just talking the talk about podcasts (SR); Spotify Reaches 100 Million Paid Subscribers Ahead Of Apple Music (Forbes)
• Uber’s enormous, vague IPO prospectus is an outrage; The 431-page document highlights what is wrong with the US public markets (FT)
• The questionable economics of autonomous taxi fleets (FT)
• The Terrifying Potential of the 5G Network; The future of wireless technology holds the promise of total connectivity. But it will also be especially susceptible to cyberattacks and surveillance. (NY)
• Lesson of Disney’s ‘Endgame’: Go big or go home (Reuters)
• Akamai beats, raises forecast on cybersecurity, content delivery demand (Reuters)

Life

• 6 Questions for Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting (Barron’s); Frothy markets turn dealmaker Warren Buffett into a bankroller (Reuters)
• A $4.4 Billion Accounting Error Burns Investors in China; One of China’s largest listed drugmakers Kangmei Pharmaceuticals said it overstated cash holdings by $4.4 billion (Bloomberg)
• Hong Kong traded shares in Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform Gold-Finance tank after founder put in police custody; Shares in Gold-Finance tumble by as much as 70 per cent in the city on Tuesday (SCMP)
• Australia’s largest construction comapny CIMIC has inflated profits by around 100% in the last two years through aggressive revenue recognition, acquisition accounting and avoidance of JV losses (GMT)