Alibaba sees Singles’ Day campaign pay off with strong sales in 4 popular categories

Alibaba sees Singles’ Day campaign pay off with strong sales in 4 popular categories

Alibaba Group Holding says this year’s Singles’ Day campaign has seen strong demand in four product categories – home appliances, consumer electronics, beauty and apparel – in a sign of consumer-spending recovery on the mainland, as the world’s largest online shopping festival drew to a close on Monday. Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), Alibaba’s domestic … Read more

Qualcomm chip sales surge thanks to Chinese smartphone makers, but Apple’s shift looms

Qualcomm chip sales surge thanks to Chinese smartphone makers, but Apple’s shift looms

The company’s shares rose 5.5 per cent in extended trading. They had surged 12 per cent right after it reported results after the company also flagged a new $15 billion stock buy-back. The San Diego, California-based company is the biggest supplier of smartphone chips and is benefiting from a recovery in smartphone markets as consumers … Read more

Chinese smartphone giant Oppo, PolyU to launch joint AI research centre in Hong Kong

Chinese smartphone giant Oppo, PolyU to launch joint AI research centre in Hong Kong

Oppo last Friday pledged no less than 30 million yuan (US$4.2 million) in funding over the next five years to deepen collaborative efforts with PolyU on AI imaging technology, as well as for expanding the scale of co-training for PhD and postdoctoral researchers. “The research centre’s primary goal is to [nurture] talent,” Zhang Lei, chair … Read more

Indonesia bans sales of Google’s Pixel smartphones, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

Indonesia bans sales of Google’s Pixel smartphones, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet’s Google owing to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple’s iPhone 16 for the same reason. Domestic sales of Google’s Pixel smartphones were blocked because the company has not met Indonesia’s rules that call for … Read more

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo ramps up global push with Europe, Latin America key markets

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo ramps up global push with Europe, Latin America key markets

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is ramping up its overseas push with a sharpened focus on Europe and South America, backed by its expanding manufacturing capacity overseas, a company executive said. Oppo, the world’s fourth largest smartphone vendor in the third quarter, is “steadfast” about investing in Europe and aiming to gain more ground in the … Read more

Tim Cook meets China regulator in Beijing but no final word on Apple Intelligence

Tim Cook meets China regulator in Beijing but no final word on Apple Intelligence

Apple chief executive Tim Cook spoke with China’s top industry regulator on Wednesday on a range of topics, according to an official Chinese statement, but the announcement fell short of providing any information on the roll-out of Apple’s AI service in the country. Cook met with Jin Zhuanglong, the Industry and Information Technology Minister, to … Read more

Tim Cook makes low-key visit to China as Apple Intelligence roll-out remains uncertain

Tim Cook makes low-key visit to China as Apple Intelligence roll-out remains uncertain

Apple chief executive Tim Cook returned to Beijing on Monday, his second visit to mainland China this year, as speculation swirls over the domestic launch of the US tech giant’s on-device artificial intelligence (AI) system. Cook’s latest visit to the country saw him accompanied by famous Chinese photographer and filmmaker Chen Man, as well as … Read more

Vivo becomes India’s top smartphone brand in third quarter, overtaking Xiaomi and Samsung

Vivo becomes India’s top smartphone brand in third quarter, overtaking Xiaomi and Samsung

Chinese smartphone brand Vivo claimed the No 1 spot among handset makers in India for the first time in the third quarter, ahead of the region’s long-time leaders Xiaomi and Samsung Electronics. Vivo shipped 9.1 million units in India in the three months through September, growing 26 per cent year on year and capturing a … Read more

Vivo launches premium X200 smartphone weeks after Apple, Huawei release new handsets

Vivo launches premium X200 smartphone weeks after Apple, Huawei release new handsets

Priced from 4,299 yuan (US$608) to 6,799 yuan, the X200 series marks the latest effort by Vivo to crack the industry’s lucrative high-end segment in the world’s largest smartphone market and across the globe. Vivo said it will start shipping the X200 series from October 19. Initially known for its low-budget handsets, Vivo has risen … Read more

Samsung said to slash 8% of sales team in mainland China amid weak performance

Samsung said to slash 8% of sales team in mainland China amid weak performance

Samsung Electronics has notified employees in mainland China of a restructuring that will eliminate about 130 positions – equivalent to 8 per cent of domestic sales staff – according to South Korean media reports, as the company continues to grapple with sluggish smartphone and television demand in the world’s second-largest economy. This marks the start … Read more