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MNCs
Apple is forging a closer partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in hopes of reducing its reliance on Qualcomm. The company plans to have the Taiwanese chip titan make 5G iPhone modems from 2023 onward.
TSMC has been a vital partner for Apple has as it attempts to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm and gain more control over vital semiconductor components for several years. The Taiwanese tech titan is currently the sole producer of iPhone processors and M1 Mac processors and has hundreds of engineers stationed in Cupertino, California, to support Apple’s road map for chip development.
Going Public: IPOs
Chinese gaming giant NetEase’s music streaming platform, Cloud Village, has raised USD 422 million from its initial public offering in Hong Kong. Founded in 2013, Cloud Village is NetEase’s music streaming business. It generates most of its revenue through subscriptions, advertising, and virtual items such as digital albums sold on its platforms.
The company claims it has 185 million monthly active users. For the period of Q1 to Q3, NetEase’s revenue rose 51.5% year-on-year to RMB 5.1 billion (USD 799.6 million) in 2021. However, it is still suffering steep losses as it competes for market share with its biggest competitor, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME).
KrASIA News Picks
Huawei is moving deeper into the auto sector as it obtained land use rights in Southern China’s Dongguan City to construct a manufacturing plant for smart car components. This is the second time for Huawei to lease industrial land in the last two months.
After suffering severe financial loss after the Trump administration implemented “tech decoupling” policies in late 2019, Huawei has attempted to improve its weak business performance in the smartphone sector. This includes spinning off its most lucrative arm, Honor, and licensing its phone designs to third-party companies.
Will Huawei’s plan to establish a presence in car manufacturing help turn things around?