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South Korea’s Oscar-winning film Parasite It’s the story of a poor family cleverly taking on all the jobs while taking advantage of a rich but beleaguered home in Seoul, and I can’t help but think about that plot when it comes to Samsung and China’s Huawei.
The latest finances from the Korean tech conglomerate have been boosted by the performance of its semiconductor division better than analysts expected, thanks to orders for emergency chips from Huawei as it stockpiled, before the US ban came in. effective September 15.
In addition to Huawei bringing it additional business, Samsung is benefiting as Huawei is forced to give up market share, with its products blocked or limited by US sanctions. Samsung briefly gave up first place in global sales of smartphones to Huawei in the second quarter, but it is rapidly regaining its position, reports Song Jung-a in Seoul.
Hoy predicted that its third-quarter operating profit rose nearly 60 percent to its highest level in two years, with strong sales of smartphones and home appliances, including televisions. As we reported last week, Samsung’s telecommunications equipment division is also poised to advance Huawei’s core business. So in chips, smartphones and telecom networks, Samsung is benefiting from Huawei’s plight.
How should the Chinese company respond? Lex’s letter from Seoul this week suggests that one way would be to expand into a new line of business: making electric cars.
Until now, it has mainly produced communication equipment for smart cars and electric car manufacturers. But it recently hired executives from the auto industry and made a striking appearance at the 2020 Beijing International Auto Expo last week. He also has several patents related to autonomous vehicles and partnerships with 18 car companies on 5G-connected cars.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration may be turning its attention to digital payments, with Bloomberg reporting that it is exploring national security-related restrictions on the Ant Group and Tencent platforms. Lex says that with 95 percent of its revenue coming from China, Ant faces less of a threat from U.S. sanctions than Huawei.
The White House is also threatening to delist Chinese companies that don’t allow full access to their audit reports in the US, but that hasn’t put off Lufax, one of the largest online lending platforms. from China, announcing plans for a US IPO that could raise as much as $ 3 billion.
“US investors are generally more sophisticated when it comes to understanding fintech companies,” said a banker with knowledge of the settlement on Lufax’s decision to go public in the US.
The lender should hope that the US government will show a similar level of understanding of their business.
The Internet of (five) things
1. Instacart Targets IPO, Reliance Jio’s Falling Numbers
Instacart, the US grocery delivery company, has interviewed investment banks to advise on a public listing next year as it seeks to capitalize on a boom in business during the pandemic. The San Francisco-based company just raised $ 200 million at a valuation of $ 17.7 billion. In another FT first, India’s Reliance Jio has attracted massive investment in recent months as it touts soaring growth, but we report that its share of active users fell in June to close to a three-year low of 78 percent. from 84 percent per year. earlier.
2. Planned divestiture of IBM, proposed acquisition of TalkTalk
IBM plans to spin off its infrastructure services business into a separate company, as it moves away from managing IT hardware for clients and into the fast-growing cloud computing industry. UK broadband provider TalkTalk is in talks with Toscafund after the hedge fund which already owns close to 30 per cent stake in the group made an acquisition approach that values it at roughly $ 2 billion, including Debt.
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3. Google Oracular Spectacular
Google has faced skeptical questioning from US Supreme Court justices for its claim that the code it copied for Android usage from rival Oracle’s Java is not protected by copyright, in the Opening a case that many experts have warned could have far-reaching effects on competition in the tech industry. Richard Waters’ latest column looks at the possible far-reaching implications of Tuesday’s Congressional report on the power of big tech.
4. Nikola’s hydrogen balloon, Tesla’s 500,000 target
A month after detailed and wide-ranging fraud allegations were brought against the electric truck startup, Nikola will present his hydrogen technology today at a key industry conference, in an attempt to win over skeptics. Meanwhile, Tesla boss Elon Musk is calling for one last push to deliver 500,000 electric cars this year.
5. Is it time to die from theaters?
Movie theaters already have enough competition from home streaming services, but their appeal to Hollywood studios that this is no time to die for them has been met with the deadly postponement of the Bond movie of the same name. . We have an analysis of the impact of the delayed launches, and in related news, activist investor Daniel Loeb has asked Disney to divert $ 3 billion that it is currently paying in dividends to dramatically increase the content of its streaming service.
Forwarded from Sifted: European Start-up Week
French insect farming company Ÿnsect has had a busy week, extending its latest round of funding to a whopping $ 372 million and attracting famed Robert Downey Jr as an investor. The cash injection brings total financing for the company to $ 425 million, which is more than the total amount raised by the entire insect protein sector globally. Some of the money comes from the Footprint Coalition, which Downey Jr, who played the role of scientist Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than a decade, created last year with the mission of investing in and promoting technologies for the good of the people. environment. More than money, though, the Downey Jr name may help Ÿnsect in its mission to persuade more people to try an insect-based diet, which is a less carbon-intensive form of protein. Ÿnsect is giving the US market a big boost.
Elsewhere in European startups this week, Sifted interviews Monzo’s renewed management team after a tough few quarters for the London-based challenger bank. Sifted also looks at the difficult regulatory landscape for European CBD startups and how, despite this headwind, investors are still pouring money into consumer products that use the cannabis compound.
Tech Tools – Beko Hygienic Shield Cleaning Cabinet
Home appliance manufacturers are taking advantage of our Covid concerns with new versions of our appliances that include sterilization features to kill viruses. Beko from Turkey today came out with a full range under its HygieneShield brand, including a dishwasher, refrigerator, tumble dryer and an oven that has sanitization programs that use both heat and steam.
Not a microwave is shown in the photo, but a “cleaning cabinet”. It uses ultraviolet light technology to clean items such as keys, phones, wallets, supermarket packaged goods, baby bottles and toys in cycles of 20 to 40 minutes. It will be available in the UK in December for £ 199.
