Welcome back,

This week’s issue is packed full of crazy stories, and with plenty of variation:

• Tencent’s newest game flew off the shelf with over 10M sales in just days—sales of PS5s are even rocketing in China

• The head of a $14B crypto scam that targeted Chinese nationals was arrested in Thailand

• Zomato, one of India’s best performing stocks, has splashed out nearly $250M to get into entertainment ticketing

• And Apple’s premium iPhones will finally be assembled on Indian soil for the first time

Belong the main stories, the wrap-up includes:

Amazon under fire in India (again); Walmart is splitting from JD.com and taking a $3B+ pay day; WeRide has paused its much-anticipated US IPO; Sony launched a blockchain; and a TikTok trend raised concerns tourists will trash 900-year-old Cambodian temple Angkor Wat.

That’s all for this week—see you again next Monday,

Jon

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Once in a while, landmark games arrive in China and reminds you just how lucrative the industry can be. Tencent’s Honor of Kings from 2015 has grossed $2.5B to date, for example, and another Tencent title flew out over the weekend when Black Myth: Wukong quickly became the second-most popular Steam title ever within hours of its release.

The game racked up 10 million sales within just 83 hours. Based on the Monkey King legend, it attracted over 2M concurrent players, surpassing other major single-player games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring, across PC and PlayStation platforms. 

Indeed, it wasn’t just on PC, where Black Myth: Wukong is China’s top title to date, Sony’s PlayStation 5 saw a massive sales boost. The console itself became Alibaba’s most sold electronics item in the run up to the game’s release, doubling sales from a year ago.

Analysts say the game could trigger new Chinese demand for AAA games, which require significant investment in terms of time and capital, but China’s tight regulations and factors like the rise of mobile could mean replicating its success could be at least a decade away.

Side note: The game’s co-publisher emailed guidelines to streamers previewing the game asking them to avoid discussing topics from the game including Covid-19, feminism or politics in return for access.

A quite astonishing arrest was made in Thailand, where authorities claim to have apprehended a Malaysian national who stands accused of leading a cryptocurrency scam that raked in $14 billion.

The suspect has been extradited to China but is only being identified by his surname, Zhang. But he is said to be Zhang Yufa, also known as Tedy Teow Wooi Huat, who founded MBI Group, a suspected pyramid scheme that targeted Chinese nationals and tricked them into buying its cryptocurrency. The project is said to have attracted over 10 million members, who paid a membership fee and then were encouraged to recruit others with incentives for those they brought in.

The extradition comes after a four-year investigation from authorities in China and it represents the first time that Thailand and China have made use of the 25-year-old extradition treaty for financial crimes. 

India has become a hub for Apple manufacturing but until now it has been older devices or mid-range iPhones. Now, for the first time, Apple will produce some of its top range devices—the iPhone Pro and Pro Max—on Indian soil.

This is a big deal for manufacturing in India and the broader push to diversify away from a reliance on China-based production. Foxconn, Apple’s long-time ally, will assemble the India-made devices at its plant in Tamil Nadu.

Foxconn is looking to do more than just smartphones in India, with EVs and digital health among its growth focus for the country. It is also putting more capital into its India unit to aid that expansion.

Indian food delivery giant Zomato is making moves to do more than just delivery after it snapped up Paytm’s entertainment and ticketing business arm for $244M. Movies and sports tickets are the main drivers of that business—which will be spun into a new app to be called District—and Paytm’s unit is the second largest player, behind BookMyShow and its 75% market share for movies and 50% for online events.

Zomato struck out with Blinkit, its quick commerce business which has helped its share price surge 100% this year. Adding entertainment and ticketing is a new way to reach customers and, it will hope, increase their engagement with its other services.

Shein said it found two cases of child labour in its supply chain last year—it temporarily suspended orders from the suppliers involved and did not resume business until they had stepped up efforts to tackle the issue, it said link

Meanwhile, Shein is suing rival Temu, alleging the retailer stole its designs and built an empire using counterfeiting, IP infringement and fraud link

Self-driving technology company WeRide has delayed its plan for a US IPO—a rare listing from a Chinese tech stock—because it says it needs more time to complete documents link

State-linked Chinese entities are using cloud services provided by Amazon or its rivals to access advanced chips and AI capabilities that they cannot acquire otherwise link

China AI companies have been forced to adapt to US restrictions, which have limited access to cutting-edge tech—the upshot is many develop more efficient code, create smaller model or employ energy-saving training methods link

China is unleashing billions of dollars of lending to technology startups and other small companies using their intellectual property as collateral as Beijing seeks to revive demand for loans and stimulate a lagging economy link

Game publisher Kunlun Tech launched an AI tool that it claims produces short dramas—Skyreels can generate scripts, characters, plots, storyboards, dialogue and music to create a short video, according to a demo ink

Chinese semiconductor equipment imports hit a record $26B in the first seven months of this year, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs link

Huawei’s chip unit—HiSilicon—is teasing a new tech breakthrough, that could circumvent US restrictions and would be announced in September link

China has classified crypto transactions as money laundering in an update to its anti-money laundering law link

Coatue Management, a major early backer of ByteDance with a board seat, is said to be considering selling part of its stake if it can secure a valuation of $230-$240B link

China dominates the market for electric vehicles—now it’s chasing Tesla in the race to build battery-powered humanoids expected to replace human workers building EVs on assembly lines link

Walmart plans to raise up to $3.74B by selling its stake in JD.com, ending an eight-year partnership in a retail market facing economic downturn and fierce competition link

Walmart’s own booming business in China, focused around hypermarkets and its Sam’s Club product, is said to have paved the way for its split with JD.com link

Alibaba shareholders have approved a plan to upgrade its Hong Kong listing to primary status, a manoeuvre expected to attract billions of dollars in investment from mainland China link

China Mobile’s parent company invested in Honor, the smartphone brand that spun off from Huawei four years ago link

Xiaomi reported its fastest pace of revenue growth since 2021 thanks to EV sales and smartphone demand returning link

Didi is another ride hailing firm in the black after it reached a Q2 profit as it continues to rebuild its business link

Amazon is having quite a time in India right now—last week, media reports suggested that the company is missing out on major opportunities in the county and this week there’s a lot more to add:

India’s open commerce network ONDC launched digital lending to add to its existing services e-commerce, mobility and logistics ink

A proposed 30% market share cap for UPI, India’s digital payment infrastructure, looks unlikely to be enforced just months before a proposed deadline as both Google Pay and PhonePe retain dominant holds link

Source: The Economic Times

Bernstein has outlined three potential paths for Indian fintech giant Paytm to rebuild value following the recent regulatory setback: continuing as a standalone entity, merging with a bank or non-bank financial company, or finding a corporate parent link

Delivery giant Swiggy plans to raise $1-1.2B in an IPO, aiming for a $15 billion valuation link

Byju’s insolvency could be a major blow to India’s startup sector, sparking a prolonged fight by thousands of employees to recover dues and secure their careers link

Global technology giants are pushing back against attempts by India’s telecom networks to bring internet services under stricter regulation, rejecting arguments that such measures are necessary to create a “level playing field” and address national security concerns link

India’s antitrust body has reached an initial assessment that the $8.5B India merger of Reliance and Walt Disney media assets harms competition due to their power over cricket broadcast rights link

Users of WazirX, the Indian crypto exchange, will be able to take out up to 66% of their rupee funds in two phases following a suspension instituted after last month’s $230 million dollar hack link

Indian edtech startup Eruditus is nearing a $150M funding round, led by private equity firm TPG, which would value the company at up to $2.3B link

Indonesia has introduced measures to limit sales of cheap imports on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop that are hurting local firms link

Malaysian authorities arrest seven individuals for power theft linked to bitcoin mining: report link

Finture, the operator of Southeast Asian digital bank Yup, has raised over $30M led by Hong Kong-based MindWorks Capital link

WSPN, a Singapore-based stablecoin infrastructure provider, raised $30M link

Singapore and Malaysia aim to create a Shenzhen-style Special Economic Zone, which could strengthen both economies if political hurdles are overcome link

Social commerce startup SleekFlow raised $7M to enhance its conversational AI suite for customer engagement in Asian markets link

Five business groups, including both Thai and regional operators such a Sea unit, are expected to apply for the Bank of Thailand’s virtual bank licences link

A viral trend on TikTok has tourists racing through Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, mimicking the popular Temple Run video game—the behaviour has conservationists alarmed, fearing it could damage the nearly 900-year-old temple link

Uber-backed Lime is entering Japan’s growing e-scooter ride market link

Japan’s startups are struggling to expand revenues compared to their Western peers largely due to limited access to growth capital link

Kioxia, the Japanese chipmaker acquired by Bain Capital in an $18 billion buyout in 2018, has applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in what could be Japan’s biggest IPO this year at a valuation of $10B link

Sony has unveiled its own blockchain—Soneium is an Ethereum compatible layer-2 that it says is designed for mainstream adoption thanks to scalability and user friendliness. Sony plans to use its entertainment and media empire to support the chain… we shall see but it is tough to see how this stacks up again the many, many similar solutions that all have limited adoption from non-crypto users link

SK Group is investing in a new fund to support South Korean chip firms in China, despite increasing US pressure on allies to limit Beijing’s tech ambitions link

Kakao is making progress tackling sites and apps that are pirating webtoon comics and other content link

PostEx, a startup offering financial and logistics services to online merchants, is expanding into Saudi Arabia and other new markets this year link

Across Pakistan, internet speeds have ground to a crawl in recent days, stoking uproar and fueling claims that the government is secretly testing a new firewall-like system to better surveil and control the country’s internet link 

The new prime minister of Nepal overturned a ban on TikTok that his predecessor imposed in November after TikTok was said to have declined to address concerns about troubling content link

Meanwhile, Nepal has asked China to turn a loan for Pokhara Airport into a grant… link