Expanding Wings Amid Huawei Ban: Xiaomi Becomes World’s Second Top-Selling Brand

Xiaomi Corp is a Chinese multinational electronics company. Even though the company is not as big as its rival Huawei in terms of market share, it has outdone the former as its revenue surged in the second quarter (June)— a record 64 percent from a year earlier, beating analyst expectations.

Xiaomi’s global smartphone market grew by leaps and bounds, while its Internet-of-Things product segment showed considerable growth.

Clearly, the US government’s sanctions against Huawei have allowed Xiaomi to grow its market share. Other players including Oppo and Vivo have also benefitted from the Huawei ban. The Donald Trump-led government sanctioned Huawei that effectively crippled the company’s smartphone division.

On top of that, Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada in December 2018. The United States had issued an arrest warrant; as a result, she was detained at Vancouver International Airport. She allegedly misled HSBC about her company’s dealings in Iran. As of now, she remains in the custody.

As mentioned above, Xiaomi’s global smartphone market share hit a record high of 83 percent year on year, in the June quarter. The numbers were released by a research firm called Canalys. Xiaomi is well ahead of Apple in terms of the number of phones sold. Overall, the smartphone maker secured second position selling 52.8 phones worldwide. Samsung tops the list of smartphone makers with the most number of units sold.

 

Huawei might soon get approval from the US to sell chips to automakers

Officials in the US have now approved Huawei’s license applications to purchase chips worth millions of dollars. Previously, Huawei was blacklisted in the US, citing security concerns, but now, the license was approved due to the rise in demand in the auto components business. Huawei is one of the biggest names in the telecommunications equipment segment, but it was continuously hobbled by stringent trade restrictions made by former president Trump’s office. This eventually led to Huawei being blacklisted in the US to sell chips and other important components for smartphones and network gear businesses.

The Biden administration continued to enforce the ban and denied Huawei from selling chips to be used in 5G devices. However, in recent times, several sources have reported that the US has now granted licenses for suppliers to make use of chips from Huawei for vehicle parts like sensors and video screens. The latest approval can be connected with Huawei’s move to pivot towards items that don’t fall under the trade ban. The licenses were recently approved by the US mainly because the chips used in the auto segment are not very sophisticated, and it has a very low bar for receiving approval from the government.

 

 

Nexon Asia Pacific Strengthens Its Security Offering With New Acquisition

A leading cloud and managed service provider Nexon Asia Pacific has announced that it has acquired Equate Technologies for an undisclosed sum to improve its security offerings. The latter is a cybersecurity, risk and consulting solutions provider based out of Brisbane, Australia.

"Cyber threats are more sophisticated, coordinated, and targeted today. Our clients require the expertise and capabilities to secure their environments with access to next-generation capabilities. Equate Technologies augments our offering and capability to deliver scalable, end-to-end proactive cyber security services as part of our comprehensive advisory and managed services," said Barry Assaf, Nexon Asia Pacific CEO.

Founded in 2013, Equate Technologies has incredible experience in delivering integrated cybersecurity solutions. The company's has built a great reputation for itself by helping its clients secure and protect their critical assets. Nexon Asia Pacific has extensive experience in delivering world-class onshore managed and professional security services to Australia's large and mid-market organizations.

Now, under Nexon Asia Pacific's wing, Equate Technologies has the platform, resources, and financial banking to extend its geographic reach and expand its service offerings.

 

Equinix Opens is Fifth Data Center in Singapore

 

Equinix has expanded its presence in Singapore by opening its fifth data center in the Southeast Asian country. The data center is called SG5 and it is designed to focus on sustainability.

In line with Singapore's Green Plan 2030, Equinix has launched its latest SG5 data center, which has green features that is designed with high energy standards. The data center facility is expected to meet the BCA-IMDA Green Mark and LEED certification.

Located on the western side of Singapore the SG5 will allow customers to connect to a broad range of network services and interconnect directly to customers and partners in their digital supply chain.

Announced late last year with an investment of $144 million, Equinix will be the tallest data center in Singapore. The facility will have a capacity of over 1,300 cabinets in 1,710 sq m of colocation space initially. The SG5 is expected to provide up to 5,000 cabinets with a total colocation space of 12,000 sq m at full capacity, in future.

SG5 will be directly connected to the four existing Equinix IBX data centers in Singapore via low-latency dark fiber links and will enable customers to securely interconnect with more than 705 companies in the market.

 

USA’s 5G Leader T-Mobile to offer free Apple TV+ subscription to its customers

T-Mobile never fails to provide outstanding and exciting offers to its customers; today, the telecom giant has announced that its customers will now get a full year of Apple TV+ for free. This offer begins on August 25. All new and existing T-Mobile customers on Magenta and Magenta MAX plans can avail of this deal, and Sprint Unlimited Plus and Sprint Premium customers can also score this deal.

T-Mobile is America's 5G leader, and it offers the first and fast unlimited 5G smartphone plan with Magenta MAX. It also has got the nation's largest, fastest, and robust 5G network. The company's 5G network covers over 305 million people across 1.7 million square miles. It's Ultra Capacity 5G covers around 165 million people and is on track to hit nationwide by this year.

T-Mobile is now fully ready to provide its customers award-winning content which they want to binge-watch by offering free Apple TV+ for one year. Apple TV+ will be featuring brand new original series, movies, and documentaries. It will also have exclusive Apple Originals roll out every month, which is ad-free, and customers can share it among up to six family members.

 

 

Taliban Go from Pillar to Post as Scarcity of Funds Looms

The Taliban have recently taken over Afghanistan. It has been over a week since the armed group has claimed control over the country. Seemingly there has been a policy shift — from religious fundamentalists to liberals. This indicates that the Taliban plan to form a government in Afghanistan and seek the world leaders’ support, financial support.

A day after Afghanistan was recaptured, the US president Mr. Biden froze funds that belonged to the Ghani government. Clearly, it’s not fun to run a government empty-handed.

The policy shift I am talking about does not necessarily mean that the Taliban are not bad guys anymore. They are reeling under huge debt and need emergency funds to at least kick-start a government they are trying to form. There are talks doing rounds on social media that the Taliban are more liberal now compared to 20 years ago. No, they are seeking funds, hence the liberal move.

Even though world leaders and the Taliban have reached an impasse, there will always be players ready to fund their military movement in the country. But that’s not enough. There’s a clear difference between funding an armed force and funding a government. The Taliban, therefore, will build diplomatic channels with the White House to bypass further hardships.

Meanwhile, the evacuation process has speeded up as the Taliban do not fancy foreign forces extending their stay in the country.

 

OnePlus has managed to successfully deliver the best mid-range wireless earphones with Pro

OnePlus, a popular name in the consumer electronics segment, has recently added a new member to its wireless audio segment. The company’s first addition to the wireless audio section happened in September last year with OnePlus Buds, and it received mixed reviews from its community. Even though OnePlus Buds had premium features like Dolby atmos support and fast charging, the product lagged behind in sound quality. The first effort from the company was not very impressive, but it managed to do some damage control with the OnePlus BudsZ. The company has now launched OnePlus Buds Pro, priced at $135, which is also the company’s latest and most advanced offering in the wireless audio segment to date.

The new OnePlus Buds Pro comes with a premium design, wireless charging, and active noise cancellation. The looks of the product haven’t changed much from its common design language, and it looks somewhat similar to the earlier versions. The charging case looks fresh, and the new matte-gloss combination makes the product look extremely premium. The earpieces weigh almost 4.3 grams each, and the charging case weighs 52 grams. The OnePlus Buds Pro offers many useful features and a decent design, making it better than OnePlus Buds. The new audio device works well with other devices too.