Asia's tech news, weekly: December 19th 2023
Japan & hydrogen, Korea-Netherlands tech, China's chip firm closures, Malaysia-NVIDIA supercomputer, Singapore robo-buses, Australian space monitor, India & semicon supply chains...
• China: ChangXin Memory Technologies DRAM firm presented research on gate-all-around transistors, signaling developments towards ability to produce 3-nanometre chips
• Japan's Itochu trading house and Osaka Gas partner for hydrogen business, taking 40% in Denmark's Everfuel hydrogen producer with goals of securing hydrogen supply chain and developing a domestic production base
• Vietnam: NVIDIA chip giant to establish a Vietnam base, contributing to the country's moves to develop a semiconductor industry
• South Korea and the Netherlands to boost cooperation in tech spanning semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum research, alongside feasibility of Korean-built nuclear energy stations
"...10900 chip-related companies have lost their registration in 2023... That means an average of 30 Chinese chip-related companies closed their doors each day in 2023."
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was hacked in November, potentially exposing sensitive space-related technology and data
• South Korea: Samsung and the Netherland's ASML partner for $760M investment in Korean advanced chip plant, with SK Hynix chip giant collaborating
• Australia: Quasar Satellite Technologies looks to AUKUS Pillar 2 participation with space object monitoring using multi-channel, phased-array antenna
• 'The Indian Quantum Ecosystem 2022-2023', available to download
• China: Changxin Memory Technologies semicon chip-maker delays IPO, instead looking at a fundraising round built around $19.5BN valuation
• Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, awarded $1.64M grant to non-profit EnergyLab, looking to boost support for Australia's early-stage clean energy startups
• China's CICC Capital enters South Korea with launch of a private equity fund, targeting investments in promising firms in fields including semiconductors, biotech and new materials
• India to roll out revamped electronics and semiconductor industry incentive scheme to boost development of component plants, aiming for support ecosystem for global entities
"India’s organic growth in the consumption of electronics, coupled with the Government’s target of achieving $300BN worth of domestic electronics manufacturing by 2025–26, creates a unique opportunity..."
• Malaysia: YTL Power International partners NVIDIA to build AI infrastructure, aiming to bring supercomputing capabilities to Malaysia by mid-2024
• Asia Pacific: StormWall's Q3 2023 report on DDoS attacks in the region examines distributed denial-of-service attack data, finding attacks are up by 26% compared with Q3 2022
• India: Taiwan's Foxconn to invest an additional $1.67BN in Karnataka state for iPhone manufacturing, with overall investments expected to create near 50K jobs
• Japan: Techstars Tokyo accelerator launches with Mitsui Fudosan global real estate firm and Japan External Trade Organization, aiming to boost globally-minded startups
• China’s Space Program in 2023: 'From heavy-lift reusable rockets to satellite internet, a look at China’s progress on top space priorities' via The Diplomat
• 'Assessing India's Readiness to Assume a Greater Role in Global Semiconductor Value Chains' from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (pdf link)
• Head of Russian State Duma Committee on the Financial Markets says Moscow and Beijing may begin using CBDCs – digital ruble and digital yuan – for payments as soon as 2024
• South Korea: The inaugural US-ROK Next Generation Critical & Emerging Technologies Dialogue took place in Seoul, an upgrade on bilateral tech cooperation
"The existing rare earths refining process is a nightmare... That's why there are so many companies promising new methods, because we need new ones."
• China's Ministry of Public Security rolls out RealDID blockchain-based ID verification, claiming decentralized anonymity but raising new social credit surveillance concerns
• Thailand: An overview of 7 key insights on Thailand's fintech landscape, touching on cashless payments adoption, cross-border transactions, digital banking licensing and more
• Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2024 set for late May - details here
• 'Supply chain trends 2024 - The digital shake-up', KPMG's take on how emerging and advanced technologies will deliver 'smart' supply chains
• China's WeRide gains Singapore licenses allowing self-driving 'robobuses' to test on public roads in areas including the One North tech cluster and the National University of Singapore
• Thailand: Tesla is 'looking for 2,000 rai (320 hectares) of land' says Prime Minister, likely for construction of a factory to produce electric vehicles rather than simply as an investment footprint
• Singapore's FOMO Pay and UAE's Zand Bank partner for cross-border payments, B2B transactions and int'l remittances between Asia and MENA countries
• China: Temu e-commerce giant sues rival platform, Shein, alleging the fast fashion firm 'bullied, intimidated, and even detained' suppliers in campaign of 'mafia-style intimidation'
"Binance’s settlement requires it to offer years of transaction data to US regulators and cops, exposing the company—and its customers—to a '24/7, 365-days-a-year financial colonoscopy.'"
• China: 01AI, founded by former Google China head, reportedly mulling raising up to $200M, building on $1BN valuation
• Australia is working on an 'intelligence community cloud' platform, interoperable with US and UK networks, to aid national security agencies in detecting threats using shared data
• Air New Zealand joins other airlines in partnering Starlink for in-flight connectivity, looking to add free passenger internet access
• Indonesia: TikTok to pay $840M to acquire majority stake in Tokopedia, GoTo's e-commerce unit, in $1.5BN bid for TikTok to re-open in the country following gov't ban over competition worries
• Malaysia: UMAMI/Cell AgriTech facility phase 1 to open in Q1 2025, powered in part by solar energy and span 96000 square feet with a projected annual output of cell-based meat of 3000+ tons
• China: Taicang College Student Entrepreneurship Park in Jiangsu, north of Shanghai, launches impressive range of startup support initiatives, subsidies and incentives for participation
• India in November launched part 1 of its critical minerals auction in 8 states, valued at $5.4BN and spanning minerals including lithium, potash, vanadium, graphite and rare earths
• Australia: Green Gravity and Wollongong Resources mining firm partner to explore gravitational energy storage tech at up to 8 sites in New South Wales,, utilizing unused mine shafts
"Thailand's economic stature hints at vast untapped opportunities... from a strategic shift in investment focus, prioritizing rapid profitability, complemented by gov't initiatives fostering a digital economy."
• Japan: Yoii secures $5.5M Series A with revenue-based financing platform, offering a growth alternative to traditional equity and debt financing fundraising methods
• Singapore-based Bitsmedia, creator of Muslim Pro lifestyle app, gains $20M, with sights on AI platform development and market growth across Gulf countries and the US, UK, Indonesia and Malaysia
• India: SalmoRid launches with seafood-processing focus, using bacteriophages to enhance food safety and quality
• Australia: University of Technology Sydney unveils investment fund to boost access to capital for university-connected startups
"Automation enables cybercrime, and ad fraud is no exception... losses from ad fraud are projected to reach $100 billion by the end of 2023."
Tech news beyond Asia & the Indo-Pacific:
» US space firm, True Anomaly, secures $100M with hardware, software, systems and orbital vehicles to aid clients with identifying and managing threats to assets in space
» Financial giants Lloyds, Banco Santander, and UBS joined blockchain firm Fnality’s Sterling Payment System in the UK, integrating blockchain into finance and facilitating live transactions
» New York, IBM, Micron and others join to pursue $10BN investment in semiconductor research facility, built around ASML equipment and positioning for Chips Act support
» Andreessen Horowitz, one of the world's richest VC firms, to make donations to political candidates who gel with the a16z read on 'advancing technology'
» SpaceX's newest launch includes first 6 StarLink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities, aiming to enable mobile networks to provide texting, calling and browsing globally
» UK's Pragmatic chipmaker raises $229M to expand UK semiconductor manufacturing, focusing on flexible integrated circuits and seeing global opportunities
"A recent Deloitte study indicated that a striking 86% of surveyed manufacturing executives believe that smart factory solutions will be the primary drivers of competitiveness in the next 5 years."
More of Asia's technology news:
• LinkedIn / Twitter / Facebook / Monthly / Connect
Note: Due to Twitter/X’s ongoing devolution, our mobile updates are on hold. We aim to relaunch the mobile service, upgraded and revamped, in Q1 2024.