Make in India ⚒️
Wealth reshuffle, Ad police, and WeWork boost.
Hi 👋, Tanvi here.
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Foxconn to put another billion in India facility 🙌
Smartphone manufacturer Foxconn, who makes Apple’s iPhones, is planning to invest upto $1 Billion in Tamil Nadu to expand its existing smartphone production facility, in a bid to shift iPhone production away from China and reduce dependence on the country.
The investment will come over 3 years and will add 6,000 more jobs in Tamil Nadu. Apple’s IPhone XR as well as the older iPhone SE was being manufactured at this plant since production began in mid-2019.
Foxconn also makes phones for Xiaomi, which is the largest seller of smartphones in India. The investment is within the time frame for the Indian Government's new Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), and will hopefully attract more manufacturers in the semiconductor arena to consider India as a viable alternative. Read more.
Reshuffle of the wealthy 🔀
Post economic resets and recessions massive changes in personal wealth become unavoidable. This time, as technology takes center stage, the tech entrepreneurs are seeing their wealth soar while others are falling behind. Elon Musk for example has surpassed Warren Buffet on the wealthy list after Tesla shares surged 269% this year alone.
Musk is now worth almost $70.5 Billion. Buffet’s decline is also partly because he has been consistently diluting his wealth for generous charity donations. Other surprises include Microsoft’s Ballmer who touched $75 Billion, snatching 5th position on the wealthiest list.
Also, Mukesh Ambani climbed the list on the back of RIL’s stock gaining new highs and Jio raising new funds, clinching the 9th position with a net worth of $65 Billion, making him the first Indian to enter the top 10 list.
Amazon founder Bezos who leads the pack has seen his net worth skyrocket to $190 Billion after the pandemic nearly doubled Amazon’s valuation.
Google takes on “stalkerware” 🧐
Google will ban ads for products and services marketed for tracking or monitoring another person without their authorization. The products classified as "stalkerware" include intimate partner surveillance products, nanny cams, tech used to monitor messages, phone calls, browser history etc.
The list also includes GPS trackers marketed to spy without consent, along with surveillance equipment such as tiny cameras, audio recorders, dash cams etc.
Instead of taking ads down themselves, Google will issue advertisers a warning allowing a week for ads to be taken down before taking further action including banning advertisers on the platform forever. The policy goes into effect August 11.
Big tech companies are increasingly subject to criticism for lax data practices and poor advertiser controls. Almost all big tech including Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon are under antitrust scanners globally and these policy moves are in part to assuage regulator wrath.
Electric Vehicles is a hot hot segment 🔌
EV startup Rivian has raised $2.5 Billion in a fresh round which saw big names like Soros Fund Management, Coatue, Fidelity, Amazon, Blackrock etc. shell out for a new piece. With that, the company has raised about $6 Billion of outside capital so far and is all set to launch its first EV next year.
Also, the company has hired over 2,400 people and has opened offices all across the world in anticipation of demand.
Rivian’s first car is an electric pick-up truck and SUV allowing it to directly enter one of America’s fastest growing car segments. The company will compete directly against Tesla which has planned the launch of its killer Cybertruck in late 2021.
Earlier in 2019, Amazon had placed an order for 10,000 electric delivery vans from the company after infusing $700 Million into it which brought the company under the mainstream spotlight. Read more.
Netflix’s expansion is WeWork’s gain 🤝
Currently riding the wave of explosion in digital services, Netflix has signed a deal with real estate company WeWork for an entire floor at the Nesco IT Centre in Mumbai, where it will provision 320 seats for its visual effects team.
Netflix will be working alongside VFX company Anibrain and the workspace will be used for regional as well as non-regional content work. In the past Anibrain and Netflix have worked on notable series such as the Aeronauts and The Witcher.
The deal is interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Netflix continues to expand internationally at an aggressive pace and deals like this show its unwavering commitment to going deep regionally. This unique global focus is quickly turning into Netflix’s moat, giving it access to diverse talent, broad content creation options, and viewership with lots of depth.
Secondly, the pandemic had almost put WeWork in its coffin with employers questioning office space needs and employees turning homes into offices. With deals like this, the company gets much needed lifelines to continue prospecting more business.
Earlier this year, WeWork had signed large deals with Commonwealth Bank of Australia and another deal with China's ByteDance across Bengaluru and Mumbai. Read more.
Tweet of the day -
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
😷 India’s latest numbers - total coronavirus cases have increased to 8.5 Lakhs, with 3 lakh active cases, and 22.6K deaths reported so far. Cases grew by 28K in the last 24 hours.
💉 More countries join the vaccine race - Thailand is starting the clinical stage for its own Covid-19 vaccine after testing on monkeys and mice generated satisfactory antibodies against the virus. If the trials are successful, Thailand could have its vaccine by the second half of 2021
👌 Modern problems, modern solutions - a Hyderabad based engineer has built software that tracks beds that are available for Covid-19 patients, helping hospitals share data and logs. Rapid innovation in health tech is the silver lining during these tough times.
🤒 God vs. Covid - Maharashtra government in a bid to restrict Chaturthi splendour has issued guidelines on heights of idols installed by Ganpati Mandals as well as at home installations.
✈️ Bad days in the airline business continue - Air India has withdrawn job offers for around 180 trainee cabin crew members as economic slowdown in the Indian aviation sector continues in the absence of any government intervention.
🏛️ India’s Courts to go digital - The Supreme Court has agreed to serve notices and summons to people for judicial processes through messaging platforms like Email, Whatsapp and Telegram. While the sentiment of adopting innovation is appreciated, critics believe that the move weakens the voice of the courts and opens up citizens to risks of unintended consequences.
Hope you took a thing or two away from today’s edition. 😀
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