One Thing Today in Tech

Apple’s focus on India is paying off and the company also captured the top position in revenue in a calendar year for the first time, due to strong demand for both its latest iPhone and older models, according to market research provider Counterpoint. Overall, Samsung maintained its lead with the biggest market share, at 18 percent, in the predominantly Android market, and Vivo took the number two spot with 17 percent share.

Ahead of the union government's budget for the year 2024-25, the well-known expectations remain, such as tax breaks and incentives, but India's tech startups are also hoping the government will sharpen its focus on supporting them to develop more intellectual property within the country, which is crucial for our long-term security. They want more R&D spends, deeper partnerships with public labs, and simpler rules to help them go after global customers.

An important conference is to take place tomorrow in New Delhi on India’s international role with respect to technologies that are considered dual use, meaning for civilian and industrial use, but also for defence and military applications.

India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Department of Commerce in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and other Government Agencies is organising the National Conference on Strategic Trade Controls (NCSTC), tomorrow at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, the nation’s capital.

The conference will focus on India's Strategic Trade Control related to SCOMET and export controls system and international best practices on export of dual-use (meaning industrial and military) goods, software and technologies, according to a government statement circulated by the Press Information Bureau yesterday.

SCOMET stands for Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies.

Registrations for the conference have been invited by DGFT through its website. International speakers including the Chair of 1540 Committee of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Chair of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), senior government officials including the Commerce Secretary, Member (Customs) of CBIC, Director General of DGFT, and others would be participating.

DGFT expects that more than 500 industry representatives will attend the conference.

The thematic sessions planned during the day-long conference will focus on various aspects of India’s Strategic Trade Control system, including the legal and regulatory framework, the steps taken to streamline the SCOMET policy and licensing processes, the enforcement mechanism and supply chain compliance programs.

India published its first Scomet list as part of its Foreign Trade Development and Regulation Act of 1992. In 2010, the Act was amended to add a new chapter, including a section that deals with controls on exports of specified goods, services and technologies – giving the central government the power to monitor and amend the list of such goods, services and technologies.

Currently the list includes goods, services and tech under nine categories, ranging from nuclear technologies to aviation and aerospace to electronics to chemicals and biotech.

Those of you who caught Samsung’s Unpacked event two days ago would have seen a Google vice president of search coming up on stage to describe a new AI feature on the latest Galaxy phone, developed by Google.

Google calls it circle to search, and that’s exactly what it is. See something you’re browsing that you want to know more about? Well, now just circle it, and you’ll get what the geeks would call multi-modal search results, meaning across text, images and so on. 

Android users would be familiar with Google Lens, where you can use the phone camera and search for more information on a picture or how you can hum a song and ask Google what song it is.

Circle to search is the latest in Google’s stable of AI and machine learning based features for end users on their smartphones that are making such interactions ever more human.

“With a simple gesture, you can select what you’re curious about in whatever way comes naturally to you — like circling, highlighting, scribbling or tapping — and get more information right where you are,” Cathy Edwards, a Google VP and GM for Search, writes in a blog post, explaining how easy it is to use this feature.

Edwards first presented this feature at Samsung’s event. An important aspect of this feature is that it allows you to search on whichever app or website you are on, without having to leave it, making it a minimally distracting task so you can continue to go on and finish what you were doing on the app in the first place.

The possibilities are endless. It could be just about searching for more on a new pair of running shoes you saw on some website, for example. Or imagine just circling a dish on a food delivery app and getting more info on how healthy it is for you.

This will be first available on Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 smartphone that’s just been released, and on Google’s own Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones.

Just long press on the home button, and instead of the Google Assistant, you’ll now bring up circle to search. You can then circle, or scribble or highlight or tap … “and just like that, your curiosity is satisfied,” Edwards said in her presentation at Galaxy Unpacked.

“And when you are done you can just swipe away, and you’re right back where you started.”

One last point. For Samsung fans, apart from the latest flagship phone, a more important release is Galaxy AI, Samsung’s own new AI system for its phones aimed at making the devices much more intuitive to use. Among the features Samsung has released are live transcript, and a bunch of AI assistants.

Apple has a new office in India in the heart of Bengaluru, the iPhone maker said in a statement. The country’s tech capital is already home to so many of Apple’s teams, including in software engineering and hardware technologies, operations, customer support, and other functions, according to Apple.

This new workspace, which Apple hopes will be a powerful hub for innovation, creativity, and collaboration, is located at Minsk Square in the center of the city, a stone’s throw from Vidhana Soudha, the state parliament, the high court, central library, Chinnaswamy cricket stadium, and Cubbon Park, one of the largest green parks within Bengaluru.

The proximity to Cubbon Park metro station means public transit is an option for Apple staff and visitors. The new office will house up to 1,200 employees, on 15 floors, and it features dedicated lab space, areas for collaboration and wellness, and Caffe Macs, which comprises Apple’s food-ordering app and service and physical space. 

Apple currently has nearly 3,000 employees in India.

The new office’s interior features locally-sourced materials, including stone, wood, and fabric in the walls and flooring, and the office is filled with native plants.

The office will run on 100 percent renewable energy, and aims to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating — the highest level of LEED certification. Apple has been carbon neutral for its corporate operations since 2020, and has run all Apple facilities using 100 percent renewable energy since 2018.

The office is the latest addition to the company’s corporate office footprint in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Gurugram, and represents another important milestone in Apple’s more than 25-year history in India.

Apple is stepping up efforts to boost sales and manufacturing in India, which it sees as a long-term strategic market, as it seeks to reduce its dependence on China. Apple has faced both disruptions to its supply chain due to Chinese Covid related restrictions, and a resurgent competitor in Huawei, which has also released its own semiconductor chip for smartphones.

Meanwhile, Apple has ended Samsung Electronics 12-year run as the world’s largest seller of smartphones by number of units, after achieving a 20 percent market share in 2023, according to data from International Data Corp.

Samsung ended the year with a 19.4 percent share, followed by China’s Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion, preliminary data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.

Apple and Transsion were the only brands in the top five to record growth in shipments last year, when the market declined 3.2 percent to 1.17 billion units and hit a decade low.

VinFast, an electric vehicle manufacturer from Vietnam, plans to invest $2 billion dollars in India, but first a couple of other headlines that caught my attention.

Japanese media and tech giant Sony Corp. is planning to call off the merger of its Indian unit with Zee Entertainment, more than two years after the deal was announced, over a disagreement on who will lead the $10 billion entity, Reuters reports, citing a Bloomberg News report from Monday that’s behind a paywall.

Sony plans to file a termination notice before the extended Jan. 20 deadline to close the merger, while discussions between Sony and Zee were still ongoing.

Wipro's lawsuit against former chief financial officer Jatin Dalal with respect to a non-compete clause in his employment contract was referred to arbitration by the Bengaluru City Civil Court in a hearing on January 3, Moneycontrol reports.

The court's decision, thereby, allows the admission of a counter petition moved by Dalal, who’s joined Wipro’s larger rival Cognizant Technology Solutions, according to Moneycontrol.

One thing today

In one thing today, VinFast, an electric vehicle manufacturer from Vietnam, plans to invest up to $2 billion, to set up an EV plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, the company said in a press release on Jan. 6, coinciding with the state’s global investor summit.

Vinfast, plans to invest $500 million in the first phase of the Project, spanning five years from the commencement date, later this year.

The India expansion will help VinFast to seize growth opportunities in the world’s most populous nation and rapidly expanding EV market, the company said in the release. This initiative forms a crucial part of VinFast’s strategy to establish a strong presence in vital markets and strengthen its supply chain for global expansion, the company said. 

The integrated EV manufacturing facility is to be set up in Thoothukudi, in Tamil Nadu. It is envisioned as evolving into a first-class electric vehicle production hub in the region, with an annual capacity of up to 150,000 units. Construction of the plant is anticipated to begin in 2024. The project is expected to generate between 3,000 and 3,500 jobs, according to VinFast.

VinFast also expects to set up a nationwide dealership network in India.

Several multinational electronics and manufacturing companies including Apple’s supplier Pegatron and Korean auto giant Hyundai have committed to large investments in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, but first, a couple of other headlines that caught my attention.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the grounding and immediate inspection of about 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft worldwide after a mid-flight emergency late Friday involving a plane operated by Alaska Airlines, NPR reports. 

The US aviation regulator announced this order after an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to abruptly land in Portland, Oregon after a door plug blew out in midair, leaving a hole in the aircraft next to two unoccupied seats.

Unicommerce eSolutions Limited, a software provider to ecommerce companies for transaction processing, has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with India’s capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board, seeking an IPO.

The proposed listing comprises of an offer for sale aggregating up to about 29.84 million equity shares of face value of Rs. 1. This includes up to 11.46 million shares by Unicommerce’s promoter AceVector Limited (formerly known as Snapdeal Limited), up to about 2.21 million shares by B2 Capital Partners and up to about 16.17 million shares by SB Investment Holdings (UK) Limited.

One thing today

In one thing today, Apple suppliers Tata Electronics and Pegatron, and automaker Hyundai Motors have signed investment pacts worth more than $4.39 billion with the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the state government at a global investor summit.

Industry analysts estimate India could account for as much as a third of Apple’s iPhone production in the coming years, as the tech giant steps up its efforts to reduce dependence on China. Apple is also looking at India as its next big market, where it has seen quarterly records in sales over the last two years.

Pegatron is setting up a second factory in India, Reuters notes, and the Tata Group, which last year began to assemble iPhones, has also purchased a factory on the outskirts of neighbouring Bengaluru from Wistron, another Apple supplier.

Tata Electronics has committed to investing Rs. 12,080 crore for mobile phone assembly operations, the state government said during the signing of the agreements, according to Reuters.

Taiwan’s Pegatron expects to invest Rs. 1,000 crore to expand production, the government added.

South Korean Auto giant Hyundai Motors plans to invest Rs. 6,180 crore, a part of which will go towards electric vehicle battery and car manufacturing.

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast is setting up its first manufacturing facility in India and expects to invest up to $2 billion in Tamil Nadu, according to Reuters.

The semiconductor giant Qualcomm yesterday, announced what it called a significant expansion in Chennai with a new facility for its design centre, with an investment of about Rs. 177 crore.

The Design Centre is expected to generate jobs for up to 1,600 skilled professionals. It will specialize in wireless connectivity solutions, with a focus on innovations that complement Wi-Fi technologies. It will contribute to Qualcomm's global research and development in 5G cellular technology, Qualcomm said in a press release.

Separately, Tata Power is exploring investments of up to Rs. 70,000 crore in Tamil Nadu over the next several years, including investments in some existing projects, the company’s chief executive officer Praveer Sinha said at a press briefing at the investors meet, Reuters reports.

And JSW Energy has announced plans to invest Rs. 12,000 crore to develop renewable energy projects.

Discord has rolled out a bunch of improvements to its mobile app on both Android and iOS, but first:

Byju Raveendran is contemplating using his 10-12 percent direct shareholding in the test-prep chain Aakash to raise about Rs. 600 crore to shore up his beleaguered ed-tech venture, Think & Learn, The Arc reported yesterday, citing sources it didn’t name. Thing & Learn, which operates the loss making BYJU’S online education platform, is under government scrutiny for a host of lapses.

ZestMoney, a buy now pay later fintech startup in Bengaluru, is shutting down, and has informed its 150 remaining employees that it’s done, according to multiple media reports. The company was founded in 2015 and provided loans to those without credit cards or any other formal financing options.

One thing today:

In one thing today, Discord, which is where you’ll find many of the Gen Z, apart from Instagram, has overhauled its mobile app to work more like, well, a mobile app 

“When we launched the Discord mobile app in 2015, our focus was on building great products for people who play games on PC, with mobile serving as a companion app for when you were away from your keyboard,” Francesco Polizzi, group product manager at Discord, says in a blog post on Dec. 5, announcing the new updates.

“Now, with more users spending time using Discord on the go, we’re excited to roll out a faster, more reliable app than before, designed specifically for mobile,” Francesco says.

The updated app, on both Android and iOS, brings faster app loading, better navigation, improved media sharing and voice and video experience, and an updated night mode.

Discord has previously implemented features such as the global DM search on the app. After yesterday’s update, which is available in India also, app-open time is reduced by 43 percent on iOS and 55 percent on Android, and users can access more messages when offline, according to the company.

Free users can now upload files of up to 25MB in size.

Discord, which started as an online hangout for PC gamers has evolved into a wider platform where one can find groups of users with varied interests. Today the company says it has 150 million users around the world. 

You can find the full list of improvements and updates on Discord’s website. Or you can use the link to the blog post in our show notes.

One area where Discord has faced criticism is with respect to how it dragged its feet on protecting youngsters, according to multiple media reports. The company implemented some limited parental controls since only July this year, when it added an opt-in feature called family center.

This feature requires the consent of your child to set up the family center on both the teen’s app and on the parents’ smartphones. Once done it will provide some high-level information to parents on the teen’s Discord activity.

I would highly recommend reading a post titled A Parent’s Guide to Discord by the Social Media Victims Law Center in the US. The center warns that Discord requires users to be 13 years of age but does not ask for any documentation for proof of age. Like many other internet platforms, Discord can also be used by youngsters to access pornography and even drugs.

And if you are parents to young teens, especially, this might be a good time to find out if they use Discord, talk about it, and agree on using the Family Center feature.

IN-SPACe has announced a new seed fund to support startups working the areas of urban development and disaster management using space tech, but first:

Spotify fired 1,500 staff, cutting its workforce by 17 percent, a measure that CEO Daniel Ek said was needed to face the challenges ahead. This is the company’s third round of layoffs this year, TechCrunch noted.

“I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us,” Ek said in a company blogpost.

Venture capital funding for India’s startups sank to the second-lowest level in almost seven years, Moneycontrol reported last week, citing data from Venture Intelligence.

Indian startups recorded $223 million in funding from 35 deals in November, a fall of about 66 percent from $655 million in 52 deals in the previous month. The last time funding was lower than this was in January 2017 at $207 million in 43 deals, according to Moneycontrol.

One thing today

IN-SPACe, or the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, the nodal agency of India’s Department of Space responsible for commercialization of space tech in private industry, or among Non-Government Entities, has announced a Seed Fund for startups in the areas of Urban Development and Disaster Management by using space technology.

The scheme, launched in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO will help NGEs that use space technology for societal benefits to “graduate to the next level,” IN-SPACe said in a press release yesterday. 

Selected start-ups will receive seed funding for transforming an original idea into a prototype using space technology, ISRO facility support including Earth Observation data for validation of the concept, mentorship support, and access to data algorithms as transfer of technology from the Department of Space.

“The role of the space sector is crucial to the overall development of the national economy … this scheme is designed to support Indian space startups that aim to develop innovative space products and services that can improve the quality of life for communities in India and around the world,” Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe said in the press release.

Under this fund, selected startups can get up to Rs. 1 crore in funding, in addition to mentorship support, training and networking opportunities.  

For urban development, there are several opportunities for startups in areas including urban planning, monitoring and infrastructure management, telecommunication, navigation, broadband connectivity, water resources management, energy efficiency, climate and weather monitoring, disaster risk reduction, public health, and healthcare, In-space noted in the press release.

Similarly, disaster management offers opportunities for startups specializing in the domains including Geographical Information Systems (GIS), early warning and monitoring systems, insurance and risk assessment, communication and navigation systems, climate change monitoring, search and rescue operations, space-borne sensors, and instruments.

Cyclone Michaung pounding Tamil Nadu currently is another reminder that such technology solutions are urgently needed as the effects of climate change worsened in 2023.

The funding scheme details can be downloaded from IN-SPACe’s website, inspace.gov.in and the last date to apply for funding under this scheme is Dec. 20.

Even when Freshworks was a much smaller startup, Girish Mathrubootham just beginning his foray into the US market, one thing reporters like me would always hear about was Girish’s ability to surround himself with exceptional colleagues and soak up everything he could learn from them. 

As many of you know, he likes to call them people who’ve “been there done that,” whether it’s someone who’s helped take a software company in US to its IPO or someone who’s already seen what a global technology business looks like with $20 billion in revenue.

The appointment of Mika Yamamoto as the company’s new chief customer and marketing officer looks like another win for Girish in that tradition that he’s established.

Mika, who will be responsible for leading the company’s global marketing and customer experience teams, comes to Freshworks from F5, also a Nasdaq-listed company, where she most recently served as the Executive Vice President and the Chief Marketing and Customer Engagement Officer, according to Freshworks’s press release from Nov. 28.

At F5 she led the company’s data, marketing, digital transformation, and customer experience efforts for products, segments, channels, and geographies. Mika joined the executive team at Freshworks on Nov. 20 and reports to Girish, founder and CEO, and President Dennis Woodside.

“Mika’s combined CMO and CXO roles have given her a unique perspective that has ultimately led to innovative, measurable changes for employees, customers, and prospects,” Woodside said in the press release.

“She has a long-standing track record of leading global and diverse customer experience teams and delivering exceptional go-to-market results at large public technology companies with multi-domain businesses serving customers big and small,” he added.

Before F5, Mika was president at a company called Marketo, which was acquired by Adobe, and then she was a senior VP at Adobe for a bit.

She has previously served as Chief Digital Marketing Officer and CMO of SMB at SAP, and held senior leadership roles, working approximately six year each at Amazon, in the books business, Microsoft, in the Windows and Stores businesses, research at Gartner, and as a manager at Accenture where she started her career in 1994.

Mika has a BCom (Honours) degree in Economics and Marketing from Queen’s University in Canada, according to her LinkedIn profile. The Freshworks press release says she holds a B.A. in Commerce, with a focus on Economics and Marketing.

“My whole career has been spent on transforming go-to-market approaches and customer experiences within global companies to steepen the growth curve,” she says in the press release. I truly believe that bringing the end-to-end customer experience with marketing and customer success teams together at Freshworks will help accelerate growth while keeping our customers at the heart of all we do.”

She also serves on the boards of BlackLine, another Nasdaq-listed cloud software company that specializes in finance and accounting, where she chairs the compensation committee; and the Rainier Valley Food Bank and the United Way of King County.

Yamamoto, by the way, is a well-known Japanese surname. In fact, another Mika Yamamoto was an award-winning Japanese photo and video journalist who died in the line of duty while she was covering the conflict in Syria in 2012.

Perhaps the most well-known Yamamoto was Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral, who is widely believed to have been opposed to war, but when he was overruled, ended up as the decision-maker behind the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, which united the Americans in the decision to enter the second world war.

The name Yamamoto, in Japanese, means one who lives in the mountains or one who dwells at the foot of a mountain.