Undeterred by typhoons and searing heat, there was plenty happening in terms of tech news across the continent this week. Let’s jump in:
Willis’ and Steven’s pick: WeChat rockets to 100 million users outside of China
Willis: 100 million is a huge figure. Does Tencent’s WeChat really have a chance on the global stage? It seems like it. And Tencent’s resources could be the key to making it work.
Steven: WeChat is perhaps China’s most used mobile-only app, as well as the country’s top social media export. It’s also interesting to see how Lionel Messi has scored a hat-trick for WeChat with his TV ads for the messaging app around the world.
Enricko’s pick: HTC places a $1 billion bet on new marketing campaign with Robert Downey Jr (VIDEO)
While my colleagues have chosen more serious news like censorship, protests, and acquisitions, I’m choosing one that is fun: Iron Man. HTC has been struggling recently, and with Robert Downey Jr. in HTC’s new ads, we will see how important branding and marketing is compared to only making nice phones.
Saiyai’s and Phoebe’s pick: Why is 4G adoption in Asia’s emerging markets still so slow?
Saiyai: Oh, how I’ve wondered the same thing! Leslie Shannon from Nokia Siemens Networks nails the key points as to why LTE in Asia is still not taking off. What I also notice in Thailand is that infrastructure is also a problem. Even today, Thai authorities are still debating when the auction for the spectrum used for 4G will take place, and whether there will be any infrastructure sharing among the main telco companies.
Phoebe: I agree with my colleague Saiyai here. In the Philippines, LTE is the hot new thing, but infrastructure still needs to be worked on. Apart from that, I think the bigger barrier is that not everyone has the means to own a $500 smartphone for LTE’s sake. I believe this is not only happening in Thailand and the Philippines, but in other Asian countries as well.
Minh’s pick: It’s official, folks: Baidu acquires mobile app store 91 Wireless for $1.9 billion
Well, here’s a great big acquisition we’ve all been waiting for. Baidu, which already has its own Android app store, is grabbing 91 Wireless to become arguably the biggest app store operator in the country. In total, their combined users downloaded over 69 million apps per day. But the real key here is mobile. Baidu is looking to ride the inevitable trend of mobile, and 91 Wireless has got the awesome wave of data that Baidu’s crawlers, bots, and algorithms can surf on.
CK’s pick: Thai government is going to monitor Line chat texts
If this initiative from the Thai government passes successfully with cooperation from Line, 15 million Line users will have their chats monitored within the country. With the recent clampdown by the Vietnamese government on social media as well, its a worrying indicator for online freedoms in Southeast Asia and what the future might hold.
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