The move comes after the pair failed to make the first batch of licensees.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said it has granted virtual banking licenses to four new entities: Ant SME Services (Hong Kong), Ping An OneConnect, Infinium and Insight Fintech HK.

Ant SME is a unit of Ant Financial, while Ping An OneConnect is a member of Ping An Insurance Group, the country’s second-largest insurer in terms of premiums.

Infinium is a joint venture backed by Tencent, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Asia), Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, Hillhouse Capital, and Hong Kong businessman Adrian Cheng.

Insight Fintech is a joint business between Chinese mainland smartphone maker Xiaomi and Hong Kong-based asset management company AMTD.

“Ant Financial has long been committed to bringing equal opportunities to consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises with its technological expertise.

“We are looking forward to joining hands with communities in Hong Kong to pave the way for the development of financial technology and inclusive finance in the city,” Ant Financial said in a statement.

The four newly licensed virtual banks are scheduled to offer services within six-to-nine months, the city’s de facto central bank said in the statement. This brings the total number of virtual lenders in Hong Kong to eight.

Buoyed by the news Tencent’s shares soared more than three per cent to peak at HK$387.8 in the morning session. Its share price closed Friday’s trading at HK$380.40, up 1.28 per cent.

The flagship Hang Seng Index edged up 0.84 per cent, or 239.17 points, to finish at 28,550.24 points.

It is thought that the granting of the virtual banking licences will make the financial centre a battlefield for the Chinese mainland’s ambitious financial technology firms.

Back in March, JD.com’s tech arm JD Digits and ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance were among the first licensees.

For the past couple of months, HKMA has not granted new banking licences.

Compared with the potential HK$20-40 billion cost of acquiring a bank licence in the city, the minimum capital threshold of HK$300 million for virtual lenders has lowered the bar for financial technology players to join the game.

The South Korean tech giant’s mobile business chief told The Korea Herald, “[The company] has reviewed the defect caused from substances [that entered the device], and we will reach a conclusion in a couple of days [on the launch].”

Based on Koh’s comments, Samsung appears to be coming close to a final decision on the US launch, although the company has been working on rescheduling the US launch of the Galaxy Fold devices with enhanced display protection in a conservative manner, considering the time needed for necessary steps including radio certification and device testing procedures by US mobile carriers.

The company recently retrieved its foldable phone samples that it had given US technology journalists for review after many of them reported breaks, bulges and blinking screens after just a day’s use. The defects were apparently caused when substances entered inside the display through exposure caused by removing a protective layer.

The comments were the first by Samsung’s smartphone chief after the alleged display defects were reported by journalists before the previously planned launch on April 26. In response to a question about the possibility of launching the foldable phone in the US within this month, Koh said, “We will not be too late,” hinting that the launch will be rescheduled to an earlier date than has been speculated.

Samsung has completed its internal inspection of samples that were damaged on some occasions – when the top protective layer of the main display was removed or when substances were found on exposed areas at the top and bottom of the hinge – and is currently in the process of taking measures to prevent similar problems.

The measures include strengthening the durability of the exposed areas on the hinge and minimising the tiny gap between the protective layer and the bezel of the main display in order to prevent any external substances from penetrating the device, according to the company.

It has the theme “Smarter to make life better”, and seeks to give students and businesses in the IT and telecom sectors creative space to share global trends in science and technology, exchange startup experiences and develop products and solutions from innovative ideas.

It also seeks new ideas from contestants which could solve specific problems and meet the specific needs of businesses.

Vu Anh Tuan, director of the Quang Trung Software Business Incubator and head of the organisation board, said the use of AI in developing products, solutions and applications advances the goal of building smart cities.

“AI is the key to helping the country develop faster and better, and improving the living environment and quality of life.”

The competition offers 13 prizes worth 1.235 billion dong (US$53,040, Bt 1.68 million), including three first and second prizes each.

All winners will have the chance to take part in the Department of Science and Technology’s Speedup programme to support startups and innovation.

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung is making additional investments in India with the goal of making the 1.3 billion-population market its mobile business hub, according to industry and news reports.

Samsung Electronics battery affiliate Samsung SDI and display panel maker Samsung Display recently invested around 25 billion rupees ($357.83 million, Bt11.3 billion) to build additional battery pack and mobile display assembly plants, according to local news outlets.

The detailed amount of their respective investment could not be confirmed by their head offices in Korea.

Both Samsung affiliates said they were making investments, but that the amounts had not yet been finalised.

Samsung completed a 49 billion-rupee smartphone factory in Noida last July, ramping up the Korean company’s monthly production capacity from five million units to 10 million.

Samsung is aggressively expanding its operations in India in order to overtake its Chinese rival Xiaomi and gain the lead in the Indian smartphone market, after losing out to Xiaomi in China for the past couple of years. – The Korea Herald

Japan plans limits on foreign tech investment

The government Japanese plans to expand the scope of regulations on foreign investment in Japanese companies as early as within this year. Until now, the regulations have been applied mainly to nuclear-related and aircraft industries, which have potential military uses. About 20 industries, including manufacturers of smartphones and semiconductor memory, will be subject to the regulations. The move is aimed at preventing the outflow of key security-related technology, with China and other countries in mind.

The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law regulates investment by foreign companies. If technologies used in smartphones and semiconductor memory are exposed, Japan’s security could be threatened as information technology becomes more sophisticated.

The government therefore has decided to add those technologies to the regulation list. – The Yomiuri Shimbun

Filipinos spend most time on social media in Asia

Filipinos spend the greatest amount of time on social media among Asians, closely followed by Indonesians, Thais and Malaysians, according to Global Digital 2019 reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite.

In 2019, Filipinos spend an average of four hours and 12 minutes on social media daily, an increase of 15 minutes per day from last year.

They topped the list for the fourth year in a row.

On the other hand, the Japanese spend the least amount of time on social media -– 36 minutes per day. Trailing behind the Japanese are South Koreans, who spent an hour and 12 minutes per day. – The Korea Herald

The archipelago experienced a 17 per cent growth from 2017 to 2018, while its neighbour Thailand experienced a 13 per cent decrease in last year’s fourth quarter.

“The smartphone market in Indonesia is the best in Southeast Asia,” Yudistira Nugroho, senior industry analyst at Tech & Telco Google Indonesia, told kompas.com.

“According to Canalys, Indonesia is the rising star of the region’s smartphone |market.”

The smartphone market in Indonesia grew 20 per cent throughout the year, spurred by its people’s lifestyles and a growing economy.

“Indonesians who earn more money tend to focus on tertiary needs instead of primary and secondary needs,” said Nugroho.

Search behaviour

He mentioned that according to a recent survey on smartphone search behaviour during Ramadan, flagship smartphones were found to be the most-searched items when Idul Fitri holiday bonuses are paid.

“The growth of flagship smartphones is higher than mid-or low-end smartphones,” Nugroho said.

Another reason behind the growth was the rise of smartphone brands, either new or old, that keep innovating with new features.

However, Yudis said that 55 per cent of prospective buyers were confused by the current proliferation of brands and designs.

Additionally, the survey said that 69 per cent of buyers prefer to purchase smartphones from offline stores as they needed to experience the product first before buying it.

However, based on a Google survey, online purchases have grown rapidly and reached 30 per cent in 2018.

“Thirty per cent is [a big number],” said Nugroho.

“The growth can be considered as double from 2017 to 2019.”

With telecom companies here accelerating efforts to process massive data at faster speeds since the launch of the fifth-generation cellular network, competition in the cloud edge computing market has intensified.

The country’s major mobile carriers have announced plans to install cloud computing systems at the edges of their 5G networks. Most recently, KT said Sunday it had established such platforms at communication towers in Seoul and Busan.

Combining cloud services with edge computing, the cloud edge system boosts the network’s processing speed by minimising latency. It does not have to go through a centralised data centre, which is a standard for standalone cloud computing.

“Depending upon the need for data processing, the cloud edge system in Seoul and Busan can share the burden and reduce latency,” KT said in a statement. “Previously, all data had to be processed at a central data centre in Seoul and its surrounding area.”

The country’s biggest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, has also joined the fray with a pledge to launch a cloud edge system within the year. During a shareholders meeting in March, SKT chief Park Jung-ho said the company would work with global cloud companies to launch the service.

The world’s leading cloud service company, Amazon Web Service, has entered the edge computing market with a service called “Greengrass”. Microsoft has boasted its technological prowess with the product Azure Iot Edge.

Given that these global companies have dominated the local cloud service market, the mobile carriers’ latest efforts to combine cloud services with edge computing are designed to create a niche market, according to industry watchers.

“It’s hard to say that edge cloud is a core component of cloud computing,” said an official from a cloud computing company in Seoul. “It is difficult to catch up with global giants in a short period of time, so they want to divide the cloud market into many parts.”

While there is no specific data on market share, industry watchers estimate that AWS accounts for about half of the Korean cloud service market. Samsung, LG and other conglomerate have adopted AWS cloud computing for business management.

Currently, the Korean mobile carriers’ efforts to use cloud services are largely aimed at offering subscribers better access to 5G-based content. By installing cloud systems at their mobile edge computing centres, the carriers expect this to dramatically reduce latency.

For example, KT said its cloud edge computing system allows for speedy streaming of live sport games. Viewers can watch content up to 10 seconds faster than those not using cloud edge computing.

“The previous version of edge computing was mostly focused on hardware,” said a KT official. “Cloud edge computing is more about software. … By installing cloud services at our mobile edge centre, users can watch YouTube footage much faster than before.”