Asia’s fragmented music fanbase and subscription habits may stand between Spotify and its total domination of the region, or at least so its competitors hope. The music streaming service recently launched in the Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. When we spoke to Spotify’s head of new markets in Asia-Pacific, Sriram Krishnan, he was evasive on how extensive the… → Read More
Music streaming service Spotify has finally come to Asia. Today, it announced that it would be launching in the cities of Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Its premium service, priced at $9.99 per month in the US, will also be a little cheaper in the region, with Malaysians getting the lowest price. Update: after turning on Asia, Spotify posted on its blog that it now has also turned on services… → Read More
In the recent months, two new jobs sites in Asia have popped up with interesting new takes on the process of pairing jobseekers with potential employers. The stark difference between them and the likes of JobStreet and Monster highlight how much room there is for innovation in the traditional jobs classifieds scene. I’ve always found that cold calls tend to come from the most mismatched… → Read More
Apple today posted Q1 earnings that indicated that — despite wider problems in the European economy, and price and device competition from Android everywhere, it continues to make advances in international markets. Apple broke out sales in Greater China — which includes the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan — on its balance sheet, which were up by 67% on the same quarter last year, and 26% on the… → Read More
Path’s growth trajectory is leading it to Asia: CEO Dave Morin said that people in Japan and Korea were behind the mobile social network’s second wave of new users after the release of Path 2.0, that China is the app’s second-largest market after the U.S. and that it’s adding more users in Asia than it is in Western markets. Now Path is capitalizing on all that by building out its operation in… → Read More
Editor’s note: Brenden Mulligan is an entrepreneur who created Onesheet, TipList, ArtistData, MorningPics, and PhotoPile. He’s a mentor for 500 Startups and several startups. You can find him on Twitter at @mulligan.
I recently returned from a trip where I embedded myself in a few Asian cities and worked as if I were home. The goal was to explore how technology has enabled legitimate… → Read More
If you were wondering where all the PC growth was, look East, young person. IHS, formerly iSuppli, expects that desktop sales will rise 8% and Ultrabook sales will take up 15 to 20 percent of notebook shipments. Windows 8 and Intel’s Ivy Bridge are to be driving factors in PC growth this year.
In comparison, IDC found that 2011 PC shipments shrank in Europe and the United States by 9%. → Read More
We’ve all got iPhone mania in the Valley, never mind that Apple tracks our every move and won’t explain why or that AT&T users can’t actually make calls.
But in Asia– and much of the rest of the developing world– the anticipated mobile giant is Android. Android phones are just starting to hit Japan and China, and a flood of cheap new models are expected to come on the market within the next… → Read More
China’s got game. A lot of game. In fact, the Eastern power is rapidly becoming the world’s leader in the online games market. According to a study released by business and consulting firm Pearl Research, the online games market in China will exceed $8 billion by 2014.
Though the Chinese gaming market experienced somewhat sluggish growth in the first part of 2010, by year’s end it had rebounded… → Read More
Evo 4G Shmevo 4G – how about a Tegra 2 Android 2.2 smartphone with 8GB of storage, 3.8-inch screen, and 720p video support and FM radio, GPS, and WVGA resolution. This old girl costs about $540 in Hong Kong. → Read More
According to one of our Asia contacts, there is a range of phones in China by a manufacturer called OPPO and they’re selling quite well. Not to be outdone, members of the Shanzai have created a knock-off model for those who want a little class in their lives. Not content to just copy verbatim, they changed things a round a bit to create the exciting new POOP line of cellphones. → Read More
We can’t say we’re really surprised: according to market research company Gfk, smartphones are getting increasing popular in Asia, with Android now being the region’s most popular OS for this type of handsets. Cell phones with the Google software on board have reportedly enjoyed brisk sales in that region in the second and third quarters of 2010. → Read More
Yes, China is taking over the world. Or at least the Internet. No, this is not like the WE’LL-ALL-BE-WORKING-FOR-JAPAN-oh-nevermind scare of the 1980s. Why? Because China has more than 1 billion people. It already represents the largest online audience in the world and is less than 30% penetrated and has Internet spending per capita that’s less than one-third of the United States.
That means two… → Read More
Andy Sjarif has an almost weird, man-crush on Google. No matter what crazy things Eric Schmidt may promise shareholders, Sjarif is in no doubt that the great and mighty Google can achieve them. Self-driving cars? Trips to the moon? Wind farms? All in a day’s work at the Googleplex. Google with its execution, its Ph.Ds and its algorithms is Sjarif’s mahaguru.
But – all that said – he still wants… → Read More
Welcome to part two of Ask a VC in Southeast Asia. This week, it’s Wilson Cuaca and Chandra Tjan of East Ventures. I shot this video in Singapore, but they invest primarily in Indonesia where East is one of the only traditional early stage VC firms.
Over delicious crab, we discuss the Web opportunities in Southeast Asia, whether startups should focus locally or globally, and perhaps the most… → Read More
SINGAPORE– On the eve of my trip to Indonesia last May, I was having dinner in Cape Town with someone from an investment firm that has been killing it in Asia. When I told him Indonesia was my first trip to Southeast Asia he almost spit out his Springbok, saying “My God! You are starting with the hardest one first!”
On the eve of this trip to Singapore, I was having coffee in San Francisco with… → Read More
For some in Silicon Valley, Asia remains an alluring black box. A promising world with pockets of hyper growth, obscured by a tangled web of unfamiliar languages, customs, regulations and native ecosystems. Although the walls are coming down fast, the road to Asia’s markets remains an intimidating one for many.
Enter Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups (a recently launched $30M super angel … → Read More
If there are two things you can count on it’s Death and the propensity of Asian electronics manufacturers to capitalize on a rising trend. In short, what we buy Asia makes and Asia is very happy about the iPad. And this chain of events, in turn, destroys hardware innovation.
First we have this AP report about accessories makers. We haven’t posted very many iPad accessories since the launch but… → Read More
The iPhone officially went on sale in China at the end of October and in Japan in summer last year, but many people in one important Asian market were still waiting for it the whole time: Korea. After getting the official government approval in mid-November, the country’s number two mobile carrier, KT Corporation, started rolling out the iPhone on November 28. And it can be happy about a pretty… → Read More
I was supposed to finish this piece last Friday to cap off productivity, but, in fact, I was traveling. That’s right. I couldn’t do a piece on travel productivity because I was traveling. Trust me: it wasn’t for wont of gear that I didn’t turn in my piece. It was because we just weren’t prepared for the strain travel takes on communications. You can carry your… → Read More
In a move to combat Sony and Nintendo in Asian markets, Microsoft has slashed the price of the 360 console between 5% and 20% in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Singapore saw the largest discounts with a 19.5% discount on the 20GB model, which is now priced at about $366. The Arcade version dropped to about $293 while the Elite model goes for about $513. Taiwanese gamers can snag a… → Read More
A Nagoya-based company, Aiphone, just announced that they have come to an agreement with Apple on using the iPhone name in Japan. Nervous Nellie types are thinking this means a 3G iPhone is coming like TOMORROW and it will totally kick ass. People: there is no reason to sell the 3G iPhone in Asia before they sell it in the US. Asia is saturated with so many cool devices that it would be like… → Read More
Singapore is apparently going to be the first country to have the 3G iPhone in September 2008. The carrier, SingTel, said the phone would cost about $700. I’m calling bullshit. In related news, Apple “may have order” 10 million 3G iphones from Asia, according to a Gartner analyst. This new model will include an OLED and should be headed to Asia. I’m also calling bullshit on… → Read More
[photopress:citiphone.jpg,full,center] Given the bank’s top notch performance during that whole subprime thing, would you trust Citibank’s opinion on anything these days? One of its fancy pants analysts has officially predicted that Apple will release a 3G iPhone sometime in the next six months, citing low inventory of the current model and high demand for a 3G phone in Europe. Said… → Read More
Apple doesn’t want you messing with the iPhone’s battery. Really, it doesn’t. When your iPhone’s warranty runs out, you’ll have to send it back to Apple to get the battery replaced for an exhorbitant fee ($79 + shipping). Yes it sucks, but there’s no other alternatives. Or are there? In comes Asia, full of OEM batteries and plastic. For only $20, you can get a… → Read More
Though it could be a few million years before we see this Samsung cellie hit US shores, it’s still a hella cool phone with some radical design. The SGH-F210 was unveiled in CommunicAsia this week and the response has been phenomenal. It sort of looks like one of the newer Sony Walkman MP3 players on the market, except much more badass. Features in this small package include tri-band GSM, a… → Read More
Creative has introduced the MuVo 100, a subtle upgrade to the V200. Don’t let the smaller number fool you though, the new addition packs some welcome upgrades. Not only is the V100 smaller than the previous version, it also promises an 18 hour batter life and capacities up to 2GB. It also has a full USB port on the unit. The MuVo V100 is currently only available in Asia, but I suspect… → Read More
According to DigiTimes, the forthcoming Xbox 360 external HD DVD will not be made available in Asia. Microsoft Asia has claimed that due to a lack of HD DVD movies on the continent, the external drive will not be made available in Asia, at least for now. I thought HD DVD was being added mainly to expand gaming functionality, not just to add the support of HD DVD movie playback. This seems a little… → Read More
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