1. Wipro’s Q4 results to be hit by Aircel’s insolvency
What’s the news?
Wipro said its fourth-quarter revenue and profitability would be hit by the insolvency proceedings of one of its telecom clients in India, making this the second quarter in a row in which a troubled client has hurt the company’s results.
Why this matters?
Wipro has been struggling to keep pace with industry growth rates for years, but CEO Abidali Neemuchwala had said it would reach industry-average growth by the end of FY18. The company’s third-quarter results were hit by the insolvency of a UK client and Wipro had to make a nearly $50 million provision to cover that loss.
Analysts had already questioned the company’s ability to meet its self-imposed date and the latest profit warning will not help matters. Read more.
2. PayPal is open to store transaction data in India
What's the news?
Online payments firm PayPal is open to locating transaction data of its customers in India locally and said it is engaged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand its mandate issued last week asking payment firms to comply within six months.
The RBI on Thursday noted that few payment system operators and their outsourcing partners store the payment system data, either partly or completely, in the country. It now wants data of all transactions in India to be hosted locally.
Why it matters?
PayPal is the first large global company to publicly respond to the RBI note. In November, it signalled its intent to tap the local market by launching domestic payments option.
The firm will compete with local players such as Paytm and global firms such as WhatsApp and Google’s Tez, which works on the government stipulated unified payments interface (UPI) standard. Read more.
3. Xiaomi to set up three manufacturing plants locally
What's the news?
China’s Xiaomi has set up three new manufacturing plants, including its first surface-mount technology (SMT) facility to begin assembly of printed circuit boards (PCB), giving its local production a big push in a bid to consolidate its position at the top of an intensely-competitive smartphone market.
The new SMT plant, set up in collaboration with Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn, is a part of Xiaomi’s new campus in Tamil Nadu, which also houses a new smartphone unit, the company said on Monday.
Xiaomi, which recently overtook Samsung as India’s No. 1 smartphone brand by shipments, has also started making a small number of phones at another plant in Noida with another partner, Hipad, which has so far been making power banks for the brand.
What does this mean for Xiaomi?
The three new facilities have now taken Xiaomi’s facility count to six in the country, helping the company double its manufacturing capacity to over two handsets per second, Xiaomi’s India head Manu Jain told ET. There are about 10,000 employees in all at the three facilities, 95% of whom are women. Read more.
4. Fresh food brand Yumlane raises $4 million
What's the news?
QwikPik Technology, which owns and operates the Yumlane brand of fresh food products, has raised $4 million (about Rs 26 crore) in a fresh round of funding, which was led by Singapore-based family office RB Investments.
The Series-A round of funding also saw participation from the Mumbai-based fast-moving consumer goods startup’s existing backers, a list that includes, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Rehan Yar Khan-led early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners, and a host of high net worth individuals.
What will the company use the money for?
According to Hitesh Ahuja, CEO of Yumlane, the company will use the proceeds towards new product development, ramp up its distribution and retail footprint and marketing.
Yumlane is currently present in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. According to the CEO, the company is clocking an annualised run rate of three million units and plans to grow this to 10 million units by December this year. Read more.
What’s the news?
Wipro said its fourth-quarter revenue and profitability would be hit by the insolvency proceedings of one of its telecom clients in India, making this the second quarter in a row in which a troubled client has hurt the company’s results.
Why this matters?
Wipro has been struggling to keep pace with industry growth rates for years, but CEO Abidali Neemuchwala had said it would reach industry-average growth by the end of FY18. The company’s third-quarter results were hit by the insolvency of a UK client and Wipro had to make a nearly $50 million provision to cover that loss.
Analysts had already questioned the company’s ability to meet its self-imposed date and the latest profit warning will not help matters. Read more.
2. PayPal is open to store transaction data in India
What's the news?
Online payments firm PayPal is open to locating transaction data of its customers in India locally and said it is engaged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand its mandate issued last week asking payment firms to comply within six months.
The RBI on Thursday noted that few payment system operators and their outsourcing partners store the payment system data, either partly or completely, in the country. It now wants data of all transactions in India to be hosted locally.
Why it matters?
PayPal is the first large global company to publicly respond to the RBI note. In November, it signalled its intent to tap the local market by launching domestic payments option.
The firm will compete with local players such as Paytm and global firms such as WhatsApp and Google’s Tez, which works on the government stipulated unified payments interface (UPI) standard. Read more.
3. Xiaomi to set up three manufacturing plants locally
What's the news?
China’s Xiaomi has set up three new manufacturing plants, including its first surface-mount technology (SMT) facility to begin assembly of printed circuit boards (PCB), giving its local production a big push in a bid to consolidate its position at the top of an intensely-competitive smartphone market.
The new SMT plant, set up in collaboration with Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn, is a part of Xiaomi’s new campus in Tamil Nadu, which also houses a new smartphone unit, the company said on Monday.
Xiaomi, which recently overtook Samsung as India’s No. 1 smartphone brand by shipments, has also started making a small number of phones at another plant in Noida with another partner, Hipad, which has so far been making power banks for the brand.
What does this mean for Xiaomi?
The three new facilities have now taken Xiaomi’s facility count to six in the country, helping the company double its manufacturing capacity to over two handsets per second, Xiaomi’s India head Manu Jain told ET. There are about 10,000 employees in all at the three facilities, 95% of whom are women. Read more.
4. Fresh food brand Yumlane raises $4 million
What's the news?
QwikPik Technology, which owns and operates the Yumlane brand of fresh food products, has raised $4 million (about Rs 26 crore) in a fresh round of funding, which was led by Singapore-based family office RB Investments.
The Series-A round of funding also saw participation from the Mumbai-based fast-moving consumer goods startup’s existing backers, a list that includes, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Rehan Yar Khan-led early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners, and a host of high net worth individuals.
What will the company use the money for?
According to Hitesh Ahuja, CEO of Yumlane, the company will use the proceeds towards new product development, ramp up its distribution and retail footprint and marketing.
Yumlane is currently present in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. According to the CEO, the company is clocking an annualised run rate of three million units and plans to grow this to 10 million units by December this year. Read more.