Technology

Discover the latest trends and innovations in the APAC region’s dynamic tech sector, from artificial intelligence to blockchain to cybersecurity. Our corporate stories feature profiles of companies that are driving innovation in areas such as digital transformation, cloud computing, and data analytics.

Featured executives from leading tech firms, give an inside look at the strategies and technologies that are shaping the sector and impacting the technology industry.

Follow us on LinkedIn to join in the conversations.

Latest Technology Corporate Stories

Interlink Communication

Interlinking Best Price & Best Service Managing Director Nuttanai Annuntarumporn says that the market for fibre cables changes every day; and with technology around the world developing at such a rapid pace, it is imperative that Interlink continue to be at the top of their game   Writer Emily JarvisProject Manager Donovan Smith  Interlink Telecom Company Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Interlink Communication Public Company Limited. Since its establishment in 2007, Interlink Telecom has many track records on building and operating fibre optic networks, for instance, TOT, CAT, PEA and MEA as well as receiving the approval for the award of the Domestic and International Telecom Network Provider Type III License. Interlink Telecom has fully committed to building a fibre optical network for both Domestic and International Transmission service to better serve the customers’ needs with the vision of best connectivity, best service and best price.Today, Interlink Telecom owns and operates a nationwide core network and the fully fibre optical network in Thailand, holding onto state-of-the-art expertise in fibre optical cables in order to deploy both armoured fibre optic cables as well as transmission and switching technology with the latest IP network equipments. The business can be split into four component areas: cabling, sub-marine cables, fibre optic network and a fully-fledged R&D team to make both the company’s power consumption and product range better than ever before.Moreover, customers are able to enjoy Interlink’s leading-edge services such as redundancy, ring topology access, corporate data transmission solutions, Private Leased Circuit Services, Internet Protocol Transit Services, MPLSbased IP-VPN Service with

By Editorial Team

Taiwanese Tech Giant ASUS Expands Global Footprint

ASUS, the Taiwanese technology innovation brand, has appointed Andre Goosen to the position of Country Service Manager, a new role created in line with ASUS’ increased focus on after sales service. “As our market share in South Africa has grown during the course of 2014, we have seen the need for a dedicated Country Service Manager to manage relationships with our third party repair centres, and to work with our customers to facilitate the best possible after-sales service,” says Luuk Dobbe, Regional Service Account Manager, ASUS. “In the unlikely event that an ASUS device requires repair, we want to be sure that our customers have a completely seamless experience when they’re engaging with us to make that happen.” “I have extensive experience in repairing computers myself, so I have a deep knowledge of the intricacies of the repair and maintenance side of the technology business,” Goosen says. “I’m going to take my practical knowledge, along with my experience as a service manager, and use this combination to address any service and repairs related issues going forward, to ensure ASUS customer experience is always positive.” Part of Goosen’s portfolio will be to expand its base of third party service providers, both in South Africa and in Southern African countries where the brand is represented. ASUS already has a service partner in Zimbabwe, but Goosen will seek to establish relationships with service providers in Namibia, Botswanan, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.  “The first notebook I bought was an ASUS back in the early 1990s, and I have been impressed with the

By Editorial Team

Xiaomi Becomes Fourth-Biggest Smartphone Seller

Xiaomi is now the fourth-biggest seller of smartphones worldwide, right behind Huawei, according to Gartner. Xiaomi sold 15.8 million units in the third quarter of this year, a 322 percent increase from the same period a year ago, when Gartner reported it sold 3.6 million units. Xiaomi isn't the only Chinese smartphone-maker that saw growth in sales year over year. Three of the top five smartphone-makers worldwide are Chinese companies including Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo. Collectively, these three companies accounted for about 15 percent of all smartphone sales in the third quarter.  The other two leading handset companies were Samsung, which sold 73.2 million units, and Apple, which sold 38.2 million smartphones. Apple's iPhones sales grew 26 percent from a year ago, while Samsung's sales dropped 10.8 percent, according to Gartner. In China alone, which is Samsung's biggest market, its sales fell 28.6 percent. SOURCE: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102269540

By Editorial Team

China to Become Largest Economy by 2024

China is set to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy in U.S. dollar terms over the next decade, according to a new report by IHS Economics. IHS measured the size of China's economy in U.S. dollar terms, rather than using purchasing power parity - a technique used to determine the relative value of different currencies - which other research houses have used in the past. Last month, the International Comparison Program - backed by the World Bank and the United Nations - forecast China could overtake the U.S. as soon as this year, based on the PPP measure. The research puts China's gross domestic product (GDP) at 87 percent of the U.S. in 2011, compared to 43 percent in 2005. Those who use the PPP measure argue that it is a more accurate measure of the cost of living. IHS told CNBC it chose to evaluate the size of China's economy in dollar terms because it was a more definitive measure. "Over the next 10 years, China's economy is expected to re-balance towards more rapid growth in consumption, which will help the structure of the domestic economy as well as growth for the Asia Pacific (APAC)as a region," said Rajiv Biswas, Chief Asia Economist for IHS Economics. This surge in consumer spending will see China's nominal gross domestic product hit $28.25 trillion by 2024 from its current $10 trillion, larger than the $27.31 trillion projected for the U.S., the research firm said. U.S. nominal GDP currently stands at $17.4 trillion. "In 2025, if we

By Editorial Team

China to Become Largest Beer Market by 2017

China is set to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest beer market in value by 2017, according to a EuroMonitor International report. The world's No.2 economy is already the largest beer market globally in volume terms, serving up more than double the pints compared with the U.S. last year. But now China is heading toward the No.1 crown in value terms as well. Last year, the Chinese beer market's value was 79 percent the size of the U.S.'s in fixed U.S. dollar exchange rate terms. Euromonitor forecasts that this figure will grow by 45 percent by 2017, making China the world leader in terms of value sales. The boom in China's beer market is thanks to a number of macroeconomic and demographic factors, said Amin Alkhatib, alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor. Disposable incomes in China are forecast to grow in double-digit terms over 2013 to 2018, meaning more people will be able to afford beer, while the legal drinking age population will see more rapid growth than the U.S. during this same period, according to the report. Beer pricing on the mainland is set to evolve, with unit prices becoming more affordable and consumers start showing preference for superior brands, Euromonitor said. "As these new consumers' incomes increase and macroeconomic conditions improve, brewers will also be able to encourage consumers to trade up," he added. In 2013, economy lager in China accounted for 82 percent of the overall beer volume sales, compared with 25 percent in the U.S, highlighting the significant potential for the premium

By Editorial Team

EDMI Meters

The future of smart metering solutions EDMI Limited is one of the leading smart metering solutions providers in the world Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Donovan Smith For more than 30 years, energy companies all over the world have relied on EDMI to deliver the flexibility and reliability they need and the innovative solutions they demand. EDMI's experience, a proven track record, and having installed millions of EDMI multi-functional smart meters installed globally, mean that EDMI's products have met and exceeded clients' expectations that led them to become a global energy solution leader. Founded in Australia in 1978, the company have been based in Singapore since 1997. EDMI have grown to 20 offices globally spreading throughout the region of Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australasia. EDMI CEO Lee Kwang Mong is very pleased with just how far the company have come in recent years: "When you look at the progress the company have made over the last 5 years, you can see just how successful we have been. We have seen our meters become commonplace across Asia and now they are a staple product in the European markets, especially in the UK, where we have seen strong sales, which continue to grow monthly." A Smart Solution A smart meter is an electronic device that records consumption of electric energy at intervals and is able to communicate with a central system. This secure communication is two-way: the meter provides information to the central "head-end" for monitoring and billing purposes, but it is also possible to perform

By Editorial Team

Beyonics Technology

Beyond Manufacturing Beyonics Technology Limited is a leading provider of advanced contract manufacturing services for Original Equipment Manufacturers worldwide Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Tom Cullum Founded in 1981, Beyonics Technology Limited is a Singapore-based leading provider of advanced contract manufacturing services to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS). The company provides manufacturing services to OEMS in the Automotive, Industrial, Medical and Data Storage segments and are a leading supplier of precision machined and stamped parts for the Automotive, Industrial and Data Storage industries. Beyonics Technology Limited aims to grow strategic manufacturing partnerships with its portfolio of world-class, leading-edge customers. This will be achieved through its supply chain leadership, vertically integrated operations and strong customer focus led by a dedicated and motivated management team. In 2013, Beyonics was ranked 17th in The MMI Top 50 EMS Providers. Manufacturing Market Insiders rank providers based on 2013 sales in US dollars. This is a huge achievement for the company as they have been globally recognised as one of the top electronics manufacturing services providers. Engaging the Market Michael Ng, CEO of Beyonics, is very much aware of the competition faced by the company in the Asian manufacturing markets, but believes engaging customers from the onset of design through to the commercialisation process is key to standing out from the crowd: "Competition in the manufacturing markets in Asia and especially in Singapore has been very tough. We strongly believe that by engaging our clients throughout the commercialisation process, we can garner a much greater insight into their thoughts and ideas and

By Editorial Team

CapitaLand Launches Voluntary Conditional Cash Offer with a View to Delist CapitaMalls Asia

Sound Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited (CapitaLand), has launched a voluntary conditional cash offer (Offer) of approximately S$3.06 billion for CapitaMalls Asia Limited (CMA) with a view to delist CMA. The Offer is for the remaining ordinary shares of CMA that CapitaLand does not already own and is conditional on receiving acceptances such that CapitaLand holds more than 90.0% of CMA. SOURCE: http://news.capitaland.com Press Release CapitaLand currently holds approximately 65.3% of CMA. The Offer price is S$2.22 in cash for each CMA share. It represents a premium of 27.0% to the one-month volume-weighted average price (VWAP), and a premium of 20.7% to the net asset value per share of CMA and its subsidiaries (CMA Group) as at 31 December 2013. The Offer price will be reduced for any CMA dividend or distribution on or after the announcement date, including the currently proposed CMA final dividend of S$0.0175 per share for FY2013. The Offer will be funded through a combination of internal cash resources and borrowings of CapitaLand and its subsidiaries (CapitaLand Group), excluding those of CMA Group. Rationale for Offer The intention of the Offer is to delist CMA and fully integrate it into the CapitaLand Group. The Offer allows CapitaLand to achieve the following key objectives: Fully integrating CMA significantly enhances CapitaLand's competitive strengths in integrated developments The 'One CapitaLand' strategy seeks to harness the key strengths of its various business units to create differentiated real estate projects and enhance overall project returns. The development of integrated projects is core

By Editorial Team

Freebie Offers Free Call Time in Exchange for Advertisements

Thailand has over 90 million mobile subscriptions and yet, has a population of 66 million. As a consequence of the mobile penetration rate exceeding the population, companies across the world begin to consider the new and innovative prospect of trading advertisements in exchange for free minutes for the customer. Partnering with Thai Telco AIS, Freebie offers free minutes on phone calls for users who opt in to listen to adverts. Customers can dial *115 to listen to a voice ad in exchange for two minutes of free calling. For the brands that take part, it is a chance to gain exposure that is specifically targeted at particular demographics. Freebie is not the only service of this kind. There are developments across the world looking at similar methods, including replacing the ringing dial tone with an advert in exchange for up to 15 minutes of free air time. Korea-made AdLatte launched in Thailand last year, a service that gets people to watch ads on their mobile, who convert them into a variety of rewards. Launched in October 2013, Freebie reached 200,000 subscribers in the first three months, with over 100,000 ad views daily by the end of last year. 15 to 20 brands are now participating, including those involved in banking and food and drink sales.

By Editorial Team

China Halves Its TB Problem

Survey data suggests that China has more than halved its tuberculosis (TB) problem, with rates falling from 170 to 59 per 100,000 population. The Lancet report says that the success of the falling rate is due to a huge expansion of a community-based disease control programme. Other countries could also adopt a similar approach, says the World Health Organisation. China is a major contributor to the global TB pandemic, accounting for more than one-tenth of worldwide cases. The Lancet report is based on a 20-year long analysis of national survey data, it has revealed the progress that China has made reducing the burden, BBC News reports. TB prevalence in China fell by 57 per cent by 2010, tripling the reduction of the previous decade. "One of the key global TB targets set by the Stop TB Partnership aims to reduce tuberculosis prevalence by 50 per cent between 1990 and 2015," lead researcher Dr Yu Wang, from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, said. The 2014 World Health Assembly will look at eliminating TB and setting ambitious new targets which could include a 50 per cent reduction in tuberculosis prevalence between 2015 and 2025. "This study in China is the first to show the feasibility of achieving such a target, and China achieved this give years earlier than the target date." Giovanni Battista Migliori from WHO said other countries could learn from China: "The results from China show the feasibility of achieving such a target by aggressively scaling up the basic programmatic elements

By Editorial Team