Business

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Almost 35 per cent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India are spending over 10 per cent of their revenue on technology (in comparison to global counterparts) and 26 per cent of SMBs are early adopters of new technologies, a Microsoft report said on Friday.

At least 27 per cent of SMBs are all or mostly cloud-based, a percentage that is expected to be global average in two-three years, according to the Microsoft's 'SMB Voice and Attitudes to Technology Study 2022' prepared by Analysys Mason.

SMBs are contributing approximately 30 per cent to India's GDP and providing employment to over 114 million people in the country.

"It is evident that linking technology investments and adoption with business strategies, as well as close collaboration with partners are crucial to deliver success for SMBs," said Samik Roy, Executive Director, Corporate Medium, and Small Business, Microsoft India.

Organisations, big or small, that are rooted in technology and committed to harnessing its full potential, will be able to stay ahead of the curve by becoming more agile, resilient, future-ready businesses," he added.

According to the report, SMBs in India look to technology to help them to grow their customer base (39 per cent) and improve customer retention (38 per cent).

SMBs in middle-income markets (27 per cent) are more concerned about cloud migration than their counterparts in high income markets (22 per cent).

"SMBs in India are the most likely to view competition intensity as a major obstacle (35 per cent)," the findings showed.

At least 25 per cent of SMBs surveyed in India prefer working with application developers/independent software vendor (ISVs).

SMBs in India (45 per cent) are most likely to want to improve environmental sustainability in comparison to SMBs across the markets, the report mentioned.

--IANS
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Seoul, Oct 7 (IANS) LG Electronics said on Friday that its preliminary third-quarter operating profit jumped around 25 per cent from a year earlier.

The tech company said its profit for the July-September period was predicted to come in at 746.6 billion won ($529 million), up 25.1 percent from 540.7 billion won from the year-ago period.

But LG's quarterly profit, in fact, declined on-year after taking into consideration a recall provision of 480 billion won for General Motors Co.'s Bolt electric vehicles during the year-ago quarter, reports Yonhap news agency.

Sales are estimated to have increased 14 percent to hit a record high of 20.9 trillion won, surpassing the 20 trillion won mark for the first time in the company's history, on the back of robust sales of high-end home appliances and electric vehicle (EV) components business.

The data for net income was not available.

Like many other electronics makers, continued macro economic woes paint a gloomy picture for LG's bottom line for the remaining year and into the next year.

Pandemic-driven pent-up demand for home appliances, including TVs, has lost steam and aggressive rate hikes in major economies to bring inflation under control significantly weakened consumer spending power.

High shipping costs amid supply chain disruptions are expected to continue hurting the company's performance.

For the three months to end-June, LG's home entertainment division logged an operating loss of 18.9 billion won, turning to losses for the first time in 28 quarters, as marketing costs rose and people spent less time at home.

LG's EV components business, however, is likely to turn to profit for the year for the first time since the company entered the market in 2013, on growing demand amid the gradual easing of the auto chip shortage and a subsequent rise in auto production.

The division logged 50 billion won in operating profit in the second quarter, turning a profit for the first time since 2013, except for the fourth quarter of 2015.

In the first half, LG secured 8 trillion won worth of new orders for EV parts and solutions, and the company expected its accumulated order backlog to top 65 trillion won by the end of the year, up 8 percent from a year ago.

The company will announce its third-quarter earnings results at the end of this month.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Data storage solution company Western Digital on Friday launched a new SSD (solid-state drive) to provide a seamless experience for hardcore gamers in the country.

The SSD, titled 'SN850X NVMe', comes in three capacities -- 1TB, 2TB and 4TB -- and can be purchased at a starting price of Rs 13,119, the company said in a statement.

Powered by an internal PCIe Gen4 SSD, the new drive delivers speeds of up to 7,300 MB per second for better gaming experience.

Gamers can get an amazing gaming experience with quick load times, rich visuals, and uncompromised thermal performance thanks to decreased latency, predictive loading, and adaptive thermal management, the company said.

New Game Mode 2.0 offers extra capabilities to increase PC performance that is included with downloadable WD BLACK Dashboard.

To help maintain top performance, an optional heatsink (1TB and 2TB models) is also available. It incorporates RGB lights to match any gaming computer.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The world saw crypto losses up to $428 million in the third quarter (Q3), down 36 per cent from Q2, from hacks and frauds, a new report has shown.

An analysis of the crypto losses by bug bounty platform Immunefi found that fraud accounts for only 7 per cent of the total losses in the Q3 2022, while hacks account for 93 per cent.

"The global Web3 space was valued at $3 trillion in 2021, and with billions locked across different smart contracts, this capital represents an unparalleled and attractive opportunity for blackhat hackers," the report mentioned.

The researchers saw a loss of $399 millions to hacks across 30 specific incidents, and a loss of $29 million to fraud across nine specific incidents.

"Most of that sum was lost by 2 specific projects, Nomad Bridge, a cross-chain communication standard that enables transfers of tokens and data between chains, and Wintermute, a global crypto market maker," the report said.

In the Q3 of 2022 DeFi (decentralised finance) continues to be the key target for exploits as compared to CeFi (centralised finance).

DeFi represented 98.8 per cent of the total losses, while CeFi represented 1.2 per cent of the total losses.

The two most targeted chains in Q3 2022 were BNB Chain and Ethereum.

BNB Chain suffered the most individual attacks with 16 incidents, representing 28.6 per cent of the total losses across targeted chains, and Ethereum witnessed 13 incidents, representing 23.2 per cent, respectively.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Oct 5 (IANS) Twitter on Wednesday said it has received a letter from Elon Musk to go ahead with their original deal of $54.20 per share (or $44 billion). Twitter shares went up 22 per cent after the news.

In a new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk's legal team has also asked the court to adjourn the trial and all other proceedings.

"We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share," Twitter said in a statement.

Musk tweeted: "Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app. Twitter probably accelerates X by 3 to 5 years, but I could be wrong."

The surprising development led to the micro-blogging platform's share jump 22 per cent after it reopened as trading of Twitter shares was briefly halted.

According to the letter sent to Twitter, "the Musk Parties provide this notice without admission of liability and without waiver of or prejudice to any of their rights, including their right to assert the defenses and counterclaims pending in the Action, including in the event the Action is not stayed, Twitter fails or refuses to comply with its obligations under the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement or if the transaction contemplated thereby otherwise fails to close".

In the new US SEC filing, Musk's legal team said that "On October 3, 2022, they "sent a letter to Twitter... notifying Twitter that the Reporting Person (Musk) intends to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement."

The team said that the offer means that the Delaware Chancery Court should "adjourn the trial and all other proceedings related thereto pending such closing or further order of the court".

Twitter shareholders had earlier voted to approve Musk's $44 billion takeover bid.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Oct 4 (IANS) Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly proposed again to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share, the same price he originally proposed in April this year before terminating the $44 billion takeover deal.

According to Bloomberg, Musk has sent Twitter a letter offering to buy the micro-blogging platform at the originally proposed price.

The move, if true, has created confusion in the minds of millions as the Musk-Twitter legal battle is set to begin in a US court from October 17.

Twitter or Musk did not comment on the report.

Trading of Twitter shares was briefly halted, reports The Verge.

The new report came at a time when a new treasure trove of texts exchanged between Musk and Twitter executives like CEO Parag Agrawal and Jack Dorsey was leaked in the public domain.

Twitter shareholders have already voted to approve Musk's $44 billion takeover bid.

The vote came as Musk's lead team is in a court battle to get out of the deal.

Twitter confirmed that a preliminary count shows it has enough votes to approve the deal.

The approval meant that Musk and Twitter will proceed to an October trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

The world's richest man also texted Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison all night before he decided to terminate the $44 billion Twitter takeover deal in May, the media has reported, citing a court filing.

--IANS
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By Shaneer N Siddiqui
Dubai Oct 3 (IANS) Alpago Properties entered the record books in the Dubai real estate market with the sale of their groundbreaking double signature villa, Casa Del Sole, on Palm Jumeirah's Billionaires' Row for AED 302.5M.


Casa Del Sole, the largest signature villa on the Palm Jumeirahs Billionaires' Row, was sold at a record deal - this modern architectural masterpiece has entered the record books as the most expensive villa sale in the UAE.

With 8 bedrooms and exclusive underground parking for up to 15 cars, the extremely spacious Casa Del Sole has been built over four levels (Basement, Ground, First, Second Floor) on a plot of 28,000 sq. ft., and it has an enclosed area about 25,000 sq ft, making it the biggest signature villa in Alpago Properties' collection of six located on Palm Jumeirah's Frond G billionaire's row. The villa has high-end amenities such as a home cinema, bowling alley, gym, hammam, sauna, infinity pool, jacuzzi, game room, terrace seating area, etc.

An architectural and interior design masterpiece, the villa is a prime example of embracing the beauty of natural surroundings and incorporating it into the design overall. With elegance and sophistication as key components throughout the sensational villa, both opulence and convenience permeate the property in abundance. The double signature villa sale is set to change Dubai's luxury property market. This momentous sale sets a new benchmark in the UAE's real estate market.

With Casa Del Sole in line to be finished by the first quarter of 2023, it will be the fourth signature villa to be completed in the series of 6 set to shape the landscape of Billionaires' Row on the Palm Jumeirah.

Murat Ayyildiz, Alpago Group, commented on the sale: "We are very pleased with this sale, which underlines our capabilities in the market. Bringing Dubai elite, the highest quality, ultra-luxury properties is our forte and this sale further cements our position as the leaders in developing top-end residential, commercial, and hospitality projects."

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) In a significant move, PayU (owned by Prosus) on Monday called off the $4.7 billion acquisition of Indian digital payments provider BillDesk, saying that "certain conditions precedent were not fulfilled" by the deadline.

On August 31, global consumer Internet group Prosus announced that an agreement has been reached between PayU and the shareholders of BillDesk to acquire the fintech platform for $4.7 billion.

The closing of the transaction was subject to the fulfilment of various conditions precedent, including approval by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

"PayU secured CCI approval on 5 September 2022. However, certain conditions precedent were not fulfilled by the 30 September 2022 long stop date, and the agreement has terminated automatically in accordance with its terms and, accordingly, the proposed transaction will not be implemented," the company said in a statement.

Prosus has been a long-term investor and operator in India, investing close to $6 billion in technology companies in the country since 2005.

Prosus said it "remains committed to the Indian market and growing its existing businesses within the region".

The proposed acquisition was to see PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus that operates in more than 20 high-growth markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV).

"We have a long and deep relationship with India, having supported and partnered with some of its most dynamic entrepreneurs and new tech businesses since 2005. We have invested close to $6 billion in Indian tech to date, and this deal will see that increase to more than $10 billion," Bob van Dijk, Group CEO of Prosus, had said in a statement.

BillDesk, founded in 2000, is an Indian success story and one of the leading payment businesses in the country.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) market is likely to generate fuel cost savings of $10.8 billion by 2027 globally from $2.8 billion in 2022 - a growth of 282 per cent, a new report said on Monday.

MaaS platforms provide consumer urban transport solutions, such as ride hailing, bus and metro, integrated into a single platform.

Nearly 41 per cent of respondents ranked the cost of transport as being the most important factor when it comes to transportation.

According to Juniper Research's Urban Mobility Survey, MaaS growth is due not only to it being a cheaper travel alternative but also to the convenience it provides by offering transportation with planning, purchasing and ticketing combined in a single app.

The report said that the CO2 reduction from private car journeys displaced is also fuelling the growth of MaaS.

"MaaS has the ability to improve corporate social responsibility. As a result, MaaS vendors must appeal to companies by demonstrating how MaaS can significantly reduce their carbon emissions from travel," said research author Cara Malone.

These savings will be achieved by MaaS' ability to reduce congestion by displacing private vehicle usage with public transport over MaaS platforms.

The distance travelled via micro-mobility, a form of transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles and scooters, is set to grow 780 per cent globally between 2022 and 2027, the report predicted.

Micro-mobility enables users to traverse through highly congested cities for the first and last mile of their journey.

The growth will be driven by the increased deployment of micro-mobility infrastructure, including docking stations, bicycles and scooters, the report added.


--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 3 (IANS) Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) on Monday said it has become the numero uno in the utility vehicle (SUV) segment last month selling 34,262 units.

The company said that it had sold a total of 64,486 units (passenger vehicles 34,508 units, commercial vehicles 27,440 units, exports 2,538 units) last month up from 28,112 units sold in September 2021.

"We continue to see very strong demand and performance across our portfolio of products, from SUVs, LCV's less than 3.5 tons and our Last Mile Mobility brands," Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division said.

--IANS
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