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We update you on the most essential news from Asia in tech, media, and business—the things you need to know that you probably haven’t heard in Western media.
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Disney’s Asian Hope Is The Realest Fairytale 🏰
It’s a tough time for Disney. Earlier this week, the company announced that they will be laying off 28,000 employees in the US, primarily people working at their theme parks. Disney has laid part of the blame on California’s governor Gavin Newsom, who refuses to allow Disneyland to reopen. Disney is truly an international company and outside of the US, they have theme parks in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. While all of their parks closed down earlier this year, the Asian parks are now back open.
Shanghai Disneyland reopened in May; Tokyo Disneyland reopened in July; and Hong Kong Disneyland reopened last week, after a couple months closure between July and September. Parks and resorts is the single biggest revenue driver for Disney. Given their restrictions in California, Disney should be looking to their Asian properties as their biggest opportunity for immediate growth. While Disney has suffered from the poor reception of the recently released film Mulan, they can look to their Asian parks as a potentially strong revenue stream in the time of covid. For now, it looks like Disney’s potential Asian customers could have a bigger impact on their bottom line than their Western customers.
Apples Launches New Public Health Initiative in Singapore 🍎
Apple has partnered with the government of Singapore to launch a new mobile app called LumiHealth, which provides users with a personalised program to encourage healthy physical activity through the Apple Watch. This is one part of a broader program created by the Singaporean government called the Smart Nation Initiative, where technology will be used to find solutions to improve the lives of all Singaporeans. The LumiHealth app was a joint project by Apple, the Singaporean government, and a group of physicians and public health officials. The app provides users with a set of wellness challenges that they can complete using their Apple Watch.
The app is meant to be very interactive, personalised and provide strong incentives such as cash rewards. Users must have an Apple Watch and must download the LumiHealth app in order to participate. From my point of view, I have more faith in technology companies providing better wellness solutions than government. But what could be even better is a public-private partnership, like this one between Apple and the Singaporean government. And honestly, if you were to rank the world’s governments by level of competence, Singapore would be near the top of the list. Apple gets more Apple Watch sales and App downloads, and the Singaporean government should get healthier citizens. Considering the scrutiny Apple is facing from many governments around the world, getting into a cozy relationship with Singapore’s government should have long-term benefits.
Declaring The Golden Age of Southeast Asian Tech 🏆
Tech in Asia is a brilliant publication covering Asian tech news. You may remember my interview a couple months ago with Andrew Baisley, Managing Director of Tech in Asia Studios. From October 19-22, Tech in Asia is hosting a Virtual Conference called “Southeast Asia’s Golden Age: 2021 and Beyond.” The enthusiasm of that title is underscored by some key takeaways and highlights Tech in Asia has put together in this article, which talks about the biggest growth drivers, opportunities, and challenges in Southeast Asian tech.
Over the last two years, the top-funded startup vertical in Southeast Asia has been logistics and transportation, indicating the need for the fundamental infrastructure of the digital economy. Covid poses challenges to the growth of the tech industry, but there are still untapped opportunities in verticals like food, health, education, and more. These facts are just a preview of a full report that goes into much more detail. You can get the full report by signing up for the 2020 Tech in Asia Virtual Conference! At the end of the day, Southeast Asian tech is at an all time high, and growth is expected to rebound in spite of the coronavirus. The young, fast growing, dynamic region of Southeast Asia can’t be stopped.
Update #79 - Disney Asia, Apple Singapore, and Southeast Asia's Tech Golden Age