< Back Foxconn to start assembling iPads in Tamil Nadu Plant 26 Jul 2024 Its experience assembling iPhones in the Tamil Nadu plant has been encouraging, and now Foxconn plans to use the facility to assemble iPads. Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer of Apple products, plans to start assembling iPads in its Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu. iPad assembly requirements are similar to those of an iPhone, unlike a MacBook, which is a completely different ballgame. Foxconn has already had discussions with the Indian government. They’ve had a good experience so far and will likely double their production in the next few years to expand their portfolio to a few other products. Foxconn is trying to neutralise supply chain risks by relying on production facilities across different regions. Foxconn assembles MacBooks in Vietnam, which logs up to 10% of iPad production globally. Foxconn plans to leverage the production-linked incentives (PLI 2.0) for IT hardware, including tablets, offered by the Indian government. It may soon begin manufacturing AI servers at the Sriperumbudur plant and is in discussions with Google for manufacturing Pixel smartphones in the same facility. Previous Next

< Back Google to integrate AI chatbot Bard in all its apps Ishita Nigam 26 Sept 2023 The tech giant will provide the AI chatbot Bard as an extension for all its apps like Gmail. Drive, Docs, YouTube, and the flights and hotel services. Google has announced integrating its AI chatbot, Bard, with all its apps and services as an optional extension. So, data from all the apps will be available in Bard’s single chat window. User data will not be used to show them ads or train the chatbot. This feature will roll out after updating the PaLM 2, the Large Language Model (LLM) that powers Bard. So, for booking a vacation, users can ask Bard to check for everyone’s availability from Gmail, look up flights and hotels, and run a YouTube search for places to visit at the destination – all from a single-window conversation with Bard. It will also provide a ‘Google it’ or ‘G’ icon to double check its answers from web searches. Users will be able to share a Bard chat with other users through a public link, and the new user can continue the same conversation with the chatbot. Previous Next

< Back Flipkart to offer bus bookings on app 12 Apr 2024 It has tied up with state and private transport companies to offer 1 million bus services on 25,000 routes across the country, Flipkart entered the travel domain by acquiring the travel aggregator ClearTrip in 2021. In 2022, it launched Flipkart Hotels, offering access to 30,000 hotels in India and abroad. It also sells airline tickets through Flipkart Flights. It started viewing the bus sector when it witnessed an 80% jump in ClearTrip’s bus bookings during the Big Billion Days festive sale last year. Over 60% of bus bookings come from tier 2 and 3 cities in India, where Flipkart has a stronghold. The eCommerce giant plans to create a one-stop shop for all travel needs. Moreover, due to the emerging expressways nationwide, bus bookings are expected to witness a 200% increase. Spiritual and revenge tourism (tours that follow a period of being unable to travel) are rising. The bus industry is highly competitive. Redbus is the biggest online bus booking platform globally and owns 75% market share in India. Previous Next

< Back Tata Group takes over Wistron’s iPhone assembly line in Tamil Nadu 9 Nov 2023 The deal is worth $750 million, including debt. It will make Tata Group the first Indian company to assemble iPhones in India. Tata Group took over the iPhone assembling facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, from Wistron for $750 million, including debt. Tata Electronics signed the deal on Wednesday. Wistron is among India's top three Apple vendors, besides Pegatron and Foxconn. Since 2018, Wistron had four iPhone assembly lines in the country and was about to open another manufacturing facility in Kolar by November-end, with production commencing in January 2024. Tata was initially focused on making iPhone cases in the Hosur facility, with around 20% locally sourced consumables. But now it will be able to scale up. Wistron’s facility was vandalized by workers in December 2020 on the grounds of poor working conditions and non-payment of dues. Apple had put Wistron on probation in December 2022 until it sorted out worker issues. This deal comes in light of Apple’s plans to shift 25% of iPhone manufacture to India from China by 2025. Previous Next

< Back FMCG giants to curb sales to organised wholesalers to support kirana stores 20 Feb 2024 80% of the FMCG sales are controlled by kirana stores in India. Amul, Dabur, Britannia, and Parle plan to reduce sales to organised wholesalers to avoid price wars with traditional distributors. FMCG giants in India plan to reduce their sales to organised wholesalers like Reliance Cash and Carry, Udaan, and Flipkart Wholesale. Conventional kirana stores in India control 80% of the wholesale distribution. Organised retail and wholesale companies own 5% of the market share but have the advantage of scale and can offer more leverage over supplies and prices. Earlier, the FMCG companies hoped to reach the kirana stores through organised wholesalers, but it didn’t happen. Troubled by the threat of deep discounts from established wholesalers, the kirana stores had earlier threatened to stop product supply from these companies. Supplying to traditional distributors costs FMCG companies 13-14% of the sales and nearly half in the case of organised wholesalers. Consumer goods corporations rely on a wholesale network to reach the 12 million kirana stores nationwide. They still plan to leverage organised distributors but limit their participation below 10%. Previous Next

< Back Grasim to launch its paint brand, Birla Opus Ishita Nigam 14 Sept 2023 Aditya Birla's fabric brand is aiming at the number two market position for the paint business. It believes this new vertical and its latest B2B eCommerce venture, Birla Pivot, will be high growth drivers. Fabric maker Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Group’s flagship brand, is planning to enter the paints business. It will launch its own paint brand, Birla Opus, early next year in the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The market is dominated by Asian Paints and Berger and houses brands like JSW, Kansai Nerolac, Akzo Nobel, and Pidlite. The market is expected to grow from ₹70,000 crores to ₹100,000 crores in the next five years. Grasim plans to invest ₹10,000 crores in setting up this business. It ran a successful pilot painting services programme in key metros and launched an imported wooden finishes range. The paint industry enjoys double-digit growth amid growing aspirations and the government’s ‘Housing for all’ plan. Grasim plans to have manufacturing plants set up in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, with a total capacity of 1,332 million litres per annum. Previous Next

< Back US Department of Justice sues Apple for monopolising market 22 Mar 2024 The Department of Justice (DOJ) and 15 states sued the phone maker for creating a monopoly in the US smartphone market. The DOJ accused Apple of charging heavily, making more profit than any other smartphone maker, raising prices, and hurting smaller businesses. It levies fees on business partners like software developers and credit card companies in a masked manner to hike its own profits. With this antitrust lawsuit, Apple joined the tech giants, like Google, Meta, and Amazon, who faced similar battles. Apple charges its users a premium for technology products and controls how they work with its devices. It has also been charged with blocking or controlling competing technologies, like super apps, messaging apps, digital wallets, smartwatches, and some cloud-streaming gaming apps. The DOJ aims to force the company to give users more freedom in choosing how apps work with Apple devices. The recently introduced Digital Markets Act in Europe deeply affected the Apple App Store. The Act forces Apple to allow access to third-party app stores on its devices. Previous Next

Elle collabore avec les services publics américains afin de trouver des solutions alternatives pour répondre à la forte demande d’électricité induite par l’IA. < Back Google cherche à utiliser l’énergie nucléaire pour alimenter ses centres de données Elle collabore avec les services publics américains afin de trouver des solutions alternatives pour répondre à la forte demande d’électricité induite par l’IA. De nombreuses entreprises telles qu'Amazon et Microsoft ont opté pour l'énergie nucléaire afin de répondre à la demande croissante d'électricité dans leurs centres de données. Microsoft est prêt à acheter de l’électricité provenant de la centrale nucléaire déclassée de Three Mile Island en Pennsylvanie. Amazon a acheté un centre de données alimente par l’énergie nucléaire dans le même état. Google est à la recherche d’alternatives, e particulier sur les marchés ou les réglementations en matière d’achat d’électricité sont plus strictes. Il envisage de passer à l’énergie nucléaire au Japon. Entretemps, BitEnergy AI a développé une nouvelle technique appelle Linear-Complexity Multiplication (L-Mul) qui permet de réduire de 95 % la consommation d’énergie des modèles d’IA sans affecter la qualité. Cette technologie est utile pour les modèles bases sur des transformateurs utilisés dans le traitement du langage naturel et les tâches visuelles. Google prévoit d’augmenter ses investissements dans l’énergie thermique et solaire. Previous Next

< Back More eCommerce brands levy flat booking fees on orders Ishita Nigam 5 Oct 2023 Zomato, Swiggy and Instamart, Zepto, Blinkit, and BB Now levy per order or per booking flat fee of ₹2-5. Uber also started charging a distance-based booking fee that rises with the kilometres on a ride. In a bid to turn profitable by slicing down the per order cost, B2C eCommerce firms like Zomato, Big Basket’s BB Now, Swiggy and Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto started levying a per order or per booking flat fee between ₹2-5. Uber recently began charging a distance-wise fee for every ride. eCommerce companies struggling to charge restaurant partners and drivers started charging the consumers a few extra bucks on every order to turn profitable and push up margins. Zomato experimented with a charge of ₹2 per order in metro cities and will now expand the flat fee structure to more locations and even hike the fee to ₹3. Quick commerce companies have been levying handling charges for quite some time to stay financially sustainable and provide exceptional services. BB Now levies ₹5 handling fees per order while Instamart charges ₹4, and Zepto includes ₹5 fees on all orders. Previous Next

Elle a introduit le nouveau système dans les quatre terminaux de l’aéroport de Changi le 30 septembre. < Back Singapour commence les contrôles sans passeport à l’aéroport de Changi Elle a introduit le nouveau système dans les quatre terminaux de l’aéroport de Changi le 30 septembre. Afin d’améliorer le système de dédouanement dans ses aéroports, l’autorité de Singapour chargée de l’immigration et des points de contrôle (ICA) a déclaré que les passagers n’auront plus besoin de présenter leur passeport au départ. Le mécanisme biométrique gérera la procédure pour les Singapouriens. Le nouveau procès réduit le temps de dédouanement de 25 à 10 secondes. Au 15 octobre, 1,5 million de passagers étaient passés par l’immigration sans passeports. Les autorités ont réaffecté des agents à de meilleurs profils, comme les entretiens. Ce système permet aux citoyens de Singapour, aux résidents, aux résidents permanents et aux détenteurs de laissez-passer de longue durée entrent dans l’aéroport de bénéficier d’une reconnaissance faciale et biométrique. Les immigrants voyageant depuis l’étranger doivent présenter leur passeport, mais au départ, ils peuvent bénéficier d’un dédouanement sans passeports. Les enfants ne sont pas inclus dans ce régime, car les mécanismes de dédouanement sont en développement. Previous Next

Interview and podcast with bestselling authors and international experts SalesTalk With Bestselling Authors and International Experts Ratul Chakraborty Author, poet, gamer, artist. An artist at heart, a craftsman in life with many feathers on his cap. Ishita Nigam caught up with Ratul, who is counted among India’s most accomplished game makers. He made his literary debut in 2020 with the much acclaimed short story collection, Sutradhar. He is the curator of the anthology Shared Roots: Tales from the Indosphere, which launched last year. And this year, he brought the story of Vritrahan to mesmerise us with his verse. WATCH NOW Neelabh Pratap Singh Creator of the NPS Thrillerverse A bestselling author who has over a million pages read on Amazon Kindle, the creator of the NPS thrillerverse, the mastermind behind blockbuster series like Rashmi Purohit, JV Solanki, Heartlands, and the Scorpion Ops thrillers. The man with 40+ fan-favourite books to his credit! Watch Now! SHOP NOW Kavita Kané Ishita Nigam caught up with India's favourite author, Kavita Kané. She holds the pen that wrote bestsellers like Karna's Wife, Sita's Sister, The Fisher Queen's Dynasty, and Tara's Truce . Watch her open up about the most difficult book she's written, the character she most relates with, and her daily writing rhythm. WATCH NOW Jill Konrath International Keynote Speaker, Sales Expert, Author Author of Selling to Big Companies, SNAP Selling. A Sales Trainer. Amongst 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management. WATCH NOW Saiswaroopa Iyer Author, Academician Bestselling Author, Streeshakthi Awardee, Academician, Chanakya University, Former Venture Capitalist. Ms Iyer has had an inspiring journey authoring over five books. Watch her talk to Ishita Nigam about why she switched her career path and how she carved her niche. WATCH NOW Deb Calvert Founder, The Sales Experts Channel International Keynote Speaker. A Sales Strategist. Author of DISCOVER Questions and Co-Author of Stop Selling and Start Leading WATCH NOW Salestors on Deb Calvert's Monday Morning Sales Rally Watch Salestors talk with Deb on Do's, Don't's and Donuts! WATCH NOW Lori Richardson Founder, Women Sales Pros & Score More Sales A Revered Sales Coach, Amongst 'Top 30 Social Sales Influencers' and LinkedIn's ‘Top Voices in Sales, 2018'. Author of She Sells. WATCH NOW Aditi Aggarwal Director, Education, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, South Asia Watch Aditi talk about her journey working with the biggest brands across industries and countries, choosing Sales over Marketing. WATCH NOW Celebrating Women in Sales 2022 Deepa Shetty A true inspiration for women looking to carve their own careers to find their calling. Deepa has proved her mettle in different industries and profiles over the past 25 years. A few years back, she did an MBA and found her calling in Sales. Today, she heads Corporate Sales for 3CIT Solutions in Mumbai. Her thinking makes her stand out from the other Salestors. Read here what she thinks of her give-and-take relationship with Sales and what's in store for the domain in 2022. Read More Garima Shah A star in BFSI Sales, this young woman has made a mark against all odds in the Indian insurance and banking industry. She started her journey with HDFC Bank before joining Axis Bank and then IndusInd Bank. She boasts many feathers in her cap for her performance as a Salestor in both Insurance (HDFC ERGO General Insurance and ICICI Lombard) and banking sector. She won many awards wherever she went, including the latest recognition for YTD sales by IndusInd Bank. Read here thoughts on her key learnings as a salesperson and what she expects from Sales in 2022. Read More Suman Khetan Starting her career with Coca Cola, Suman achieved greater and greater milestones with Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, and IMA India. A super saleswoman who achieved 98% of her target while on maternity leave, Suman has had many milestones in this one and a half decade in sales. Today she handles Projects Sales for Bennett Coleman. Read here what she believes Sales has given her and what she expects from the profile in 2022. Read More Sakshi Tulsian An Engineer turned Salestor, Sakshi didn't shy away when Sales came knocking at her door. A remarkable saleswoman crowned Business World 40 under 40 and Hospitality Technology Top Women in Restaurant Tech 2021 (US), Sakshi has had an intriguing journey in sales. Read here her thoughts on her relationship with Sales and expectations in 2022. Read More Aditi Aggarwal We caught up with this super-saleswoman yet again. She's escalated to heading Growth for Recur Club now and had great insights for Salestors all over the world. Read here what she had to say about her strong bond with the profession and what she foresees in the post-pandemic era. Read More

< Back Çelebi says 65% of ownership held by int’l institutional investors 16 May 2025 After the Indian government revoked Çelebi’s airport ground handling license, the company refuted any ties with Turkey. Çelebi Havacılık Holding A.Ş., founded in 1958, was Turkey’s first privately owned ground handling company. Due to its open support for Pakistan during the ongoing tensions, the Indian aviation security regulator, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), cancelled the security clearance of Çelebi Airport Services India. 65% of its ownership is held by international institutional investors from the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Western Europe, and the UAE. Jersey-based Actera Partners II holds 50%, while the Dutch entity Alpha Airport Services BV holds 15%. The founding Turkish Çelebioğlu family holds the remaining ownership. Çelebi handles high-security ground handling and air cargo operations at nine major airports in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Chennai. Delhi, Mumbai,, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru have taken over all ground handling operations, thus severing all ties with Çelebi. New ground handling agencies will take over in these cities, including the absorption of the existing workforce. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next