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Soon, Apple Card and mobile payments in India
Apple's grand entrance into the Indian market earlier this year with the launch of two retail stores caused ripples of excitement throughout the nation.
However, the Cupertino-based tech giant isn't content with just a mere splash. It seems they have even more ambitious plans up their sleeve for the country.
Driving the news
Apple CEO Tim Cook met HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan during his visit to India in April to discuss the tech giant's payment plans for the country. This includes the possibility of launching a co-branded credit card.
- Apple Card, which is currently only available in the US, was launched in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard
Apple is also said to be in talks with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments via Apple Pay in the country.
Potential compromises and challenges
Launching the Apple Card in India would require Apple to make compromises due to strict regulations.
- Unlike in the US, the card would need to feature the bank's logo alongside Apple's, and customer and transaction data cannot be stored on Apple platforms
Meanwhile, in UPI, Apple faces tough competition from the incumbents – Google Pay and PhonePe, which dominate the space with around 80% market share.
The India focus
India has emerged as a focus country for Apple, with the company witnessing rapid growth in iPhone sales.
- In FY23, Apple's revenue in India reached around Rs 50,000 crore ($6 billion), marking a 50% increase from the previous fiscal
By capturing a significant portion of these transactions through the Apple Card, the company could have a substantial impact.
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Why Byju's broke up with Deloitte
While everyone has been scratching their heads trying to figure out what exactly happened between Byju's and Deloitte, and the subsequent appointment of BDO as the new auditor for the edtech company, here is what we know:
The man behind it all
It turns out that the recently-appointed group CFO, Ajay Goel, had his task cut out for him. He was asked to find the next auditor for the world's largest edtech startup.
- He had two options: reappoint Deloitte or find a new firm
- Due to time constraints, Goel appointed BDO, sources tell us
Auditor resignations are a red flag for any company, according to industry experts.
Deloitte debacle
Deloitte, one of the world's largest audit firms, resigned yesterday, citing a "long delay" by the company in providing its financial statements for the fiscal year 2022 (2021-22).
- Deloitte also said that it had not received any communication regarding the resolution of the audit report modifications for the year ended March 31, 2021
We have also learned that Deloitte and Byju's were trading barbs with each other, which ultimately led to the former's resignation.
“They (Deloitte) were auditors for five years, signed off on their accounts every year. But they changed the revenue recognition practice overnight for the firm last year,” said a source.
Meanwhile, CNBC-TV18 reported that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has initiated a probe against Byju's.
A hefty price to pay
The big four firm put in an additional 3,000 hours to release Byju's FY21 results, but still did not issue an unqualified opinion.
- Deloitte charged Byju’s Rs 4.5 crore as statutory audit fees in FY21, up from Rs 73 lakh in FY20
The additional hours and the jump in audit fees were in fact due to Byju's changing its business model, we were told.
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More made-in-India chips on the way
The $2.75 billion chip packaging plant announced by US-based Micron Technology is just the beginning.
“Imagine you are sitting on a bench in a big railway station. A new train passes you by in short intervals of time…,” says a top official, describing the projected frequency of upcoming approvals for chipmaking projects under a $10 billion government scheme.
Driving the news
A day after Micron's announcement, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that up to five more such proposals would be approved in the next 12 months.
- He explained that getting such a project off the ground is always difficult the first time, as land allotments, power purchases, component supplies, and taxation, etc. have to be figured out
- Micron has already finalized its component and chemical supply chain in India, which would include around 200 companies, according to the government
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US, two more semiconductor projects were announced. One project involves Applied Materials investing $400 million in an engineering centre in India. The other project involves Lam Research training 60,000 Indian engineers in semiconductors.
Up the value chain
While getting a chip fabrication plant in India has been challenging, the government believes that the ecosystem created by packaging outfits like Micron’s will eventually attract fabrication players.
“This is almost like a vertical integration… It will also add a lot of value to our smartphone industry,” said Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
MC Special: BMTC's Shakti scheme a hit with women
More Shakti to women in Karnataka, literally.
The ridership of female passengers in the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has increased since the state government announced the Shakti scheme, which offers free bus travel for women, on June 11.
The percentage of women passengers increased from 50.3% on June 12 to 57% on June 22.
- BMTC officials are hoping that daily ridership will reach 40 lakh. Before the launch of the Shakti scheme, the average daily ridership was 27.71 lakh.
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This week in AI
Welcome to this week's AI wrap, where we bring you the latest news and developments from the world of artificial intelligence (AI). From marketplace plans to cybersecurity concerns, and exciting advancements in AI models, there's plenty to dive into. So let's get started!
OpenAI, the creator of the popular chatbot ChatGPT, is making waves with its plan to launch a marketplace for developers. This marketplace will enable developers to sell their AI models built on OpenAI's technology.
- With many enterprise customers customising ChatGPT for their specific needs, this marketplace will provide a platform for sharing and monetising tailored AI solutions
However, amidst these positive developments, cybersecurity concerns have emerged. Over the past year, more than 100,000 compromised ChatGPT account credentials have been found on illicit dark web marketplaces, according to cybersecurity company Group-IB.
- India alone accounted for 12,632 stolen credentials
In other news, Microsoft Research has released an open-source AI model called Orca. With 13 billion parameters, Orca imitates the reasoning of larger AI models like GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT.
- What sets Orca apart is its ability to learn from step-by-step instructions and imitate the logic and reasoning of larger models
Not to be outdone, China's Ant Group is also developing its own large-language model called Zhenyi.
On the application front, Dropbox is rolling out new AI features like Dropbox Dash, which enhances search capabilities by pulling information from various platforms. The other feature called Dropbox AI provides file summarisation, making it easier for users to manage and extract insights from their stored files.
Closer to home, private sector lender Axis Bank has announced plans to leverage ChatGPT's enterprise version to enhance its communication services with customers.
Finally, Indian IT services company Infosys has launched a free AI certification training program. Hosted on the Infosys Springboard Virtual Learning Platform, this certification offers courses on a variety of topics, from an introductory course on Generative AI to masterclasses on the impact of AI.
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