Asian Tech Roundup: Samsung's cunning chip rebadging

Plus: Google reinstates Indian apps after government reacts

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Asian Tech Roundup: Samsung's cunning chip rebadging

Australia has fined Singapore-owned telecom firm Optus A$1.5 million ($977,250) for large-scale breaches of public safety rules around emergency services. Source
With nickel prices plummeting thanks to new supply from Indonesia, Australia's BHP Group, which had signed a special deal with Tesla to supply the metal for EV batteries, is asking for a bailout. Source
Former chief of collapsed Australian crypto firm Blockchain Global, Liang "Allan" Guo, has been told he cannot leave the country, while he and colleagues are being investigated for allegedly diverting investors' funds for their own benefit. Source
Meta plans to "deprecate" Facebook News in April this year, at the same time as licensing deals with various Australian outlets, signed in 2021, expire. Source

Sales of Apple's iPhone fell 24% in China compared with last year, and the company is now behind local smartphone brands Vivo, Huawei and Honor. Source
As iPhone sales stall in China, retailers are offering steep discounts on the latest models. Source
The EU is to apply retroactive tariffs on Chinese EVs as it investigates subsidies in the Chinese auto industry. Source
Chinese authorities have warned citizens about fake wallet apps for the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC) that are being circulated by scammers. Source
Two China-linked threat groups are reported to be exploiting vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN. Source

IT and telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that Google's delisting from its app store of some Indian apps over a payment dispute "cannot be permitted". Source
And a couple of days later Google reinstated the apps of ten Indian companies that had been removed. Source
India green-lit the construction of three semiconductor plants worth 1.26 trillion rupees ($15.2 billion) by Tata Group, CG Power and others. Source
Indian Railways plans to install facial recognition cameras in 44,038 coaches across the country, raising surveillance concerns. Source
Investors in what was India's most valuable startup, education platform Byju, have voted to replace its founder and CEO Byju Raveendran. The investors accuse the company of a lack of accountability and financial wrongdoing. Source

Japan's SLIM moon lander overcame an awkward landing and survived a two-week long solar night. Source
In an apology for a data leak that affected more than 9 million customers last year, NTT West president Masaaki Moribayashi has resigned.

Scientists from the National University of Singapore have developed a solar cell with two layers of perovskite on top of silicon with a record breaking conversion efficiency of 27.1%. Source
Temasek Holdings, a prominent Singaporean state-backed invesment firm, has been talking to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about investing in his company. Source
A startup from University of California at LA which removes carbon dioxide from seawater while producing carbon-negative hydrogen is to set up a $20 million demo plant in Singapore. Source

Samsung has reportedly decided to change to rebadge its second-generation 3nm process to "2-nano". It has form in this dubious practice, having renamed its 7nm process to 5-nano in 2020. The company argues that transistor sizes have been reduced through optimisation. Source
South Korea says it is falling behing China in terms of science and technology, raising calls for more funding for R&D. Source
South Korea's intelligence services say North Korea has been attacking semiconductor companies in the country and that configuration management and security policy servers at at least two entities were hacked. Source
Samsung is testing 256GB SD Express microSD cards that with write speeds of up to 800MB/s. They should be on sale later this year. Source

Chip makers have told TSMC they want the Taiwanese giant to build up to ten new manufacturing plants, its founder Morris Chang said. Source
TSMC has appointed YJ Mii and YP Chyn as co-chief operating officers. Source

Indonesia has signed off an a new law that compels digital platforms to compensate media companies for content, either through monetary arrangements or via data sharing. Source
Vietnam's Ministry of Finance has proposed prohibiting or regulating virtual assets by May 2025, in an attempt to combat money laundering. Source