Category: Featured News

Xiaomi Mi Pay launches mobile payments service in China

| September 6, 2016

This makes the company the latest smartphone maker to step into that Chinese market.

Xiaomi Mi Pay has launched in China. This has added yet another mobile payments option for consumers in the country. It also means that Xiaomi has become the latest in a series of smartphone makers offering a mobile wallet in China.

The Mi Pay mobile payments service is a contactless payments system using NFC technology.

So far, Xiaomi Mi Pay supports debit cards from 12 banks and credit cards from 20 banks. These include China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Bank of China, among others. According to Xiaomi, a smartphone user will be able to add up to eight cards to their mobile wallet.

Xiaomi Mi Pay - China Mobile PaymentsLei Jun, CEO and founder of the company, said “We believe that Mi Pay will be a key driving force in promoting the development of China’s mobile payments industry, and deliver much more convenience to our users.”

Xiaomi Mi Pay jointly launched with the China UnionPay state-run nationwide mobile payments system.

There are already a number of large scale mobile payments systems that have launched in China and around the world. Among the biggest names include Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and WeChat Pay from Tencent, as well as Alipay from Alibaba. These are all available in the largest smartphone market in the world, which is the Chinese marketplace.

Mi Pay users will also be able to take advantage of added mobile wallet features. Aside from debit and credit cards, they can also add public transportation cards. This way, they can avoid the need to dig a card out of a wallet or bag when they likely already have their smartphones in their hands.

In order to use Xiaomi Mi Pay, the smartphone must be near field communication (NFC) enabled. The NFC technology makes it possible for the device to communicate the necessary information with either a tap against the reader or by waving the device in front of it. In the name of mobile security, the NFC technology using smartphones underwent tests to ensure they could withstand a range of non-invasive and invasive attacks to break through encryption and reach private data. Moreover, this mobile wallet uses multiple authentication mechanisms to verify transactions.

Galaxy Note 7 recall could be damaging to Samsung suppliers

| September 5, 2016

Reports of device batteries catching fire may harm the brand’s reputation but suppliers will feel the financial pinch.

Samsung Electronics has announced a massive Galaxy Note 7 recall following a growing number of reports of exploding batteries. The devices have been catching fire while they were recharging. This could mean Samsung’s reputation may take a hard hit. However, the brunt of the financial impact could end up being directed at the company’s suppliers.

Samsung’s response to the rechargeable battery problems with the Note 7 has been a rapid one.

When the Galaxy Note 7 recall was announced, Samsung said it would provide a free battery replacement or after/service. That said, it has decided not to offer customers a refund. This has been interpreted as a strategy to reduce the impact of the incident on the brand. It has also been seen as a rather inconvenient offer for the customer.

Galaxy Note 7 recall - Image of Samsung phoneThe Note 7’s official launch was on August 19 in Korea. Media there reported the sale of over 400,000 units within the country. J.P. Morgan has estimated that there will also be a delay in the shipment of up to two million units, assuming the recall affects all the devices that have been made.

The Galaxy Note 7 recall may also play a large role in deflating the current market response.

J.P. Morgan’s report said “This could also cool down heated market response, but we do not expect a material impact on sell-through in the next three to six months.”

That said, the analysts have recently reduced the level of their downside risk expectations. They have predicted that they might drop from the level maintained at present to approximately 13 million units during the third and fourth quarters of this year. The J.P. Morgan analysts explained “The company plans to correct the recall-related supply bottleneck within next couple of weeks and we expect a solid sell-in/sell-through trend from later part of this quarter.”

It’s important to point out that the incidents leading to the Galaxy Note 7 occurred only during the wired charging. The wireless charging feature has not been associated with the fires.