While conversational commerce has not gained traction in the United States and Europe, Meta is wise to see if it can gain a foothold in Brazil, India, and other markets.

In India, TikTok was banned in 2020, leading to a higher rate of penetration for Snapchat. Additionally, the penetration rate for social users in India is relatively low due to the country’s more rural population and slower adoption of devices with internet connectivity. Social users in India will grow 6.9% in 2023, outpacing the region as a whole by a wide margin.

Snapchat is growing in India, with an expected 183.6 million users this year, largely as a result of the country’s TikTok ban. This year, over a fifth (21.7%) of the world’s population will be users of TikTok or its Chinese counterpart, Douyin. However, a potential ban could hurt future US growth. Use this chart:. Effectively distribute budgets for social media ad campaigns.

International services will need to make do with the huge potential markets in places like Indonesia and India, where consumers are finally beginning to embrace sub OTT. India, in particular, has become central to the so-called “streaming wars,” as platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video jockey for position amid India’s booming viewership.

State-owned entities in China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, and South Korea have exploration licenses from the ISA, per Salon. Why we’re watching this: The decision about whether to mine the oceans will have major implications for mineral resources used in batteries for EVs, renewable energy systems, and electronics.

Additionally, Japan, South Korea, and India are also planning their own lunar missions, per Bloomberg. At the same time, 19 countries have joined the US’s proposed Artemis Accords, which would govern lunar activities, including allowing nations to carve out designated areas as “safety zones,” per Bloomberg.

India was previously in line to lead the world in both total and digital spending growth in 2021, but we slightly downgraded our estimates when pandemic-driven pressures on the Indian economy constrained the ad rebound. India will now rank second and fourth in those categories, respectively. We still expect India to lead the world in digital ad spending growth next year.

Critics can also point to the Western focus of Gfanz and a lack of participation from FIs in India, China, and Russia. The three countries contribute just one company to the group, but all are among the biggest carbon-polluting nations, per Climate Trade.

Its iPhone revenue target miss can in part be attributed to supply chain issues, which it could overcome with its production shift to India. Apple’s services revenue slump appears concerning given its greater focus in that area. But its recent price hike for music and streaming could help bolster profits, backed by consumers who’ve shown an appetite for paying Apple’s premiums.

Those days are over for China, and although India is still a growth driver, it won’t be enough to make up for China’s sluggishness. We increased our latest 2022 growth estimates, but reality will set in this year. Six months ago, we projected a 4.7% gain for retail sales in 2022. Now we put that figure at 6.9% thanks (mainly) to inflation and (less so) to lingering post-pandemic pro-spending behavior.

The survey included over 1,400 industry professionals, marketers, and publishers in the US, UK, Australia, Colombia, India, Mexico, and Singapore. Post-cookie readiness: With regard to post-cookie identity resolution, many marketers appear to be playing the field for the time being.

Our take: Despite efforts to diversify production away from China and into regions like India and Vietnam, Apple is realizing that its best options are with an established partner, at least for now. This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Connectivity & Tech Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the technology industry.

The company already runs a music app called Resso in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. TikTok teamed up with Ticketmaster and now enables users to discover events and buy concert tickets through the app. The combination of social video feeds and streaming music on demand is a one-two punch that could augment TikTok’s dominance in user engagement and create a super app.

No India, no problem: Despite being banned in one of its top markets, India, in June 2020, the app has grown at a significant clip in 2021. With 200 million active users at the time of the ban, TikTok might have already reached 1.5 billion users had the ban not occurred. What this means: Marketers need to consider several factors when planning their ad spend.

Additionally, two surveys were conducted during August and December 2021 among roughly 1,000 respondents each in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, and the UK, as well as two surveys conducted during February and May 2022 among those same countries plus India, Italy, Russia, and South Korea.

The majority of Apple’s production takes place in China, India, and Vietnam, where the company relies on partners like Foxconn and its factories. Tech companies have laid off more than 186,000 employees (including Accenture’s announced 19,000 layoffs) so far this year, surpassing 2022’s total of 164,411 tech layoffs, per Layoffs.fyi.

Apple, whose iPhone 14 supply was constrained by China’s factory closures, is looking to expand into India. Decreased demand could slow down expansion plans. Smartphone industry faces challenges: The average length of phone ownership is increasing, with the majority of people holding on to their current model for more than three years, per IEEE.org.

With struggles to make inroads into coveted markets like India and the aforementioned password drama, an ad-supported Netflix tier is not a question of if, but when.

Cryptos: India will beat other countries to the punch and become the next major market to launch a CBDC in 2022. Consumers in India have a big appetite for cryptocurrencies: In November, crypto investments in the country hit a whopping $10 billion, up from $923 billion in April 2020, according to CREBACO.

TikTok parent Bytedance already owns Resso, a music streaming service available in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, which currently offers podcasts from hosts like Libsyn. Will it work? When we identified the different directions TikTok could take to develop a super app, music was one of the possibilities we named.

A Reuters investigation into Amazon’s India business in October found documents showing it had intentionally used non-public, third-party data to create copycat products.

Apple has recently diversified production outside of China to India and is urging suppliers to follow suit. Component stockpiles, supplier relationships, and a tight control over its global supply chain have enabled Apple to sustain production despite shortages.

Disney+ Hotstar, the version of Disney+ available in India, lost 6% of its subscribers in one quarter, though ARPU increased 16 cents to 74 cents. Disney’s somewhat lackluster streaming results were buoyed by strong parks and box office performances.

Sixty-nine percent of users in the US, the UK, India, United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong couldn’t send messages, 24% had troubles with server connections, and 7% had problems with the overall app. WhatsApp for Business, the company’s corporate messaging solution, similarly saw a spike in user complaints. Meta acknowledged the outage was a result of an error on their part.