Technology Morning Post| Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple returned to the top of the global mobile phone sales list

Reporter | Jiang Jingling

Edit |

Microsoft announced a $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard

On January 18, Microsoft Corporation announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, a publisher of game development and interactive entertainment content. According to the announcement on its official website, the acquisition will accelerate the growth of Microsoft's gaming business in the mobile, PC, console and cloud sectors, and will provide the foundation for building a meta-universe.

Microsoft said it would be the world's third-highest-grossing gaming company after the deal closes, and the acquisition would include iconic franchises for Activision, Blizzard and King Studios, such as Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Call of Duty. Candy Crush, as well as a global esports event through Major League Gaming (North America's top esports federation). The alliance has studios around the world and has nearly 10,000 employees.

In addition, Bobby Kotick continues to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard and reports to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft's gaming business.

Apple returned to the top of the global mobile phone sales list in the fourth quarter of 2021

According to the latest report released by data research institute Canalys, thanks to the success of the iPhone 13, Apple's mobile phones accounted for 22% of global smartphone shipments in Q4 2021, taking the top spot in the global smartphone market, followed by Samsung with a market share of 20%. In addition, Xiaomi ranked third with 12%, OPPO ranked fourth with 9%, and Vivo ranked in the top five with 8%. Canalys pointed out in the report that the last time Apple occupied the first place was back to the fourth quarter of 2020.

TSMC plans to change all UNINTERRUC system batteries at its plants to lithium iron phosphate batteries

According to Taiwan's Economic Daily on January 19, TSMC will change all lead-acid batteries of all uninterruptible systems in its factories to lithium iron phosphate batteries in 2030, and strive to save another 2.7 million kWh of electricity per year, and adjust the power supply architecture of high-efficiency computing computer rooms to change to lithium iron phosphate battery DC power supply system. TSMC's above-mentioned plan also counseled three system suppliers to adopt it together, promoting the sustainable goal of reducing the carbon footprint of each unit product by 30% and saving 1.5 billion kWh in the supply chain.

JD.com and Shopify reached a strategic cooperation

On January 18, JD.com announced a strategic cooperation with Internet infrastructure provider Shopify, becoming Shopify's first China strategic partner to create a new channel for cross-border e-commerce for Chinese and overseas merchants. According to reports, Jingdong will create a "one-stop selection platform" plug-in for Shopify merchants, open up the commodity pool based on the Jingdong supply chain network to Shopify global merchants, and provide door-to-door logistics services through the Jingdong international logistics plug-in.

China Academy of Information and Communications Technology: Total domestic mobile phone shipments in 2021 were 350.7 million units, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year

According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, domestic mobile phone shipments in December 2021 were 33.4 million units, an increase of 25.6% year-on-year. In the whole year of 2021, the overall shipment volume of the domestic mobile phone market was 350.7 million units, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year, and the shipment of Chinese brand mobile phones totaled 304 million units, an increase of 12.6% year-on-year, accounting for 86.6% of the mobile phone shipments in the same period; the total number of listed new models was 438 models, an increase of 6.3% year-on-year, accounting for 90.7% of the number of new mobile phone models listed in the same period.

National Development and Reform Commission: The output of chips in the mainland has grown rapidly, and the supply of automotive chips has gradually increased

On January 18, according to Xinhua News, Yuan Da, director of the General Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the output of chips in the mainland has grown rapidly, and the output of integrated circuits in 2021 will increase by 33.3% over the previous year, and the supply of automotive chips will gradually increase, and the output of automobiles has continued to increase for 4 months.

Apple and Samsung will produce $5 billion in smartphones in India this fiscal year

On January 18, foreign media quoted industry insiders and government sources as saying that apple and Samsung Electronics will produce $5 billion worth of smartphones in India in fiscal 2022, more than 50% higher than the target set by the authorities, stimulated by the Indian Production Association Incentive (PLI) program. Among them, mobile phone exports under the plan will account for about $2 billion in fiscal year 2022.