Feature
Huawei plans to launch new Laptops, Tablets in Indian market soon
New Delhi: Chinese tech major Huawei plans to bring new tablets and PCs to India in addition to the planned launch of its flagship Mate 20 Pro smartphone, a top company official said at its headquarters here.
In the smartphone business in India, Huawei has so far pushed its sub-brand Honor to compete in the affordable segment, but by bringing more Huawei-branded phones, it is now eyeing a greater pie in the premium segment as well which is currently dominated by OnePlus, Samsung and Apple.
It is not just the smartphone market in India that the Consumer Business Group division of Huawei is now focusing on. “India is now a Tier-1 country for us and we will make new investments in the country to bring to the Indian consumers the benefits of new technology as early as possible,” Jim Xu, Vice President, Huawei Consumer Business Group, told a visiting group of journalists.
“We are making strategic investments in the PC business. In the smartphone segment, Honor will continue to do their business as usual even as we plan to increase the presence of Huawei-branded phones,” he added.
While Amazon is its online partner, Huawei will also look into forging partnership for offline sales. “We understand the importance of offline business. We may shortly open either exclusive Huawei brand shops or Huawei display zone or display desks in India,” Xu said, adding that the company will initially be targeting the consumers in cities to promote the Huawei brand.
In the second quarter of this year, Huawei became the second-largest smartphone seller in the world after Samsung.
Chinese firm Huawei to bring new Laptops, Tablets soon in Indian market:
The Chinese telecommunications giant started its consumer devices business hardly a decade ago when it started selling its 3G dongle devices and today its product range includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, wearables, accessories as well as a number of smart home devices.
“It is very tough to build a global iconic brand from China,” Xu said, adding that Huawei bucked the trend by focusing on quality of products and superior after sales services.
“Instead of focusing on advertising, we have put the emphasis on creating product differentiators by investing massively on research and development,” he said.
In smartphones, these key differentiators include the battery life, supercharge technology, and high-quality photography, among others. “Going ahead, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will completely change the smartphone experience for consumers. Today’s smartphones will soon start looking like feature phones, compared to the intelligent phones of the future,” he added.
Huawei PCs, on the other hand, are lightweight, portable and easy to use, Xu said. The company, he added, is looking forward to bringing the technology edge that it has in smartphones to Huawei PCs and offer the consumers a complete digital ecosystem that can make several tasks, including sharing of photos and files between devices, easier.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.