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Troubling signs in the smartphone space: Smartphone shipments drop to the lowest level in a decade. Innovation has stagnated, foldables have failed to take off, and the market for 5G handsets has reached saturation.

Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter stirs chaos and user losses in Asia-Pacific. The region is propping up Facebook user growth that is flagging in most of the world. And TikTok is looming large among marketers as its popularity skyrockets.

We expect retail sales in India to grow 11% this year: That’s enough to make it the fastest-growing market in the world, which is one reason Amazon is investing in the region.

The Indian payments provider raised $350M for new products to diversify as competition intensifies.

The two networks are edging closer to joining the UPI, which would open up a massive market opportunity.

Apple’s intensifying in-house push: It already designs its own processors, and now it looks like Apple is moving to make its own Wi-Fi and 5G radios, displays, and touchscreens, reducing reliance on suppliers.

The government will spend $318.4 million to encourage more banks and payment providers to support the domestic solutions.

Amid global economic gloom, Asia-Pacific remains a region of digital opportunities in 2023, highlighted by the increasing momentum of the metaverse in China, surging retail sales in India, and burgeoning livestream commerce in Indonesia.

A jarring deceleration in ad spending growth has shaken the advertising industry in many parts of the world. However, this softness is not universal, and it is likely to be short-lived.

Last year, we predicted India’s CBDC plans would materialize in 2022 and that the CFPB would hone in on BNPL players.

We believe Netflix remains the most watched service in the world, but it is not alone at the peak.

Ad market growth to slow but not stop in 2023: Connected TV and retail media will drive strength in uncertain economy, per forecasts.

Meta wants to transform WhatsApp into a super app: It is rolling out the ability to search businesses by category, browse their catalogs, and buy without leaving the app.