Timing and tenacity pay off for GCash

Opening Bell 🔔 is Tech in Asia’s free newsletter that brings you the biggest news and latest trends around Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. [Read from your browser]( Opening Bell Welcome to the Opening Bell! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Written by Peter Cowan  Journalist  Hello {NAME} Timing is everything, particularly so in comedy, life, and investing. Just ask someone like Ronald Wayne, who infamously [sold]( a 10% stake in Apple (AAPL, Nasdaq) for a mere US$800 in 1976. No prizes for guessing that Wayne’s timing was a little bit off. Of course, how could he have known that Apple would go on to be worth trillions of dollars? Timing, then, is part serendipity and part tenacity. This is something my colleague Melissa outlines in today’s Big Story on Globe Telecom’s (GLO, PSE) GCash. The mobile wallet unicorn got lucky that several factors converged to allow it to scale rapidly. But as Melissa explores, the company was well-prepared to take advantage of these circumstances. The question is, can Globe repeat the trick with another of its companies? Time, and timing, will tell. -- Peter  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [From telco to ‘techco’: the Philippines’ Globe seeks next unicorn after GCash success]( GCash’s success has spurred Globe to go harder on its various digital ventures that span climate, health, education, and more. Can they succeed? ---------------------------------------------------------------  3 TRENDS TO KEEP EYE ON Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more. 1️⃣ Revving up Indonesia: Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers smell opportunity in Indonesia, and with a growing middle class and rich nickel reserves in the country, who could blame them? Vietnam’s VinFast (VFS, Nasdaq) recently [received approval]( from President Joko Widodo to expand in the country. The company plans to invest some US$1.2 billion in Indonesia, including US$200 million on an EV manufacturing plant. BYD (1211, SEHK), meanwhile, has [begun sales]( in the country by launching three models. The Chinese firm is aiming for a market-leading position. 2️⃣ Guru, going, gone: Steve Melhuish, one of the co-founders of PropertyGuru (PGRU, NYSE) has [resigned]( from the company’s board to focus on climate tech. Melhuish was the Singaporean proptech firm’s founding CEO and co-founded the company in 2007. The firm went public via a SPAC deal in 2022 with an entity backed by the likes of Peter Thiel and Richard Li. Its third-quarter earnings in 2023 featured a return to net income after four consecutive quarters of losses. 3️⃣ Electricity in the air: In yet another sign of how much investor interest there is in the EV space, this Financial Times [story]( dives deep into Ola Electric’s plans for an IPO. The two-wheeler manufacturer would be India’s first publicly listed EV firm. Founder Bhavish Aggarwal is aiming to raise a war chest of US$661 million to build a battery factory, fund research, and pay off some of the firm’s debts. An IPO would go some way toward gauging how confident investors are that EVs will take off in the world’s most populous country.  2 EYE-POPPING NUMBERS Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you head-turning numbers from the world of business. - [US$470 billion]( What South Korean firms, including Samsung Electronics, (005930, KRX) plan to spend on building the world’s biggest chipmaking center. - [20%]( The revenue growth that chipmaker TSMC (TSM, NYSE) has predicted for 2024, which may come thanks to booming demand for the chips needed to power AI applications. THE ONE YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING We spotlight the story that had everyone talking and social media buzzing during the past week. Shein under the spotlight: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before - a large Chinese tech company is facing scrutiny from a regulator. Ultrafast-fashion firm Shein is reportedly [facing a review]( from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) due to data handling concerns. The CAC seems to be interested in the data Shein has shared with US regulators ahead of a potential IPO in the country. Shein is also under [the microscope]( of politicians in the US over alleged labor exploitation and violations of intellectual property laws. Indeed, Japanese retail company Uniqlo recently [sued]( Shein over allegations that the Chinese firm copied a popular bag design. Will all this be enough to throw a spanner in the works of Shein’s IPO? That’s unlikely. Seeing as the company could be worth a whopping US$90 billion, it’s hard to imagine that train stopping. But keep an eye out on this space.  That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to our preference center at the bottom of this email. Happy investing and see you next week! Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. 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