India's Tech Landscape: Apple's Triumph, Quick Commerce Scrutiny, and AI's Impact

Apple trumps Samsung in India; ETtech Done Deals

Hefty prices and market build-up help widen Apple's India revenue lead. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5. Also in this letter: ■ Q-comm 24/7 holiday expansion ■ Ola Electric shares surge 6% ■ Upskilling to utilise AI Apple has increased its revenue advantage in mobile phones over Samsung in India, despite shipping less than half the devices than the South Korean company. Data decoded: In the first half of 2024, the iPhone maker shipped 4.8 million units for a revenue of $4.56 billion, according to data from market tracker IDC. Samsung's volumes in the same period were almost double, at 9.8 million, despite a 15.4% year-on-year (YoY) decline in April-June shipments. However, its revenue stood at $3.43 billion, a gap of $1.13 billion. Also Read: Apple loses global leadership in phones to Samsung as iPhone shipments drop Tell me more: IDC pegged Apple's value share in January-June at 25.9% (23% in all of 2023) compared with 19.4% for Samsung (22% in 2023). Market trackers expect Apple to close the calendar year with around 12.5 million shipments, up from 9.2 million in 2023, while Samsung's shipments are expected to decline to around 20 million units, from 24.7 million last year. FY23 scorecard: For fiscal year 2023, Samsung India posted a revenue of Rs 98,924 crore, of which mobile phones accounted for Rs 70,292 crore, according to data from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). In comparison, Apple India's revenue for the fiscal year was Rs 49,321 crore, 94.6% of which was accounted for by product sales, dominated by iPhones. e6data cofounder and CEO Vishnu Vasanth (front row, second from left) with the founding team Data infrastructure startup e6data raises $10 million from Accel, others: California-and Bengaluru-based data infrastructure startup e6data has raised $10 million in a new round of funding led by venture capital firm Accel, with participation from Beenext and others. What's next? The company plans to use the fresh funds to boost its research and development (R&D) efforts, enhance its offerings, onboard more clients, and expand its go-to-market team. e6data has developed a hyper-performance computation engine for data intelligence platforms, providing its solution as a managed service for enterprises. Gen AI push: The rise of generative AI is pushing companies to organise and utilise their internal data, driving demand in the AI and analytics space, which is becoming increasingly competitive for startups like e6data, according to its cofounder Vishnu Vasanth. Raju Vanapala, founder and CEO, Way2News Hyderabad-based hyperlocal news platform Way2News has raised $14 million in a new round of funding led by existing investor WestBridge Capital, with participation from venture capitalist Sashi Reddi, founder of US-based software testing company AppLabs. The company plans to use the funds to strengthen its presence in existing markets, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, and expand to other South Indian states such as Karnataka and Kerala. Quick commerce platforms have ramped up the expansion of their 24x7 deliveries with the onset of the festive season to meet consumer demand, executives said. Surge in demand: Context: While ecommerce platforms started to experiment with all-night deliveries two years back with pilot projects, the experiment so far was for select pincodes, which is now being scaled up. Makers of grocery products and daily essentials such as Nestle, Dabur, Hindustan Unilever, Godrej Consumer, and ITC have been reporting 25-50% increase in sales on quick commerce platforms. Impulse categories such as salty snacks, frozen foods, chocolates, soft drinks, and ice cream tubs are among the ones ordered through the night, executives said. Uptick in hiring: The surge in quick commerce orders, riding on convenience of 10-minute deliveries, is also leading to demand on the workforce front. "We are seeing quick commerce, restaurants, and food delivery companies aggressively scaling up with an estimated growth of 50% from last year owing to a rise in demand and the competitive forces in the market," said Aditya Mishra, chief executive of search firm CIEL HR Services. Read our in-depth coverage on the rise of quick commerce in India: Prepare for India's largest congregation of soonicorns, with over 60+ speakers and nine thoughtfully curated themes. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2024, scheduled for September 20 in Bengaluru, is a gathering of industry veterans, founders, investors, and innovators who are forging future pathways for India's startup landscape. The summit will feature Hari Menon (BigBasket), Amit Ramani (Awfis) Mayank Kumar (upGrad), Vinod Nair (Enzen Global & Mirai Ventures), Amit Somani (Prime Ventures), Jitendra Chouksey (FITTR), Prayank Swaroop (Accel), Ritesh Banglani (Stellaris Ventures) and Shanti Mohan (LetsVenture), among others speaking on investment trends, startups shifting base to India, gender funding gaps, the balance between fintech innovation and regulatory frameworks, and much more. Author and entrepreneur Kim Hvidkjaer will also provide insights into avoiding common startup mistakes. Book your ticket to be part of the summit offering deep insights into emerging trends, unicorn journeys, and the strategies transforming India's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola Electric Shares of Ola Electric Mobility surged 6% to a day's high of Rs 114.30 on the BSE today after global brokerage firms Goldman Sachs and Bank of America (BofA) set target prices of Rs 160 and Rs 145, respectively. Goldman Sachs' take: The global brokerage noted that the company is strategically positioned for substantial growth in the electric two-wheeler (e2W) market and is well-aligned with long-term trends in India's E2W sector. Ola can achieve earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) breakeven in FY27, Goldman said. It expects FY24 to FY30 revenue growth of +40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), implying FCF breakeven in FY30, and also achieving 11.9%/27% Ebitda margin/ROIC by FY30. Bank of America's take: Bank of America views Ola Electric as well-placed to lead the shift to e2Ws. The firm's technological and cost advantages are highlighted as key competitive edges, although there are some concerns about battery technology. Also Read: Ola Electric shares fall 4% as lock-in ends for 18 crore shares India's advantage as a talent nation may come under threat as those who perform repetitive tasks are at the risk of being put out of jobs by generative artificial intelligence. Tech impact: Roles like IT helpdesk, data entry and processing, network security, coding, and testing are predicted to be affected, experts said. The demand for these repetitive roles has dropped by 25-30% over the past two years, according to data from TeamLease Digital. 2024 is a pivotal year, with over 60 countries and more than 4 billion people set to choose their next leaders. Generative AI is playing a significant role in the electoral process. A report by Canadian think tank Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions has said that since genAI has reduced the cost of producing content, it poses a huge risk to democracy by propagating content that is deceptive and harasses political candidates. Today's ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Riya Roy Chowdhury in Bengaluru and Megha Mishra in Mumbai.

Govt's queries on q-comm; Piyush Goyal at The ET Startup Awards ceremony

The government is attempting to understand the ownership structures of foreign-funded quick commerce firms and their dark stores. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Ex-Cleartrip CEO to float premium q-comm firm ■ Lightspeed to invest in Qure.AI ■ Why E2E Networks is the talk of the town The government has shot off queries to senior ecommerce executives to understand the ownership structures of quick commerce firms and their dark stores, sources told us. Let's get into it: Driving the news: As per India's foreign direct investment (FDI) rules, foreign-funded online marketplaces are not allowed to own inventory or control sellers on their platforms. Because of these restrictions, dark stores, mini-warehouses that enable quick deliveries by these platforms, are not owned by the quick-commerce companies themselves but by separate entities. The government wants to fill the gaps and understand some grey areas in their structures amid a rapid expansion of these companies, which in turn has started majorly affecting the business of neighbourhood stores and modern retailers. What next? The chief executive of one of the top three quick commerce firms told us that he recently briefed commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his team on the nature of investors in the firm and its long-term plans. Laws on FDI-funded ecommerce marketplaces had led to ecommerce platform Amazon winding down Cloudtail and Appario Retail, two of its largest sellers in India where it held stakes. However, senior executives and investors in the quick commerce segment said that government policy may not result in any major disruption. Aggressive investment: Meanwhile, investment in quick commerce continues to be on the rise. Zepto raised $1 billion in the past two months. Zomato continues to invest aggressively in Blinkit's expansion, and so does Swiggy in Instamart. Quick catch-up: ET reported on September 16 that the government may soon tap into purchases made through quick commerce platforms such as Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart, and BigBasket to understand changes in consumption patterns and pace of economic activity. Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal will be the guest of honour at a star-studded ceremony to celebrate the winners of The Economic Times Startup Awards 2024 on October 5. The event in Bengaluru will host a galaxy of business leaders and policymakers, as ETSA 2024 marks a decade of celebrating India's brightest entrepreneurs and startups. Goyal's first interaction with startup industry leaders at the ceremony post removal of the so-called 'Angel Tax' is expected to provide insights into the government's push to further support the new-age economy which has seen several companies go public this year. Also Read | Piyush Goyal launches Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry The minister will update the who's who of the startup world on the what tops the government's agenda for the coming months. Winners: The winners of ET Startup Awards 2024 were chosen at a meeting of the elite jury on September 11, led by Infosys cofounder and chairman Nandan Nilekani in eight categories from a shortlist of 41 nominees. Omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart bagged the coveted Startup of the Year award. Mukul Arora, co-managing partner at Elevation Capital, was chosen winner of the coveted Midas Touch award for best investor because of his astute sense of timing on making exits from early bets. Read about winners across eight categories here. Here are all the important stories on ET Startup Awards 2024: Ayyappan R, former CEO of Cleartrip Ayyappan R, the former chief executive of Flipkart-owned Cleartrip, is set to launch a new quick commerce retail venture, which is in talks with venture capital firm Accel and RTP Global for a sizable seed funding, according to people aware of the discussions. The premium play: The new venture -- for which the final brand is yet to be zeroed in on -- is likely to raise a larger-than-usual seed round, focusing on delivering a select range of premium products within 20-30 minutes while also having an offline retail presence, sources added. More details: It plans to offer a diverse range of products, including unbranded goods like dry fruits and healthy and localised products like freshly ground atta (flour). Premium items like blueberries and avocados as well as direct-to-consumer (D2C) commodities like organic Supima cotton t-shirts and healthy gummies are also likely to be included. Buzzing sector: This comes at a time when Walmart-owned Flipkart has entered the quick commerce race with its service called Minutes while the demand for quick delivery is at an all-time high from leading platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart. Also Read | Festive season begins with a bang: quick commerce sees jump in sales Qure.ai chief executive Prashant Warier Venture capital fund Lightspeed will lead a $50-60 million investment in Qure.ai through its growth fund. Deal details: Sources said the VC fund will invest around $20-25 million in the AI company and is looking to buy some secondary shares as well. "Overall the round may end up being $50-60 million in size depending on the final secondary component," they added. The deal is to be closed this month. This would be the third major deal by Lightspeed from its growth fund. It has invested in quick commerce Zepto and edtech PhysicsWallah; the latter is yet to be formally announced. About Qure.ai: Launched in 2016, Qure provides an AI-based decision support tool for diagnostic images. It works with healthcare institutions and physicians directly, with chest X-ray reporting, TB care, lung nodule management, and heart failure being among its key focus areas. It reported revenue of Rs 91.3 crore in FY23 along with a loss of close to Rs 78 crore compared to Rs 39.3 crore and Rs 24 crore a year ago, respectively. E2E Networks cofounder and chief executive Tarun Dua E2E Networks is the talk of the town as AI frenzy takes hold: E2E Networks, an artificial intelligence cloud service provider, is getting a lot of attention that the National Stock Exchange-listed company has probably not seen in the 15 years since its inception. Lending firms use Account Aggregator framework for Rs 42,300 crore in loans: Sahamati | Lending firms using the Account Aggregator (AA) framework facilitated loans worth Rs 42,300 crore from September 2021 to March 2024, according to a report by Sahamati, a market-led industry alliance for the AA ecosystem. Flipkart's Big Billion Days, Amazon's annual festive sale to kick off from September 27: Flipkart's flagship sale, The Big Billion Days, is a key event, contributing a substantial portion of the company's annual sales, much like it does for its competitors and other businesses in general. ■ This brain implant lets people control Amazon Alexa with their minds (Wired) ■ Google, Apple and the antitrust tipping point (FT) ■ How InstaDeep became Africa's biggest AI startup success (Rest of World)

Govt to track q-comm sales; Blinkit, Zepto take up fashion order returns

Happy Monday! The government is exploring using transaction data from quick commerce platforms to gauge shifts in consumer spending habits. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Software solutions co Tally's finserv play ■ OpenAI's o1 leap ■ Byju's US lenders on term loan The government may soon study purchases made on quick commerce platforms, which are on the rise across the country, to understand changes in consumption patterns and the pace of economic activity. Driving the news: The government aims to observe this as part of an exercise to revise the base year for national accounts and various other official statistics, officials told ET. Quick commerce as a sector has been growing over the past year, with major players Zepto, Zomato's Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart attracting great interest from investors. Estimates suggest that purchases made through them have come to account for 5-6% of overall household grocery spending in the country. Tell me more: Quick commerce has taken off, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, with most fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies reporting it as their fastest-growing sales channel. Moreover, the companies are moving out of their staple groceries and essential products to deliver a wider range of consumer goods. This makes them a good data sample for consumption pattern changes, demand situations, and pricing. Context: The base year for most macroeconomic data is 2011-12 at present, and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is likely to pitch for 2022-23 or 2023-24 as the next base year to the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics, which is overseeing the revision of the base year for national accounts. The Survey on Household Consumption Expenditure 2022-23 will be used to update the consumption basket and base revision of the Consumer Price Index. Read our in-depth reporting on the rise of quick commerce: Quick commerce is spreading its wings to include consumer electronics, lifestyle, and fashion in its scope. The main players in the space are looking to address one of the biggest pain points of online fashion shopping -- returns and exchanges. What's the news: Around a quarter of online fashion orders are returned as users look to replace products for want of correct sizes and fittings. Q-comm's plans: ET has been reporting about the rise of quick commerce and its limited foray into fashion products by selling basic apparel such as undergarments, t-shirts, socks, and kurtas in addition to footwear products such as flip-flops and sandals. Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto -- all of which entered the fashion category earlier this year -- sell products of brands such as Adidas, Pepe, FabIndia, Jockey, Boldfit, XYXX, Paragon, Liberty, and others. Also Read | ETtech In-depth: Quick commerce is diversifying fast. It won't be easy Software solutions provider for small businesses Tally Solutions is planning a larger financial services play, intending to get into financial reconciliation, credit offerings, and an integrated tax filing service. Driving the news: Armed with the NBFC-Account Aggregator licence, Tally is looking to facilitate easy flow of financial information between banks and data users. It is also looking to integrate with large banks to allow its users to reconcile their payments and transactions onto the Tally platform directly, without the need for manual intervention. Understanding Tally: Founded back in 1986, the Bengaluru-headquartered company is on a mission to rediscover itself and redefine its services for the new generation of small businesses. As they get digitised, Tally is trying to become enterprise-grade software that can take care of all financial and reconciliation needs of MSMEs. Expanding the paid user base: Tally, which had around half a million paid users before GST was introduced, now has 2.5 million paid users. The company has set a target of growing this number by 50% over the next three years. OpenAI's o1, dubbed as the strawberry project capable of "thinking" and "reasoning," was recently launched. It is six times costlier than the GPT 4o Mini. But what is its best use? Experts weighed in. Digging deep: Experts and executives said it is better suited for complex applications like software programming, STEM, legal, disease diagnosis, scientific research, etc. While announcing the model this week, OpenAI claimed that in a qualifying exam for the International Mathematics Olympiad, GPT-4o correctly solved only 13% of problems, while the reasoning model o1 scored 83%. Verbatim: "OpenAI is betting on the fact that enterprises will increasingly use AI for reasoning in domains such as quantitative computations and software engineering," said Arun Chandrasekaran, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner. Mayank Kumar, cofounder and managing director of upGrad, said the model demonstrates greater precision and reduces instances of hallucination with advanced reasoning capabilities. Pawan Prabhat, cofounder of Shorthills AI, said an LLM is no longer a tool to just predict the next word or the sentence, "but it really grasps the meaning of the question." Also Read | OpenAI's $150 billion valuation hinges upending corporate structure Byju's obligated to repay $1.2 billion with interest, says US lenders: The US lenders of Byju's parent company Think & Learn have said that the troubled edtech firm must repay the borrowed $1.2 billion along with interest. According to these lenders, Byju's has not made any contractually due payment in more than 17 months. Servicing the product economy: Indian IT firms eye AI to bridge market cap gap with global leaders | Despite the strong performance of Indian IT stocks compared to major US tech firms, none of the Indian IT companies rank among the top 10 or even the top 50 global tech companies by market cap. Interestingly, nearly all companies in the global top 100 have significant back-end operations in India, with some even maintaining their largest centres outside their home countries in India. Apple Watch Series 10: a powerhouse that goes beyond monitoring | It has been eight years since the Apple Watch Series 1 debuted. That iteration had focused on basic health tracking and notifications, but it set the stage for the way we approach wearables today. And now, Apple has launched its most advanced watch yet -- the Apple Watch Series 10. Here's what else is part of this watch wonder. ■ Inside Google's 7-year mission to give AI a robot body (Wired) ■ OpenAI acknowledges new models increase risk of misuse to create bioweapons (FT) ■ Mexican shoppers say Shein and Temu's delivery partner is stealing their stuff (Rest of World)

Earnings boost from AI, ML; public Wi-Fi scheme stalled

Familiarity with emerging technologies such as AI and ML has boosted the earnings of B.Tech graduates. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5. Also in this letter: ■ Inter-dept panel for gaming rules ■ Flipkart Big Billion Days sale ■ Lending firms utilise Account Aggregator framework A skill in emerging technologies like AI, ML or IoT, or an apprenticeship or internship at some firm is in demand as campus recruiters vie for candidates who have that little extra topping. Tell me more: The trend is reflecting even in pay packets, which have remained stagnant for plain B.Tech graduates in the last few years, but have risen by 10% over the last year for those who have acquired that something extra, said staffing and recruitment services firm TeamLease. While the average salary for fresher engineers is Rs 3.8-4.5 lakh per annum, it is in the range of Rs 7-10 lakh per annum for B.Tech graduates with new emerging technology skills. Data decoded: In the last 10 years, the average salary for fresher engineers has slightly gone up from Rs 3-3.4 lakh per annum in 2013-14 to Rs 3.8-4.5 lakh per annum in 2023-24, according to a Xpheno study shared with us. Expert take: Candidates who have either interned for 6-12 months on a full-time basis or have undergone specialised training or completed real-time projects in data sciences, AI/ML, additive manufacturing, CAD/CAM, business analytics or very-large-scale integration (VLSI), etc are being offered 75% to 150% more on average in comparison to the technocrats without such exposure, said Harish Kumar, head-mechanical and aerospace engineering at National Institute of Technology, Delhi. Nearly four years since its rollout, the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme has had a muted impact on broadband proliferation, mainly due to resistance from telcos and internet service providers (ISPs). In slow lane: The PM-WANI scheme was meant to democratise internet access and create 10 million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022, reaching 50 million by 2030. It was launched to replicate the success of Public Call Offices (PCOs) which mushroomed in the 1990s. However, as of July 22, there were only 207,642 Wi-Fi hotspots, 199 Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOA) and 111 app providers across India, as per data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Telcos oppose: Telecom operators have sought shuttering of PM-WANI, fearing they would suffer losses in the event of its successful implementation. This is because public Wi-Fi hotspots consume large amounts of data at very low prices, discouraging phone users from directly recharging their numbers. Telecom companies believe there are intrinsic flaws in the PM-WANI model, making it irrelevant amid the proliferation of 4G/5G services and the availability of data services at the lowest prices in the world. Surging cost: Trai has noted that many times TSPs/ISPs are pushing public Wi-Fi providers to connect to access points using costlier Internet Leased Line (ILL) instead of regular FTTH (Fiber To The Home) connections. ILLs are 40 to 80 times pricier than retail connections. To address this issue, Trai released in August a draft tariff order, proposing to match tariffs of PM-WANI connections with those of FTTH connections. An inter-departmental committee with representatives from the ED, RBI, tax and consumer affairs departments will be set up to combat the proliferation of online gaming platforms and ensure regulatory compliance, a directorate general of GST intelligence (DGGI) report said. Driving the news: The GST intelligence wing of the central board of indirect taxes and customs (CBIC) has initiated action against 118 domestic online gaming entities, and show cause notices have been issued to 34 taxpayers involving tax amounts of Rs 1,10,531.91 crore. Also Read: Online gaming companies to collect 28% on full bet value, offshore platforms to be GST registered from Oct 1 The notices were issued to these gaming companies as they were not paying GST at the 28% rate. Additionally, 658 offshore entities are under investigation for non-compliance, and 167 URLs have been recommended for blocking. Risks flagged: The report flagged that online money gaming' is a "high-risk" industry for money laundering, cyber frauds, juvenile delinquency and various socio-economic evils. It also highlights how many online gaming platforms keep on changing their URL/website/apps to avoid tax compliance. Industry growth: The online gaming industry has grown exponentially in the last few years, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28%, reaching Rs 16,428 crore in FY23-24 as per an estimate. Ecommerce majors Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart are set to kick off their annual festival season sales from September 27. Loyalty benefits: Flipkart Plus and VIP members who are part of the loyalty programme, which offers extra benefits to its members, will get early access to the sale a day before others, as in the past. Similarly, Amazon Prime customers, who get benefits like free deliveries through paid subscriptions, will also benefit from early access. Network expand: Flipkart has expanded its nationwide supply chain network by launching 11 new fulfilment centres across India, covering over 1.3 million square feet, to meet the increased demand. The ecommerce platform is set to fulfill the festive demand for same-day delivery with over 2 lakh stock keeping units (SKUs) across more than 20 cities ahead of 'The Big Billion Days' sale. Job creation: The company has created over 100,000 job opportunities across its supply chain nationwide. Amazon India has created more than 110,000 temporary jobs in cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai. Quick lookback: We reported that Flipkart Minutes -- the company's quick commerce offering -- is preparing to operate 100 dark stores by the festive season. On August 19, ET reported that quick commerce platforms that have increasingly started operating like horizontal online marketplaces saw higher sales at the onset of festive season with Raksha Bandhan. Also Read: Cash-rich quick commerce firms rush to grab dark store sites, personnel amid rapid growth Lending firms using the Account Aggregator (AA) framework facilitated loans worth Rs 42,300 crore from September 2021 to March 2024, according to a report by Sahamati, a market-led industry alliance for the AA ecosystem. Report insight: The report says lending firms used the AA framework to facilitate Rs 42,300 crore in loans during the specified period, with an average loan ticket size of Rs 1,00,237. Total loans disbursed reached Rs 21.2 lakh, with Rs 22,100 crore in disbursements facilitated by AAs in the second half of FY24. Data highlights: The figures represent data submitted by the nine top-performing Financial Information Users (FIUs), comprising about 60% of consents fulfilled in the second half of FY24. "The numbers, if extrapolated for the ecosystem, are much higher," Sahamati said. System expansion: As of August, there were 163 Financial Information Providers (FIPs) on the AA system, which includes banks, insurance firms, mutual funds, depositories, pension funds and tax or GST. Today's ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Riya Roy Chowdhury in Bengaluru and Megha Mishra in Mumbai.