Business Roundup # Week 43

Business this week

New Payment Facility

Kotak Mahindra Bank has tied up with Samsung Pay to offer new payment facility to its customers, says a report.

The bank’s credit and debit card holders can now use the tap and pay facility on the Samsung smartphone which has the Samsung Pay acceptance machines.

Maruti Tops

Maruti Suzuki has maintained its momentum in India’s car market by topping all five categories in the passenger vehicle category in the first half of the current financial year, a report says.

Small car Alto continues to dominate the list with 132,380 vehicles sold in the April-September quarter. This was followed by DZire, Baleno, Swift and WagonR.  This underlines Maruti’s constant push to grab more share in the market and its innovations to fuel the drive.

Airtel Push

Bharti Airtel has launched online sales of smartphones with iPhone 7 series to take on competition from Reliance Jio and other rivals, according to a report.

As part of its drive, it will also launch other smartphones with packaged with down payments, finance offerings and bundled tariffs. This will put it in direct competition with Flipkart and Amazon. It also plans to add accessories and other peripherals in the future.

Xiaomi Surges Ahead

Chinese mobile firm Xiaomi is fast catching up with Samsung, which has been at the top of the Indian market for four-and-a-half years, says a report.

Xiaomi ended the quarter ended September just a quarter percentage point below Samsung, according to a study by Counterpoint Research. Xiaomi has 22.3 per cent share, compared with Samsung’s 22.85 share by volume. The firm grew four-fold year-on-year.

Volvo Launches Car

Volvo has launched its performance electric car Polesta, putting it in competition with market leader Tesla and others, according to a report.

The hybrid Polestar 1 is a four-seat coupe with a lightweight carbon-fibre body. The company promises a 150 km range after charge with a petrol powered engine to supplement it. The model will be released in 2019.

Plan Prices Raised

Reliance Jio Infocomm has hiked the prices of some of its popular plans which may bring stability to the fiercely competition telecom market, a report reveals.

Jio had rattled the market by introducing cheaper tariffs but now has offered relief to its rivals. Its most popular plan of Rs 399 with a three-month validity will now be available for Rs 459.  However, subscribers who want to continue with the old terms will now get the package for a period of 70 days.

HMSI In Second Spot

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has overtaken Bajaj Auto to reach the second spot in the first half of this fiscal year, according to a report.

In the April-September period, HMSI sold 10,48,143 units in the country, registering a growth of 19.8% as compared to Bajaj Auto, which sold 10,559 units in the same period, a decline of 10.45%.

Firm Eyes More Stores

Japan-based Onitsuka Tiger is looking to set up at least 12 stores in Tier-I cities, a top official said, according to a report.

The luxury fashion brand entered the Indian market last month. The company is eyeing the vast opportunity available in the fashion segment in metro cities.

Babu Kalyanpur
Latest posts by Babu Kalyanpur (see all)