32: Metaverse - What is the Metaverse?

Happy belated CNY everyone - it's been a long (long) time since we have uploaded and we do apologize for the delay. A lot has been happening and we took some time off to focus on other things. However, we are now back with a new episode on the divergence of economies. These past 2 years have been nothing short of crazy. As the world slowly learns to live with COVID, it seems that there are other new realities that we need to live with as well. Inflation is one of them.  In the US and in the western world in general, inflation is the latest trend (after the uproar of cryptos and NFT). Everyone is talking about it, everyone has a million and one opinion about it which is great. But in the meantime, China is not facing the same situation and has problems of its own. Take a dive with us as we try to understand how this divergence came to be and what does it mean for the future. 

What is the Metaverse? Metaverse is the internet but in 3D, sort of. Mark Zuckerberg calls it a ‘virtual environment’ where you can enter, connect or teleport instead of just staring at your screen and changing tabs or apps. In short, the Metaverse is a platform of endless virtual communities that are interconnected. After the renaming of Facebook to Meta, countless companies both in the West and in China have stepped out and jumped onto the Metaverse hype train.  In this episode, we wanted to dive into what is the Metaverse and which players in China are best placed to benefit from it.  You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.

One of the most famous hotpot chains started in 1994, the chain rose to fame in the recent decade. After tremendous results during the beginning of Covid, ambitions were halted by deceiving results in recent months.  In this episode, we wanted to discuss who is HaiDiLao, what helped become the biggest hotpot chain in the world, as well as what is  Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

China Evergrande has been making the headlines globally as concerns over its financial position grow, with tremors being felt across financial markets all over the world. The company is the most indebted property developer in the world and has a debt of over $300bn that includes about $20bn in outstanding dollar bond debt. Many local banks and investors have significant exposure to Evergrande. In this episode, we wanted to go through a quick overview about what the situation is all about, the key points but also what's beyond the financial aspect of it.  Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Twitter, Instagram and Youtube!

Ever since the aborted IPO of Ant Financial, the Tech sector has seen scrutiny from investors which was reflected in the Hong Kong stock market. The general consensus was that the Tech Sector should be subject to anti-monopolistic regulations. That was then translated into a series of guidelines and reforms.  In today's episode, we wanted to cover certain areas that we found interesting such as the Fintech Sector, Data Security, Educational Platforms and Tech monopoly.  You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instragram, Twitter and Youtube. 

In recent years, the car marketplace is becoming increasingly popular. You can purchase a used car from a reputable marketplace and the car will be delivered to your address. In the US, you have Carvana, and Vroom which were listed in 2020 valued at a $5bn market cap - with less than 3% of the US used marketplace. In Southeast Asia, you have two big names Carro and Carsome Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube!

It is sometimes hard to imagine the regional differences in terms of apps due to the overwhelming dominance of Silicon Valley in the Western World. Whether you are in Europe or the US you probably have a core set of apps that is similar. From Facebook to Amazon, these apps are synonyms to the needs they fulfill.  However, in China, many of these apps cannot be used and thus creates a very different tech landscape. You have probably heard of Alibaba, the Chinese Amazon (-ish) or WeChat etc. In today's episode, we wanted to go through some of the most popular apps so that you can have an idea of how the tech landscape looks like.  Find us on @ProductiveLazySundays on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram

Dajiang Innovation Technology, (DJI) is a global leader in developing small UAVs that specialize in taking aerial videography for hobbyists and businesses worldwide, and to date, they are the largest provider of consumer drones.  The company was founded in 2006 by Frank Wang, released its first drone in the Chinese markets in 2008, and expanded internationally in 2009. We wanted to have a quick discussion about what makes DJI so special, and how they came to be the leading player in a fast-growing industry.  You can find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube! 

In May 2021, JD logistics was spun off from JD.com as a stand-alone entity and IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The logistics aspect of JD.com was always its biggest difference to Alibaba. Highly criticized at first due to the high cost that accompanied the maintenance and purchase of warehouses, JD showed that their logistics expertise can have much more potential than just servicing their e-commerce platform.  This is an older record that we did right the filing.  Find us on @ProductiveLazySunday on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram! 

In May 2019 - The Trump administration has told Google that Huawei could no longer be a client. Although a proprietary OS from the ground was in the works since 2012 for the latter, the plans had to accelerate due to this decision. This year Huawei has finally unveiled their own Operating System (OS): Harmony OS. We wanted to quickly discuss what that entailed, what are the challenges, and where to next!  Find us @ProductiveLazySundays on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube!