On December 20th, just before Christmas, Honor Electronics announced the official release of its second Android smartphone, the Mate 1S.
As previously announced, the Honor Mate 1S will support 3G networks and will be priced at $459 for 16GB of memory. This is lower than the Mate 1 and boasts higher specs—the Mate 1S also features a 500,000-pixel front-facing camera.
Furthermore, with some participating carriers, two-year 3G plans offer significant discounts depending on the plan.
For example, with O2 and T-Mobile, the Mate 1S can be purchased for as low as $299 with the highest-priced 3G plan!
As a result, queues immediately formed to buy the Mate 1S.
Apple responded swiftly, announcing the release of a 16GB version of the iPhone 1 and further price cuts for the 8GB model.
They also announced the release of their latest iPhone 3G model in February of next year.
By the end of the year, iPhone 1 sales had surpassed 1.5 million units, while Mate 1 sales had surpassed 1.8 million.
While Apple and Honor Electronics' sales still lagged far behind those of established brands like Nokia, Motorola, and BlackBerry, they had already established a significant mass following.
The Mate 1S, in particular, saw even stronger sales than the Mate 1, coinciding with the Christmas season, the busiest sales season in Europe and the United States. Over 500,000 units were sold in just three days, a staggering feat.
This explains Apple's urgency.
From a former "OEM" manufacturer to a globally renowned mobile phone brand, Honor Electronics has experienced rapid growth.
More importantly, the integration of its supply chain through industrial investment in China has largely paid off: the proportion of domestically produced components in the Mate 1S has significantly increased compared to the Mate 1.
However, the two most crucial components, the chip and touchscreen, still require imports.
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Similarly, just before Christmas, SEM Group, which had just announced its acquisition of Reuters, announced that its subsidiary, Summit Media, would acquire the renowned British program production company Stuart Media for £500 million.
SEM Group already held a 30% stake in Stuart Media. SEM Group will issue new shares to acquire the 70% stake held by Bonnie Capital, controlled by Bonnie Cavendish.
This will make Barron's wife, Bonnie, a shareholder in SEM Group.
Stuart Media currently produces popular variety show series such as "Strictly Come Dancing," "Glitter Life," and "Britain's Got Talent," and many overseas broadcasters have acquired the rights to these shows for production.
Bonnie decided to sell Stuart Media to SEM Group because she no longer had the energy to manage the company. While in Australia, Bonnie discovered she was pregnant again. Yes, she was pregnant with her second child, so she probably wouldn't have much time to run Stuart Media in the near future. Furthermore, after the completion of Manchester's Media City project, many companies, including Stuart Media, would relocate there. Therefore, after careful consideration, she accepted Barron's advice and sold Stuart Media to SEM Group.
After handing over the management of Stuart Media to her deputy, Bonnie Cavendish would become a director of SEM Group, overseeing some of its programming.
With the acquisition of Stuart Media, Summit Media's programming operations would be merged with Summit Studio, significantly strengthening Summit Media's production capabilities and providing it with more high-profile variety show IPs.
While Bonnie and her cousin, Countess Chris, were on vacation in Australia, Barron, along with the Earl of Bute, had already left for Asia.
The Devonshire landed at New Delhi Airport, where Indian Commerce Minister Jeroen Ramish personally greeted Barron and his group.
After the welcoming ceremony, the convoy disembarked from the Devonshire and, escorted by Indian Mounted Police, headed directly to the Prime Minister's Office, where Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would meet with them.
The reason for this grand visit to India wasn't due to Argent Properties' investment in Mumbai—after all, their investment there was still relatively limited at the time. The
main reason was that Barron's United Energy Group would partner with Reliance Industries to build the world's largest refining and petrochemical project in Jamnagar, India.
In this project, United Energy and Reliance Industries would each hold a 50% stake. Upon completion, the project would have a capacity of 1.3 million barrels per year (62-65 million tons per year), triple the size of China's largest refining project at the time. Furthermore, the petroleum coke/coal gasification polygeneration project would be the world's largest gasification project.
Reliance Industries, partnering with United Energy, is India's largest private conglomerate.
Reliance Industries' founder, Dhirubhai Ambani, founded Reliance Commodities Trading and Export in 1958, becoming a self-made billionaire.
He passed away in July 2002, leaving his son, Mukesh Ambani, to take over the helm. Since then, Reliance has not only consolidated its position in energy production, finance, and biotechnology, but has also become a major player in India's telecommunications industry.
According to Time magazine, in 2003, Reliance's revenue reached $16.8 billion, accounting for 3.5% of India's GDP that year.
Reliance Group's chairman, Mukesh Ambani, has repeatedly become Asia's richest man and a regular on rich lists.
Reliance had initially envisioned building a large-scale refinery and petrochemical complex in Jamnagar, India's largest refining complex, and had been seeking a partner for the project.
Ultimately, negotiations with United Energy Group resulted in the project being finalized.
The total investment in this project, jointly funded by both parties, will exceed $4 billion. Upon completion, it will be able to absorb a significant portion of United Energy Group's crude oil production and sell refined products to surrounding areas, centered in India.
Like China, India is also a large energy importer. Following its acquisition of Unocal, United Energy Group has significant oil and gas reserves in Southeast Asia and the Caspian Sea, and plans to begin exploiting these resources this year.