:00:00. > :00:19.Health Act. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from
:00:20. > :00:24.Singapore. Hot competition, home`grown phone makers are putting
:00:25. > :00:29.the pressure on the big brands. And a little`known sport, which is big
:00:30. > :00:37.in India and is looking to raise its profile. Thank you for joining us
:00:38. > :00:43.for this edition of Asia Business Report on BBC World News, I am Rico
:00:44. > :00:48.Hizon. The rise of the cheap home`grown smut phone manufacturers
:00:49. > :00:51.have seen Samsun knocked off its perch as the number one seller in
:00:52. > :00:55.the world's biggest market, China. That is because Beijing competitor
:00:56. > :01:01.sold more smartphones than anyone else. Samsun has also been given a
:01:02. > :01:07.run for its money in India, where the local phone maker Micro makes is
:01:08. > :01:14.winning customers. Earlier I spoke to a local seller, and asked what
:01:15. > :01:17.was behind the success of these kind of local phone makers. What is
:01:18. > :01:25.really working for these companies is performance, spec, at a value
:01:26. > :01:32.price. That is where those vendor 's art playing. They are operating
:01:33. > :01:36.relatively strong spec devices at a great value price. But they are also
:01:37. > :01:42.able to play in the lower end of the market as well, with some great
:01:43. > :01:46.prices. They are indeed making a big bank in their respective home
:01:47. > :01:50.markets, India and China. What could they be disruptive force outside of
:01:51. > :01:54.their home countries? Is a big potential in that. We are starting
:01:55. > :02:02.to see companies launch in India, which have been so out. Supply can't
:02:03. > :02:06.meet demand. We are seeing Micromax now move into Russia. So those
:02:07. > :02:12.companies are starting to branch out, roared on their portfolio of
:02:13. > :02:18.companies around the world. But it will be a challenge. Remember we
:02:19. > :02:22.have seen motor roller being acquired by Lenovo, so that they can
:02:23. > :02:26.acquire the patterns they need to enter markets like the US and
:02:27. > :02:34.Europe. They need those licensing agreements, those patents. So these
:02:35. > :02:40.headaches, but this growth be sustainable? I think there is a
:02:41. > :02:44.question over that at the moment. Do they have the right business model?
:02:45. > :02:47.Certainly yesterday, one company had to apologise in India because their
:02:48. > :02:56.supplier isn't meeting demand for their sales. So can they keep up
:02:57. > :02:59.with the demand? And can Micromax build its brand outside of India?
:03:00. > :03:03.Remember that both of these companies have also been boosted by
:03:04. > :03:09.local sentiment, wanting to root for the home brand. In other business
:03:10. > :03:13.News making headlines, Russia's President Vladimir Putin is set to
:03:14. > :03:18.ban or restrict imports of food and agricultural product from the come
:03:19. > :03:21.dumber countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions
:03:22. > :03:25.in the Ukraine. A complete ban on all US produce is expected to be
:03:26. > :03:30.announced. That amounts to about $1.5 billion in imports. A full list
:03:31. > :03:35.of what is being banned will be published later this Thursday.
:03:36. > :03:38.25,000 people have signed up a class`action lawsuit against
:03:39. > :03:42.Facebook. The man behind the lawsuit is a data privacy campaigner who
:03:43. > :03:48.says the weight his book monitors its members' activity on and off the
:03:49. > :03:52.site puts the company in breach of European union laws. As part of the
:03:53. > :03:59.claim, it has been alleged that Facebook or operated with a US
:04:00. > :04:03.surveillance scheme called PRISM. It has been warned it could face more
:04:04. > :04:10.fines over its money`laundering controls. The news came after a 20%
:04:11. > :04:14.fall in profits. The bank said that regulators in the US have identified
:04:15. > :04:20.you problems. How do you grow a business that has made its mark in a
:04:21. > :04:25.narrow product range on and never ventured out of its comfort zone?
:04:26. > :04:28.Well, that is a question facing a Singapore `based company which
:04:29. > :04:33.started as a model of the Mac modest cellphone maker in the 1970s. Today
:04:34. > :04:36.it is one of the region's largest reducers of leather couches. In the
:04:37. > :04:39.latest instalment in our family business series, our correspondent
:04:40. > :04:46.takes a look at how the next`generation is giving it a new
:04:47. > :04:50.lease of life. In every imaginable colour, size, and shape, this
:04:51. > :04:57.company makes sofas to meet anyone's need. This man started the
:04:58. > :05:01.company, his sofa making business, in the 1970s with his brothers in
:05:02. > :05:06.Singapore workshop now that small workshop is no longer. Singapore
:05:07. > :05:09.remains the world's headquarters, where decisions on design,
:05:10. > :05:13.manufacture, and marketing make place. But now several plants in
:05:14. > :05:19.China turn out thousands of surfers a year. So how do you improve on
:05:20. > :05:23.something you already do well? It is a question that the next`generation
:05:24. > :05:29.of the are grappling with. Enter his daughter. She is one of many in her
:05:30. > :05:35.family, including her brother, cousins, and even her husband, who
:05:36. > :05:39.work with the company. With so many members of the family involved,
:05:40. > :05:42.conflicts are sometimes inevitable. Sometimes we have a different
:05:43. > :05:50.opinion. But I think we always can resolve, and because at the end of
:05:51. > :05:55.the day, we have the same objective. The business. Conflict are only one
:05:56. > :05:59.problem family businesses need to overcome. The other is how to
:06:00. > :06:04.continue to grow in a competitive environment. A perennial problem for
:06:05. > :06:08.most family businesses is bringing in the ideas of the new generation,
:06:09. > :06:13.while still leveraging off what they know. In HTL's case, it is a ready
:06:14. > :06:17.supply of leather for their sofas. So why not take on another
:06:18. > :06:26.potentially lucrative market, targeting what most women want. Art
:06:27. > :06:33.leather handbag. `` a leather handbag. The handbags were part of a
:06:34. > :06:38.new move to start a new retail arm for the company. It took months to
:06:39. > :06:41.convince the patriarchs that incorporating other leather products
:06:42. > :06:44.was a way to move the business forward. To be honest, they had been
:06:45. > :06:53.used to talking about big business, big orders, and the turnover. I
:06:54. > :06:57.think from where we come in at, we are more about pushing for new,
:06:58. > :07:03.small ideas today but it ideas tomorrow. HTL may be a family
:07:04. > :07:10.business excelling at leather sofas now, but under the leadership of the
:07:11. > :07:14.next generation, it a take on leather products of all shapes and
:07:15. > :07:18.functions. The sport of kabaddi is played by millions in India, at an
:07:19. > :07:22.Israeli in the news, and even the best players are relatively unknown.
:07:23. > :07:26.So can a new tournament raise its profile, and the a viable is this?
:07:27. > :07:36.`` is rarely in the news. correspondent reports from Mumbai.
:07:37. > :07:41.Cricket may be India's sporting obsession, but this is the
:07:42. > :07:44.country's traditional home`grown game. Kabaddi has been played here
:07:45. > :07:48.for centuries, especially in rural India. Whether you are playing in
:07:49. > :07:52.school or one of the thousands of kabaddi clubs up and down the
:07:53. > :07:58.country, most of the games take place outside on dirt, dust, grasp,
:07:59. > :08:02.or a hard surface like this one. Now though, we have seen the biggest
:08:03. > :08:08.effort yet to bring the sport to a wider audience in India. But in a
:08:09. > :08:13.very different environment `` grass. This is kabaddi in its purest
:08:14. > :08:18.form, high tempo and plenty of colour. A recipe which creators hope
:08:19. > :08:22.will make it more mainstream. It is not just about the games. There is
:08:23. > :08:27.plenty of razzmatazz as well. Not least the famous faces from
:08:28. > :08:32.Bollywood and Dion who are watching matches, owning teams, and quite
:08:33. > :08:40.happy to get involved in the hype. One, two, three. And if the
:08:41. > :08:44.of celebrity, showbiz, and sport, sounds familiar, you would be right.
:08:45. > :08:48.This is the latest game here in spy by the way the Indian Premier League
:08:49. > :08:53.or IPL revitalised cricket. And the league's lost doesn't mind admitting
:08:54. > :09:00.it. They did Magas realise now part the world that new sport works well
:09:01. > :09:07.`` make us realise, but if you can package it better, works better. We
:09:08. > :09:11.are guilty of plagiarising that. Most sports could use a bit of that.
:09:12. > :09:15.This channel is one of its main investors. Not just roared casting
:09:16. > :09:21.pictures, with the long`term aim of making. `` broadcasting. It might be
:09:22. > :09:25.slow going. In this first season, some teams have struggled even to
:09:26. > :09:29.get sponsors. The big winners of the new league seem to be the players.
:09:30. > :09:41.Salaries have let from around $500 a month to more than 5000. But can
:09:42. > :09:49.these root recruits really propel the game to a new level. This is
:09:50. > :09:52.going to be a big challenge, in India we need icons, and currently
:09:53. > :09:58.kabaddi has no icons. Youngsters like these will keep paying again,
:09:59. > :10:01.as well as cricket of course. But kabaddi's chance of finding
:10:02. > :10:08.mainstream popularity still seems in the balance. Before we go, a quick
:10:09. > :10:12.look at the markets. Asian investors remained on edge in mid`morning
:10:13. > :10:17.Thursday trade. Japanese stocks are pulling away from six`week lows, as
:10:18. > :10:22.a Russian troop build`up on the border of Ukraine saps risk
:10:23. > :10:27.appetite. Japan down by 22 points. Hang Seng down by 85, and
:10:28. > :10:32.Australia's benchmark index giving back 14. Those are