07/08/2014 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.

Hot competition, how home`grown phone makers are putting the

pressure on the big brands. And a little`known sport, which is

big in India and is looking to raise its profile.

Thank you for joining us for this edition of Asia Business Report on

BBC World News, I'm Rico Hizon. The rise of the cheap home`grown smart

phone manufacturers have seen Samsung knocked off its perch as the

number one seller in the world's biggest market, China. That is

because Beijing competitor sold more smartphones than anyone else.

Samsung has also been given a run for its money in India, where the

local phone maker Micro makes is winning customers. `` Micromax.

Earlier I spoke to a local seller, and asked what was behind the

success of these kind of local phone makers.

What is really working for these companies is performance, spec, at a

value price. That is where those vendors are playing. They are

operating relatively strong`spec devices at a great value price. But

they are also able to play in the lower end of the market as well,

with some great prices. They are indeed making a big bang in their

respective home markets, India and China. But could they be disruptive

force outside of their home countries? There is a big potential

in that. We are starting to see companies launch in India, which

have been sold out. Supply can't meet demand. We are seeing Micromax

now move into Russia. So those companies are starting to branch

out, broaden their portfolio of companies around the world. But it

will be a challenge. Remember we have seen Lenovo acquiring Motorola,

so that they can acquire the patents they need to enter markets like the

US and Europe. They need those licensing agreements, those patents.

So there's headaches, but will this growth be sustainable? I think there

is a question over that at the moment. Do they have the right

business model? Certainly yesterday, one company had to apologise in

India because their supplier isn't meeting demand for their sales. So

can they keep up with the demand? And can Micromax build its brand

outside of India? Remember that both of these companies have also been

boosted by local sentiment, wanting to root for the home brand.

In other business news making headlines, Russia's President

Vladimir Putin is set to ban or restrict imports of food and

agricultural product from the countries that have imposed

sanctions on Russia over its actions in the Ukraine. A complete ban on

all US produce is expected to be announced. That amounts to about

$1.5 billion in imports. A full list of what is being banned will be

published later this Thursday. 25,000 people have signed up a

class`action lawsuit against Facebook. The man behind the lawsuit

is a data privacy campaigner who says the way Facebook monitors its

members' activity on and off the site puts the company in breach of

European union laws. As part of the claim, it has been alleged that

Facebook cooperated with a US surveillance scheme called PRISM.

Standard Chartered warns it could face more fines over its

money`laundering controls. The news came after a 20% fall in profits.

The bank said that regulators in the US have identified you problems. ``

new problems with its system. How do you grow a business that has

made its mark in a narrow product range and never ventured out of its

comfort zone? Well, that is a question facing a Singapore `based

company, HTL, which started as a model of the Mac modest cellphone

maker in the 1970s. Today it is one of the region's largest producers of

leather couches. In the latest instalment in our family business

series, our correspondent takes a look at how the next`generation is

giving it a new lease of life. In every imaginable colour, size,

and shape, HTL makes sofas to meet anyone's needs. Phua Yong Tat

started the company, his sofa`making business, in the 1970s with his

brothers in a Singapore workshop. Now that small workshop is no

longer. Singapore remains the world's headquarters, where

decisions on design, manufacture, and marketing make place. But now

several plants in China turn out thousands of surfers a year. ``

sofas. So how do you improve on something you already do well? It is

a question that the next generation of Phuas are grappling with. Enter

his daughter, Phua Mei Ming. She is one of many in her family, including

her brother, cousins, and even her husband, who work with the company.

With so many members of the family involved, conflicts are sometimes

inevitable. Sometimes we have a different opinion. But I think we

always can resolve, and because at the end of the day, we have the same

objective ` the business. Conflicts are only one problem family

businesses need to overcome. The other is how to continue to grow in

a competitive environment. A perennial problem for most family

businesses is bringing in the ideas of the new generation, while still

leveraging off what they know. In HTL's case, it is a ready supply of

leather for their sofas. So why not take on another potentially

lucrative market, targeting what most women want. A leather handbag.

The handbags were part of a new move to start a new retail arm for the

company. It took months to convince the patriarchs that incorporating

move the business forward. To be move the business forward. To be

honest, they had been used to talking about big business, big

orders, and big turnover. I think from where we come in at, we are

more about pushing for new, small ideas today, but it ideas tomorrow.

HTL may be a family business excelling at leather sofas now, but

under the leadership of the next generation,

functions. The sport of kabaddi is played

millions in India, and is rarely in the news, and even the best players

are relatively unknown. So can a new tournament raise its

a viable business? Our correspondent reports from Mumbai.

Cricket may be India's sporting obsession, but this is the country's

traditional home`grown game. Kabaddi has been played here for centuries,

especially in rural India. Whether you are playing in school or one of

the thousands of kabaddi clubs up and down the country, most of the

games take place outside on dirt, dust, grass, or a hard surface like

this one. Now though, we have seen the biggest effort yet to bring the

sport to a wider audience in India. But in a very different environment.

This is kabaddi in its purest form, high`tempo and plenty of colour. A

recipe which creators hope will make it more mainstream. It is not just

about the games. There is plenty of razzmatazz as well. Not least, the

famous faces from Bollywood who are watching matches, owning teams, and

quite happy to get involved in the hype. One, two, three. And if the

formula of celebrity, showbiz, and sport, sounds familiar, you would be

right. This is the latest game here inspired by the way the Indian

Premier League or IPL revitalised cricket. And the league's boss

doesn't mind admitting it. They did make us realise in our part of the

world that new sport works well, but if you can package it better, works

better. We are guilty of doing that. Most sports could use a bit of that.

This is designed for TV. This channel is one of its main

investors. Not just broadcasting pictures, with the long`term aim of

making it mainstream. It might be slow going. In this first season,

some teams have struggled even to get sponsors. The big winners of the

new league seem to be the players. Salaries have lept from around $500

a month to more than $5000. But can these recruits really propel the

game to a new level. Every time a sport has emerged and become

popular, one of the reasons is because there is a road player. This

is going to be a big challenge, in India we need icons, and currently

kabaddi has no icons. `` pro player. Youngsters like these will keep

paying again, as well as cricket of course. But kabaddi's chance of

finding mainstream popularity still seems in mainstream popularity still

seems in the balance. Before we go, a quick look at the

markets. Asian stock prices are in negative territory in in mid`morning

Thursday trade. `` yen. Japanese stocks are pulling away from

six`week lows, as a Russian troop build`up on the border of Ukraine

saps risk appetite. Japan down by 22 points. Hang Seng down by 85, and

Australia's benchmark index giving back 14. Those are the Asian

markets. Thank you for investing your time with us. Goodbye for now.

I am Mike Embley in London with the main news stories have is Allah. ``

main news stories this hour. Victims of the Khmer Rouge regime will soon

find out the verdicts of the former officials that stand accused of war

crimes. President Obama has called for