:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:23.A revamp in strategy. Blackberry is hanging up on its production of its
:00:24. > :00:26.own smart phones. And a market debut in Mumbai later for India's
:00:27. > :00:37.insurance industry. Good morning, Asia, and hello,
:00:38. > :00:44.world. It's Thursday. Glad you could join us. I'm Rico Hizon. Smart phone
:00:45. > :00:49.maker BlackBerry has maybe call. The company will outsource its direction
:00:50. > :00:54.of smart phones to shift focus to its more lucrative software
:00:55. > :00:59.business. Indonesia is the largest handset market for the company and
:01:00. > :01:02.they have struck a deal to Manufacturer and distribute new
:01:03. > :01:07.devices there. It is working on similar deals in China and India.
:01:08. > :01:10.The announcement comes as the company reported earnings which
:01:11. > :01:16.missed market expectations. Earlier, I caught up with out North America
:01:17. > :01:21.technology reporter and asked him about BlackBerry's outsourcing
:01:22. > :01:26.strategy. Around a year ago, the CEO of BlackBerry said quite openly that
:01:27. > :01:30.it was not going to start making money from its my friends, they will
:01:31. > :01:35.stop making them. -- smartphones. That is what they discovered. There
:01:36. > :01:39.were not making money so they had to outsource the design as you
:01:40. > :01:43.mentioned. They will still be BlackBerry branded phones, just not
:01:44. > :01:48.made by the company any more. It is a far cry from the day when
:01:49. > :01:54.BlackBerry was the leading force in smartphones. Unfortunately they have
:01:55. > :01:57.not been able to keep their customers and change their product
:01:58. > :02:00.enough, and companies like Apple and Samsung have taken away almost all
:02:01. > :02:06.of their business. BlackBerry was the 1% of the smart phone market. By
:02:07. > :02:09.outsourcing the production of this my friends, this will definitely
:02:10. > :02:15.streamline the fact within the corporate structure of BlackBerry --
:02:16. > :02:22.smartphones. What will this mean for the bottom line for the company now?
:02:23. > :02:27.John Chen said he was hoping that by moving to this model they would
:02:28. > :02:31.finally make these devices profitable. Even if they do become
:02:32. > :02:35.profitable, this will not be a major revenue stream for the company
:02:36. > :02:43.again. They are shifting their strategy to software. Despite the
:02:44. > :02:45.fact their devices have not done too well, BlackBerry have always
:02:46. > :02:52.maintained very secure software. Very hard to crack. That is
:02:53. > :02:56.something they can build their business around more. They have been
:02:57. > :02:59.doing that for the past three years and it is now being solidified with
:03:00. > :03:05.this announcement that they will stop making their own devices. The
:03:06. > :03:15.end of an era of making those iconic phones, but instead now it is all
:03:16. > :03:21.about the software. According South Korea has complied with requests to
:03:22. > :03:28.arrest a CEO. Prosecutors made the request earlier this week, and that
:03:29. > :03:34.is on suspicion of investment and breach of trust for activities
:03:35. > :03:40.involving $150 million. It is a conglomerate with businesses ranging
:03:41. > :03:44.from retail, hotels, to chemicals. American retail giant Walmart is
:03:45. > :03:48.reportedly in negotiations for a majority stake in the card, India's
:03:49. > :03:54.largest e-commerce company. Walmart could be looking to invest up to $1
:03:55. > :03:59.billion in flip card as it tries to get a slice of India's fast-growing
:04:00. > :04:06.online retail market. One might currently operates wholesale stores
:04:07. > :04:14.in India. -- Walmart. The largest share sale will debut on the Bombay
:04:15. > :04:18.stock exchange in several hours. It hopes to raise more than nine Haji
:04:19. > :04:25.Iman in US dollars. It is the first insurance company to go public in
:04:26. > :04:31.the company -- $900 million. From Mumbai, our correspondent has the
:04:32. > :04:37.details. With 1.2 billion people, India is the world's most second
:04:38. > :04:42.most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing economies. Incomes
:04:43. > :04:46.are growing as well as the financial awareness. Despite that, Indians are
:04:47. > :04:52.not choosing to protect their assets by buying into insurance. More than
:04:53. > :04:57.320 million Indians are estimated to hold some form of life insurance.
:04:58. > :05:01.Given the country's large population, that means a huge
:05:02. > :05:08.section, 70% of Indians, are not insured. Companies like these, the
:05:09. > :05:13.first insurer to go public in India, are more than willing to fill that
:05:14. > :05:20.gap. There is faith in systems security in this country. Research
:05:21. > :05:25.done recently estimated about $8.5 trillion, which is very large. It
:05:26. > :05:31.does give us a huge amount of confidence that there is enough
:05:32. > :05:35.motivation for that in this country. That growth is expected to be driven
:05:36. > :05:40.by India's emerging middle class, a section of society that are saving
:05:41. > :05:45.more and living longer as well. But there are still millions of people
:05:46. > :05:49.like these who said we can't afford insurance.
:05:50. > :05:54.TRANSLATION: I can't afford to buy insurance. As my whole salary goes
:05:55. > :05:59.towards supporting my family. The cost of living is so high I have no
:06:00. > :06:02.savings. The government should provide insurance for free to all of
:06:03. > :06:07.those who can't afford it. Affordability is a major barrier.
:06:08. > :06:12.But there are other issues as well. Many people in India like awareness
:06:13. > :06:16.about what policies can offer them. When you have customers who often
:06:17. > :06:23.keep complaining that the claims process is bureaucratic and
:06:24. > :06:26.complicated. The real challenge will be reaching and persuading the
:06:27. > :06:31.majority of India's population to buy insurance, especially in rural
:06:32. > :06:35.areas where around two thirds of the population live. The insurance
:06:36. > :06:40.industry is estimated to be worth $70 billion today. But experts say I
:06:41. > :06:46.could quadruple over the next decade. If insurers are able to
:06:47. > :06:53.achieve success in rural India, the entire sector might see that kind of
:06:54. > :06:57.growth -- it could could dribble. Volkswagen is struggling to draw a
:06:58. > :07:03.line under the worst scandal in its 7080 history after admitting cheat
:07:04. > :07:09.technology in its diesel cars in the United States -- 78 year history.
:07:10. > :07:14.The crisis wideout gleams of euros from its shares, and rocked the
:07:15. > :07:20.global auto industry -- wiped out millions of viewers. We caught up
:07:21. > :07:24.with the Chief Executive at the Paris motor show. Look at this crowd
:07:25. > :07:30.of journalists coming to see the unveiling of Volkswagen's new car,
:07:31. > :07:34.an electric car. This is a fresh start from Volkswagen, because it is
:07:35. > :07:38.one year since the diesel emissions scandal that caused the company
:07:39. > :07:42.salmon problems. How much progress has made since then in sorting
:07:43. > :07:48.itself out? -- so many problems. Let's ask the boss.
:07:49. > :07:55.TRANSLATION: Undoubtably, this company made a huge mistake. We lost
:07:56. > :08:00.the trust of authorities and our customers. We are in the process of
:08:01. > :08:06.clearing up and resolving this crisis. We are making good progress.
:08:07. > :08:10.We are working with the authorities in Germany and Europe and especially
:08:11. > :08:16.the United States. It is very constructive. As far as the United
:08:17. > :08:21.States is concerned, I hope that we are going to get a result from the
:08:22. > :08:25.Department of Justice this year so we have a sound planning basis going
:08:26. > :08:30.forward, especially regarding the find we may have to pay so we can
:08:31. > :08:37.look ahead. -- finds. The investigations are going to show
:08:38. > :08:43.what the root causes were, and in the meantime, we have revised our
:08:44. > :08:49.business processes. It remains to be seen who was involved. That was the
:08:50. > :08:53.Volkswagen Chief Executive. The European Commission is planning to
:08:54. > :08:56.open an in-depth investigation into the planned merger of the London
:08:57. > :09:03.stock exchange and Germany's torture. The $21 billion merger
:09:04. > :09:08.would create your's largest exchange operator -- Europe. The watchdog
:09:09. > :09:13.says the merger could eliminate competition in certain architecting
:09:14. > :09:19.activities. The deal to marry the two world's brewing companies is set
:09:20. > :09:23.to go ahead. Shareholders of both companies have approved the deal.
:09:24. > :09:28.The $100 million marriage is expected to be completed over the
:09:29. > :09:33.next few weeks. Being a matched group will produce almost one third
:09:34. > :09:39.of the world's beer. Janet Yellen, the chair of the US Federal Reserve
:09:40. > :09:43.believes the US economy could be ready for a rate hike by the end of
:09:44. > :09:49.this year. This is what she said. Many of my colleagues indicated in
:09:50. > :09:55.their recent projections the majority would see it as appropriate
:09:56. > :10:00.to make a move to take a step in that direction. This year, if things
:10:01. > :10:05.continue on the current path, and note significant new risks arise.
:10:06. > :10:08.The comments were made during her appearance before the house
:10:09. > :10:11.financial services committee. The US central bank had its meeting on
:10:12. > :10:16.interest rates last week, where a majority of officials indicated that
:10:17. > :10:21.it would be the appropriate time to raise rates before the end of the
:10:22. > :10:25.year. These comments by Janet Yellen could definitely have an impact on
:10:26. > :10:30.the financial markets in the near-term. But for now, what we are
:10:31. > :10:35.seeing is Asia is getting an energy boost this Thursday due to a rise in
:10:36. > :10:36.crude prices. Thank you for watching. I'm Rico