02/08/2017 Asia Business Report


02/08/2017

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British Gas is to increase electricity prices by 12.5% from

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The move - which will affect more than three customers -

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has led to calls for a cap on energy costs. Now on BBC News

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- all the latest business news live from Singapore.

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Apple reports sweet earnings due to better than expect that sales of

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iPhones and iPods. And it splits in two to form a new currency --

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Bitcoin. We start with Apple, which has reported a juicy set of

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earnings. Its shares are rising to record highs. It is best known for

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its iPhones and computers, and they have reported a 7% rise in revenue

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to just over $45 billion. Profits from Apple watch, Apple TV and other

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products jumped more than 20% compared to last year. But revenue

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from China fell for the fifth straight quarter. We go to our North

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America technology reporter. He talked us through the results. It

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was kind of in line with what they were hoping for. There are some big

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wins, particularly for the iPad. That is a product that has

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essentially been declining for just over the last three years. This

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quarter, it showed some growth. I think that can be attributed to the

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new iPad Brough, the software that runs on the iPad and other iPhones.

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Apple also pleased with the performance of their services

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departments -- iPad pro. Things like their services, the App Store and so

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on. The service is part of a bull alone could be made a fortune 500

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company. Apple is keen, although they could rely on the success of

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the iPhone, they are keen to grow the development of their services.

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Services adding to profits for a pool, where else are they looking

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for growth, particularly here in Asia? They have not been performing

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too well in China? Yes, they have been struggling in China. They are

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in a trough with China, with a suggestion that they will come out

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that trough and improve things. They are also looking to expand in India.

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They want a certain tax breaks to incentivise the manufacturing class

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in India. There is a huge potential for selling smart phones. Perhaps

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building smart phones in the country could be an answer. However, the

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Indian government has had meetings with Apple, and they have suggested

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that if they offer those tax breaks, they should be offering them to

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anyone else who wants to make devices in India. Another market

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that Apple is looking to build in. Bitcoin developers have agreed to

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create a new type of currency after not being able to agree on software

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changes. They are not regulated, but can be used to pay for a variety of

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services online and in real shops. While its value has been volatile,

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they have seen virtual currency rise to nearly $3000. Why change course

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now? What can you tell us? Bitcoin is now splitcoin. It comes down to

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an argument over something called block chain technology, and how it

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can carry more information as more people use crypto currencies. It

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affects the speeds of transactions. For example, Bitcoin can handle six

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transactions per second, compared to a payment system like Visa, which

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can handle 1600. They want to increase the speed, but they have

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been squabbling over how to do that. One group of developers have created

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a new, second version of Bitcoin, which they are calling Bitcoin Cash.

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It does not have a huge amount of support yet, but it is expected to

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create some volatility in prices. That is because the original Bitcoin

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is trading at nearly $3000. The new Bitcoin, it costs only around $200.

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Fascinating analysis. Thank you. Earlier, I spoke to a Bitcoin

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investor and asked him what investors can expect. It all depends

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on what happens in three months from now. It has been promised by the

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main Bitcoin development community, they are the second part of a

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solution which are increasing the speed. They have had different

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consensus in the past, so it will be interesting to see how it affects

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Bitcoin Cash. We saw the prices escalate some 50% yesterday, but

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then it fell again. What happens now with the values of these currencies?

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They will be traded separately, as a lot of other coins. It will all

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depend on how much the market is leading them. Currently, it is

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roughly 10% of the value of Bitcoin, which is still about $10 billion.

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Existing currency side by side, could this cause chaos in trading?

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It depends... No, I would say no. Traders deal with these situations

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many times. They are used to it. It is not a critical usage on the

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ground. Online, there will be merchants and a processor who will

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be able to deal with this situation. They have been dealing with

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different crypto currencies before, it is nothing new. Who stands to

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gain? URA Bitcoin investor, but who is going to gain and who is going to

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suffer? I don't think anyone will suffer. Everyone for now, who had

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held onto Bitcoin until yesterday, they now have two crypto currencies.

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They can decide whether they want to keep them or whether they want to

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sell them, whether they believe in the new currency more. So, all of us

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can start focusing on what the market is indicating and which

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directions we want to go in. India's central bank is meeting later today

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to decide on interest rates, the biggest question is whether there

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will be a part in how low inflation is at the moment. It fell to 1.5% in

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June, the lowest in five years. That is well below the central bank's

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target of 4%. Rates have been steady at 6.25% for the last four meetings.

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More needs to be done to stop women from feeling the pressure to wear

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these shoes. This is according to the most thorough scientific study

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into these shoes. They examined the physical damage that wearing high

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heels can cause. Let's take a look. Oh dear, I might have to switch to

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flat shoes. And time to take a look at where the Asian markets are

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trading. We saw it down as much as 3%, which has renewed worries of

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oversupply. They have kept up the pace of production despite promising

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to cut output next year. And a quick look at the equity markets that have

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just opened here in Asia. The nikkei has opened higher, thanks to Wall

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Street. This is due to strong corporate earnings. Apple had some

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very strong results, that is bolstering confidence in the global

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economy. And that's it for this edition of Asia Business Report.

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Thank you for watching. Venezuela is facing

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international condemnation after the arrest of two

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opposition leaders.

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