China social media air iPhone 7 beefs
Complaints about call connection problems with Apple Inc.'s iPhone 7 models are spreading across social media in China just weeks after the devices were released.
A chat group on the QQ instant messaging platform had grown to 1,600 people through Friday, just two weeks after it was set up, with critics saying the phones can't receive incoming calls from mobile networks in standby mode and slamming Apple's customer service.
Apple didn't respond to requests for comment after being informed of the social media reports.
Li Dengke, who set up the QQ group, began noticing the missed calls a week after buying a silver iPhone 7 through Apple's store on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Tmall.com. After the device was tested at an authorized service center, he was given a replacement.
"I received the new one on Oct. 5, a few hours later, it is 'out of service' again," Li said.
China is one of Apple's biggest markets and generates more than 20 percent of sales at the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.
-- Bloomberg News
Discovery invests $100M in new company
Discovery Communications Inc., home of the TLC and Animal Planet cable networks, is investing $100 million in a new digital media holding company, marking the latest partnership between TV networks and Web publishers as they adapt to the shifting media landscape.
The new company, Group Nine Media, combines several millennial-focused online publishers: Thrillist, a lifestyle brand; NowThis, a leading creator of social-media videos; the Dodo, a website focused on animals; and Seeker, a Web video series focused on adventurers. Discovery announced the investment Thursday in a statement.
Discovery will become a minority investor, with the option of buying a controlling stake at a later date, according to the statement. Thrillist Chief Executive Officer Ben Lerer will become CEO of Group Nine Media, which will work with Discovery on content and ad sales across TV, online, social media and live events, including making videos on behalf of brands.
The partnership is another example of traditional and digital media joining forces. TV networks are looking online to reach younger consumers who may not subscribe to cable or satellite TV. At the same time, online publishers want to team up with TV networks, which can provide the needed funding and professional content to help them compete with Google and Facebook Inc., which are taking a large share of Internet advertising.
-- Bloomberg News
Daimler to build engine plant in Poland
WARSAW, Poland -- German carmaker Daimler says it will build a $551 million factory in southwestern Poland that will produce a new generation of engines.
Markus Schaefer, a board member in Daimler unit Mercedes-Benz Cars, said last week that production of the engines in Jawor will begin next year. The plant will reach its output capacity in 2020 with hundreds of thousands of engines made for various Mercedes car models.
He estimated that the plant will create hundreds of jobs, and thousands more indirectly through the need for support services in the region, some 37 miles west of Wroclaw. Before this new factory plan, Daimler had offered about 250 jobs in Poland.
Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said the investment was an example of how Poland wants to develop and modernize its industry while welcoming foreign investors.
The announcement came just days after Poland and France-based Airbus Helicopters exchanged recriminations after Warsaw cut short negotiations over a multibillion-euro purchase of helicopters for its armed forces.
-- The Associated Press
Tesla boosts luxury sedan market share
Tesla Motors Co. is facing some serious challenges keeping up with its ever-expanding ambitions, but one thing is certain: It's selling a lot of luxury cars.
Bloomberg News reported that the California-based maker of upscale electric cars sold 9,156 Model S sedans in the U.S. in the third quarter, 59 percent more than a year earlier. That's about a third of sales of high-end luxury vehicles in the country, Tesla said.
In the luxury SUV market, Tesla's new Model X sold 5,428 U.S. cars for a 6 percent market share in the third quarter. That's its highest mark yet after production issues plagued the rollout of the vehicle earlier this year. The Model X outsold Porsches and Land Rovers but trailed seven SUV models made by Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Volvo, Audi, and Lexus.
Tesla is trying to acquire SolarCity Corp. and preparing to roll out its lower-priced sedan, the Model 3, late next year.
The numbers represented in these two classes of luxury vehicles are small compared with the 17 million cars and trucks sold in the U.S. last year. Tesla is hoping to replicate the success of the Model S with its $35,000 Model 3 -- a daunting prospect that includes completion of a huge battery factory in Nevada, expansion of its factory in California, and the build-out of a global sales and service network.
-- Bloomberg News
Money woes hit Moshi Monsters creator
Mind Candy, a company that was once the showpiece startup of the London tech scene and the creator of the children's brand Moshi Monsters, will struggle to remain in business if it cannot expand revenue and renegotiate the repayment of a loan from one of its investors, the company and its auditors said last week.
The company saw its revenue cut almost in half to $8.8 million in 2015, according to its annual accounts filed with U.K. business registry Companies House. Revenue had peaked at just under $57 million 2012.
The company pared its operating losses, in part by cutting a third of its staff positions.
Mind Candy, founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith, created the well-known Moshi Monsters brand but had trouble managing the transition from desktop to mobile gaming. It has also had difficulty creating another game to match the success Moshi Monsters saw from 2007-12.
"It's no surprise that Mind Candy has had a few challenging years," Mind Candy's Chief Executive Officer Ian Chambers said in a statement. "Over the past year, with the continued support of our investors and creditors, we have been focusing development on Petlandia and Moshi Monsters. We will be revealing more on both worlds in due course."
Mobile gaming revenue -- which includes Mind Candy's World of Warriors product, which it launched in 2014, and new game Petlandia -- grew 50 percent to $3.6 million.
Much of Mind Candy's trouble comes from the decline in popularity for its core Moshi Monster's brand. Moshi Monsters operates on a monthly subscription business model and also generates revenue from licensing.
-- Bloomberg News
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