Welcome to the Tech Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of key developments in the food and mobility tech industries.
This week’s highlights:
- Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday launched its first electric sedan, the Ioniq 6, which the South Korean automaker believes will help it capture a larger share of the electric vehicle (EV) market dominated by Tesla Inc. The Ioniq 6 is one of more than 31 electric models that Hyundai Motor Group (which includes Hyundai Motor, its subsidiary Kia Corp, and the premium Genesis brand) plans to introduce by 2030 to capture a projected 12 percent of the global electric car market. (Reuters)
- Netflix Inc. said it chose Microsoft Corp. to help launch a low-cost, ad-supported streaming plan, an unexpected move that gives a major boost to the tech giant’s growing advertising business. Finding a partner was critical for Netflix to get into the advertising business quickly. Microsoft will supply technology to make it easier to place video ads on Netflix. All ads shown on Netflix will be available exclusively through Microsoft platforms. (WSJ)
- Amazon.com Inc. has begun drastically reducing the number of products it sells under its own brand. The company is also discussing the possibility of exiting the private label business entirely to alleviate regulatory pressure, according to people familiar with the matter. (WSJ)
- Agricultural e-commerce has expanded the channels through which farmers can sell their products, giving them access to a much wider range of buyers. Pinduoduo invests in agricultural technology to help producers improve their productivity. The company organizes an annual “Smart Agriculture” competition to encourage young agricultural researchers and technologists from around the world to develop cost-effective technologies suitable for smallholder farmers. (FoodDive)