April, 2021

• 6 April

  Chinese smartphones get a new opportunity in US

  

  LG Electronics Inc may have been a pioneer, but the end of its smartphone business shows that being first-mover is rarely an advantage. Instead, its exit will open the way for Chinese brands to take a greater share of the US even as the two nations go deeper into a tech cold war. It was a slow gradual decline for ...

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• 6 April

  GameStop stocks mania proves a boon

  

  What a crazy year it’s been for GameStop Corp. Last April, it was left for dead. Predicting an imminent demise for the retailer, hedge funds piled on their bearish bets and the company’s market value sank to a few hundred million dollars. A year later, thanks to big buying from the Reddit crowd, GameStop is worth about $13 billion and ...

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• 6 April

  Work moves to beach as it’s ‘Bleisure’ time now

  The future of business travel is shaping up to be one of the big unanswered questions of the economic reopening. At the same time, many people are eagerly planning their first big post-pandemic family vacation — or vacations. And that’s where “bleisure” comes in. It may still be awhile before business travelers are packing convention halls in Manhattan and Chicago ...

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• 6 April

  Europe’s latest banking reforms run out of time

  Europe’s banking sector continues to be shaken by scandals and failures. German public prosecutors are facing demands to bring charges against the German banking arm of Greensill Capital. Germany’s financial regulator, BaFin, has been humiliated by the 3.5 billion euro Wirecard scandal. Serious money laundering cases involving large banks in many euro zone countries have shaken faith in Europe’s bank ...

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• 6 April

  Air France-KLM gets $4.7b aid in first step for survival

  

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM will receive as much as 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) from a French rescue plan that may not be enough to see the embattled carrier through the still-raging pandemic. The package will see the French government reemerge as the biggest shareholder with a stake of much as 30%. It comes after months of negotiations between shareholders France ...

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• 6 April

  AirAsia plans $300m funding for digital arm

  

  Bloomberg AirAsia Group Bhd plans to raise as much as $300 million to expand its digital business arm AirAsia Digital, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Malaysian budget airline is in talks with prospective investors for what would be the first financing round for its digital arm and is working with at least one adviser on the ...

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• 6 April

  Passengers flying to S’pore can use IATA travel pass from May

  

  Bloomberg Singapore will allow passengers traveling to the island state to share pre-departure Covid-19 test results with airlines and immigration staff upon arrival using IATA’s Travel Pass from next month as the Southeast Asian nation takes steps to reopen its borders. The International Air Transport Association’s app is a digital solution that can be used by people to store Covid ...

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• 6 April

  US airlines bring back more pilots over travel demand

  Bloomberg US airlines are bringing back more pilots as they prepare for an expected travel rebound. Delta Air Lines Inc said that it recalled all of its 1,713 idled pilots on April 1, before staffing shortages contributed to about 100 flight cancellations on April 4. About 400 will be trained in time to start flying again this summer, the company ...

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• 6 April

  H&M’s troubles in Asia compound over ‘problematic’ map

  

  Bloomberg Hennes & Mauritz AB’s woes in Asia deepened after a “problematic” map on its website drew the attention of Chinese authorities, with the retailer’s attempts to resolve the matter then angering consumers in Vietnam. H&M’s Shanghai unit was summoned by two of the city’s regulators to correct mistakes on the image, and the company said it will carry out ...

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• 6 April

  No Starbucks disposable cups in South Korea

  Bloomberg Starbucks Corp plans to eliminate disposable cups from its cafes across South Korea by 2025, the first such measure in a major market by the coffee giant, as it seeks to curb landfill waste and cut its carbon footprint. The Seattle-based chain will launch a “cup circularity” program in South Korea, starting July, as it begins tackling its global ...

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