蘑菇AV

The news: Nvidia鈥檚 latest earnings report shows that spending on AI infrastructure remains strong, even as some metrics normalize after explosive growth. Despite robust numbers, Nvidia鈥檚 stock dipped slightly on Thursday, owing in part to the market鈥檚 excessive expectations of the industry giant. Our take: Nvidia is still riding the AI wave but is entering a more complex phase as expectations outpace results. If investment outruns adoption or monetization, the sector risks overkill. The test will be whether user demand and AI application development can keep pace with this level of spending.

Temu parent PDD posted its slowest revenue growth in Q2 since the end of 2021, as it struggles to navigate a weak consumer environment in China and regulatory challenges in the US and other key markets. While PDD鈥檚 Q2 results beat expectations, they show how the company鈥檚 primary strategy of undercutting competitors with cheaper prices is becoming untenable in the current political and macroeconomic landscape.

This report analyzes how digital adoption and evolving consumer habits are reshaping South Korea鈥檚 retail, media, and payments landscape.

The news: Nvidia is facing a new obstacle in its ability to sell chips to China鈥擟hinese authorities are urging ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and others to halt purchases of Nvidia hardware. This follows an agreement between President Donald Trump, Nvidia, and AMD that requires the two companies give the US government a 15% cut of Chinese chip revenues in exchange for permission to sell hardware there, per Bloomberg. Our take: ability to develop and deploy AI models for things like algorithm recommendations, content moderation, and generative AI (genAI) features. Marketers should diversify their AI-powered marketing tools to stay ahead if TikTok鈥檚 ad products and UX features develop more slowly.

The news: President Donald Trump said he will enact 100% tariffs on all chips imported into the US, exempting companies that have promised to build or have begun building in the US. The plan was announced during a White House meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who said Apple will invest another $100 billion in US manufacturing and jobs, bringing its total commitment to $600 billion, per The Financial Times. Our take: Brands should prepare for new marketing challenges and opportunities tied to supply chain visibility, patriotic manufacturing narratives, and potentially longer product cycles if companies reshore production. Keeping an eye on where key suppliers are building and how quickly they can pivot to US-based operations will be crucial in forecasting product costs and shaping future campaigns.

Ralph Lauren posted higher-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year revenue outlook, though it warned that tariffs could pressure consumer spending in the second half. Amid economic uncertainty, Ralph Lauren鈥檚 performance highlights the resilience of brands that sit at the intersection of aspiration and accessibility. The company appears better positioned than some of its luxury peers to weather volatility. Its quarterly results offer a blueprint for its retail peers, showing the value of a diversified supply chain and brand equity over aggressive discounting and heavy dependence on a single market.

China is taking more decisive steps to encourage domestic consumption and rein in price wars that are fueling deflation and straining trade relations. Beijing said it would allocate an additional RMB 69 billion ($9.6 billion) to its consumer goods trade-in program starting in October, bringing the total funds issued this year to RMB 300 billion ($41.87 billion). At the same time, the government plans to 鈥渁ddress disorderly competition among enterprises鈥� and more closely scrutinize overcapacity in key industries, according to a Politburo statement. Addressing both issues鈥攄omestic consumption and damaging price wars鈥攁re key to China鈥檚 ability to weather higher tariffs and expand its influence on a global stage. But that鈥檚 easier said than done.

The luxury sector is facing a 鈥渃hallenging鈥� and 鈥渟omewhat unprecedented鈥� environment, Prada Group chairman Patrizio Bertelli said鈥攃ausing even once-hot brands like the company鈥檚 namesake label to lose momentum. Luxury companies for the most part view the current downturn as a cyclical blip in an otherwise robust industry. But the prolonged slump is revealing structural challenges鈥攏amely, heavier reliance on American and Chinese consumers, as well as a tendency to lean on price hikes rather than innovation to drive sales.

The news: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the so-called de minimis trade loophole, which allows foreign packages valued under $800 to enter the US tariff-free. Effective August 29, all shipments under that threshold鈥攔egardless of origin鈥攚ill be subject to duties based on value and country of origin. The White House already ended the exemption for packages from China and Hong Kong on May 2. Our take: Eliminating the de minimis exemption levels the playing field between international ecommerce sellers and domestic retailers鈥攂ut could also drive up prices for consumers.

The situation: Despite logging a sixth consecutive quarter of negative comps in鈥疐Y鈥疩3, CEO Brian鈥疦iccol鈥攚ho famously steered Chipotle out of its food鈥憇afety crisis鈥攕aid Starbucks鈥� turnaround is running ahead of schedule. Our take: While it鈥檚 encouraging to see Starbucks take some small steps in a positive direction, the road is still steep. Consumers remain price鈥憇ensitive, agile rivals in the US and China are taking multiple paths to steal share (both value鈥憀ed and trend鈥慸riven), and commodity costs are rising. To break out of its sales slump, Starbucks must execute on four fronts: Make service faster and better. The chain needs to speed up service without sacrificing the high-touch hospitality that Niccol is seeking. Find ways to differentiate. It鈥檚 easy to roll out new offerings, but it's hard to develop unique beverages that consumers will clamor for rather than recoil at (who can forget Starbucks鈥� Oleato line of olive oil-infused drinks?). Lean on technology. Refreshing Starbucks鈥� Rewards program and revamping its app are proven tools to drive occasional customers back into its stores. Stabilize China. Price cuts may lift traffic, but Starbucks needs to balance volume gains against margin erosion and fend off lower鈥憄riced competitors such as Luckin. Nailing these pillars鈥攕peed, product innovation, tech鈥憄owered engagement, and a calibrated China play鈥攚ill determine whether early green shoots turn into sustained growth.

The challenges: UPS鈥� turnaround remains in the early innings due to structural inefficiencies, operational missteps, and mounting macroeconomic headwinds. Our take: UPS faces a difficult road ahead. The company is actively trying to streamline operations鈥攑lanning to shutter up to 10% of its buildings, downsize its fleet, and reduce its US workforce to better align with leaner volumes. It鈥檚 also trimming low-margin business, notably cutting back on Amazon deliveries, which made up as much as 11.8% of its total revenues last year, in an effort to prioritize more profitable shipments. Still, with demand under pressure and cost headwinds mounting, stabilizing performance will be an uphill climb.

The news: Z.ai鈥檚 new open-source GLM-4.5 model is undercutting DeepSeek and US rivals in cost and efficiency and intensifying global AI competition. Our take: For marketers, open-source tools like Z.ai offer affordable alternatives to costly AI platforms, levelling the playing field for smaller agencies looking to compete. But Z.ai (formerly Zhipu) is on the US Entity List due to its Beijing ties after OpenAI flagged its rapid progress. With this in mind, companies piloting open-source options should do so cautiously and consult with compliance teams before integrating.

Digital鈥檚 rapid adoption in recent years has made it the dominant medium with which people spend time in China, Japan, and South Korea, with consumption booming in India.