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Adversarial relationship with China is bad for tech: Retaliation by Beijing shouldn’t surprise us as Biden eyes more tech sanctions and a US general starts preparing for war.

The Chinese economy shows signs of life: While that’s good news for retailers after flat growth last year, many are adopting conservative strategies to protect their bottom lines.

Troubling signs in the smartphone space: Smartphone shipments drop to the lowest level in a decade. Innovation has stagnated, foldables have failed to take off, and the market for 5G handsets has reached saturation.

TikTok steps up its PR in the US capital: It’s hard for a Chinese company to make friends on the Hill, but it won’t be for lack of trying.

Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter stirs chaos and user losses in Asia-Pacific. The region is propping up Facebook user growth that is flagging in most of the world. And TikTok is looming large among marketers as its popularity skyrockets.

We expect retail sales in India to grow 11% this year: That’s enough to make it the fastest-growing market in the world, which is one reason Amazon is investing in the region.

TikTok broadens effort to call out state-controlled media: US, China among countries added to labeling program in bid for greater transparency.

Alibaba’s retail ecommerce sales in China were nearly twice that of Amazon’s worldwide in 2022, at $1.229 trillion compared with about $657 billion, per our estimates. Latin American competitor Mercado Libre had significantly less ecommerce sales, at nearly $35 billion.

Slowing growth forces Beijing to capitulate to Big Tech: Facing the weakest growth in decades, China seeks cooperation with the EU and will loosen its iron grip on tech monoliths to spur the economy.

Apple’s intensifying in-house push: It already designs its own processors, and now it looks like Apple is moving to make its own Wi-Fi and 5G radios, displays, and touchscreens, reducing reliance on suppliers.

Amid global economic gloom, Asia-Pacific remains a region of digital opportunities in 2023, highlighted by the increasing momentum of the metaverse in China, surging retail sales in India, and burgeoning livestream commerce in Indonesia.