Dear reader,

We do not have a newsletter edition today. Instead, we have some exciting news to share with you. 

The Signal is merging with The Core, a startup founded by financial journalist and media entrepreneur Govindraj Ethiraj. The joint team will produce deeply researched and reported stories (written, audio, and video) on business, economy, technology, and geopolitics. 

As a result, you will begin to see more original content in your favourite newsletter. We encourage you to sign up on The Core website, which will eventually be home to all our stories, newsletters, podcasts, and archives. Its young team of enthusiastic journalists will join hands with The Signal’s group of experienced writers. Together, we will strive to bring you a smorgasbord of business stories rich in insights.

The Core was set up last year with a distinct focus on India’s traditional economy as well as mature businesses, including the listed universe. The Core has already built a loyal following among readers who track sectors such as energy, semiconductors, infrastructure, logistics, aviation, healthcare, and electric vehicles. 

Some of India’s biggest investment outlays and bets right now and in coming years will be around manufacturing, ranging from high-value semiconductors to mobile phones and generic drugs to, of course, automobiles. And we are already seeing massive investments in infrastructure and logistics. 

There are audio treats in store as well. You are already familiar with The Signal Daily podcast. Do check out The Core Report, anchored by Govind, who brings the gravitas of a seasoned financial journalist and television host to podcasting. It relays the day’s most important business news along with insightful interviews. Expect more audio content in the coming days. 

The Signal, The Playbook, and The Impression together reach more than 100,000 subscribers now. It makes us doubly happy that we achieved the landmark with thousands of you choosing to become regular readers without being prompted by advertisements or enticed by gifts. In fact, many of you have indicated your willingness to pay for the newsletters. A big thank you. 

Our morning podcast, The Signal Daily, has now crossed 360,000 downloads and is an Editor’s Pick on Apple’s Top 20 news podcasts. Thank you for your love that made it possible and keep listening. 

As you have experienced, every morning The Signal brings you up to date with the daily developments in business, technology, economy, and geopolitics across the globe. Your comments and emails of appreciation have told us that you have immensely valued our top-notch curation and enjoyed the writing and presentation. We are about to lift our game higher. 

We will update you about new developments as and when they happen. The Signal will keep the usual 8 am appointment with you from tomorrow.

Once again, we thank you for your loyalty and encouragement. 

Warmly,

Dinesh Narayanan,

Managing Editor,

The Core & The Signal.

FYI

Cooked in China: In a significant setback to Apple, iPhone sales in China fell by 24% in the first six weeks this year, according to Counterpoint Research. The brand is now placed fourth in the market after Vivo, Huawei, and Honor.

Here to there to where?: Wealth management firm Camshaft is no longer handling $533 million worth of funds in BYJU’S US subsidiary, BYJU’S Alpha; the corpus, subsequently transferred to another subsidiary, Inspilearn, has now been moved to “a 100% non-US subsidiary”.

Banking on the bandwagon: The Alibaba Group is leading a funding round of at least $600 million for MiniMax, marking its second bet on Chinese AI startups, Bloomberg reports.

Speaking about the bandwagon: Financial Times reports that Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is in talks to invest in OpenAI; if the deal goes through, it’ll mark the first time a state-backed fund is investing in the AI major.

Offload: Alibaba subsidiary Antfin Singapore is likely to sell a 2% stake in Zomato for ₹2,811.82 crore ($339 million), according to CNBC-TV18.

Gaza effect: Reuters reports that AlShaya Group, which owns the franchise rights to Starbucks in West Asia and North Africa, may lay off more than 2,000 people following consumer boycotts of Western businesses over the Israel-Gaza war.

Vroom: IT major Wipro is partnering with General Motors and Magna to launch automotive software marketplace SDVerse; Wipro has acquired a 27% stake worth ₹48.5 crore in the newly-formed entity.