Attackers are exploiting trust in Adobe’s brand to deliver covert remote access, using a fake Acrobat Reader download page to install ConnectWise ScreenConnect through a fileless, memory-heavy attack chain that is designed to leave few traces on disk and make forensic analysis harder. Security researchers who uncovered the campaign said the operation began with a phishing site made to resemble Adobe’s official software page, where victims were […]
China’s economy expanded faster than expected in the first quarter, giving Beijing a firmer platform as it confronts the fallout from the war involving Iran, but the details beneath the headline number pointed to a recovery still leaning heavily on industry and exports while households remain cautious. Official data released on Thursday showed gross domestic product grew 5.0% from a year earlier in January to March, above the 4.8% forecast in a Reuters poll and up from 4.5% in the final quarter of 2025. Quarterly growth came in at 1.3%, slightly ahead of the previous quarter.
The stronger reading suggested that the first shockwaves from the conflict in the Middle East have not yet knocked China off course. Markets took the figures as a sign of resilience. Mainland share indices rose after the release and the yuan held near its strongest levels in three years, reflecting confidence that the world’s second-largest economy has, for now, absorbed higher energy risks better than some had feared.
Yet the composition of growth was less reassuring. March industrial output rose 5.7% from a year earlier, beating expectations, but retail sales slowed to 1.7%, well below forecasts and down from 2.8% in the first two months of the year. Fixed-asset investment in the first quarter rose 1.7%, also missing expectations, while property investment fell 11.2%. Those figures reinforced a pattern that has defined China’s economy for months: factories, infrastructure and technology manufacturing are carrying more of the load than domestic consumption or housing.
That imbalance matters because Beijing has repeatedly signalled that stronger household demand is essential to putting growth on a steadier footing. Economists cited in the reporting on Thursday said the first-quarter strength was driven largely by momentum built in January and February, especially through exports and industrial activity, while March showed signs of softer conditions. The slowdown in shop spending is particularly sensitive because consumer confidence has remained fragile even as policymakers talk up support for incomes, jobs and services-led demand.
The war has complicated that task without yet derailing it. Since hostilities erupted on 28 February, China has faced a familiar vulnerability: it is the world’s largest energy importer and still relies on stable global shipping and manageable oil prices to protect factory margins and household purchasing power. Reuters reported that economists believe China has so far weathered the shock because of large oil reserves, a diversified energy mix and price controls, but they also warned that persistently higher oil costs are beginning to filter through supply chains and squeeze profits.
Evidence of that pressure is already visible. Reuters noted this week that factory-gate prices in March rose for the first time in more than three years, a signal that energy-driven cost increases are feeding into production. Export growth, which had been one of the brighter spots, also lost momentum in March after a very strong start to the year, raising the possibility that manufacturers will find it harder to sustain their pace if shipping costs stay elevated and overseas demand weakens.
Beijing’s response is likely to stay measured unless the conflict worsens. Policymakers have already set a budget deficit of about 4% of GDP for 2026 and planned heavy bond issuance to support activity. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the central bank to keep the one-year loan prime rate steady through the year, with only a modest cut to reserve requirements anticipated later on. A stronger first quarter gives officials more room to avoid large-scale stimulus at this month’s Politburo meeting, though that calculus could change if oil prices climb further or exports weaken more sharply.
The broader international backdrop is not especially forgiving. The IMF said in its April World Economic Outlook material that the Middle East conflict is lowering growth expectations for advanced economies in 2026, even if the aggregate effect is described as modest. For China, that matters less through direct battlefield exposure than through energy costs, shipping uncertainty and the health of major overseas markets. A prolonged conflict would test the durability of China’s export-led strength at the same time as its consumer recovery remains incomplete.
Alibaba Group Holding has unveiled a new artificial intelligence model aimed at building 3D environments and interactive video, widening its challenge to Tencent in one of the most commercially sensitive corners of China’s technology market: games, cloud services and creator tools. The model, called Happy Oyster, was introduced on Thursday as a “world model”, a system designed to generate explorable digital scenes rather than only short clips, […]
Bitcoin’s market backdrop has strengthened sharply, with a closely watched Bull Score Index climbing to its highest reading since October 2025 after several previously weak on-chain signals improved over roughly three days, according to market analytics platforms tracking network activity and investor behaviour. The shift has added momentum to a rebound that has pushed Bitcoin back towards the mid-$70,000 range, even as analysts warn that the move […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Aldar Properties has closed an AED 5 billion five-year syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, giving Abu Dhabi’s biggest listed developer a fresh layer of financial flexibility as it pushes ahead with expansion across development, investment properties and strategic capital partnerships. The senior unsecured facility, structured across conventional and Islamic tranches in dirhams and US dollars, lifts Aldar’s total available liquidity to AED 38.2 […]
Bain Capital has opened an office in Abu Dhabi Global Market, expanding its Middle East presence as the private investment firm seeks closer ties with regional investors, broader support for portfolio companies and a stronger position in sectors that match Abu Dhabi’s economic agenda. The firm said the new base will focus on aviation, healthcare, digital infrastructure and financial technology, and will serve as a regional hub […]
Google’s Discover feed has become the latest battleground in the cybercrime economy after researchers uncovered a large-scale operation that used AI-written articles, fake news hooks and misleading browser prompts to push scam alerts to users’ phones and computers. The campaign, dubbed Pushpaganda, relied on more than 100 bogus domains designed to look like ordinary content sites, then turned visitors into targets for persistent scareware, ad fraud and […]
Splunk has disclosed a high-severity security flaw that can allow remote code execution in affected Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform deployments, raising concern for organisations that rely on the software to collect, search and analyse machine data for cyber defence, compliance and operations. The issue, tracked as CVE-2026-20204, was published on April 15 and carries a CVSS score of 7.1. Splunk said the weakness affects Splunk […]
Following the rollout of AI Compute Service in Hong Kong (China), Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore in 2025, Huawei Cloud MaaS (Model-as-a-Service) is now available, leveraging Huawei’s in-house acceleration engine to support mainstream models and provide customers with stable and high-quality token services.
Huawei Cloud continues to strengthen its collaboration with high-quality open-source models in the industry. Six models from three categories—GLM, DeepSeek, and Qwen—are the first to be supported by MaaS. These models are designed for two major application scenarios: intelligent Q&A and AI coding. They offer one-click access and out-of-the-box model hosting services, covering the entire lifecycle of model management from deployment to inference, fine-tuning, and evaluation. With elastic compute and pay-per-use billing, enterprises and developers can quickly integrate AI capabilities into their service systems without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. This makes AI accessible to everyone.
Notably, this release includes support for the latest GLM-5 model. GLM-5 has attained state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance in coding and agent capabilities, making it an ideal general-purpose agent foundation for complex system engineering and long-text agent tasks in enterprise environments.
Huawei Cloud’s long-term strategic investment in AI has resulted in a comprehensive suite of AI solutions, including CloudMatrix AI Infra, MaaS, ModelArts (a model training and inference platform), CodeArts (a coding agent), AgentArts (an agent platform), and DataArts (a data agent).
CodeArts and AgentArts will be launched outside the Chinese mainland in the second half of 2026.
Huawei Cloud has established an optimized cloud infrastructure network in the Asia Pacific region. This network comprises five Regions and 18 availability zones (AZs) located in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, and the Philippines, ensuring a 50 ms access latency. Additionally, in Malaysia, Huawei Cloud and partners have jointly built a local cloud.
Huawei Cloud AI Compute Service have helped many Asia Pacific customers elevate their cloud journey from simply migrating to the cloud to using AI well. They have benefited from improved productivity and better adaptation to changing environments.
iFLYTEK, a leading intelligent voice and AI company, selected Singapore as the first destination for its global expansion strategy in 2023, naturally extending its collaboration with Huawei Cloud from China to a global scale. Huawei Cloud AI Compute Service helped iFLYTEK quickly deploy their large language model training resources within two weeks. The training remained stable for 60 days without interruption, ensuring zero faults during the release of major versions.
In Vietnam, Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), an emerging green mobility platform, migrated its core operations platform to Huawei Cloud to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, and achieve multi-cloud flexibility. GSM has developed a comprehensive fleet management platform using AI and IoT. By utilizing Huawei Cloud IoTDA and ModelArts AI technologies, GSM analyzes violations and generates risk alerts to ensure driver and passenger safety, thereby fulfilling its mission of promoting green and safe transportation.
Huawei Cloud will continue to invest in AI innovation and provide a secure, stable, and intelligent cloud foundation to help enterprises in Asia Pacific achieve sustainable business growth in the AI era.
Hashtag: #HuaweiCloud #MaaS #AI #Token
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Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have 207,000 employees and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.
Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will work towards ubiquitous connectivity and inclusive network access, laying the foundation for an intelligent world; providing diversified computing power where you need it, when you need it, to bring cloud and intelligence to all four corners of the earth; build digital platforms to help all industries and organisations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; and redefine user experience with AI, making it smarter and more personalised for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, on the go, in the office, having fun, or working out. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com
Cardano is drawing fresh attention after a burst of on-chain activity revived debate over whether stronger network usage can translate into a rebound for ADA, the blockchain’s native token, after a prolonged spell of weak price action. The trigger for the discussion was commentary tied to staking infrastructure provider Everstake, which said daily active addresses and transaction counts had risen sharply over the past three months, feeding […]
YouTube is changing how advertising appears during livestreams, pulling back commercial interruptions at moments when audience activity is surging or when viewers are paying to support creators. The move marks a notable adjustment in how the platform balances revenue with viewer experience, and it signals a wider push towards automated ad placement shaped by what is happening on screen and in chat in real time. Under the […]
Europe’s cybersecurity agency has moved to strengthen its influence over the global system used to identify and catalogue software flaws, with ENISA no longer merely seeking a bigger role in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures programme but already holding Root status in a shift that gives the EU a stronger hand in how vulnerabilities are coordinated across borders. The development matters because the CVE system remains a […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE investors are moving faster than their peers almost anywhere in the world to bring artificial intelligence into investment decision-making, with a new global study by wealth-tech firm BridgeWise placing the country second overall in its AI optimism rankings and first on “momentum”, a measure of how strongly investors intend to replace traditional research methods with AI tools over the next year. The […]
The exhibition focuses on connecting Asian suppliers with global importers and exporters, streamlining cross-border procurement processes, enhancing supply-demand matching efficiency, and enabling businesses to expand into international markets more effectively.
Since its debut in 2022, ASLE, co-organized by AsianNet and TradeAsia (www.e-tradeasia.com), has consistently attracted high-quality international buyers. With strong performance in precise matchmaking, inquiry conversion, and actual order generation, it has become one of Asia’s most representative online B2B trade exhibitions.
Global Exhibition Synergy and Expanded Scale
The 2026 edition will feature a significant scale upgrade and run concurrently with several leading international exhibitions, including the FIBO Germany International Fitness and Wellness Expo, Techtextil Frankfurt, the Outdoor Retailer and Outdoor Design and Innovation Expo in the USA, ISPO USA, and the India International Sports Goods Expo.
By aligning with global exhibition schedules and integrating cross-platform resources, ASLE 2026 consolidates international buyer traffic and enables procurement professionals to efficiently complete supplier selection, product comparison, and sourcing decisions. This approach significantly shortens decision-making cycles and improves procurement accuracy.
Centered on high-efficiency matching, targeted traffic, and conversion-driven results, the exhibition establishes a comprehensive B2B business connection ecosystem. It enhances exhibitors’ global exposure, improves inquiry quality, and effectively drives order conversion and market expansion.
Showcasing Verified Suppliers and Diverse Product Categories
ASLE 2026 will feature a strong lineup of leading Asian manufacturers, demonstrating the depth and innovation of the region’s sports and leisure industry. Participating companies include JIH KAO ENTERPRISE, FLYWELL INTERNATIONAL, YI CHI HSIUNG, and HSIN HAO HEALTH MATERIALS.
These suppliers will showcase a wide range of products, including fitness equipment, sports gear, functional textiles, outdoor and camping products, and health-related solutions, providing buyers with diverse sourcing options across multiple categories.
ASLE 2026 highlights core sports categories such as Sports and Game Equipment, Sport Ball Equipment and Gear, Fitness and Body Building, Skateboarding and Skating Equipment, and Water Sports Equipment and Supply. The exhibition also features sports accessories, sportswear, and technical textiles, as well as lifestyle segments including Outdoor and Camping Recreation, Sporting and Travel Goods, and Indoor Games and Leisure. Health and Wellness and health food products further extend the exhibition’s cross-industry integration.
By integrating technological innovation with practical applications, ASLE 2026 provides a high-efficiency B2B sourcing environment that enables global buyers and industry partners to expand markets, accelerate procurement decisions, and establish long-term business relationships.
Digital Features Enhancing Efficient Sourcing
The Asian Sports and Leisure Online Exhibition 2026 introduces a range of advanced digital features, including dedicated exhibitor pages, e-catalogs, and integrated online exhibition interfaces. Fully integrated with the TradeAsia platform, these tools significantly enhance supplier visibility and maximize sourcing efficiency.
In addition, the exhibition incorporates an efficient business matching mechanism, enabling buyers to quickly identify suitable suppliers based on their sourcing needs. International buyers can access the exhibition anytime, explore detailed supplier information, and utilize online inquiry functions to accelerate procurement decision-making.
This hybrid model effectively eliminates time and geographical barriers while delivering a cost-efficient and results-driven global sourcing experience.
Start Sourcing Now
Explore suppliers, discover products, and send inquiries directly through the official exhibition platform:
https://www.e-tradeasia.com/online-show/44/Asian-Sports-and-Leisure-Online-Exhibition-2026.html
Hashtag: #TradeAsia
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
TradeAsia (www.e-tradeasia.com) is a leading B2B international trade platform dedicated to delivering high-efficiency, conversion-driven business matching services. The platform connects millions of members, over 600,000 suppliers, and extensive up-to-date product listings, forming a highly active global supply-demand network.
In addition, TradeAsia has established strategic partnerships with hundreds of trade organizations and exhibition entities worldwide, integrating both online and offline marketing resources to maximize international exposure. Exhibitors benefit from stable, high-quality buyer traffic and expanded global reach, enhancing brand visibility and increasing conversion opportunities.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 April 2026 – Aspire, the finance stack for global founders, today announced that its subsidiary, AFT HK Treasury Limited, has been granted Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities), and Type 9 (asset management) licences by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong.
Hashtag: #Aspire
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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 April 2026 – ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), one of the world’s fastest-growing data centre colocation service providers headquartered in Singapore, today announced the findings of a new regional research study, Mind the Gap: Bridging the AI Infrastructure Readiness Divide, examining how organisations across Asia are progressing from AI ambition to execution. Commissioned by STT GDC with research partner Ecosystm, the study surveyed more than 600 enterprise and digital-native leaders across nine Asian markets: India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
High adoption, limited readiness across Asia
The report reveals that AI ambition across Asia is high, with nearly 90% of organisations having embarked on their AI journeys. However, a significant 71% remain in the “Builder” stage of maturity, where initial AI pilots struggle to scale into production environments capable of delivering consistent and measurable return on investment (ROI). In contrast, only 17% of organisations are considered “future ready”, having invested in scalable infrastructure, mature data governance and specialised operational expertise, highlighting a widening readiness gap across the region.
Challenges faced by the Builders
Across Asia, the research identifies a reinforcing cycle that keeps many organisations stuck in pilot mode. AI initiatives are often launched on infrastructure that cannot scale to production, limiting their ability to demonstrate measurable ROI and making it harder to justify further investment in purpose-built, high-density environments. This challenge is compounded by gaps in in-house expertise, with many organisations lacking the specialist operational skills required to manage increasingly complex AI infrastructure at scale.
“Across Asia, organisations are moving quickly from experimentation to implementation, but many are discovering that AI success now depends less on training models and more on foundations,” said Chris Street, Group Chief Revenue Officer of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. “Without scalable infrastructure and operational readiness in place, it becomes difficult to convert early AI ambition into consistent business value.”
The Sustainability Blind Spot
Despite rising energy and cooling demands driven by AI workloads, sustainability considerations remain secondary for most organisations when evaluating infrastructure options. Although 27% of organisations say ESG goals will actively shape or be central to their future plans, 64% of organisations across Asia continue to prioritise performance or cost, even as power density, thermal efficiency and long‑term total cost of ownership become increasingly critical factors in scaling AI responsibly.
A disconnect between what organisations want and what they need
The study also highlights a persistent disconnect between how organisations evaluate infrastructure partners and the capabilities they actually need to scale AI. Across Asia, organisations continue to prioritise baseline requirements like security and reliability, despite identifying operational expertise, scalability and cost efficiency as their most significant challenges.
Singapore: ahead of the region, but facing a new constraint
These challenges are visible across the region, but they manifest differently in more mature markets. Singapore stands out against the regional baseline with a significantly larger share of organisations having progressed beyond early-stage pilots. While only 17% of organisations across Asia are considered future‑ready, 40% of Singapore organisations have reached the Integrator stage, reflecting stronger early execution and deployment capability.
However, the study also finds that the final step to leadership remains the most difficult. Only 3% of Singapore organisations have reached the “Leader” stage of AI infrastructure maturity, signalling that even in Asia’s most mature AI market, the transition from integration to full leadership remains difficult.
Scaling, not adoption, is now the key challenge
In Singapore, where adoption is more advanced, the constraints have shifted. Limited infrastructure headroom, shortages in specialised operational expertise and continued investment discipline are now emerging as the primary barriers to scaling AI workloads and sustaining leadership.
“For Singapore, AI adoption is relatively mature; the defining challenge now is scaling deployments fast enough to support real‑world demand,” said Mingcheng Lim, Country Head – Singapore, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. “Whether the country can maintain its lead in the region will depend on whether infrastructure capacity, specialist expertise and investment approaches can evolve at the same pace as AI workloads.”
Sustainability awareness has yet to shape infrastructure choices
In Singapore, regulatory expectations have driven relatively high awareness of sustainability issues. However, sustainability continues to rank among the lowest priorities when organisations evaluate infrastructure providers, highlighting a gap between awareness and action, even as power density, thermal efficiency and long‑term cost efficiency become increasingly important to scaling AI responsibly.
The mismatch between wants and needs persists
As with the wider region, Singapore organisations continue to evaluate infrastructure providers based on familiar baseline criteria, even as their scaling challenges point to a growing need for specialist expertise, speed to scale and sustainable, high‑density infrastructure capability.
These findings suggest that Asia’s next phase of AI progress will be defined not by ambition alone, but by execution capability. For Singapore, sustaining regional leadership will depend on infrastructure strategies that support scale, resilience and speed, enabling organisations to convert early AI momentum into enduring competitive advantage.
To download the report, Mind the Gap: Bridging the AI Infrastructure Readiness Divide, please visit: https://www.sttelemediagdc.com/resources/ai-readiness-assessment-report.Hashtag: #STTelemedia #STTGDC
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ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) is one of the fastest-growing data centre providers with a global platform serving as a cornerstone of the digital ecosystem that helps the world to connect. Powering a sustainable digital future, STT GDC operates across Singapore, the UK, Germany, India, Italy, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, providing businesses an exceptional foundation that is built for their growth anywhere. For more information, visit https://www.sttelemediagdc.com/.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 April 2026 – As part of its strategy to lead in digital wealth, Citi is leveraging fintech to enhance its client value proposition. Citi is committed to driving Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem by playing a unique role as both a strategic investor and a collaborator. This approach is exemplified by our partnership with Endowus, a leading digital wealth advisory and investment platform. After Citi Ventures invested in the platform in August 2023, this collaboration now sets the stage for our latest joint initiative.
Building on their established relationship, Citi Hong Kong and Endowus recently launched the “Invest with Clarity, Live in Prestige” campaign, their inaugural joint credit card promotion. Through this initiative, eligible Endowus clients who successfully apply for a new Citi Prestige Card and meet specific requirements during the promotion period will receive a HK$4,000* cash reward. This offer seamlessly integrates a rewarding investment journey with the elevated dining, travel and lifestyle privileges that come with the Citi Prestige Card.
This partnership marks a key milestone, and both Citi and Endowus look forward to exploring further collaborations, including expanding the campaign to other Citi Credit Cards and across a broader spectrum of products, aiming to continuously drive financial innovation and enhance client experience.
Sarah O, Head of Digital Growth & Cards and Unsecured Lending Sales, Citi Hong Kong, said, “Our strategic collaboration with Endowus exemplifies Citi’s commitment to harnessing the power of the fintech ecosystem to drive growth and innovation within our wealth business. The expanded partnership with Endowus showcases our unique, full-circle commitment to the fintech community. We are excited about the ongoing potential of this partnership to unlock even more innovative solutions for our clients.”
Steffanie Yuen, Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong, Endowus said, “Citi’s strategic backing as our shareholder, and recognition of our vision to help people invest with clarity significantly reflects a shared commitment to raising the bar for wealth management in Hong Kong. By pairing best-in-class digital investment tools with the lifestyle rewards of the Citi Prestige Card, we’re making it easier than ever for clients to invest well and live well. We look forward to deepening our partnership to build even more innovative experiences together for the clients we serve.”
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Photo: Sarah O, Head of Digital Growth & Cards and Unsecured Lending Sales, Citi Hong Kong (Left) and Steffanie Yuen, Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong, Endowus (Right)
*For new Citi Prestige Card clients only. Terms and conditions for the promotion apply. Details: https://endowus.com/en-hk/campaigns/terms-conditions-for-endowus-x-citi-prestige-collaboration-promotion-2026
Hashtag: #Citi
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Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in more than 180 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.
Additional information may be found atwww.citigroup.com | X: @Citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi | YouTube: 
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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 April 2026 – VinoBuzz, the Hong Kong’s first AI‑agent and marketplace for wine, today announced it has raised an angel investment round at a US$10 million valuation. In just two weeks since its beta launch, the platform has already attracted over 1,000 registered users – a feat rarely seen in Hong Kong’s traditional, offline‑first wine industry. VinoBuzz is rapidly becoming the go‑to solution for busy professionals who demand speed, transparency, and personalization.
By combining AI agents with a unified multi‑merchant marketplace, VinoBuzz eliminates the three biggest pain points of wine buying: lack of knowledge, time-consuming, and opaque pricing. The platform offers three industry‑first features:
VinoBuzz already lists over 4,000 unique wine SKUs from Hong Kong’s top importers and merchants, as one of Hong Kong’s top wine marketplaces. Orders are delivered via temperature‑controlled logistics as fast as 4 hours – making it one of the fastest and most convenient online wine purchasing options in the city. The platform’s rapid user acquisition, with 1,000+ registered users in only two weeks, expending its SKU to over 4000 wine bottles, signals a pent‑up demand for a modern, AI‑native wine marketplace in Hong Kong.
Hashtag: #VinoBuzz #AIwine #Technolgy
https://vinobuzz.aihttps://www.linkedin.com/company/vinobuzz-limited
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VinoBuzz is Hong Kong’s first AI agent and marketplace for wine. It combines a conversational AI sommelier with a unified multi‑merchant checkout and fast, temperature‑controlled delivery, making wine discovery and purchasing effortless for everyone – from complete beginners to seasoned collectors.
Decoupling the Battery from the Price Tag
For decades, the battery has been the most expensive single component of an electric car. It is also the component most likely to depreciate. XEV’s innovative business model fundamentally alters this equation by separating the vehicle (hardware) from the battery (service).
Customers purchase the car but lease the energy capacity. This strategy significantly lowers the initial purchase price. It makes premium urban mobility accessible to a broader demographic. This ranges from young professionals seeking their first vehicle to fleet operators managing tight margins.
“We are not just manufacturing cars. We are redefining vehicle ownership,” says the XEV leadership team. “Our goal is to make car production as flexible as smartphone manufacturing. We give users exactly what they need for city living without the financial weight of traditional ownership.”
3 Minutes to Full Power: Solving the Charging Crisis
Range anxiety remains a critical hurdle for European EVs. This is particularly true for drivers without private home charging infrastructure. XEV addresses this with its proprietary battery swapping network.
The XEV YOYO and the upcoming XEV XPRESSION are engineered with a modular battery system. Instead of waiting hours at a charging point, drivers pull into a dedicated station. They complete a fully automated battery replacement in approximately three minutes.
This “SWAPPING” technology does more than save time. It improves operational efficiency for commercial users and ensures the vehicle is immune to battery degradation. Since the driver does not own the battery, they never have to worry about the cell’s lifespan affecting the car’s resale value. This creates a “Zero Usage Anxiety” experience for the owner.
Data-Driven Customization: The End of “One Size Fits All”
The XEV lineup is purpose-built for the narrow streets and high congestion of European cities. With a compact footprint of roughly 2.5 meters, the YOYO navigates historic city centers with ease. However, small size does not mean limited options.
Unlike legacy automakers that push stock inventory, XEV utilizes a data-driven C2M model. Users configure their vehicles via an online platform. They select distinct exterior colors, interior materials, wheel designs, and specific features. This user input triggers a flexible production process that creates a customizable car tailored to specific tastes. XEV uses the massive data generated from these customization choices to refine future designs and forecast market trends with precision.
Commercial Application: Powering the Last-Mile Economy
The flexibility of the XEV platform extends well beyond personal commuting. It is designed to serve the booming last-mile economy. The platform supports last-mile delivery vehicles and shared mobility fleets.
XEV provides specialized enclosed cargo options for logistics companies. The vehicle can even be customized for small business applications, such as mobile coffee carts or retail trucks. For small business owners, the vehicle serves as a mobile asset that can be configured for specific trades, effectively lowering the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs.
XEV has already initiated pilot projects with major European logistics firms to prove the model’s viability for high-frequency urban commuting and commercial delivery. For car-sharing services, the high utilization rates and low maintenance needs of the YOYO make it an ideal asset for time-based rental fleets. The modular design further supports this eco-friendly lifecycle by facilitating easy repair and part upgrades. This extends the product lifespan and reduces waste compared to traditional vehicles that are often scrapped when a single major system fails.
A Strategic Supply Chain for a New Era
XEV achieves this level of flexibility through a strategic manufacturing model. The company adopts a capital-light approach that relies on deep collaboration with mature Asian automotive supply chains. This ensures rigorous quality control and cost efficiency without the bloating of traditional manufacturing.
Simultaneously, XEV is committed to European localization. The company is currently establishing assembly hubs and battery swapping networks across Europe to better serve local demand. This dual approach allows XEV to combine global manufacturing power with local market responsiveness. It ensures that while the technology is global, the support and infrastructure are local.
Availability
Sales and deliveries of the XEV YOYO have commenced in selected European markets, including Italy and Germany. The company continues to expand its infrastructure to support the growing network of users who demand a smarter and cleaner way to move through their cities.
For more information on the YOYO and the battery-swapping network, visit https://www.xev-global.com/yoyo or explore the upcoming XPRESSION model at https://www.xev-global.com/xpression.
Hashtag: #XEV
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
XEV is an innovative electric vehicle company committed to transforming the way cars are designed, built, and owned. Through its direct-to-consumer (DTC) online customization platform and a flexible production system, XEV integrates personalized user demand with modular smart manufacturing. The company’s mission is to make electric vehicles accessible and lifestyle-aligned for everyone. It drives the transition toward sustainable and personalized mobility. XEV positions itself not just as a manufacturer but as a global leader in urban electric mobility solutions.
The partnership brings together DFIQ Media’s extensive omnichannel retail media ecosystem with WPP Media’s advanced programmatic and predictive intelligence capabilities. By integrating customer audience insights through InfoSum – WPP’s privacy-first, no-data-movement collaboration platform – advertisers can activate high-value audiences while ensuring strict data privacy and regulatory compliance.
Through this initiative, advertisers will gain access to aggregated customer insights from the yuu loyalty ecosystem and retail platforms across DFI Retail Group banners, enabling more precise and effective targeting strategies. These audience segments can be securely matched and activated via WPP Media’s Open Intelligence, and delivered through WPP Open – WPP’s agentic marketing platform. This enables brands to unlock new growth audiences, improve targeting accuracy, and access deeper performance insights across digital and in-store environments, including incremental sales, new-shopper contribution, and audience-level effectiveness.
“Retail media is the fastest growing media channel globally and rapidly becoming one of the most important channels for brands to connect with consumers in meaningful and measurable ways,” said Wee Lee Loh, Group Chief Digital & yuu Rewards Officer from DFI Retail Group. The partnership also includes WPP Media’s investment in DFIQ Media’s omnichannel retail media inventory. This includes digital advertising opportunities across the e-commerce and mobile apps of yuu, Wellcome, 7-Eleven, and Mannings, as well as DFIQ Media’s in-store digital screen network of more than 6,000 screens across these retail locations in Hong Kong. “Our collaboration with DFIQ Media represents an important step in shaping the future of commerce-driven media in Hong Kong,” said Michael Beecroft, CEO of WPP Media North East Asia.
Collectively, these retail touchpoints generate more than 60 million store visits every month, giving brands a powerful platform to connect with consumers across the full shopping journey — from digital discovery to in-store purchase.
“By partnering with WPP Media and leveraging privacy-safe technology from InfoSum, we are unlocking the next phase of retail media in Hong Kong – one that combines powerful first-party data with omnichannel activation across digital and physical retail environments,” said Chandana Sunder, Group Retail Media Director from DFI Retail Group.
WPP Media will also bring its advanced programmatic advertising, predictive modelling, and Open Intelligence capabilities to the partnership, enabling automated buying, real-time optimization, and sophisticated audience targeting powered by DFIQ Media’s retail signals.
“By connecting DFIQ Media’s rich retail audiences with our Open Intelligence framework, we can deliver high-yield, privacy-safe, and outcome-driven advertising solutions that reduce waste and drive measurable growth for brands,” said Kenny Ip, Vice President, Media and Partnership Management at WPP Media Hong Kong.
Together, DFIQ Media and WPP Media aim to push the boundaries of retail media innovation – building a more advanced and future-ready retail media landscape in Hong Kong. The partnership marks a significant milestone in next-generation retail media development, combining privacy-first data collaboration, predictive intelligence, and large-scale omnichannel activation to create new opportunities for brands to engage shoppers and measure incremental impact.
Hashtag: #DFIRetailGroup #DFIQ #yuuRewards #Mannings #7-Eleven #Wellcome
https://www.dfiretailgroup.com/
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
DFI Retail Group is a leading Asian retailer driven by its purpose to ‘Sustainably Serve Asia for Generations with Everyday Moments’. As at 31 December 2025, the Group and its associates operated 7,580 outlets and employed more than 79,000 people across 12 markets. The Group is committed to delivering quality, value and service to consumers across the region through trusted brands, strong local market positions, and a broad retail ecosystem supported by extensive store networks, digital capabilities and efficient supply chains. DFI Retail Group and its associates operate a portfolio of well-known brands across five key divisions: health and beauty, convenience, food, home furnishings and restaurants.
DFIQ Media is the retail media arm of DFI Retail Group, connecting brands with millions of shoppers through a powerful omnichannel ecosystem that spans loyalty, e-commerce, and in-store media across leading retail banners. Established in 2025, it aims to deliver everyday omnichannel customer experience through full funnel media solutions powered by first party data intelligence.
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