15/07/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JULY 15, 2026

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BMW races to catch up in China’s EV market

Nvidia halves Asia buyer list amid China curbs BENGALURU: Nvidia has more than halved the number of Asian customers authorised to buy its AI chips after introducing a “white list” of companies that passed tougher compliance checks to prevent the products from reaching China, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Over the past few months, Nvidia has stepped up due diligence in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, the report said, citing three people familiar with the matter. More than half of its previous customers, particularly neo-cloud providers, failed the initial review and were removed from the list, though they can reapply after making changes, the report added. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. The tighter scrutiny comes as the Trump administration seeks to prevent advanced US chips from reaching Chinese entities through third countries. The US Commerce Department issued guidance in May aimed at curbing advanced AI chips from reaching overseas subsidiaries of Chinese firms, highlighting concerns that Nvidia’s cutting-edge Blackwell processors may have been exported to Chinese-linked entities in countries such as Malaysia despite US restrictions. Nvidia has tightened compliance procedures following pressure from Washington, the FT said, adding that staff now visit customers’ data centres, verify contracts and interview end users as part of the checks. – Reuters China smartphone shipments fall as costs increase BEIJING: China’s smartphone shipments fell 4.3% to 66 million units in the second quarter from a year earlier, as many manufacturers hiked prices to reflect rising memory and component costs, research firm IDC said yesterday. It was the fifth straight quarterly decline, and first-half shipments were down 4.2% from a year earlier. Huawei Technologies and Apple were the only vendors to post growth in the quarter, with shipments up 19.4% and 24.4%, respectively. “Huawei and Apple held their prices steady while competitors were raising theirs, and that gave hesitant buyers a reason to go ahead and purchase in a quarter when most of the market was giving them a reason to wait,“ said Arthur Guo, a senior analyst at IDC China. Huawei ranked first with a 22.6% market share, while Apple came second with an 18.1% share. Xiaomi, which ranked fifth, saw its second quarter shipments down 21.7%, with Oppo and Vivo seeing shipments fall 9.7% and 11.4%, respectively. Most Android vendors raised prices or cut back on budget models in response to surging memory chips and other component costs, discouraging consumers from upgrading. – Reuters

10 BMW investor, said direct China experience was limited among the company’s top executives and supervisory board, adding that the scale of the challenge had not been fully appreciated. “From our perspective, the dynamics here have been considerably underestimated,” he said. A company spokesman said BMW’s senior management had extensive experience in China and the company pursued a country specific product strategy that includes “a greater focus on highly integrated digital services, advanced connectivity features, and rear-seat comfort”. According to Shanghai consultancy LandRoads, BMW’s average transaction price in China in 2025 was 341,000 yuan (RM204,391), below local brands such as Nio, Aito and Denza. Among German premium brands, only Audi was priced lower, at 287,000 yuan. BMW lowered some of its list prices in China in coordination with local authorities in the first quarter, the spokesman said. Independent dealers are also free to set their own sales prices and discounts, she added. But analysts say price cuts alone are no longer enough. Chinese buyers still want value for money, while Zhang said local rivals are “armed to the teeth with cutting-edge features”. “Chinese consumers today don’t just pick a car based solely on deep discounts,” Gasgoo’s Wang said. As BMW’s former production chief, Nedeljkovic is considered one of the architects of the Neue Klasse, a platform underpinning 40 new launches by next year that has generated encouraging early demand in Europe. The China launch of the iX3 was delayed after BMW switched from in house technology to Chinese partner Momenta to provide assisted-driving technology, a feature many local consumers now consider essential. The spokesman said BMW has a different approach to so-called China speed, pointing to thorough tests throughout the development process to ensure customer safety. Gasgoo’s Wang said he first heard about the model four years ago but argued the market has changed since then, with BMW’s marketing around range anxiety already sounding dated. He said BMW’s product

broader struggle facing German premium automakers in China, where the engineering pedigree and combustion-engine heritage that help sell high-margin models in Europe and the US carry less weight with many buyers. “Chinese consumers no longer buy into that,” said Wang Xianbin, vice-president of the Gasgoo Research Institute. Instead, they favour local brands such as Nio, Geely’s Zeekr and Xiaomi, which offer intelligent EV features tailored to Chinese tastes. Chinese premium brands are openly targeting customers of BMW, Audi, Porsche and Mercedes. Only about 5% of BMW’s sales in China are fully electric, according to Global Mobility data, in a market where EVs account for 46% of vehicle sales. BMW’s China sales fell in both 2024 and 2025. Sales at Mercedes and Volkswagen’s Audi brand are also down, dropping 28% and 19%, respectively, in the first half of this year. Hendrik Schmidt of DWS, a top

o German carmaker banking on its Neue Klasse lineup to regain ground as Chinese rivals pull ahead with faster innovation

SHANGHAI: BMW is betting on its long-awaited Neue Klasse electric cars to revive its fortunes in China after two years of declining sales. The problem for the German automaker is that China’s EV race may have already moved on without it. BMW, under new CEO Milan Nedeljkovic, issued a shock profit warning last month that it partly blamed on China – its third in less than three years. On Friday, it said China sales plunged 30% in the second quarter. Some shareholders and analysts say BMW has moved too slowly to bring its long-trailed Neue Klasse, or “new class,” EVs to a market where Chinese rivals are developing increasingly sophisticated electric cars in as little as 18 months – roughly twice

as fast as traditional automakers. “If this had launched two years ago it could have been a game changer,” said Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai based research firm Automotive Foresight. “In today’s Chinese auto market, it is hard to stand out.” Chinese buyers increasingly expect the latest technology from home-grown carmakers such as Nio, which has driven its flagship ET9 sedan over speed bumps with a tower of champagne glasses balanced on the bonnet – without spilling a drop – to showcase the vehicle’s advanced suspension system. BMW’s first Neue Klasse model for China, the iX3 SUV, is due to go on sale in November. BMW’s challenge reflects the

development remained heavily driven from Munich headquarters and the company did not fully understand what Chinese consumers want. – Reuters SoftBank says AI will need US$5 trillion a year by 2040 China has become one of the world’s most competitive automotive markets, with local manufacturers setting the pace in innovation. – PEXELS PIX

TOKYO: The development of AI will require investment of US$5 trillion (RM20 trillion) each year by 2040, and any talk of a bubble forming around the technology is “absurd”, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said yesterday. Over the past two years, the technology investment group has embarked on an expansive investment programme to establish itself as a core AI platform, putting tens of billions into OpenAI, financing data centres and investing in robotics firms. “Every year US$5 trillion, or ¥800 trillion, you might think that’s a lie, but I am confident that’s what it will cost,“ Son said at SoftBank’s annual corporate conference in Tokyo. “The

This will initially be powered primarily by gas before nuclear fusion becomes the main energy source, Son said. “Will we use solar power in space as Elon Musk says? Maybe we will use both, but if you ask me, fusion on earth will be the cheaper, cleaner energy source,“ he said. Son outlined his vision of society in 2040 where 100 trillion AI agents make their own decisions, take action and communicate with other agents. “We will go from a human-centric world to an agent-centric world. The age when humans are the highest life form on earth will end. For better or for worse, it will happen and it can’t be stopped,“ Son said. – Reuters

don’t think people who ask that question know what AI is about,“ he said, reiterating his position on the matter. While Son scored major wins with an early investment in Chinese e commerce firm Alibaba and bringing Apple Inc’s iPhone to the Japanese mobile phone market, others, like bankrupt shared-office provider WeWork, failed to live up to the hype. Presently SoftBank’s highest conviction wager is on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, in which its cumulative investment is set to exceed US$60 billion before 2026 ends. To power AI, Son predicted AI data centres will need power generation of 3 terawatts by 2040, equal to 1.8 times total current global power consumption.

business model will be viable because by 2040, if AI revenue makes up 20% of global GDP, spending ¥800 trillion a year is a rounding error,“ Son said. He did not say how he came up with the US$5 trillion number or the proportion of global GDP he expects AI will make up. Son made his name and fortune through big bets on transformational technologies and is known for enthusiastic speeches touting their promise. AI firms have soared in value while capital expenditure to secure the underlying infrastructure has ballooned, sparking concern over whether these firms will generate sufficient return on their investments. “Asking if AI is a bubble is absurd. I