OCTOBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8NEWSROOMTECH MAHINDRA SHARES JUMP 6% ON STRONG DEAL WINS AND REVENUE GROWTHTech Mahindra shares rose more than 6% on Friday, October 16, after the Indian IT services company reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and strong new deal wins. The results lifted investor confidence and supported gains across the Indian IT sector, as companies continue to look for new business opportunities amid cautious spending by global clients.Tech Mahindra secured new deals worth $1.02 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, a 25.4% increase from the same period last year. The strong bookings come at a time when investors are closely watching IT services growth and contract wins to understand how well companies are handling uncertain market conditions.Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has dropped its plan to build a new assembly plant in Malaysia and will instead work with a local automotive company to produce its vehicles. The decision will allow BYD to use existing manufacturing facilities rather than spend money and time building a new factory.The company had announced plans for a plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak, in August 2025. However, BYD Malaysia Managing Director Jacob Ma confirmed in September 2026 that the project would not go ahead. BYD has since chosen Inokom Corporation, a subsidiary of Sime Motors, as its local assembly partner as it looks to expand its business in Malaysia's electric vehicle market. Hong Kong-based Rice Robotics has joined the Embodied AI International Applications Hub to test and develop robots for practical use. The company will work with the hub to explore how AI-powered robots can support activities in education and manufacturing.The partnership was announced on October 15, 2026, by Axonex AI Group, which has a majority-owned joint venture linked to Rice Robotics. The announcement also included the launch of TOMO, a wheel-based humanoid robot designed for educational use. The move comes as Hong Kong looks to expand its robotics industry and encourage the use of artificial intelligence in everyday applications. BYD DROPS MALAYSIA PLANT PLAN, TURNS TO LOCAL ASSEMBLY PARTNERRICE ROBOTICS JOINS HONG KONG'S EMBODIED AI HUB FOR REAL-WORLD TESTSBYTEDANCE NEARS MEDIATEK DEAL TO SECURE AI CHIPS FOR DATA CENTRESByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is in talks with Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek to buy customised chips for its data centres. The proposed deal could help ByteDance get the computing power it needs to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) services and compete with other major technology companies.The talks come as ByteDance increases its spending on AI infrastructure and looks for more sources of chip supply. Restrictions on access to advanced semiconductors have made it harder for some Chinese companies to obtain certain processors. For MediaTek, the deal could create a new business opportunity beyond its main smartphone chip business.
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