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Taking robotics, AI, IoT to the world Innovation
enriches
GOING GLOBAL |
Terminus sews up
struggling
plans to expand into
the Middle East, North
village in
Africa post Dubai expo
Jiangxi
By ZHENG YIRAN By LIU YUKUN
zhengyiran@chinadaily.com.cn liuyukun@chinadaily.com.cn
At the corporate headquarters of From surviving to thriving,
Terminus Group in Beijing, engi “agritainment” has traveled a
neers of the hightech company are long road already, said Lu Xian
busy testing robots. rong, 47, a resident of Changshui
The machines will add value to village in Wuning county of
the Expo 2020 Dubai to be held Jiangxi province.
from Oct 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Lu coowns an agritainment —
Terminus is the only Chinese it is a portmanteau of agriculture
company selected as the official pre and entertainment — business,
mier partner of the Expo 2020 and was thrilled to see the firm’s
Dubai. revenue grow by nearly 10 times
It will serve as a representative of in the past six months.
Chinese companies and showcase The tourism industry’s
the nation’s experience in artificial rebound, which came mostly on
intelligence, internet of things, digi the back of a spike in travel dur
tal economy, smart city, among oth ing the extended National Day
ers. holiday in early October, has ben
During the event, Terminus will efited Lu as well.
press into service more than 150 Unsurprisingly, he is upbeat
robots, including patrol robots, wel about the future of agritainment
come robots, guiding robots, and in China. Located near the tour
goodsdelivering robots. ism hot spot of Jiuling Mountain,
Its mascot robot called Opti is Changshui village has about 94
expected to interact with tourists A Terminus intelligent service robot is on display at an exhibition of scientific and technological achievements in Beijing in October 2019. percent of its 8,400 hectares cov
from around the world, welcoming Terminus will deploy more than 150 robots at the Expo 2020 Dubai, which has been rescheduled to next year. FENG YI / FOR CHINA DAILY ered with forests and creeks.
them, hugging them, and even tak This helps improve air quality
ing photos with them. and creates noise barriers, mak
Mohammed Al Hashmi, chief to go global,” he said. was appointed. In 2019, the Nation expo concludes, with plans made to field of building smart cities, the ing the village a preferred choice
technology officer of the Expo 2020 Terminus will establish its first al Artificial Intelligence Strategy redesign the space to fit entirely new company will develop a smart sys of tourists tired after a day of
Dubai, said that the world is aston overseas headquarters and research 2031 was adopted by the UAE cabi purposes such as residential build tem that can integrate fire protec climbing the mountain.
ished by China’s lead in technolo and development center in District net, with the ultimate goal of mak ings, hotels, museums, schools, and tion, energy and facility Three years back, Lu leveraged
gies like 5G, IoT, AI, edge computing 2020, a venue that the expo area will ing the UAE a global leader in the AI office facilities. management, and smart parking. local geographical and environ
and rights management. The expo be transformed into soon after the industry by 2031. The entire new district will be The nextgeneration technologies mental advantages to expand his
offers a great opportunity for China event finishes. According to Ai, the establish constructed with the deployment of will be digitally interconnected and family’s agritainment business,
to showcase its advantages as well “As a pioneer among AIoT tech ment of the overseas headquarters newest technologies — the IoT, AI, help create a smart and innovative like most of his fellow villagers.
as the Belt and Road Initiative. companies, Terminus finds it natu and R&D center in Dubai will allow and augmented reality, just to name ecosystem for futureoriented His firm offers farmbased enter
“As a pioneer in robotics and ral to select Dubai as our first over the company to implement its previ a few. space. tainment, including activities
AIenabled IoT applications, Termi seas headquarters’ location. The ously successful solutions in entirely By that time, Terminus will pro “By far, Terminus has been oper like picking fruits, dining and
nus is a valuable new partner. Our United Arab Emirates, the second new business scenarios, enabling vide local communities and busi ating its five existing projects in Chi homestays.
collaboration will demonstrate the largest economy in the Arab region, the company to diversify, adjust and nesses with knowledge exchange na, and the company will be able to “Even five months ago, we could
potential of robotics, while also has made remarkable progress in improve its existing range of tech programs, financing and invest see its global AI City network come barely earn 60,000 yuan ($8,935)
establishing the foundation for the the field of AI in recent years,” said nologies and products. ment initiatives. It also plans to into being once the final stage of the per month as there were not many
expo venue as a center for technolo Ai. With those goals in mind, it is part closely cooperate with local leading District 2020 project is finalized,” Ai tourists due to the fear of the COV
gy innovation,” he said. In 2013, the UAE government of the company’s strategy to expand technology experts and scientists, said. ID19 contagion,” Lu said. “We
Victor Ai, founder and CEO of Ter launched the “Smart Dubai” project, the application value of its products and set up an accelerator in the R&D Now that the AI City in Dubai has were worried and came up with
minus, said the company was select to boost the local economy with cut into new niches, and therefore center to incubate local AI and IoT been established, Terminus plans to ways to save our business. Luckily,
ed by the expo as a result of its tingedge technology innovations in enhance the adaptability of its startups. expand its business in other Middle we survived.
mature core technology and the all sectors, ranging from upgrades smart solutions. The company said that District East countries, as well as in North “Currently, our monthly reve
experience it accumulated from the in the field of technology develop According to the “Master Plan for 2020 will become a crucial compo Africa, bringing its already mature nue from our dining and home
domestic market. ment to the government adminis the District 2020 after the Expo nent of Terminus’ global AI City net business lines like energy manage stay services is about 500,000
“Our global vision, good corpo tration processes. 2020 Dubai”, 80 percent of the 438 work deployment strategy. Having ment, facility management, smart yuan. Our October revenue was
rate image and strong resource inte In 2017, the country’s first “minis hectare infrastructure of the exhibi earned recognition for its substan parking, and security management, around 800,000 yuan, thanks to
gration competence also helped us ter of state for artificial intelligence” tion venue will be retained after the tial expertise and capabilities in the to the world. the National Day holiday rush.
Every day, there were about 70
people eating in our restaurant.
Shenzhen Transsion’s smartphones Our homestay rooms were fully
occupied during the holiday.”
That helped reinforce his confi
enthral consumers in African markets dence in the industry’s future.
“Tourism is recovering now and I
am also expanding my business.
For the National Day holiday, I
NAIROBI — In the last week of However, the smartphones from added new segments like fishing
October, Benson Mwendwa braved Transsion account for the bulk of for elder customers. I also plan to
scorching heat and noise from a brands on display cabinets that dot add more homestay rooms in the
swelling crowd of onlookers to Mwendwa’s shop.
We have insight into future.”
attend to customers who flocked his He said that he sells an average of the consumption Lu started expanding his fami
phone shop located in a downtown 120 mobile phones every month, habits and pain ly’s agritainment business in
section of the Kenyan capital Nairo and about 70 percent are Transsion 2018, after he let go of a job
bi. brands. points of local users, opportunity that came his way by
The entrepreneur showed an ami Ken Musila, a 27yearold govern and continue to dint of his being a former soldier.
able demeanor as he engaged clients ment employee, admitted that he “We saw big opportunities in
who were sampling different mod has become a big fan of Transsion’s readjust products to the local government’s promo
els of Tecno brand of mobile phones. smartphone brands, and he bought meet changing A saleswoman introduces a model of Tecno smartphone to a cus tion of naturebased tourism. We
The brand is owned by Shenzhen another new Tecno smartphone tomer in Nairobi, Kenya. SUN RUIBO / XINHUA were confident of Changshui’s
Transsion Holdings Co Ltd. lately thanks to persuasion by consumer demands.” tourism potential given its
The phones were neatly arranged Mwendwa. George Zhu, chairman and gen resources, so we wanted to ride
at his elegant shop located in one of Vimal Gada, an entrepreneur, eral manager of Transsion that local consumers in Africa love Boomplay, a music streaming plat the wave,” Lu said.
Nairobi’s bustling downtown street, joined Transsion’s team of salesmen to take photos and share them on form jointly developed by Transsion “We — three brothers and a sis
Luthuli Avenue. about a decade ago when the Chi social media platforms. and NetEase, which is popular with ter — started planning the busi
Mwendwa said that his seven nese smartphone brands were slow million units in 2019. “So we cooperated with the local Africa’s budding artists and entre ness in 2019. We invested over 1
years’ experience in selling smart ly making a wave in Kenya. Analysis from International Data research team in Africa to analyze preneurs. million yuan in it. The local gov
phones in Nairobi’s central business “At that time, there were too many Corporation indicates that Trans the aesthetic preferences of local Rocky Wang defied odds to land ernment helped us with the exte
district has been a case study in grit, mobile phone brands in the Kenyan sion’s market share in Africa users, and found innovative opportu in Kenya with a singular determina rior decoration.”
resilience, patience and humility. market, and Transsion’s advertise reached 52.5 percent in 2019 while nities for image optimization, so that tion to succeed as a salesman for Their agritainment business
His shop is a prized destination ments were not prominent. It was its smartphone market share in the the photos taken by users are clearer, Transsion in the wider African mar launched in April. Today, many
for customers looking for Trans difficult to sell 100 units even in a continent has exceeded 40 percent natural, and beautiful,” said Zhu. ket at a time when consumers had residents of Changshui village
sion’s smartphone brands like Tecno good month,” said Gada. and ranked No 1 by the end of sec Likewise, the company’s launch of limited exposure to Chinese smart are operating tourismrelated
that have resonated with Kenyans However, he said that he has ond quarter this year, in spite of the dualSIM mobile phone in Africa phones. businesses, intent to ride the
from all walks of life, thanks to their opened 16 stores in northwestern global economic impact of COVID became a sensation among local cli “When we first arrived in Africa, wave of fastrecovering tourism.
superior quality and affordability. Kenyan town of Eldoret and has a 19, according to Transsion. ents. the most asked question was, ‘Com The village has six newly
Dozens of sleek Tecno billboards 50person sales team that has man George Zhu, chairman and gener In the recent past, Transsion has pared with other brands, what opened restaurants and saw 12
dot the newly renovated pedestrian aged to sell nearly 60,000 Transsion al manager of Transsion, said the increased its investments in makes Transsion different from oth new homestay service providers
lanes along Nairobi’s Luthuli Ave phones every month. company invested in COVID19 con research and development to boost ers?’” start up since the outbreak of
nue amid growing fondness for Chi Gada said that Transsion smart tainment measures to ensure that innovation capabilities and main He said that he and local sales COVID19 pandemic.
nese smartphones among Kenyans. phone brands have created a buzz in its operations in Africa were not dis tain a competitive edge in the Afri staff members carried backpacks The local government’s meas
Mwendwa said he felt honored to the African market, thanks to their rupted by the pandemic. can market. walking along the streets to sell ures to promote naturebased
be among the growing army of local good quality, longer battery reten The company has embarked on a Africa’s digital revolution has Transsion mobile phones, which lat tourism included free exterior
vendors who deal with smart tion and sleek camera. new marketing blitz amid quest to accelerated thanks to supportive er became a prized commodity in decoration for houses of resi
phones from Transsion Holdings. The high demand for Tecno and increase sales in Africa’s untapped infrastructure and entrepreneur many parts of Africa. dents who offer homestays,
Kenyan consumers have devel other Transsion brands in Kenya is a markets. spirit of the continent’s youth. Papa Medoune Thiam, who about 50 million yuan toward
oped a strong affinity for Transsion’s reflection of their growing appeal in Transsion’s success in Africa lies In October 2019, Transsion joined Transsion’s sales team in Cote renovation of public toilets, park
smartphone brands like Tecno the larger African market. in its continuous insights and solu launched the “Transsion Innovation d’Ivoire in 2011, said the company ing lots, and other infrastructure,
thanks to their high quality, afforda In 2006, a team from Transsion tions to the “pain points” of local Hub” to support the incubation and has provided him a platform to real said Yu Diewen, an official of
bility and longer battery life, said landed in Africa where it sought to consumers besides promoting inno growth of digital enterprises in the ize career mobility and financial Changshui village.
Mwendwa. “It is easy to use even for establish a footprint and in recent vations. continent. independence. The boom in agritainment also
customers with limited education.” years, the Chinese firm has been “We have insight into the con The company said it has been “Transsion provided me a stable helped local villagers to shake off
The retail prices of mobile phones described by analysts as “the king of sumption habits and pain points of involved in the development of sev job while preparing me to face life’s poverty. Villagers whose families
sourced from different parts of the African mobile phones”. local users, and continue to readjust en mobile applications that have challenges with courage and deter were below the poverty line were
world that are displayed at his shop A recent report compiled by products to meet changing consum more than 10 million monthly active mination,” said Thiam. able to earn money from tourism
range from 1,999 shillings ($18.4) to Transsion indicated that its global er demands,” said Zhu. users in Africa. to support basic life necessities,
19,999 shillings. shipment of mobile phones hit 137 Transsion’s research team found Among these applications is XINHUA said Yu.