Manga Launches New Set of Videogames on Various Platforms

Manga Productions launches new videogames across various gaming platforms. (SPA)
Manga Productions launches new videogames across various gaming platforms. (SPA)
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Manga Launches New Set of Videogames on Various Platforms

Manga Productions launches new videogames across various gaming platforms. (SPA)
Manga Productions launches new videogames across various gaming platforms. (SPA)

Manga Productions, an affiliate of the Mohammed bin Salman MiSK Foundation, organized an event called “XP” in Riyadh to launch new videogames across various gaming platforms.
An elite group of media figures, influential content creators, and stakeholders attended the event. It aimed to engage with the players' community in the Kingdom through gaming experiences, exclusive content, and thought-provoking meetings.
CEO of Manga Productions Company Dr. Essam Bukhari expressed his pride in launching the new games and in the achievements of Saudi talents at the global level in content creation and production, such as “The Journey” and “Legends in the Coming of Time”.
He also highlighted successes in the distribution and anime licenses for both Grendizer and Captain Tsubasa.
Bukhari stated that the company is proud to publish three games in the Middle East and become the first Saudi company to publish AAA games by young Saudis, adding that investing in them and believing in their abilities is the strategic choice for regional and global competition.
The games include “Space Adventures Grendizer: Feast of the Wolves”, “The Smurfs 2: Prisoner of the Green Jewel”, and “Flashback 2”.
The “Grendizer” game is an epic adventure and a journey that explores the most famous landmarks and characters within the fantastic world created by “Go Nagai”, the author of the original series.
Players can also discover a fictional world of surprises in “The Smurfs 2” and help the famous Smurfs characters rid their world of green gem monsters.
In the second installment of the game, “Flashback 2”, players prepare to embark on a new mission with Conrad and Aisha in a cyberpunk world full of danger, mystery, and lost memories. The first installment of the game was launched in 1992 and sold more than 2 million copies.



Apple’s China Market Share Shrinks as Huawei Surges, Data Shows 

A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
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Apple’s China Market Share Shrinks as Huawei Surges, Data Shows 

A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)
A woman walks past a logo of Apple Inc in Wuhan, Hubei province July 24, 2013. (Reuters)

Apple's market share in China shrank by two percentage points in the second quarter of 2024, as the tech giant faced intensifying competition from rivals like Huawei, according to data from market research firm Canalys.

The decline underscores the difficulties the US tech giant faces in its third-largest market.

Huawei's smartphone shipments surged 41% year-on-year in the quarter, bolstered by the launch of its new Pura 70 series in April.

The Canalys data, while not providing specific shipment figures for Apple, showed that the company's market share in China dropped to 14% in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease from 16% in the same quarter of 2023.

As a result of this decline, Apple's ranking in the Chinese smartphone market fell from third to sixth place.

Overall, China's smartphone shipments rose by 10% in the quarter, Canalys said. Vivo was the top vendor with a share of 19%, followed by Oppo, Honor and Huawei with 16%, 15% and 15% respectively.

"Domestic manufacturers have demonstrated market leadership, occupying the top five positions in the mainland Chinese market for the first time in history," said Lucas Zhong, research analyst at Canalys.

"On the other hand, Apple faces growth pressure in the Chinese market and is actively focusing on optimizing channel management."

Huawei made a comeback to the high-end smartphone segment last August with the release of a device powered by a domestically-made chip, defying US sanctions that have cut off its access to the global chipset supply chain.

In an effort to boost sales, Apple has ramped up its discounting efforts this year to entice consumers. The US company launched an aggressive campaign in May, doubling the scale of an earlier promotion in February and offering price cuts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318.84) on select iPhone models.

Analysts expect Huawei's strong performance to continue throughout the year. Canadian research firm TechInsights projected earlier this year that Huawei's overall smartphone shipments in China will exceed 50 million units in 2024, with the Pura 70 series accounting for 10 million of those shipments.

That would make Huawei the No. 1 seller with a 19% market share, up from 12% in 2023, TechInsights has said.