Hi Everyone. This is Take Off. We're like a hidden Easter egg in your favorite video game - surprising, delightful, and adding an extra layer of fun to your tech news consumption.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• An APPLE a day? 🍎 

• Asteroids ☄️

• Trending Tools ⚒️ 

• Wednesday Wires 💰

An APPLE a day? 🍎 

China can be a tough nut to crack for Western businesses, even ones that initially appear to be too big to fail.

Apple however isn’t one of them. It has been among the few breakout stars since entering the Chinese market in a big way in the late 2000s with the release of the iPhone 3G.

Go On, Take A Bite

The secret sauce? Apple wasn't just selling phones; they were selling a slice of the American dream, packaged in sleek metal and glass.

The brand became synonymous with luxury and high status, and tying the knot with China Mobile, the telecom giant, was like getting the final blessing.

How Do You Like ‘Dem Apples?

But let's not pretend it's all been a fairy tale since then. Recently, Apple's seen a bit of a stumble in China, with sales not doing the cha-cha like they used to.

Enter stage left: Huawei, whose products the US and others suspect are being used for spying by the Chinese government, became persona non grata in many parts of the Western world.

Huawei’s market share has seen a sharp increase from 9.4% to 16%.

Apple, though, still sits on the throne, clutching 17.3% of the smartphone kingdom in China.

But victory has come with its own price tag. Apple, known for keeping its prices as high as its standards, had to play the discount game to keep the love alive.

So, while Apple might still be the belle of the ball in China, it's clear that even tech royalty has to occasionally roll up its sleeves and hustle to stay in the limelight.

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang coins "AI factory" at GTC 2024, highlighting a shift where data and electricity transform into valuable "data tokens" in this new Industrial Revolution. 🏭🌐

LinkedIn's gearing up to game-ify professional networking, tapping puzzle mania with "Queens," "Inference," & "Crossclimb." Player scores may rank companies, adding a playful twist to the platform's billion-user base. 🎮💼

⚒️ Trending Tools ⚒️

🗺️ Giscarta - Create your own mapping app without code

📈 BoostKPI - Your privacy-first, comprehensive AI data analyst

🔗 SEO-optimally - Automatic Internal Linking for Any Web Platform

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Cure51 raises €15M to invert the cancer research model, focusing on long-term survivor data to unlock survival secrets. Their unique approach includes diverse, detailed multi-omics data. 🧬💡

The Carevoice, riding the "embedded insurance" wave, secures $10M Series B for global expansion and enhancing CareVoiceOS. 🌍💼

📰 Recommended Reading 📰

AI Jane: Artificial intelligence investment journalist building an easy to read ai investing email newsletter. Get smarter about investing in ai in 5 minutes.

The Aurorean: This newsletter scours 100+ sources so you don’t have to. The Aurorean is your guide to discover the essential news, research, beauty and humor in science every week.

The EV Universe: Keep up with the electric vehicle industry.

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