We also have news about the decline of Chinese smartphone sales, the struggles of VC firms in India, and the power of the Kardashian-Jenner clan

Airbnb launches 10-year roadmap [Press Release]

Traveltech giant Airbnb today announced a new roadmap in light of the company’s tenth anniversay, that aims to “bring the transformative benefits of local, personal and authentic travel to every type of traveler.”

The roadmap includes:

• Four new property types: Vacation Home, Unique, B&B and Boutiques in addition to existing Entire Home, Private Room and Shared Space.

• New tiers: Airbnb Plus and Beyond by Airbnb.

• Airbnb Collections, which the company described as “homes perfectly suited to every occasion.”

• Revamped Superhost programme and a new guest membership progamme to be launched this year.

“… We want to go further by supporting and expanding our community so that in 10 years time, more than one billion people per year will experience the benefits of magical travel on Airbnb,” said Airbnb Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community Brian Chesky.

Airbnb has 4.5 million accommodation in 81,000 cities. According to the company, over the last 10 years, Airbnb hosts earned more than US$41 billion and guests have checked in more than 300 million times.

VC firms in India sells stakes in old portfolio companies – DealStreet Asia

Venture capital firms in India are scrambling to sell stakes in their “old” portfolio companies to specialist funds and are seeking fund extensions, according to six anonymous sources in various firms.

The sources also stated that for the first funds out of India, returns will be “far lower” than the commonly expected number of three to five times.

The firms are also said to be unable to get exits from their first fund’s portfolio companies. They are exploring other options such as selling “leftover” companies to specialist funds, seeking another one-year extension, exploring discussions with new investors or LPs, or returning shares to the LPs.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, February 21: Skelter Labs raises US$9M

Snap’s shares took a dive following Kylie Jenner’s tweets – Bloomberg

Social media platform Snap loses US$1.3 billion out of its market value following a tweet by celebrity Kylie Jenner stating that she has not been using the app “lately.” Shares of the company sank six per cent on Thursday.

Both her 24.5 million followers on Twitter and Wall Street analysts have been echoing the same sentiment. Beauty brand Maybelline soon followed by launching a poll on their Twitter page, asking about the relevance of Snap for their users.

According to Citigroup analyst Mark May, the negative reviews could cause user engagement to fall and eventually hurt financial results.

China’s smartphone market slows down, threatening local brands with domestic focus – South China Morning Post

First reported last year, Chinese smartphone sales continue to decline as consumers choose to wait longer for “more significant” features upgrade before replacing their smartphones.

IDC senior market analyst Tay Xiaohan said that more of the smaller smartphone makers “will be forced out to exit the market” this year as shipments continue to decline.

They are expected to be unable to compete with bigger brands –such as Huawei Technologies, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple– with bigger marketing budgets and wider offerings.

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Image Credit: Airbnb

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