Amazon to integrate logistics network, SmartCommerce with ONDC; Ericsson lays off 8,500 staff

Amazon announced on February 24 that it will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce, a suite of SaaS products built on Amazon Web Services, with the government of India-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Ericsson has announced the largest layoff in the telecom sector in the current economic slowdown, Reuters reports. Also in this brief, Nokia has announced the G22 – a smartphone with a backplate made from recycled plastic that can be removed easily for DIY repairs; and the latest on how India is stepping up its semiconductor efforts. Notes: Amazon will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce, a suite of SaaS products built on Amazon Web Services, with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the open networks-based ecommerce protocols backed by the Indian government. “This will be Amazon’s initial collaboration with ONDC as we continue to explore other potential opportunities for stronger integration between the two in future,” the company said in a press release on Feb. 24. In some smartphone news, Nokia has designed one of its next phones to make it easy for repairs, with a design that harkens back to the early years of mobile phones. The Nokia G22, developed by Finnish manufacturer HMD Global, is a standard smartphone with a 6.5-inch screen and a 50-megapixel main camera, but it’s the phone’s outer shell and insides that make it special, CNBC reports. The handset includes a recyclable plastic back which can be easily removed to swap out broken components, according to CNBC. With tools and repair guides from hardware repair advocacy firm iFixit, a user can remove and replace the phone’s cover, battery, screen and charging port. More on Scandinavia, Telecom equipment maker Ericsson will lay off 8,500 employees globally as part of its plan to cut costs, Reuters reported on Feb. 24, citing a memo sent to employees and seen by the news agency. While technology companies such as Microsoft, Meta and Google have laid off tens of thousands of employees citing economic conditions, Ericsson's move would be the largest layoff to hit the telecoms industry, according to Reuters. In some semiconductor industry news, India’s minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said last week that India Semiconductor Research Centre (ISRC), a private, industry-led research centre, will soon be launched and the existing Semiconductor Laboratory is being modernised and pivoted into a research fab that will be co-located with the ISRC. The minister was speaking at the opening of the second Semicon India FutureDESIGN Roadshow, on Feb. 24, in Bengaluru. The Government plans to introduce an educational curriculum as part of the Future Skills programme, Chandrasekhar said. “It has been developed in collaboration with industry experts and academics. A large number of colleges will have new degrees, new electives, and new certification programs in VLSI.” “We are actively working with fab companies to create on-the-job training type of internships for students in the semiconductor space,” he said, according to a government press release.