TechCentral
@techcentral.co.za
Business technology news leader in South Africa
Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production in mid-2027 to make room for its Cybercab robo-taxi.
Tesla pulls the plug on the Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck production will wind down around mid-2027 after years of weak sales, freeing capacity for the Cybercab robo-taxi, Elon Musk said.
techcentral.co.za
A researcher has found a hidden list of about 100 000 words Apple's iPhone keyboard won't suggest.
Ducking hell: inside Apple's hidden list of words the iPhone won't suggest
A researcher has found a hidden Apple autocomplete grey list of about 100,000 words and phrases, including "dictator Trump" and "sleepy Joe".
techcentral.co.za
AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede warns South Africa's car manufacturing industry could be decimated within five years.
AA boss gives South Africa's car industry five years
AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede warns South Africa's car industry could be decimated within five years without clear policy. Car makers insist they are staying.
techcentral.co.za
Online now accounts for more than a tenth of TFG Africa's sales, and the store estate is shrinking.
Fewer stores, more Bash: TFG's online pivot gathers pace
TFG Bash online sales grew 53.3% in the six months to September and now make up 10.9% of TFG Africa's sales, as the group closed 120 stores.
techcentral.co.za
The quarter's R78.2-billion investment value is close to what energy regulator Nersa registered in all of 2023.
Big wind farms drive a surge in private power registrations
Private power registrations hit 3.13GW in the July-September quarter, nearly four times the previous quarter, as big wind farms swelled the pipeline.
techcentral.co.za
Nearly 37 000 security flaws were reported in the third quarter, triple the number a year earlier.
AI has turned cybersecurity into an arms race companies can't afford to lose
AI cyberattacks are speeding up and software flaws have tripled in a year. Companies from Booking.com to Ahold Delhaize are fighting back with AI.
techcentral.co.za
Investors are questioning how quickly Big Tech's massive AI infrastructure spending will translate into profits.
The AI trade cracks as Nasdaq plunges
The Nasdaq slid more than 10% from its record close on Thursday as worries over AI spending and scrutiny of data centre expansion hit tech stocks.
techcentral.co.za
Gene editing and AI are behind several of this year's medical advances, but not all.
Gene editing, AI and the medical advances of 2026
Gene editing and AI are behind several of this year's medical advances, but not all.
techcentral.co.za
MTN won or shared 10 of 16 Opensignal awards to keep its best-network title, though Vodacom leads on 5G speed.
MTN keeps its 'best network' crown
MTN won or shared 10 of 16 Opensignal awards to keep its best-network title, though Vodacom leads on 5G speed and Cell C matches it on reliability.
techcentral.co.za
Democrats' midterm election sweep have sent shares in US tech giants soaring.
US election results fuel Big Tech rally
Democrats' midterm election sweep have sent shares in US tech giants soaring as fears of overspending on data centres subside.
techcentral.co.za
DJ Zinhle's Bestie Connect is a prepaid mobile network on MTN, aimed squarely at her followers.
DJ Zinhle is launching a mobile network for her 'besties'
DJ Zinhle is launching Bestie Connect, a prepaid mobile network on MTN aimed at her 5.6 million followers, built with former XLink boss Hymie Marnewick.
techcentral.co.za
Zadna has opened a tender for a 10-year contract to run South Africa’s .co.za domain registry.
Race opens to run South Africa's .co.za domain
Zadna has opened a tender for a 10-year contract to run the .co.za registry, which is currently operated by the ZA Registry Consortium until 2027.
techcentral.co.za
Pick n Pay is rolling OrderGrid's AI platform out to 720 stores after a successful pilot.
Pick n Pay turns to AI to speed up online orders
Pick n Pay is rolling out OrderGrid's AI store operations platform to more than 720 stores after a pilot cut online order-picking times by about 30%.
techcentral.co.za
Airtel's Vittal, MTN's Mupita and Vodafone's Della Valle will lead the GSMA until December 2028.
Africa's mobile heavyweights take charge of the GSMA
Airtel's Gopal Vittal, MTN's Ralph Mupita and Vodafone's Margherita Della Valle will lead the GSMA until 2028, and all three have big African businesses.
techcentral.co.za
Apple sees its holiday-quarter gross margin falling to 45-46% as memory chip costs keep rising.
The memory boom making Samsung rich is now squeezing Apple
Apple warns rising memory costs will cut its holiday-quarter gross margin to 45-46%, as the AI memory boom enriches chip makers like Samsung.
techcentral.co.za
New-energy vehicle sales have already passed last year's total, but fully electric cars remain a sliver of the market.
Sales of new-energy vehicles are surging in South Africa
South Africa's new-energy vehicle sales already exceed last year's total, and plug-in hybrids outsell fully electric cars by more than 2.5 to one.
techcentral.co.za
Opinion | Two seismic-survey judgments show data centre developers what happens when public participation fails and succeeds, writes Claire Tucker.
Data centre developers risk a Wild Coast-style defeat
Shell lost on the Wild Coast and TGS won in the Orange Basin. Bowmans' Claire Tucker on what data centre developers must learn about public participation.
techcentral.co.za
Icasa says South Africa’s trade in second-hand network licences isn’t working and wants direct applications instead.
The door to new network operators in South Africa is about to open
Icasa says the trade in second-hand licences isn’t working and wants new network operators to be able to apply for licences directly.
techcentral.co.za
Chainalysis says thousands of rapid transactions suggest the record Binance haul is being laundered automatically.
Binance hackers using automated laundering 'never seen before'
Chainalysis says the Binance hackers are laundering the record haul with thousands of automated transactions, as customers pull $3.6-billion.
techcentral.co.za
South Africa's draft space law would make building a satellite without a licence a criminal offence.
South Africa wants a new space regulator
South Africa's draft space law would make it an offence to build a satellite without a licence, and could reach companies using satellite data, too.
techcentral.co.za
MTN Nigeria's service revenue growth recovered to 19.7% in the third quarter after a second-quarter slump.
MTN Nigeria's growth engine restarts
MTN Nigeria results: service revenue growth recovered to 19.7% in the third quarter, but fintech revenue fell 58% after the airtime lending suspension.
techcentral.co.za
Altron raised its interim dividend 15% to 55c as headline earnings from continuing operations rose 14%.
Altron lifts dividend 15% as IT services returns to growth
Altron raised its interim dividend 15% to 55c as Heps rose 14% and IT services revenue grew for the first time since restructuring.
techcentral.co.za
Analysts expect memory-chip costs to drag Apple's quarterly profit growth to its weakest in six quarters.
John Ternus faces first big test as Apple CEO
John Ternus hosts his first earnings call as Apple CEO, with investors watching memory costs, AI and the iPhone Duo's screen problems.
techcentral.co.za
OPay pulled its planned $304-million New York listing on Friday, citing an inquiry by an unnamed foreign regulator.
Mystery as major African fintech pulls New York listing
Nigeria-focused fintech OPay has pulled its US$304-million New York IPO, citing an inquiry by a foreign regulator it did not name.
techcentral.co.za
Opinion | AI is easier to adopt than to monetise, and agents raise the stakes for market infrastructure, writes JSE group chief operating officer Alicia Greenwood.
Why the JSE is keeping its AI agents on a short leash
The JSE is testing AI agents on market data under tight controls. COO Alicia Greenwood on turning AI adoption into value and governing agentic AI.
techcentral.co.za
AI tools that reverse engineer paid programs are producing free clones of Office, Photoshop and other software.
Free Office, free Photoshop: AI is breaking Big Tech's business model
AI reverse engineering tools are producing free clones of Microsoft Office and Photoshop. What it could mean for paid software and big tech.
techcentral.co.za
Dis-Chem doubled spending on its X, bigly labs unit as headline earnings per share fell 12.8%.
Dis-Chem's earnings slide as its tech spending doubles
Dis-Chem results show spending on its X, bigly labs tech unit doubled as headline earnings per share fell 12.8%. Its new app has reached 22,000 customers.
techcentral.co.za
Intel warned that weak PC demand could persist into 2027. Its shares fell 25% in pre-market trading.
Intel's comeback hits a wall
Intel shares tumbled after the chipmaker warned of cash burn, weak PC demand and a $600-million revenue hit from a deadly factory blast in Israel.
techcentral.co.za
Smart Shopper Pro offers free asap! deliveries and extra points, at the same price as Shoprite's Xtra Savings Plus.
R99 grocery subscription war: Pick n Pay takes on Checkers
Pick n Pay's Smart Shopper Pro grocery subscription costs R99/month, matching Checkers' Xtra Savings Plus, as Amazon Prime undercuts both at R59.
techcentral.co.za
South Africa's biggest telecoms operators say they cannot endorse Icasa's biometric Sim rules as drafted.
Icasa's fingerprint Sim plan runs into major telco resistance
Icasa's fingerprint Sim plan faces resistance from the big six telcos' body ACT, which cites cost, the five-number cap and overlap with Rica.
techcentral.co.za