iWorld
Crunchyroll brings excitement for anime fans in India
Mumbai: Crunchyroll, the ultimate anime destination worldwide, has made two wildly popular titles available in Hindi: “My Dress Up Darling” and “Ranking of Kings,” with more on the horizon. Adding to that, Crunchyroll also announced on Tuesday that anime fans in India have much more to be excited about now and in the months & years to come.
Interestingly, the cost of a Crunchyroll premium membership is decreasing in India as the subscription tiers shift to Rs 79 per month for its fan subscription tier and Rs 99 per month for its mega fan subscription tier. The change also means that fans will be charged in local currency instead of the United States dollar. This price decrease will create consistency across Crunchyroll memberships across channels, including web, mobile, and home devices, and unlock more content for anime fans to enjoy.
In India, Crunchyroll offers nearly 5,500 episodes of anime, with 1,000 hours dubbed in English.
Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini said, “There is a massive appetite for anime in India with a growing number of fans who are craving more of what they love.”
“Our team has worked hard to expand our service—including more content and more dubs—at a more affordable price,” he added.
India’s price reduction is one of nearly 100 across international Crunchyroll territories.
Crunchyroll offers fans and mega-fans premium subscriptions. The Crunchyroll fan membership offers ad-free viewing and access to Crunchyroll’s library of anime dubs, alongside access to Crunchyroll manga and simulcast series day and date with their premiere in Japan. The Crunchyroll Mega Fan membership offers all the benefits of Crunchyroll Fan, alongside access to anime on the go with offline viewing and the ability to stream Crunchyroll concurrently across four different streams.
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
