Smartphone maker Xiaomi’s co-founder Lei Jun is a marketing master, but his lightweight status as a technology expert landed him in the middle of an embarrassing gaffe in the microblogging realm over the past week. I normally would sympathize with someone caught up in such a gaffe, as such mistakes are usually harmless even if they’re somewhat embarrassing. But in this case I don’t feel too much sympathy for Lei, who is such a tireless promoter for his company that this kind of stumble was almost inevitable.
Meantime, the number “2” seems to be a magic one for leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), which made a rare appearance in the microblogging realm to trumpet the formal launch of its new search service in Brazil — its second major foray outside China after a dismal first effort in Japan. In this case, Baidu isn’t really trumpeting the “2” element of its Brazilian story, even though it took more than 2 years for the launch since reports first emerged of its plans for the site. Read Full Post…
Chinese tech executives were waxing nostalgic on their microblogs this past week, reflecting a broader seasonal business slowdown as we head into the quiet summer months when many people go on vacation. The flurry of memories from top executives at smartphone maker Xiaomi, security software maker Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM) and e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) came as a nice break from the usual promotional hype in the microblogging realm, and shows that even executives need to take a break periodically from their usual self-promotion.
While the airwaves were mostly empty of the usual hype, another Xiaomi executive was still at work with his hints that the company has applied for a virtual network operator (VNO) license to offer telecoms services. That move doesn’t come as a huge surprise, since a wide range of Chinese tech firms have also applied for such licenses, which allow them to offer mobile service under their own brand names to attract new users for their core products. Read Full Post…
When the history books are written, “cybersecurity” will go down as one of the key buzzwords for Sino-US relations in 2014, following a nonstop war of accusations between Beijing and Washington. In the latest twist to this story, leading broadcaster CCTV is warning Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) fans to beware of security risks posed by data tracking functions on their iPhones. The implication seems to be that Apple is working closely with government spies in Washington to secretly collect data on the whereabouts of iPhone users throughout China. It’s not really clear why anyone would want such information, but that doesn’t seem to be important to CCTV. Read Full Post…
Customer loyalty poll highlights Xioami’s long march ahead
Cyberchatter over the past week was shining a spotlight on the huge task ahead for domestic Chinese smartphone makers, as they engage in cut-throat competition in their massive home market. A new survey posted by a top regional telecoms executive showed just how little loyalty Chinese customers feel towards most of the domestic brands, underscoring the fact that low prices are still their major attraction.
Meantime, fading e-commerce veteran Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) was also facing its own uphill battle, as its core online book business was reportedly on the cusp of being overtaken by much newer rival JD.com (Nasdaq: JD), China’s second largest player. True to his usual form, Dangdang’s talkative but short-sighted co-founder Li Guoqing was more focused on a new employee incentive plan than the looming negative milestone for a division that was once his company’s core business. Read Full Post…
A trio of cross-border news bits is highlighting the complexities in the China-US trade relationship, where accusations of cybersyping from both sides have raised tensions and threatened to derail business dealings in the sensitive high-tech space. All 3 news bits involve tech giant IBM (NYSE: IBM), which was one of the earliest and most active US tech firms to come to China, and thus stands to lose the most from recent tensions. Two of the headlines look relatively positive, including China’s approval of a multibillion-dollar M&A deal and IBM’s launch of a major new business initiative. The third looks more ominous, and has a top lender preparing to ditch its IBM servers in favor of homegrown products in a shift that looks highly political.
It’s now been 3 years since a series of accounting scandals toppled a handful of overseas-listed Chinese high-flyers, starting with a financial services company called Longtop. The scandals were sparked by opportunistic short sellers, who launched a steady stream of similar assaults highlighting the aggressive accounting practices at many Chinese companies. But after Longtop and 1 or 2 other big names fell, all major companies managed to repel the attacks and get on with business. Now some investors might be wondering if another major player may be set to fall, following new ominous signs coming from embattled security software maker NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ). Read Full Post…
Lenovo’s IBM, Motorola buys come under the microscope
A month after word first emerged that Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) mega-deal to buy IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business was running into political headwinds, Lenovo is coming out and directly saying it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. Some of my sources near IBM are giving a similar message, even after a top Lenovo executive said last month that the ongoing cybersecurity spat between Beijing and Washington could derail the deal. Lenovo is also saying it expects to close its separate purchase of Motorola Mobility in the same time frame, marking the first time I’ve ever seen anyone imply that the purchase of that company from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might face any political headwinds. Read Full Post…
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi is wowing the world with impressive sales figures for the first half of the year that show it is well on the way to meeting its ambitious 2014 target, as it seeks to become the China version of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). But hidden in the latest figures are the less encouraging news that Xiaomi’s revenue grew far more slowly than unit sales of its flagship smartphones, meaning its prices fell sharply and probably so did its margins. That’s not too surprising considering the stiff competition in China’s smartphone market, where Xiaomi has to compete with well-funded homegrown rivals like Lenovo (HKEx: 992), Huawei, ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and Coolpad. Read Full Post…
A series of microblog posts this past week is highlighting the breakneck pace of wheeling and dealing happening behind the scenes on China’s Internet as it undergoes an unprecedented wave of consolidation. What started as a trickle of buying early last year has become so routine that barely anyone notices now when new deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars are signed. Equally interesting are the untold stories of companies quietly being dismantled in the wake of larger deals, and hints of deals to come in the microblog posts of executives at firms leading the consolidation. Read Full Post…
China was traditionally known for its rampant piracy, but is now suddenly becoming a strong copyright protection advocate with the rise of a new generation of video site operators looking to protect their intellectual property. In the latest twist of this new and somewhat unexpected trend, Internet TV operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) has successfully sued fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi for copyright violations related to Xiaomi’s problem-plagued Internet TV set-top boxes. Read Full Post…
Newly listed companies are becoming popular investment targets for some of China’s tech giants, with online classified site 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) and video sharing site Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) both picking up major new backers in the form of Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Xiaomi, respectively. Meantime in other IPO news, a long-delayed domestic IPO for the website of the official Xinhua news agency is finally moving ahead, some 2 and a half years after a deal was first rumored. The case of Xinhuanet is particularly interesting because Xinhua and People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper whose People.com (Shanghai: 603000) website is already listed, recently merged their 2 money-losing online search sites. Read Full Post…
