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Media/Entertainment
youngchinabiz.com : latest Business news about Media – Entertainment in China by expert / journalist Doug Young : more than two decades of experience in writting about Chinese Companies
Bottom line: LeEco’s new US launch for its TVs, smartphones and video service is almost guaranteed to fail due to underwhelming product offerings and stiff competition.
LeEco launches phones, TVs in US
A year after opening its US e-commerce site, online video superstar LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) has finally launched some of its leading products in the world’s biggest but also one of its most competitive markets. LeEco, formerly known as LeTV, announced it will start selling its smartphones and smart TVs in the US, as well as a new customized version of its core online video service. My main response to this aggressive and ambitious push is: Good luck!
I’ve been a big LeEco doubter for a while now, since the company has gone from relatively obscurity to superstar in just a couple of years through a series of aggressive expansions fueled mostly by taking on new investors and selling its overvalued stock. Its name change from LeTV to LeEco nicely summarizes its aspirations, since the company now bills itself as developer of an ecosystem that delivers entertainment content over a range of devices and services. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new $3.5 billion bank loan to help pay for game developer Supercell and an investment in shared bike service Mobike extend Tencent’s savvy strategy of targeted backing for companies that can quickly contribute to its core businesses.
Tencent nears mega loan for Supercell buy
Leading Internet company Tencent (HKEx: 700) is in a couple of major investment headlines as the new week begins, one in the virtual realm and the other grounded on the streets of major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The larger of the items comes with word that Tencent is on the cusp of securing a $3.5 billion loan to help pay for its pending purchase of a controlling stake in Finnish game maker Supercell. The other item has the company leading a recent funding round for Mobike, operator of a shared bicycle service that is helping to revive China’s biking tradition. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba will have to spend more heavily to rid its marketplaces of trafficking in pirated goods, while its Steven Spielberg partnership is part of a new wave of deeper film tie-ups between China and Hollywood.
Alibaba ties with Spielberg’s Amblin
Internet giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is being rebuffed and embraced in the US in 2 separate headlines, reflecting conflicting feelings many Americans have towards one of China’s largest private companies and their sometimes controversial business practices. In the more upbeat headline, Alibaba’s movie-making unit has just signed a major new tie-up with director Steven Spielberg to co-produce movies from his Amblin Entertainment and distribute them in China. But in a far less friendly overture, Alibaba is also being blasted by a major US apparel group for lack of progress in its battle to stamp out trafficking in pirated goods in its online marketplaces. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: LeEco’s major new push into the US smart TV market could achieve some success due to its recent Vizio purchase, though its concurrent smartphone drive will be a dud due to lawsuits and mediocre product quality.
LeEco revs for US smart TV launch
Watch out, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Chinese online video superstar LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) is taking direct aim at the lucrative US online video and smartphone markets, with plans for major new product launches later this month. I’ll admit I’m doing a bit of educated guessing here, since the company formally known as LeTV hasn’t made any formal announcements yet on its US ambitions.
But all the signs certainly point in that direction, following LeEco’s headline-making $2 billion July purchase of Vizio, a struggling maker of cheap, no-name TVs that is one of the biggest and also most obscure names in the huge US market. Added to that is LeEco’s recent issue of invitations to an event set for October 19 in San Francisco, where it says it will announce its “disruptive vision of a connected ecosystem of content-driven smart devices to the US market.” (English article) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Giant Interactive is banking on Playtika to jump-start its stalled growth, while NetEase’s extension of a major licensing deal will further consolidate its position as China’s second largest online game firm.
NetEase extends Blizzard agreement
A couple of gaming stories are making headlines as we head towards the long Chinese national day holiday, with NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Giant Interactive both inking major deals that should help cement their place as 2 of China’s top players. The first deal has NetEase extending its long-running licensing deal with top global game designer Blizzard Entertainment (Nasdaq: ATVI) for some of its most popular titles, including the World of Warcraft series. The second has Giant buying Israeli social game maker Playtika, in a deal that was previously reported to be worth around $4.4 billion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Wanda is likely to succeed in its purchase of Dick Clark Productions, but could pay a rich premium for the awards show producer as part of an effort to develop similar programs in China.
Wanda in talks to buy Dick Clark Productions
Just a week after making headlines through a strategic tie-up with Sony Pictures, China’s star-struck Wanda Group is in talks for yet another blockbuster deal to buy Dick Clark Productions, known for producing a number of popular award shows. My first reaction to the headline was a big “So what?” since the production company’s namesake, who died in 2012, is best known to me as the maker of the aging annual program celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square, New York. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Wanda’s new production tie-up with Sony Pictures will provide movies for its cinema chains in China and globally, but could become a drag on its theater operations if the films are poorly received.
Wanda opens new resort in Hefei
Just days after receiving a major setback to its plans to invest in Paramount Pictures, Chinese Hollywood wannabe Wanda Group has just announced a film production tie-up with Sony Pictures. This particular deal looks decidedly like a consolation prize for Wanda, which is trying to build up a diversified entertainment empire similar to Disney (NYSE: DIS).
The company was bidding for a stake in Paramount, one of the top 6 Hollywood studios, after the studio said earlier this year it wanted to sell a strategic stake in itself. But Paramount ultimately reversed that decision following an internal battle for control of the company’s parent Viacom, leaving Wanda out in the cold. (previous post) This new Sony tie-up doesn’t involve any equity swap, and instead looks mostly like a relatively routine co-production deal that is becoming quite common between Hollywood and Chinese partners. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Lufax’s Hong Kong IPO could launch by the end of this year and will get a strong reception, while Xinhuanet’s Shanghai IPO will get a similarly positive reception due to strong support from state-run investors.
Xinhuanet approved for Shanghai IPO
Just days after the stodgy Postal Savings Bank of China launched an IPO that will be the world’s biggest in 2 years, the much higher-tech P2P lender Lufax has kicked off another Hong Kong listing that’s nearly as large. More specifically, Shanghai-based Lufax has begun hiring investment banks for a listing that could raise up to $5 billion, according to new reports.
Meantime, a flurry of new domestic Chinese IPO plans is also in the headlines, led by word that state-owned online news giant Xinhuanet has been approved for a new listing in Shanghai. China stock watchers might recall that Xinhuanet’s IPO plan first surfaced in the headlines 3 years ago, but was indefinitely shelved due to repeated slowdowns and freezes for new domestic offerings due to market volatility. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Smartisan’s plummeting value and big losses point to a possible sale or closure of the company by year-end, while LeEco’s weak smartphone sales reflect the market’s overheated condition.
Smartisan value gets hammered
Separate stories from 2 of China’s decidedly second-tier smartphone brands highlight ongoing stress in the overheated sector, even though a major casualty has yet to emerge. But that could change soon, with word that the asset value of high-brow brand Smartisan has plummeted over the last year, as disclosed in a new filing by one of its investors. Meantime, online video superstar LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) has disclosed sales figures that look quite weak for its own smartphone business, which it launched more than a year ago with big hopes.
I’ve previously predicted we would see one or two major casualties from China’s crowded smartphone sector this year, though we have yet to see any big names close or get purchased. But there are still 3 months left in 2016, so perhaps we’ll see one or two mid-tier players finally decide to call it quits. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba is the biggest beneficiary of business lost by Baidu after a scandal earlier this year, with search rivals Qihoo and Sogou also likely to pick up new business.
Baidu loses digital ad crown to Alibaba
A couple of news items are showing how Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) core search business is coming under assault from several directions, in an ominous sign for the company’s main revenue source. The first item shows that Baidu has officially lost its crown as China’s top digital adverting platform to e-commerce titan Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), following a scandal earlier this year that wiped out up to a fifth of its revenue. In the other item, reports are saying that China’s other Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) has boosted its stake in Sogou, one of Baidu’s main search rivals, to 45 percent. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Pokemon Go could launch in China as soon as the end of this year, but is likely to get a tepid reception due to its late arrival and fading buzz in other countries.
After months of silence in the world’s largest mobile market, Pokemon Go, the wildly popular mobile game that debuted this summer in most of the world, may be finally coming to China soon. That’s the word coming from new media reports, which are citing the CEO of Niantic, the San Francisco-based developer of the popular title that takes mobile gaming to a new level by adding global positioning (GPS) technology. But the bigger question is whether Pokemon Go will get much attention from Chinese gamers, since it seems to be well past its prime after making global headlines over the summer. Read Full Post…
