More signs of turbulence are coming from the troubled online game space, with word that the CEO of Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) has resigned and Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) has overhauled its R&D division to breathe new life into the company. There’s quite a lot of back story to these latest news bits, including a strategic equity alliance announced by the 2 companies at the start of the year that later fell apart for unexplained reasons. The bigger story is the fierce competition in China’s online game market, which has left companies like Shanda and Perfect World struggling to grow and has dampened investor enthusiasm for new gaming IPOs. Read Full Post…
Journalist China
Smartisan Hammered In Smartphone Price Wars
China’s bloody smartphone price wars could soon claim their first victim, with word of massive price cuts from Smartisan, a highbrow brand that launched earlier this year with backing from a well-known personality. Despite its relatively late arrival to the crowded space, Smartisan has gotten surprisingly strong media attention since its launch in May, though not all of it has been positive.
One of the company’s main backers is Luo Yonghao, whose name is well known to many young Chinese professionals due to his popular series of English language instructional tapes. Just months after its launch, Smartisan made news after admitting it was experiencing production problems due to capacity bottlenecks. Last month the company also made a minor splash when Luo got in a high-profile online spat with an influential gadget critic who wasn’t impressed by Smartisan’s models.
Xiaomi In India Data Shuffle
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi is rapidly becoming an expert at shuffling its user data from country to country, with word that it will store data for its users in India on western-based servers rather than shipping such information back to computers in its home China market. This particular move looks largely preemptive, aimed at preventing a new brouhaha similar to one it faced in Taiwan related to concerns over national security and protection of user privacy. The move looks like a relatively smart one in the current climate of global concerns about cyber-security. But it does pose a larger challenge of added costs for China-based companies like Xiaomi with global aspirations. Read Full Post…
China Mobile, Alibaba JV Takes Aim At WeChat
The near-monopoly held by Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat in China’s mobile messaging space could soon get a fresh shot of competition, with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) was in talks for an alliance to revive China Mobile’s (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) fast-fading Fetion text messaging service. Such a powerful tie-up could take direct aim at the current stranglehold on the market held by WeChat, which now has more than 400 million active users and has become an indispensable communications tool for many. Read Full Post…
HP Eyes Chinese Partner For Router Division
Ripples from Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ) decision to break itself into 2 companies are being felt in China, with word that HP is looking for someone to buy a majority stake in its China-based router division. I can immediately think of 2 Chinese firms that would be interested in the stake, namely homegrown networking equipment giant Huawei and also leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992).
China’s second largest networking equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; NYSE: 000063) could also be interested, even though it doesn’t have a past record for major acquisitions. There’s also the chance that one of Europe’s major networking equipment makers might be interested, with Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) or Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) as the most likely choices. Read Full Post…
Online Video Loses More Luster On Missing LeTV CEO
LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) could become the first major victim of a rapid downturn sweeping through the online video sector, with speculation running rife about reasons behind a prolonged trip abroad by the company’s chairman and CEO. The growing speculation that Jia Yueting may be wanted for some kind of wrongdoing prompted LeTV to start the new week by halting trading in shares of its Shenzhen-listed stock, following a slide of more than 10 percent over the last 2 weeks.
LeTV’s stock decline is even more dramatic since the beginning of the year, with the company’s shares down nearly 40 percent from a peak in March when the world was still quite bullish about Chinese online video companies. Much has changed since then, as China’s regulator launched a crackdown on the sector starting this spring. That drive widened steadily over the summer months and has shown no sign of slowing. Read Full Post…
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Seeks China Entree At Tsinghua
I previously wrote that Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) plain-spoken CEO Tim Cook should consider buying a second home in China due to his frequent visits to the country, and the same could be said for Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) more brash founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. While Cook’s frequent visits are quite official and include many stops at government and company offices, Zuckerberg has been far more low-key in his equally regular visits due to Facebook’s lack of official presence in the country where its website is formally blocked. But Zuckerberg wants desperately to find a way to enter the market, which explains his latest low-key appearance at an event this week in Beijing at Tsinghua University, China’s equivalent of MIT. Read Full Post…
Alibaba Eyes Hollywood: Investment Coming?
New reports are saying that Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) CEO Jack Ma, flush with cash just weeks after his company’s blockbuster New York IPO, is headed to Hollywood to talk deals with the industry’s top players. The reports focus mostly on the potential for new content-purchasing deals, as Alibaba looks for a spot in China’s booming market for movies and online video. But what caught my attention was a brief mention in the reports that Ma may be looking for something bigger on his trip, namely a stake in a major or mid-sized Hollywood studio. Read Full Post…
CICC IPO Hits New Hiccup With Chairman Exit
What previously looked like an exciting Hong Kong IPO by CICC, China’s earliest homegrown investment bank, is rapidly losing its luster, with word that the company’s Chairman Jin Liqun is leaving the company. His departure, which was first rumored earlier this month, comes just a week after Levin Zhu, CEO of the company formally known as China International Capital Corp, also resigned to reportedly pursue a start-up in the hot area of Internet finance. Read Full Post…
China Internet ‘Godfather’ Chen Tong Steps Down
The names of top executives from some of the world’s leading tech firms have filled the headlines these last 2 days, as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and IBM (NYSE: IBM) CEO Virginia Rometty visit China to promote their companies. But today I wanted to focus on a far less known Chinese Internet pioneer, Chen Tong, who is making headlines in his native China as he steps down at Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), the country’s leading web portal and one of its earliest Internet companies.
Perhaps one reason I’m attracted to Chen’s story is because he comes from a background similar to my own, starting out as a journalist when he joined a company in 1997 that would later lead to his employer of nearly 2 decades. Anyone who knows the Chinese Internet realizes that 2 decades is really the entire history of the medium in China, and Chen’s early arrival and wide popularity among industry veterans is drawing widespread praise and some sadness as he steps down. Read Full Post…
Apple’s Cook In China, Xiaomi Weighs India Production
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook should consider buying a second home in China, based on the growing frequency of his trips to the country since assuming his current title of the world’s biggest gadget maker 3 years ago. That’s my light-hearted suggestion, following reports that Cook is in China yet again after already paying a visit to the country earlier this year. Meantime, I might also suggest that Apple wannabe Xiaomi buy a few condos in India for its building presence in that market. In the latest headlines on that front, media are reporting that Xiaomi is eying India for its first major overseas manufacturing foray as it pushes heavily into the market. Read Full Post…
