Former online clothing high-flyer Vancl is making yet more cuts to its business, as it pursues its dream of finding sustainable profits and making an eventual public listing. Both goals could come sooner rather than later, especially since IPOs by Chinese web firms have suddenly become an investor favorite again on Wall Street, as reflected by new data on the second-quarter IPO market. Such an offering could be compelling if Vancl really has become profitable, since it’s a clear leader in the highly competitive but still somewhat niche area of clothing e-commerce. Read Full Post…
Journalist China
Xiaomi’s Sales Grow, Margins Contract
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…
Cars: Chery, EVs Continue To Sputter
A couple of headlines are spotlighting the ongoing woes of 2 groups in China’s auto sector, with domestic brands and new energy vehicle makers both showing signs of difficulty. In the former category, reports that former domestic high-flyer Chery is closing one of its biggest Beijing dealerships spotlight the broader woes of domestic car brands that are losing share to better-run foreign rivals. In the latter category, another media report is showing that new energy vehicle sales were largely insignificant in the first 4 months of the year, even though they did notch major gains over 2013. Read Full Post…
Weibo: Tencent’s Quick Take On 58.com; Xiaomi Tries On Vancl
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…
New Default, Merchants Bank Move Spotlight China Risk
A couple of headlines are underscoring the high risk that China’s financial sector could soon pose for both domestic and international investors, as the nation’s financiers look for the most creative but not necessarily the safest ways to raise money. In the first instance, China Merchants Bank (HKEx: 3968; Shanghai: 600036) has officially joined the nation’s big national banks in a move to Europe, choosing the free-wheeling Luxembourg market as its first destination. Meantime, media are reporting that yet another domestic Chinese financial product is about to default, joining a growing list of such distressed high-yield offerings. Read Full Post…
Yu’ebao Slowdown, Aug 8 Listing For Alibaba
Newly released data are showing an inevitable slowdown at Yu’ebao, Alibaba’s inaugural financial product that has shaken up China’s stodgy banking industry since its launch a year ago. The data released by Alibaba’s Tianhong Asset Management, which officially runs Yu’ebao, also shows the product’s return rate has dropped considerably from earlier levels, which will further undermine its attractiveness. Separately, media are reporting that Alibaba has tentatively chosen the date of August 8 for its highly anticipated New York listing, which had been previously rumored due to its significance as a lucky day on the Chinese calendar. Read Full Post…
LeTV Sues Xiaomi In Growing Copyright Wars
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…
Consolidation In Focus With Ourgame Plunge, eLong Jump
Big stock moves for veteran online travel agent eLong (Nasdaq: LONG) and newly listed mobile game firm Ourgame (HKEx: 6899) are shining a spotlight on the need for consolidation in many of China’s online sectors, where these smaller players lack the resources to thrive over the longer term. Shares of eLong suddenly soared more than 20 percent in the latest session on trading volumes not seen for years, which will inevitably lead to speculation of a looming buyout offer. Meantime, Ourgame shares tanked 17 percent on their first trading day in Hong Kong, as investors yawned at the chance to buy into yet another mid-sized Chinese gaming firm. Read Full Post…
New Private Solar Group Tackles Trade Wars
Chinese solar panel makers have taken an important step to solving their ongoing trade spat with the west by formally launching a private sector trade association to speak on their behalf. The move gives the panel makers their first truly commercial representative to discuss the matter with peers in the US and Europe, providing a better alternative to the government-backed groups that previously spoke for them. Read Full Post…
Tencent Ties With 58.com, Xiaomi With Xunlei
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…
4G To Boost Unicom, China Telecom By Year End
After several false alarms, China’s slow-moving telecoms regulator has finally made its highly anticipated award of 4G licenses to the nation’s 2 smaller telcos, providing a much needed boost as they lose share to dominant telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). Now China Telcom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHA) will have to quickly build networks based on 4G FDD-LTE technology, the standard used in most of the rest of the world that will now finally make its debut in China. Read Full Post…
