Bottom line: The iPhone 7 series of smartphones will log lower sales in China at their launch than the previous iPhone 6 series, due to minimal changes and similar designs to their predecessors.
iPhone 7 to get tepid China reception
By Xiaohan Tay
Apple(Nasdaq: AAPL) announced the launch of its latest iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on 7 September and there were a few things that stood out. The new iPhone is finally IP67 certified and water resistant, has a better dual camera with a lower aperture, and longer battery life. These are upgraded features that consumers will appreciate. Read Full Post…
Mid-Autumn Festival is fast approaching, and that means time for all the usual scandals and other negative news surrounding mooncakes, the ultra-heavy treat that suddenly becomes a fixture in city life during this time. I’ll touch on some of those stories in a moment, including one headline on the plunging black market for mooncake vouchers and another on how unhealthy mooncakes really are.
But this year I want to focus on a more positive mooncake story, and one that’s quite personal. That story saw my university unexpectedly resume its practice of giving out mooncakes to employees this year, ending a two year ban of a tradition that dates back at least for the last few decades.
The resumption did come with a number of changes, mostly designed to discourage waste and which I’ll detail shortly. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 10-12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Banks Asked Not to Stop Lending to Troubled Firms (English article)
LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) Partners with AT&T (NYSE: T) on Super Bike Promotion in US (Chinese article)
LMVH Opens Stores for Guerlain Luxury Brand on Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Tmall (Chinese article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Says Hasn’t Been Notified of Fine for Cheating at Tianjin Unit (Chinese article)
Victor Koo Rumored Stepping Down as CEO of Youku Tudou (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s progress in India shows its global expansion is moving ahead despite a recent setback in Brazil, but it will need to replicate that success in other markets to revive its sputtering fortunes.
Xiaomi wristband wins North Korean fans
Former smartphone sensation Xiaomi is in a couple of headlines as the week winds down, both showing how the company is looking to foreign markets to offset its sputtering business in China. The bigger of the items shows how quickly Xiaomi is advancing in India, where it has consolidated its position as the third largest brand just 2 years after entering the market. The second item is a bit quirkier, saying that Xiaomi’s wearable fitness band has become a hot-seller in North Korea, a market that isn’t exactly known for its consumer culture. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Tencent’s new crown as Asia’s most valuable company reflects the rapid growth of China’s private sector in the last decade, and could auger an eventual challenge to global social networking leader Facebook.
Tencent takes crown for most valuable Chinese company
Media are fawning on Chinese Internet sensation Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has just edged past telecoms giant China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) to become the nation’s most valuable publicly traded company. Such a feat would have been unthinkable a decade ago, when the nation’s private sector was still in its infancy and state-run monoliths like China Mobile still dominated China’s corporate landscape. But much has changed over the last 10 years, and Tencent in many ways reflects the huge potential that investors see in a Chinese private sector that has come to dominate many emerging industries like Internet-based products and services. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Foxconn (Taipei: 2317) Invests $120 Mln in Chinese Ride-Hailing App Didi Chuxing (English article)
China’s XIO Group Completes Acquisition of JD Power and Associates (PRNewswire)
Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC), Unisplendour Celebrate New Joint Venture (Businesswire)
In North Korea, China’s Xiaomi Gets the People’s Pulses Racing (English article)
Former Homeinns CEO Takes Gen Mgr Spot at Merger Partner BTG Hotels (Shanghai: 600258)
Bottom line: China Mobile and its peers could take a big hit to their voice call revenues as they roll-out anti-fraud systems to counter negative publicity, while Alibaba could suffer similar but smaller impact to its pre-paid phone card business.
China Mobile cracks down on phone conmen
The same week it officially lost its crown as China’s most valuable listed company, China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is back in the headlines with more bad news related to a swell of publicity involving the nation’s rampant phone fraud. Normally I might dismiss this story, since phone fraud has been common in China for years and is really nothing new. But another similar case this year ended up becoming a huge headache Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), and cost the online search giant huge sums in both market value and lost revenue. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Ctrip’s massive new bond and share offer could raise up to $2.2 billion, and portends a major offshore acquisition in the next 6 months.
Ctrip in $2.2 bln cash raising plan
Online travel agent Ctrip(Nasdaq: CTRP) has just announced a complex plan to raise up to $2.2 billion in cash, in one of the biggest fund-raising exercises I’ve seen by a Chinese Internet company. The huge sum, combined with Ctrip’s existing large cash reserves, raises the obvious question of what this fast-growing company might be planning to do with all that money. One obvious answer is that Ctrip is planning a major offshore acquisition, reflecting its new global aspirations after quietly eliminating most of its local competition to dominate the lucrative China market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Oppo Becomes Major Southeast Asia Smartphone Player, Xiaomi Enters India Top 3 (Chinese article)
SocGen (Paris: SOGN ) in Talks to Sell 49 Pct of China Asset Manager to Warburg (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Installs Phone Scam Warning System in Inner Mongolia (Chinese article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Announces Pricing of Offering of ADSs (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Rumors that Baidu may be planning to merge its take-out dining and group buying units with Meituan-Dianping are consistent with recent market trends, but are less likely to be true due to Baidu’s strong denial.
Baidu denies merger plan for group buying, dining units
I normally try to avoid writing about rumors that lack strong foundation, but the latest gossip about a potential new mega tie-up between 2 non-core units of online search leader Baidu(Nasdaq: BIDU) and group buying giant Meituan-Dianping look too spicy to ignore. Baidu came out with a statement late on Tuesday denying any talks were taking place to combine its take-out dining and Nuomi group buying services with Meituan-Dianping. But that said, any veteran China watcher will know that companies frequently deny such rumors even when they’re true. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: JD’s driverless vehicle delivery program will face problems due to chaos they create on city streets, while its naming of an Yihaodian CEO augers a prolonged new round of price wars with Alibaba for online grocery shoppers.
JD pilots driverless vehicles, names Yihaodian CEO
E-commerce giant JD.com(Nasdaq: JD) is making a couple of major new moves as the summer ends, led by an interesting program using ground-based driverless vehicles to deliver its goods. At the same time, the company has just installed one of its own top executives as CEO for Yihaodian, the online grocery specialist it recently acquired from US retailing giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT). This kind of corporate shuffle is quite common after such acquisitions, and we can probably expect to see some aggressive moves by new Yihaodian CEO Yu Rui as he takes over at the helm of the struggling company. Read Full Post…
