Supreme Court rules for Tencent in antitrust lawsuit
Big foreign multinationals may be feeling the heat from a recent string of anti-monopoly investigations, but Chinese Internet firms won’t have to face such worries anytime soon. That’s the latest message coming from Beijing, with word that China’s Supreme People’s Court has ruled in favor of social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) in a long-running lawsuit claiming the company controlled a monopoly in the instant messaging market. I originally sided with Tencent when the case was filed 3 years ago by security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), because I felt the lawsuit looked retaliatory for an unrelated suit between the pair at that time. But much has changed since then, most notably the meteoric rise of Tencent’s wildly popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service that has become an indispensable tool for millions of people in China, myself included. Read Full Post…
Two high-profile executive moves are highlighting the recent attraction of China’s tech story to both domestic Chinese and foreigners, lured by breakneck growth that produced the world’s biggest-ever IPO last month with the $24 billion IPO of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). The first move has seen former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Jai Mani leave his position in a California-based start-up to take an India-based job at fast-rising Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi. The other has seen well-known Chinese financier Levin Zhu jump ship from the top post at CICC, China’s oldest investment bank, reportedly to start his own company involved with Internet-based finance. Read Full Post…
A new cloud computing tie-up between US networking equipment giant Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and leading Chinese TV maker TCL (HKEx: 1070; Shenzhen: 000100) caught my attention more due to its broader implications for both companies rather than the modest size of the actual investment. The deal comes as Cisco is facing difficulties in China, the direct result of an ongoing spat between Washington and Beijing over cyber security. At the same time, it also represents the latest in a string of recent signals that TCL is eying some new global alliances, a decade after 2 high-profile tie-ups with other western partners ended in disaster. Read Full Post…
The headlines are buzzing today about the latest Hurun Report listing the richest people in China, which has a decidedly tech flavor this year that hints at trouble ahead for the overcharged Internet sector. The report has become a gold standard for gauging the latest business trends in China, but is also famous for focusing on industries that have become overheated. That’s not too surprising, since it’s often such overheating that leads to huge surges in company share prices, which are most often the main foundation for calculating individuals’ wealth. This year half of the top 10 richest men in China come from the tech sector. Read Full Post…
Conspiracy talk was buzzing through the microblogging realm this past week, as numerous executives weighed in on 2 major news events in the China tech world. One of those saw Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) finally unveil its new iPhone 6, only to mysteriously yank China from its global launch map without any explanation. The other saw executives speculating on the significance of and reasons behind the surprise defection of Zhang Yaqin, a longtime China-based Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) executive who abruptly left the company for a job at leading Internet search company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
A year of hype surrounding what’s likely to become the biggest IPO in history will officially end later this week, when homegrown Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba formally lists on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO will give most global investors access to Alibaba’s shares and a chance to profit from one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing e-commerce markets. Read Full Post…
The latest headlines about an upcoming IPO for online game operator Linekong made me realize it’s been quite a while since we last saw any news of offshore listing plans by Chinese Internet and tech firms. Such listings were coming nonstop earlier this year, and saw a wide range of names including the Twitter-like Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) and real estate services site Leju (NYSE: LEJU) all make IPOs in New York. But the Internet IPO pipeline has gone largely silent since early August, when mobile game operator iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY) made its trading debut. Read Full Post…
I’ve become a big fan lately of top Internet company Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has taken a more focused, measured approach to M&A in a recent string of major acquisitions and tie-ups by China’s top 3 web firms. But the company seems to be rapidly moving into M&A overdrive, following word of 3 major new deals this week alone, none of which looks too exciting or focused. Whereas nearly all of Tencent’s tie-ups to date have been with other online firms, the trio of rumored new deals all involve major players from traditional industries that have little or no experience on the Internet. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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A new report on big investment plans in digital media by Hunan Satellite Television is shining a spotlight on this aggressive company in interior China, and its potential to become an important consolidator as Beijing looks to revamp the stodgy traditional media sector. According to that report, Hunan Satellite is planning to invest 1 billion yuan ($160 million) in its Mango TV service, which delivers video over the Internet and other digital platforms and competes directly with private sector firms like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba, China Grand Auto To Set Up Used Car E-commerce Platform – Source (Chinese article)
Anti-Trust Probe Ends For 12 Automakers, Fines To Total More Than 1 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
