Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) are kicking off the China Internet earnings season with results that don’t look particularly exciting but do appear to show some early signs that China’s collapsing advertising market may be near a bottom. If that’s the case, look for the situation to stabilize and start to rebound as early as the second quarter for advertising-dependent firms, perhaps providing a good buying opportunity as spending starts to pick up around the middle of the year.
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Baidu Becomes Latest Sina Weibo Suitor 百度有意投资新浪微博
The list of companies looking to invest in Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging platform continues to grow with word that online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has become the latest suitor to woo the popular social networking site (SNS). Word of Baidu’s interest comes weeks after e-commerce leader Alibaba was also reportedly seeking a similar tie-up with Sina, though that deal was said to have reached an impasse after the companies failed to agree on a price. (previous post) Frankly speaking, all 3 of these leading Internet companies seems to be a bit hyperactive at the moment with unrelated internal activities, prompting me to wonder if each potentially has too many distractions to craft a deal that will ultimately be good for anyone.
Baidu Seeks Excitment With Bonds 百度发债欲寻求兴奋点
If you can’t build it yourself, then go out and buy it. That looks like the message coming from leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), which has just raised a tidy $1.5 billion in its first-ever bond offering that could be used in part for acquisitions as the company looks to diversify. Baidu surprised many, myself included, with this massive new bond offering, which comes as growth for its core search business shows signs of slowing sharply.
Baidu’s Video Buy-Out: Xunlei Tie-Up Ahead? 百度收购私募所持爱奇艺股份 为战略入股迅雷前奏？
Fresh on the release of disappointing quarterly results, online search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is providing yet another news bit that looks like a disappointment on the surface but could be paving the way for an interesting new tie-up in the fast-growing online video space. Company watchers will know I’m talking about Baidu’s latest aborted partnership outside its core search business, with word that the company is buying out Providence Equity Partners from their online video partnership called iQiyi (company announcement; Chinese article).
Online: Jingdong, Baidu, Dangdang 京东进军电子支付 百度营收放缓
A number of interesting tidbits are sifting through the online world today, including news from the e-commerce space that Jingdong Mall is entering the electronic payments space and that Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) has replaced its CFO. Meantime, online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has reported its latest results that show its growth continues to slow, with the rapid rate of the slowdown slightly alarming.
E-Commerce: Jingdong, Suning, Alibaba 电商：京东商城、苏宁易购、阿里巴巴
After a brief quiet spell, e-commerce is suddenly splashing back into the headlines on several fronts, with big news coming from the sector’s top 3 players, Alibaba, Jingdong Mall and Suning.com (Shenzhen: 002024), as each chases new business. Alibaba leads off the headlines with word that it’s preparing to launch a major new promotion on its popular TMall platform; while Jingdong is getting ready to launch a major overseas foray; and last but perhaps most interesting is Suning.com, which is chasing a new acquisition.
Baidu Turns Up Anti-Piarcy Tune 百度展开反盗版行动
Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) made plenty of noise last year when it announced a series of landmark licensing agreements with major Hollywood music labels, trumpeting the move as part of its drive to wean itself from the trading of pirated material on its platforms. But while it tooted its horn over the deals with Universal, Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) and Sony Music (previous post), it also quietly continued to operate its controversial music swapping platform that was the source of much of the earlier criticism. Now in an interesting move, Baidu is being much more low-keye in what looks like its attempt to quietly de-emphasize and perhaps eventually phase out the controversial music swapping service.
Passive Baidu Limits Liability for Piracy 百度被判定对盗版侵权承担有限责任
A new court decision in a piracy case against search titan Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is throwing a spotlight on a painful reality that has seen China’s fledgling music and publishing industries undermined by poor organization and a lack of support from Beijing. The reality is this: While big Western publishers and music labels have home governments and their own powerful industry groups lobbying on their behalf, Chinese authors, musicians and other makers of copyrighted products lack such groups or support from Beijing to promote their cause. Thus the Chinese content producers are virtually powerless to stop the piracy of their material on big-name sites like Baidu, which facilitate trade of illegally copied material through file swapping services.
Alibaba Catches Baidu, Trails Tencent 阿里巴巴追上百度，落后于腾讯
The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba will soon announce the sale of 20 percent of its shares held by Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) to a new investor group for $7.6 billion, in the first step of a slow-motion divorce between these 2 Internet giants. (English article; Chinese article) From my perspective, the most interesting elements of the announcement will be the latest valuation Alibaba gets as a result of the deal, and also the names of the new investors in this massive new stake sale. Both will hint at what the future holds for Alibaba in terms of growth as it moves towards an IPO as soon as 2014.
E-Commerce: Big Spenders Keep Spending 大型电子商务企业继续挥金如土
News from e-commerce giant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) and web portal Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) indicate a long-awaited consolidation in e-commerce has begun at the bottom of the Internet food chain, where many smaller players are quietly closing up shop as big names continue their aggressive fight for market share.
Portals Shun Olympics, Baidu’s New JV 门户网站避开奥运，百度新设合资企业
Second-quarter earnings season and the London Olympics won’t begin until next week, but we’re already seeing signs that an ad slowdown is hitting profits at many Chinese Internet companies as they get set to report their latest results. Specifically, media are reporting China’s top 4 portals have decided to skip expensive rights for live coverage of Olympic events, and instead are opting to provide less pricey video-on-demand (VOD) rights that allow Internet users to watch recordings of their favorite sports after the events. (English article)
