Consolidation in China’s crowded Internet is moving ahead full steam these days, with the latest reports indicating that online matchmaking site Jiayuan.com International (Nasdaq: DATE) may be the latest takeover target. If the reports are true, the talks would mark the latest tie-up that has seen cash-rich Internet giants including Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) embark on a recent buying frenzy for undervalued and cash-starved smaller Internet firms. Jiayuan certainly seems to fit that description, as the company’s shares have languished since its IPO 2 years ago. Read Full Post…
Too much money isn’t always a good thing, as it often pressures companies to put that money to work even when good investment opportunities are limited. Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) demonstrated that reality earlier this week with its purchase of an online app store that had little relationship with its core online search business (previous post), and now Alibaba is also showing similar tendencies with its investment in an online travel services website. In Alibaba’s case, the new investment come as the e-commerce leader posted a record second-quarter profit, and as it prepares for a blockbuster IPO that increasingly looks like it will take place in Hong Kong. Read Full Post…
I avoided writing about Alibaba’s controversial new Yu E Bao financial product last week, not so much because it wasn’t newsworthy but because I was personally tired of writing about China’s leading e-commerce company that has been in the headlines nonstop for much of the last month. But after all the hype has settled, I want to weigh in with my view on this new product because I think most writers have missed the main point about Yu E Bao and why it’s likely to run into big problems. Read Full Post…
Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging platform is moving in many different directions these days, this time adding a major video component through a new tie-up with online video leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). This new tie-up looks smart in some ways, as it pairs 2 leaders in online entertainment spaces that look complementary. But at the same time, Sina needs to be careful in its zealous campaign to commercialize Weibo, or risk alienating its millions of users and eventually driving them away to a growing array of rival products entering the market. Read Full Post…
I have to commend Alibaba founder Jack Ma for his ability to keep his company in the headlines with growing frequency lately, as he seeks to build hype in the run-up to the e-commerce leader’s massive IPO. At the same time, however, Ma runs the very real risk of media burnout if his company continues to flood the market with this steady stream of news bits, even if many of them are truly newsworthy. Read Full Post…
As today marks the unofficial end of a long earnings season, I thought I would take a look at the latest numbers from Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Dangdang (NYSE: DANG), 2 former superstars that are trying to make difficult transitions to remain relevant on the Chinese Internet. Frankly speaking, the numbers from both companies don’t look very exciting and seem to reflect continuing difficulties at both companies. But investors seem to be overlooking the troubles and instead are focusing on the few bits of good news in the reports, with shares of both companies posting solid gains after their financials came out. Read Full Post…
Less than 2 weeks after buying a major stake in leading Chinese microblogging site Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, e-commerce leader Alibaba is back on the acquisition track with word that it’s on the cusp of another deal to buy a similar strategic stake in mapping services firm AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP). While this newest deal would be a bit smaller than the Weibo tie-up, it marks the latest transaction in a nascent M&A wave among China tech firms that looks set to gain momentum during the rest of the year. Read Full Post…
Note: Since originally writing this post, Sina and Alibaba have formally announced their tie-up. (company announcement) Under the deal, Alibaba has purchased 18 percent of Sina Weibo for $586 million, valuing Weibo at about $3.3 billion. The pair said they expect the alliance to generate $380 million in revenue for Weibo over the next 3 years. Sina shares jumped nearly 10 percent after the news came out.
Weibo, Alibaba in new tie-up
It looks like I may have been premature in declaring last month that talks for a tie-up between leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and e-commerce leader Alibaba were dead. According to the latest reports, the pair have resuscitated their negotiations that began late last year and later collapsed due to disagreement over a valuation for Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging platform. Now media are reporting the talks have quietly resumed in recent weeks, and a deal could be announced very soon. (English article; Chinese article) Read Full Post…
We’re seeing some interesting new moves in the smartphone space from e-commerce leader Alibaba and dominant carrier China Mobile, as each makes big new bets in the fast-evolving area. Alibaba is launching its mobile operating system (OS) on a new series of smartphones with several Chinese partners, following a similar aborted attempt last year. China Mobile, meanwhile, is planning a major overhaul for its popular but rapidly aging Fetion mobile messaging service, in an attempt to compete with newer, more popular third-party apps like Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat. Read Full Post…
We’re seeing some interesting moves today on the dynamic e-commerce front, with new signals that Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) intends to make a serious play into the space using its popular Weibo microblogging service as its primary platform. At the same time, the industry’s second largest player Jingdong Mall is throwing out a new challenge by preparing to enter the B2B space now dominated by industry leader Alibaba. Read Full Post…
A couple of news bits in the crowded e-commerce space indicate that a previously rumored tie-up between leading portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and e-commerce leader Alibaba is officially dead, while search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) may have finally found a potent new partner in leading global retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT). The 2 developments once again show how non e-commerce firms are all scrambling to get a piece of a market that could easily overtake traditional businesses like advertising and search to become China’s most lucrative online sector. Read Full Post…
