The recent round of online price wars took an interesting turn over the weekend, with data that looks suspiciously like it was provided by e-commerce leader Alibaba showing that a big part of the so-called wars may have been mostly talk and potentially just a publicity stunt by Jingdong Mall’s talkative CEO Liu Qiangdong. (English article) Following that latest development in this colorful story, we’re now seeing reports that Jingdong Mall, which also goes by the name of 360Buy, has blocked all of its prices from searches by Alibaba’s Etao online pricing search engine, which was the source of the original reports that raised the publicity stunt allegations. (Chinese article)
Tag Archives: Dangdang
Dangdang Defiant as Losses Balloon 当当网亏损扩大 但拒不认输
It’s only appropriate that I end this week with one more story on the bloody price wars in China’s e-commerce space that have dominated headlines these past few days, this time taking a look at the just-released quarterly results of Dangdang (NYSE: DANG), the only major publicly traded online merchant. Dangdang saw its loss more than quadruple in the quarter, as its marketing costs soared and margins crumbled due to all the price wars. (results announcement) But in an ominous sign that the company is prepared for a long battle, it also trumpeted the fact that it has big cash reserves that should enable it to weather the price wars for many quarters to come. Meantime, local media are also reporting that Jingdong Mall, one of Dangdang’s biggest and most outspoken rivals, is taking longer to pay its suppliers, in what could be the latest sign of distress among e-commerce companies. (English article)
News Digest: August 17, 2012 报摘： 2012年8月17日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Announces Interim Results (HKEx announcement)
- Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) Announces Q2 Results (PRNewswire)
- Unicom (HKEx: 762), China Telecom (HKEx: 728) May Sever Xiaomi Ties – Sources (English article)
- Silicon Valley Bank, Pudong Development Bank (Shanghai: 600000) JV Opens (Chinese article)
- Toys“R”Us Continues China Expansion with Opening of First Stores in Beijing (Businesswire)
- Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
War of Words, Wal-Mart Heat Up E-Commerce 中国电子商务价格战愈演愈烈
I wrote yesterday that China’s big e-commerce names are showing no signs of easing up their fierce battle for market share (previous post), and today we’re getting news bites from industry giant Jingdong Mall and global retail titan Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) that indicate the situation could get considerably worse before it starts to improve. Leading the news today are the latest comments from Jingdong Mall’s talkative CEO Liu Qiangdong, who has suddenly decided that profits aren’t important for his recently established electronics business, at least not for the next 3 years. (English article; Chinese article) Meantime, in separate news Wal-Mart has won approval from China’s regulator for its previously announced plan to boost its minority share in e-commerce firm Yihaodian to a majority stake, meaning we could soon see a major new offensive from Yihaodian in this already crowded and massively money-losing market. (Chinese article)
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.
News Digest: August 10, 2012 报摘： 2012年8月10日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Online Price Wars to Wrap Up Soon: Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) CEO (Chinese article)
- 7 Days Group (NYSE: SVN) Announces Unaudited Q2 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT) Reports Q2 Financial Results (Globe Newswire)
- Bernstein Liebhard Announces Securities Class Action Against Suntech (NYSE: STP) (PRNewswire)
- China to Subsidies Appliances to Lift Consumption (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Online Wars Hit Suning, No Relief in Sight 电子商务价格战拖累苏宁业绩
Here’s a word of caution to anyone who might have thought that China’s bloody e-commerce wars may start to ease in the second half of the year as companies start to run out of cash: Don’t get your hopes too high. That’s my main conclusion after looking at newly released first-half results for Suning (Shenzhen: 0020204), one of China’s top electronics retailers that seems determined to sacrifice short-term profits in its aggressive drive to build up its fast-growing online business. The big problem in China’s e-commerce wars, which began more than a year and a half ago, has been that most players have access to huge reserves of cash from outside sources and all have indicated they will continue to use that money to fund operations no matter how much their loses mount.
E-Commerce Wars Hit Suning 苏宁沦为电商价格战的新俘虏
Electronics giant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) has become the latest Internet player to fall victim to China’s bloody e-commerce price wars, issuing a profit warning as companies get set to report their second-quarter results. Suning’s warning shouldn’t really surprise anyone since these price wars have been going on for about a year now. So perhaps the 10 percent drop in Suning shares yesterday — the daily allowable maximum under China’s stock market rules — reflects investor realization of just how bad these price wars have become and fact that Suning will suffer some major profit erosion before the situation finally eases.
News Digest: July 12, 2012 报摘： 2012年7月12日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Development Bank Providing $1 Bln to Help US-Listed Firms Privatize (Chinese article)
- 360Buy COO Resigns – Source (English article)
- Ming Yang (NYSE: MY), Huaneng Renewables (HKEx: 958) to Form Wind Power JV (PRNewswire
- New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) Further Strengthens Corporate Structure (PRNewswire)
- Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) Losses Grow, Analysts See No Profits Before 2014 (Chinese article)
Price Wars Shake Up Travel Sites 价格战或促在线旅游业洗牌
E-commerce leaders like Jingdong Mall, Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) and Alibaba are taking their bloody price wars to the travel arena, where a new round of cutthroat competition threatens to infect this more established industry dominated by the likes of Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and eLong (Nasdaq: LONG). This new round of price wars could also potentially undermine up-and-comer Qunar, which just last year received a $300 million investment from search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) but could need even more cash if the sector gets plunged into the same prolonged cutthroat competition now gripping the e-commerce sector.
Dangdang Links With Tencent 当当网和腾讯联手
China’s overheated e-commerce wars are quickly becoming a game of musical chairs that has seen many top names form partnerships with other big players, including an interesting new tie-up between top-tier operator Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and leading Internet company Tencent (HKEx: 700). This new tie-up looks quite interesting and significant, though I should also point out that it’s just the latest in a steady string of recent initiatives for Dangdang, which has also just announced the launch of a more dubious move targeting the wedding market.
