The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 29-December 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba-Backed (NYSE: BABA) Momo Seeks Up To $232 Mln In Chat App IPO (English article)
Wanda Cinema Line Gets First-Round Regulatory Approval For China Listing (Chinese article)
Cosmetics Start-Up Hanhoo Gets 100 Mln Yuan-Plus Funding From Sequoia (Chinese article)
TPG Exits China Grand Auto Investment Via Haitong (HKEx: 665) Sale (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Says Execs Sold Company Shares For Cruise Investment (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Weibo’s latest moves to stop users from defecting to WeChat reflect the company’s concerns over its fading momentum, and send a negative signal that will put pressure on its stock.
Weibo takes new steps to counter WeChat’s rise
An entertaining war is breaking out in the social networking (SNS) space, with word that the Twitter-like Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) is taking steps to punish people who use the service to promote their parallel accounts on archrival WeChat. I say this particular war is somewhat entertaining, as it seems quite petty and reflects the intense competition between these 2 companies. But at a more serious level, Weibo’s move reflects the very real fact that its service is rapidly losing eyeballs to the trendier WeChat, which is far more versatile and is also optimized for the fast-growing mobile Internet space. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: WeChat will face slow progress in the US and other global markets due to strong competition, and will be hobbled by concerns that it may monitor its users activities like it does in China.
WeChat in US promotion on UCLA campus
Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat mobile messaging service may be wildly popular in China, but it’s facing a steep uphill climb outside its protected home market. My own recent experience using the service in Hong Kong this week highlights one of WeChat’s biggest problems, namely concerns among users that their activities may be monitored and censored. That kind of issue could push users to more popular western brands like WhatsApp and Line, which have cleaner reputations. Tencent itself isn’t helping the situation by using a half-hearted promotion strategy in the US, as highlighted in a new report on some of its recent activities to crack that highly competitive market. Read Full Post…
Most of China’s high-tech attention was focused on the scenic canal city of Wuzhen near Shanghai this past week, as a who’s-who of top Internet executives gathered for a conference that billed itself as a global gathering. Most of China’s top names were reportedly at the event, including Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Robin Li, Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Jack Ma and NetEase’s (Nasdaq: NTES) Ding Lei. But the guest list was notably lacking in major global names, and at least one executive commented on the sensitive subject of the exclusion of global leaders like Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) from the Chinese Internet.
Meantime, the marketing savvy Lei Jun, who is also CEO and hypemaster supreme for smartphone sensation Xiaomi, also managed to make his own mini splash in the microblogging realm by declaring his own ambition to overtake Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to become the world’s biggest smartphone brand. Such hype from Lei isn’t all that unusual, though I was somewhat surprised to see several executives from other firms chime in with support for this upwardly mobile company. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: After a slow start, China’s VNO program is picking up momentum, with new operators poised to sign up a collective 50 million in total subscribers as soon as the middle of next year.
VNOs gain momentum
After a decidedly slow start in their first half year of life, China’s young crop of virtual network operators (VNOs) are starting to show some new signs of momentum, including a boost with the new awards of licenses to leading online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi. The VNO program is part of Beijing’s efforts to breathe new life into the telecoms services sector by opening it up to new private operators that can compete with the big 3 state-run telcos. But the program has been plagued with glitches since the first new services launched in the spring, with the result that progress has been slower than expected. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Strong demand for Alibaba’s newly issued bonds testifies to its popularity among investors, especially short-term traders, and the debt is likely to see high trading volumes before activity settles down next year.
Investors clamor for Alibaba bonds
It seems that anything with the Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) name is in huge demand these days, with word that a massive $8 billion bond offering by China’s leading e-commerce company was massively oversubscribed. To put things in perspective, the previous largest bond program by a Chinese Internet firm came earlier this year from social networking leader Tencent (HKEx: 700), which announced plans to raise up to $5 billion. But unlike Tencent, which had to sell the bonds in several offerings over a few months due to the big amount, Alibaba has been able to easily sell its entire $8 billion offering in a single shot. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 22-24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU), Xiaomi Get VNO Licenses In 4th Round Of Awards (Chinese article)
Disney (NYSE: DIS) Expands Shanghai Media Group (SMG) Partnership To TV (Englisha article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Flippers Eke Out $11.5 Mln Gain In Bond Debut (English article)
Oriental Pearl, BesTV Complete Merger, Become SMG’s Internet Flagship (Chinese article)
Los Angeles Mayor Presses China To Allow More Hollywood Films (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Sells $8 Bln Of Bonds In Company’s Debut Sale (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) To Launch Its App Store In China – Report (English article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Said To Prepare Inaugural Bond Issue For Today (English article)
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Sees Progress In Talks In China On Licensing Fees (English article)
Bottom line: A weak debut for eHi reflects waning investor enthusiasm for Chinese IPOs, while a new $585 million investment in Huayi Bros reflects strong growth prospects for the independent filmmaker.
eHi IPO sputters out of the gate
A flurry of fund-raising events are in the headlines today, led by a weak trading debut for car rental specialist eHi Car Services (NYSE: EHIC) and a big capital infusion for Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027), one of China’s leading independent film makers. Rounding out the activity are reports confirming that smartphone high-flyer Xiaomi has made its largest investment to date, spending $300 million for a stake in iQiyi, China’s second largest online video site owned by Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
Bottom Line: Despite strong competition, e-commerce giant Amazon stands a chance of success in China by leveraging its unique strength supported by its global logistic system and trusted brand.
By Lu Jin
Amazon launches imported goods store for China
Even as numerous buyers and sellers in China created another record online shopping spree in the virtual malls of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) on Double Eleven day last week, global e-commerce giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) also did something new: It launched its Chinese language online store offering imported goods, called “shop overseas”.
Voices were heard in the market in no time: “Here comes the wolf!”
Just how bad is this “wolf”, or is the wolf really even coming? Read Full Post…
