The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Ganji Founder to Yang Haoyong Leaves as 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) Co-CEO, Joins Guazi.com (PRNewswire)
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Leads $200 Mln Investment in Mobile Short Video App ‘Miaopai‘ (English article)
UnionPay, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Said to Reach Apple Pay Agreement for China (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Seeks to Launch Apple Pay in China by February – Sources (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 763) Drafts Proposal to Share 4G Network with China Telecom – Reports (English article)
China’s HNA Agrees to Buy 24 Pct of Brazilian Airline Azul (English article)
LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Drops Listing Plan for Filmed Entertainment Unit (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Google should follow the example set by LinkedIn and Apple and be more transparent when it returns to China, and should work with Beijing to forge a more constructive relationship.
Google eyes China return in 2016
One of the strongest signals yet that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) could soon return to China came late last week, when media reported the company was aiming to open a Chinese version of its Google Play app store next year in accordance with relevant Chinese laws. Such a move would represent an important improvement in the company’s relationship with Beijing, coming 6 years after Google shuttered its China-based search service due to a disagreement on self-policing policies that apply to all sites in China.
The shift is being driven by both sides, amid a realization that they can work together constructively to each other’s benefit. Google’s realizes that China is a market it can’t afford to ignore, with the world’s largest base of 600 million Internet users and 1.3 billion mobile subscribers. Beijing also realizes that a high-tech giant like Google can bring important technology and know-how to the country, whose large stable of smartphone makers already rely heavily on Google’s free Android operating system (OS). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Major new financing for Recurrent Energy and Apple’s growing partnership with SunPower reflect technology advances that are making solar power plants increasingly competitive with traditional sources.
Recurrent wins financing for major new solar plant
Two solar power plant builders are in the headlines today, reflecting a shift that is seeing this new generation of companies take the spotlight from older solar panel makers that are desperately seeking new buyers for their products. The first headline has solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) announcing that its Recurrent Energy plant-building unit has secured financing for a major new US project, as Recurrent gets set for its own New York IPO as a separate company. The second story has US-based SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) emerging as the main partner for Apple’s(Nasdaq: AAPL) recent ambitious plans to build solar power plants in China.
The bigger picture behind both of these stories is that plant builders like Recurrent and SunPower could emerge as the next hot tickets in the solar energy sector. That’s because these companies are quickly gaining expertise in the field of solar plant construction and operation, and could benefit from a future boom when such plants should finally become commercially competitive with plants powered by traditional fossil fuels. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Lenovo’s focus on PCs for its latest product launch is designed to divert attention from its struggling smartphones, which are likely to show more losses and weak performance in the company’s upcoming quarterly results.
Lenovo targets bargain hunters
It was just 2 years ago that Chinese tech titan Lenovo (HKEx: 992) was on top of the world, having just gained the title as the world’s biggest PC brand from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and declaring that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (Seoul: 005930) were its next targets. But you don’t hear the company’s chatty chief Yang Yuanqing talking about Apple, Samsung or even smartphones that much these days, most likely because all of its efforts in that space have struggled to find an audience.
Instead, Yang was falling back on his company’s older PC business in the latest headlines, showing off a few new models from its Yoga line that can function as both laptop and tablet PCs. The only problem is that both of these types of computer are in rapid decline, as consumers increasingly flock to large-screen smartphones for simple functions like reading news and e-commerce shopping that they used to do on their PCs. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Larry Page’s latest remarks are the newest signal that Google is working to return to China with a local version of its Play store and Nexus phones, as it tries to open a new chapter in its tense relationship with Beijing.
Larry Page hands off Google China strategy to new CEO
Observers are putting the latest China comments from one of Google’s(Nasdaq: GOOG) co-founders under the microscope, trying to figure out the company’s intentions towards a market that it both loves and hates. The bottom line seems to be that Larry Page wants to personally distance himself from China, following his company’s high profile spat with Beijing over censorship that saw Google withdraw from the Chinese search market in 2010.
But at the same time, Page wants to let others take Google back into China, in a nod to the importance of a market that has become the world’s largest for both smartphones and Internet use. That’s probably quite a prudent approach in face-conscious China, where personal relationships are a key element to doing business. That same principle also means that meetings between people with strained relationships should also be avoided, which is what Page appears to be doing by personally distancing himself from Google’s future operations in China. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Announces September Quarter 2015 Results (Businesswire)
3 Chinese Suitors Show Interest in Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT): Source (English article)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Beats Wall Street, Investors Wary of China Sales
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s first-ever quarter-to-quarter sales decline means it’s unlikely to meet its 2015 sales target, while Apple’s latest environmental announcement is part of a broader image-polishing campaign in China that seems to be working.
Xiaomi posts first-ever sales drop
You don’t hear sputtering smartphone maker Xiaomicomparing itself to former role model Apple(Nasdaq: AAPL) too much these days, but both companies are in the headlines today as each pursues its own different agenda. An increasingly desperate-looking Xiaomi is reportedly eyeing the US, as the former high-flyer notches its first-ever quarter-on-quarter decline in smartphone shipments. Meantime, Apple is turning up its China public relations machine with announcement of a major expansion of its environmental protection campaign in the heavily polluted country.
Xiaomi and Apple were often mentioned in the same sentence as recently as last year, when the former was one of China’s hottest companies and pegged by some to become the nation’s first global smartphone brand. During that time Xiaomi’s talkative chief Lei Jun liked to compare his company to Apple, resulting in a war of words at one point after Apple’s chief designer accused Xiaomi of being a copycat. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Wumart Stores (HKEx: 1025) to Private, De-List as Trading Resumes (Chinese article)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Launches New Clean Energy Programs in China (Businesswire)
Xiaomi Smartphone Shipments Fall for First Time Q/Q, Eyes US (Chinese article)
TAL Education Announces Unaudited Fiscal Q2 Results (PRNewswire)
STO Eyes Backdoor Listing, to Become First Listed Private Delivery Firm (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Tim Cook’s latest trip to China and Google’s new investment in a Chinese voice recognition technology firm reflect efforts by both to build up app-making infrastructure to thrive in the increasingly important market.
Google invests in voice technology firm
Leading high-tech giants Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) are both in the China headlines today, led by the third visit this year to the country by Apple CEO Tim Cook to promote app development for his company’s iPhones. Meantime, Google is in the headlines for its new investment in a fast-growing maker of an app that uses voice recognition technology, which many companies believe will be central to mobile devices of the future.
Neither of these stories is huge and instead both are mostly incremental, underscoring the growing importance that China is playing in the global market for high-tech gadgets. In recognition of that fact, Apple realizes it needs to build a robust field of locally-based app developers to make sure its iPhones can maintain their place in the world’s largest smartphone market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Google’s establishment of China-based servers and registration of Chinese domain names associated with its app store show it could enter the local smartphone market by Lunar New Year and quickly become a significant player.
Google sets up China servers
New information on a low-profile but authoritative techie website is hinting that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is inching towards a return to China, but this time in the less controversial hardware and apps areas where rival Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has built a lucrative business. The somewhat geeky posting says Google has quietly set up several servers in China, and has registered China-related Internet domain names associated with Google Play, its main app store that is now blocked in the country.
If and when it does announce its return, which could happen before the Lunar New Year, Google is almost certain to draw criticism from some western observers. Many of those previously lauded the company for the decision to shutter its China search engine in 2010, following a high-profile dispute over censorship. Those same people could accuse Google of hypocrisy with its decision to return to China, even though other major global names like Apple and Samsung (Seoul: 005930) already operate thriving businesses in the Chinese smartphone and app markets. Read Full Post…
