The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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iPhone Sales, China Boosts Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL); Shares Up Modestly (English article)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Eyes 100 Mln Cellphone Sales In New Fiscal Year – CEO (Chinese article)
Huawei CEO Says Chinese Cybersecurity Rules Could Backfire (English article)
Trina (NYSE: TSL) Signs Agreement In Hefei Zone for 300 MW DG Solar Power Plant (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Apple’s new court victory in a China patent dispute shows its relations with Beijing are improving, positioning it well for growth in a country that is likely to pass the US as its largest global market in the next 1-2 years.
Apple wins China victory in patent dispute
A couple of new reports are showing that global gadget giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may have finally reversed its slumping fortunes in China, led by word that China probably overtook the US to become the world’s largest market for its iPhones in the first quarter of this year. The other report has Apple winning an important court victory against a Chinese company that accused it of illegally using its voice recognition technology.
This pair of upbeat stories come just a week after Apple scored another positive round of publicity in China, announcing it would make a relatively modest investment in 2 solar farms in southwest Sichuan province. (previous post) This sudden flurry of positive stories, and the fact that they’re being widely covered by China’s state-controlled media, shows Apple could finally be turning a corner in the country after a stormy relationship with Beijing over the last 2 years. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China is likely to become Apple’s largest smartphone market by next year, while Huawei’s smartphones could make significant gains in the next 2 years en route to becoming one of the world’s top 2 brands.
iPhone posts China milestone
Three of the world’s top cellphone makers are in China-related headlines today, led by word that Chinese iPhone sales officially passed the US for the first time in Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest reporting quarter. At the same time, 2 of China’s own homegrown cellphone makers with big aspirations are also in the headlines, with both Huawei and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) discussing their goals for the next few years.
One of those has Huawei’s smartphone chief saying he’s aiming to become the world’s largest brand within the next 3-5 years. The other has Lenovo’s chief executive saying he’s aiming to sell 100 million cellphones in the company’s latest fiscal year, as it consolidates its position after a period of rapid expansion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s release of a new model and addition of a high-profile investor in India reflect the market’s key role in its global expansion this year, with a likely target of 4 million or more unit sales.
Xiaomi in new India launch
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi is working hard to repair its position in India, following a setback late last year that saw some of its higher end products locked out of the market over a patent dispute. Now the company is making a big new push at the lower end of the market, choosing India for its first product launch outside of China. At the same time, the company announced it has sold a stake in itself to one of India’s best known tech tycoons, a patriarch at the renowned Tata Group conglomerate.
Both of these news bits come from an event late last week in India, and underscore the growing importance that Xiaomi is placing on the market this year to keep its meteoric growth alive. Xiaomi is banking heavily on global markets to fuel its growth story, now that it is already king of the smartphone hill in its home China market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 25-27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Wins Siri Software Patent Appeal In China (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Doubles Medium-Term Note Program To $10 Bln (HKEx announcement)
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) To Acquire Chinese Protein-Drink Line For $400 Mln (English article)
Xiaomi Announces New 4i Model For India, Not Available In China (Chinese article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Sues Sogou for Hijacking Traffic Via IME (English article)
Bottom line: ZTE’s patent infringement allegations against Huawei are mostly noise that won’t result in any major legal action, and instead reflect the stiff competition that is plaguing China overheated smartphone market.
ZTE accuses Huawei of IP theft
After several months without any major developments, China’s overheated smartphone market is showing new signs of stress with word that domestic heavyweight ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) is accusing its larger rival Huawei of intellectual property theft. The complaint reflects the intense competition that has plagued China’s smartphone market for the last 2 years, and is likely to claim its first victim or two within the next 12 months.
This particular action also shows that Huawei and ZTE are becoming quite adept at playing the western game of filing lawsuits to protect their intellectual property and attack rivals. Both companies have been sued by their western peers in the past, and their domestic rival Xiaomi suffered a setback last year when it had to stop selling some of its models in India after Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) filed a patent complaint. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Apple’s new solar power initiative in China is a highly symbolic move to curry favor with local officials, and should win the company positive public relations points at very little cost.
Apple announces China solar farms
I have to commend Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) for finally realizing it needs to improve its image in China, with word that the global tech giant is investing in 2 new solar farms to be built in interior Sichuan province. The move is actually quite masterful, as Apple is at once killing many birds with a single stone as it works to curry favor with Beijing.
The 2 new projects will contribute to China’s recent drive to produce more clean, renewable energy, which has been one of Beijing’s top priorities these last couple of years. The new farms are also being built in China’s interior, which has been a priority area for investment by Beijing leaders eager to reduce the wealth gap between interior regions and wealthier coastal areas. Last but not least, these new investments should be quite inexpensive for a company like Apple, and carry relatively small risks. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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SunPower (NYSE: SPWR), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) To Build Solar Projects In China (English article)
P2P Lending Site Lufax Completes $485 Mln Fund Raising Round (Chinese article)
China’s Former IPO King CICC Looks for A Fresh Start (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Unveils Self-developed DuWear Smartwatch OS (English article)
Bottom line: LeTV’s smartphone gamble, based on relatively cheap phones tied to its video services, could succeed despite tough competition if its newly launched models get positive reviews.
LeTV launches smartphones
Online video sensation LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) is all over the tech headlines this morning, with the formal launch of the first 3 models for its previously announced foray into smartphones. The company is taking a page from its successful business model with smart TVs, once again selling what it’s billing as a relatively high-end product for low prices in a bid to attract customers to its core paid video services.
LeTV’s biggest problem will be finding an audience for these models, as it’s quite late to the smartphone game. That fact is being underscored by new industry data that shows China’s cellphone market contracted 5 percent in March, amid growing signs of saturation due to stiff competition. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Ganji, 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) To Merge – Report (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Beijing should offer more incentives to local governments to tackle piracy at its roots, or risk seeing homegrown high-flyers like Xiaomi get undermined by fakes.
Xiaomi knock-offs wash up in Germany
China’s fast-rising high-tech sector passed a dubious milestone last week, when media reported that fake copies of smartphones made by local superstar Xiaomi have begun appearing in Germany, marking one of the first such cases for a Chinese brand. Xiaomi wasn’t the only company in the headlines for piracy, as other media reported that fake copies of the new Apple Watch (Nasdaq: AAPL) were already widely available in China, as the US tech giant began taking orders for its latest gadget. Read Full Post…
