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INTERNET: Google, Apple and More Flock to China Internet Pow-Wow

By newsdoug on December 4, 2017

Bottom line: Attendance of Google’s CEO at China’s premier Internet event marks a continuation of its slow return to China, while appearances by top Apple, Qualcomm and Microsoft executives are more expected.

Western tech execs hobnob at Internet conference

As we head into the new week, the headlines are filled with the latest words of wisdom on the future of the Internet from some of China’s leading company chiefs, who were all in the scenic city of Wuzhen for a major conference that kicked off over the weekend. But equally interesting were the guest list of foreign big-wigs in attendance, which included top executives from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), among others.

This is the third year for the show, which I previously pooh-poohed as a show of pageantry without too much substance. But it does appear to be gaining a bit of traction over time, and I suppose I should grudgingly admit that perhaps China should have a greater say in the development of the Internet and that these major players are at least partly right to be attending in high-profile roles. After all, China is easily the world’s largest Internet market with more than 700 million users. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Apple Finds Its China Mojo as Xioami Moves Up

By newsdoug on November 3, 2017

Bottom line: Apple should be able to extend its return to growth in China into at least one more quarter, while Xiaomi should also be able to continue posting strong double-digit growth for the next year.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has just released its latest quarterly results that show China is back on a growth track, quieting skeptics who had said its latest iPhone was debuting to mostly snoozes in the world’s largest smartphone market. On a broader basis, IDC has also just announced its global figures for third-quarter smartphone sales, showing Huawei continues to creep up on Apple and could well take the global No. 2 spot from its U.S. rival over the next year if current trends continue.

Last but not least is China’s own Xiaomi, which is catching people’s attention again with the strongest growth of any global players in the third quarter, consolidating its position as the world’s fifth largest player. It’s probably too early to say that Xiaomi’s comeback story has legs. But the company is the only one posting triple-digit growth among the top 5 in the latest quarterly results, a distinction previously reserved for Huawei and Chinese rival Oppo. Read Full Post…

PCs: Lenovo Taps Top Managers for Funds, Goes Retro

By newsdoug on October 9, 2017

Bottom line: Lenovo’s new fund raising and roll-out of a retro commemorative ThinkPad 25th anniversary model show the company is focused on short-term fixes rather than the shock therapy it really needs.

With the October 1 Golden Week holiday now in the rear view mirror, we’ll jump back into the latest tech trends with a look at PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992), which was in a couple of headlines over the holiday that underscore its ongoing difficulties. The first of those has the company raising $500 million from a group of its core supporters, who are probably the only ones who have faith that this former superstar can right its sinking ship.

The other has the company rolling out a line of retro computers to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its ThinkPad computers, which arguably launched Lenovo on its trajectory that would ultimately take it to the top of the global PC hill. The only problem is that it’s difficult to stay king of the hill for too long in today’s cut-throat high-tech world, and also there’s the fact that PCs aren’t exactly the cutting-edge product they used to be. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Huawei Unseats Apple, Eyes the Cloud

By newsdoug on September 11, 2017

Bottom line: Huawei could overtake Apple as the world’s second largest smartphone seller in the next 1-2 years, while it could also pose a challenge in global cloud services over the next 5 years.

We’ll begin the new week with a couple of items from Huawei that show how the company that began as a telecoms network builder looks set to unseat fading PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) as China’s global leader in consumer tech. The first of those has one research house releasing data that show Huawei’s smartphones surpassed Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) for two consecutive months in June and July to become the world’s second largest brand. The second has a Huawei executive discussing his plans for the company’s cloud computing services, saying he wants to become a global top 5 player.

The first headline shows that Huawei is not a company to be taken lightly, which means that people should pay close attention to the second headline. In my years of covering Huawei, the company has proven to be quite focused and determined, and pours large amounts of money into product development to make sure it can meet its goals. It focused its early efforts on building traditional telecoms networks, but more recently has moved to enterprise networks and consumer devices like smartphones and notebook computer. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Smartisan Gets New Funding, But From Where?

By newsdoug on August 7, 2017

Bottom line: Smartisan’s new funding and plans to produce 5-6 smartphones a year look like an anomaly in the highly competitive market, and it’s unlikely to survive as a standalone entity over the next 5 years.

I was a bit surprised to read that a clear second-tier smartphone player, the uppity Smartisan, has received 100 million yuan ($147 million) in new funding, as we begin the latest week of summer. I haven’t seen this company’s name or many second-tier players like OnePlus in more than half a year, though their collective names have come up quite a bit in the bigger smartphone numbers.

That’s a reference to the “other” category in the quarterly smartphone figures put out by data tracking firms like IDC, which show that this collective group that includes all names lumped together after the top 5 is rapidly losing share. In IDC’s latest China market data that came out last week, the top 5 vendors, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), collectively controlled 73 percent of the market. “Others”, including the likes of Smartisan, had to divvy up the remaining 26.9 percent. But what was most notably was that 26.9 percent marked a sharp decline from last year, when this group controlled 36.2 percent. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Lenovo Starts Rebuilding Year with Samsung Poach

By newsdoug on February 6, 2017

Bottom line: Lenovo could reverse its smartphone decline this year under a new leadership team anchored by a respected company veteran, though chances of success are relatively low due to stiff competition and magnitude of the task.

Lenovo nets former Samsung smartphone exec

My first post in the new lunar Year of the Rooster seems like a good time to look at the ultra-competitive smartphone market, and what may lie ahead for the embattled Lenovo (HKEx: 992) as it seeks to regain its footing in the space. CEO Yang Yuanqing has made repeated overhauls of his mobile devices division, including the naming of longtime executive Gina Qiao to try and turn the division around late last yaer. Now the latest reports are saying that Qiao has made one of her first big moves in that post by hiring an executive from rival producer Samsung (Seoul: 005930). Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Apple Weighing iPhone Move Back to US?

By newsdoug on November 21, 2016

Bottom line: Apple’s reported decision to study moving some iPhone production to the US could have been a form of contingency planning, but is unlikely to happen unless a major trade war breaks out between the US and China.

Apple reportedly eyes US iPhone production

The headlines have been buzzing these past few days over reports that global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) might be considering moving some of its iPhone production from China to the US. The original report comes from a respectable Japanese publication, and at least on the surface seems somewhat logical in light of Donald Trump’s surprise win in the US presidential election.

After all, Trump, among other things, has been quite vocal on getting companies like Apple to manufacture in the US. He’s also promised to slap a generic 45 percent tariff on goods made in China. Never mind that goods imported from China and elsewhere fall under a wide range of categories, each subject to different tariff rates. Trump is known for throwing out random thoughts, even when they’re far from practical or connected with reality. Read Full Post…

VIDEO: LeEco Powers Into US with Phones, TVs and Lionsgate

By newsdoug on October 20, 2016

Bottom line: LeEco’s new US launch for its TVs, smartphones and video service is almost guaranteed to fail due to underwhelming product offerings and stiff competition.

A year after opening its US e-commerce site, online video superstar LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) has finally launched some of its leading products in the world’s biggest but also one of its most competitive markets. LeEco, formerly known as LeTV, announced it will start selling its smartphones and smart TVs in the US, as well as a new customized version of its core online video service. My main response to this aggressive and ambitious push is: Good luck!

I’ve been a big LeEco doubter for a while now, since the company has gone from relatively obscurity to superstar in just a couple of years through a series of aggressive expansions fueled mostly by taking on new investors and selling its overvalued stock. Its name change from LeTV to LeEco nicely summarizes its aspirations, since the company now bills itself as developer of an ecosystem that delivers entertainment content over a range of devices and services. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Huawei in Late-Year Surge, As Apple Tries to Halt Skid

By newsdoug on October 19, 2016

Bottom line: Apple will need to lower its prices to stabilize its position in China, while Huawei could also soon face pricing pressure due to growing challenges from up-and-comers like Oppo and Vivo.

Two of China’s top smartphone brands have been in the headlines in recent days, spotlighting a rapid ascension of the homegrown Huawei and the equally rapid decline of global giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).

On the upside of the story, the surging Huawei announced it recently passed the 100 million mark in smartphones produced this year, reaching the milestone two months faster than in 2015. Meantime, Apple’s CEO was in China for at least the third time this year, announcing a new research and development center in a push to revive his company’s fast-fading position in its largest market after the United States. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Apple’s Cook Back in China with New R&D Center

By newsdoug on October 13, 2016

Bottom line: Tim Cook’s latest China trip and his announcement of a new R&D center in Shenzhen are part of a campaign to boost Apple’s profile and should help to stabilize its sliding position in the market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook just can’t seem to get enough of China, with word that he’s back in the world’s largest smartphone market just 2 months after his last visit. But unlike past visits, which were mostly confined to bureaucratic Beijing, Cook was in the far more entrepreneurial city of Shenzhen this time, where he attended an innovation conference and announced Apple would open a new R&D center. Read Full Post…

China News Digest: October 13, 2016

By newsdoug on October 13, 2016

The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on October 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to Set Up R&D Center in Shenzhen, Bolster China Ties (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Forms 20 Bln Yuan Internet Project Investment Fund (English article)
Supermarket Operator RT-Mart Closes Stores for First Time in 19 Years (Chinese article)
GM (NYSE: GM) Ventures into China Car-Sharing with App Developer Investment (English article)
Sky-mobi (Nasdaq: MOBI) Announces Shareholder Meeting to Vote on Privatization (PRNewswire)