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Tag Archives: Baidu
Baidu Company News Baidu 百度, Inc. incorporated on January 2000, is classifed as web services company established by Robin Li and Eric Xu.
Overview of the Chinese high Tech Market by former Chief Editor of Reuters (Doug Young).
Baidu offers many services, including a search engine for websites, audio files and images.
Baidu in Figures
– Ranked 4th overall in the Alexa rankings
– In 2015, Baidu had over 1 billion visits / month
– Baidu offers 57 community services (Chinese encyclopedia, questions/Answers , forums … )
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Soros Cuts Stakes in Internet Giants Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) (English article)
Bottom line: SMG’s Whaley Tech division has become the focus of its drive into the new media realm, following Li Ruigang’s departure from his post as group chairman to focus on the unit’s development.
SMG chief tries hand at smart TV
I don’t generally hold out much hope for traditional Chinese broadcasters for making the transition to new media, since most are bureaucratic, state-run outfits staffed by an older generation that doesn’t really understand the emerging industry landscape. But 2 companies that have the potential make the transition are Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Hunan Satellite TV, which are both making big drives into digital products delivered in on-demand formats over the Internet.
Of the pair, my favorite is Hunan Satellite, since the company has a strong track record of innovation that has helped it to build a national audience despite its location in the relatively backward interior Hunan province. But SMG’s longtime chief Li Ruigang is also trying to show he can take his company into the new media era, with word that he’s formally quit as chairman of his group to focus on development of its new media businesses. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba and Tencent are starting to look similar in terms of size and tapering growth, and are unlikely to excite investors again until they can reignite growth to above the 30 percent level.
Growth sluggish at Alibaba, Tencent
Near simultaneous releases of the latest earnings reports from Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) are providing a good opportunity to compare China’s 2 largest Internet companies, and also how they’re doing at the moment and what their prospects look like. The pair are surprisingly similar in terms of size, but their characters and core strengths and quite different, reflecting the personalities of their founders.
Tencent’s focus on games and social networking reflects the wonky, somewhat nerdy nature of its founder Pony Ma, who feels far more comfortable networking with other geeky people and communicating online than speaking at big investor forums. Alibaba founder Jack Ma is much more of a salesman, which explains why his company has emerged as China’s leading e-commerce company. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Youku Tudou’s new name and campaign to create more exclusive content look like good strategic moves, but it really needs to sell itself to a larger benefactor to ensure its longer-term future.
Youku Tudou to change name, develop content ecosystem
Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) was once China’s top online video site when it was formed 3 years ago through the merger of the country’s 2 leading players. But those glory days are firmly in the past now, as the company has been overtaken by more aggressive names like LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) and iQiyi, the service backed by cash-rich online search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).
Now media are reporting that Youku Tudou is rolling out a major overhaul that will include a new name for the company, as well as a massive spending campaign to build up an ecosystem for creating its own video content. The campaign certainly seems interesting and long overdue. But I’ve argued for a while now and still believe that what Youku Tudou really needs is to consider selling itself to a stronger Internet partner, rather than trying to continue as an independent company. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Phoenix Satellite and its new media arm will continue to sputter due to China’s slowing economy and a lackluster move into mobile advertising, and founder Liu Changle should consider selling the company.
Slow move to mobile saps Phoenix New Media
Things aren’t looking too good these days for Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite (HKEx: 2008), a former rising star in China’s tightly controlled media market that has stumbled badly due to its inability to adapt to a changing industry landscape. Phoenix warned of a major profit decline last month due to a soft TV ad market (previous post), and now its younger Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) unit is also showing signs of distress due to a heavy reliance on portal advertising delivered over traditional desktop computers.
The new quarterly earnings report from Phoenix New Media does contain one bright spot, namely a 124 percent increase in revenue from advertising services offered over smartphones and other mobile devices. (company announcement) But that part of the business is still quite small, with the result that Phoenix New Media reported overall advertising revenue growth of just 7.2 percent, and overall revenue growth of 2.9 percent during the second quarter of this year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Aggressive spending on O2O initiatives by China’s traditional and online retailers is likely to produce a new boom-bust cycle, and companies should consider more M&A as part of their plans.
Retailers spend millions on O2O
Online-to-offline retail services, often called O2O, have become the flavor of the day for traditional and web-based Chinese retailers over the last year, with at least 3 major new announcements coming out on the topic late last week. Two involved big internal campaigns to boost O2O services at electronics retailer Gome (HKEx: 493) and traditional supermarket chain Renrenle (Shenzhen: 002336), while a third saw e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) make a major investment in traditional retailer Yonghui Superstores (Shanghai: 601933).
Those efforts come just a week after leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) reported disappointing quarterly earnings due to heavy spending on O2O, and more generally as O2O has become a buzzword for nearly all of China’s major traditional and online retailers. The activity surge reflects realization that leading retailers of the future will operate a hybrid model that uses both online and offline channels to sell products and services. Read Full Post…
UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, Internet giant Tencent has launched its own buyout offer for eLong. Ctrip has commented that cooperation with Tencent would represent a win-win. (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Ctrip is likely to make a buyout offer for eLong by year-end, but its profits will remain under pressure for at least the next year as it battles with Qunar for market share.
Profits under pressure at the Ctrip lodge
Leading online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) has just released its latest quarterly results that show just how fierce competition has become in China’s travel market, as heavy spending eroded its profits despite big revenue growth. That competition was even more evident in the latest results for eLong (Nasdaq: LONG), which was once Ctrip’s main rival but more recently has developed an increasingly cozy relationship with its former foe.
I’ve been predicting for the last few months that Ctrip will ultimately make a buyout bid for eLong, following a steady series of recent moves that were bringing the companies closer together. The announcement of Ctrip’s and eLong’s latest quarterly results on the same day seems like more than coincidence, and is further evidence that a marriage could soon be coming. But before any formal marriage proposal, Ctrip would also be wise to take a long, hard look at eLong’s financials, which don’t look too impressive. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Ctrip is likely to make a counter-bid for eLong following a surprise offer from Tencent, sparking a potential bidding war that should ultimately see Ctrip emerge as the victor.
Tencent launches surprise bid for eLong
I’ve been predicting for the last few months that leading online travel site Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) would make a buyout bid for former rival eLong (Nasdaq: LONG), so I was quite surprised to read that such a bid has come instead from Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). This particular move is all the stranger because Tencent hasn’t shown much interest in the travel sector before now, though it previously invested in eLong and now owns about 15 percent of the company.
I also have to suspect that this particular bid came without the knowledge of Ctrip, which itself owns 37 percent of eLong. Ctrip got its stake after joining a group that bought out a controlling 62 percent of eLong previously held by US travel giant Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) earlier this year. Tencent has owned its stake in eLong since 2011. Ctrip’s recent moves have all pointed to its own buyout offer for eLong, leading me to believe that we could quickly see a bidding war break out for the company. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Growing sophistication by Chinese film-makers will continue to power strong growth at China’s box office, and will foster a new group of homegrown players that could challenge Hollywood over the next 10-20 years.
China box office surges in July
Two blockbuster films are fueling a sudden wave of excitement over domestic Chinese films, providing new momentum for a growing stable of local film-makers and foreign-backed joint ventures. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the 2 films leading the summer charge are both animated or have animated elements, and both also use a potent combination of Chinese elements and western story-telling skills to appeal to huge audiences of young people that go to see movies during the summer holidays.
The huge success for the animated films “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” and “Monster Hunt” has fueled a big wave of national pride in Chinese film-making. It even has some observers calling for an end to the recent ban on showing foreign films during the important summer vacation period, since these new Chinese movies prove that domestic productions can compete with big foreign rivals like the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu’s tie-up with a major Japanese noodle chain looks like a smart move to build up its fledgling takeout dining business, though it will need to do more to win back investors concerned about its aggressive spending on O2O investments.
Baidu ties with Ajisen Ramen
A week after its stock was hammered by concerns about big spending on its online-to-offline (O2O) services, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has found a major new ally for that part of its business in Japanese noodle chain Ajisen Ramen (HKEx: 538). This particular deal will see the Hong Kong-listed Ajisen and another investor pump $70 million into Baidu’s takeout dining service, providing a major supporter not only due to the investment but also the chain’s strong presence in major Chinese cities.
Baidu’s stock is still recovering from a hammering last week that saw the shares fall by nearly 20 percent to a year-low after it reported anemic 3.3 percent profit growth in its latest reporting quarter due to heavy spending on O2O services. (previous post) Such services include things like buying takeout restaurant food online, and purchasing items from real-world stores through group buying sites. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 1-3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Hisense (Shanghai: 600060) Pays $23.7 Mln for Sharp Corp Mexico Operations (Chinese article)
Renren (NYSE: RENN) Acting CFO Resigns, Interim CFO Appointed (PRNewswire)
