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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 … )
Bottom line: Qihoo’s apparent attempt to unify its various products around the 360.com brand looks smart strategically, but it needs to improve its search and cellphone businesses to win back investor interest.
Qihoo pays record for 360.com domain
I’m not usually someone to write about publicity stunts, but one such new ploy by struggling security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) has piqued my interest as it hints at some major new strategic moves. The actual news is quite straightforward, saying Qihoo has paid a record $17 million for the 360.com web domain. This news was almost certainly leaked by Qihoo, since companies pay large sums for domains all the time and the news never makes big headlines since it is kept private. That hints that Qihoo may have big plans for 360.com, most likely as a platform to unify its current stable of domains and brands. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New global e-commerce moves by JD and LightInTheBox look well conceived and could yield some strong results, while Baidu’s new e-commerce investment reflects its lack of focus and broader strategy in the space.
LightInTheBox opens US warehouse
A flurry of e-commerce moves are in the headlines today, including new globalization steps by number-two player JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) and the struggling LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB). Meantime, search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is also in the headlines as it searches for its own e-commerce business model, with reports it has made a major investment in a site being developed by PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). The flurry of moves reflects the hyperactive state of competition in China’s e-commerce market, which requires constant innovation in order to survive. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yum’s (NYSE: YUM) China Sales Fall Less Than Expected, Shares Rise (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to Invest $100 Mln In Lenovo Unit Fancy Maker – Source (English article)
Bottom line: China’s overall Internet growth will continue to slow as the market starts to become saturated, with messaging and other mobile services continuing to steal share from microblogging and video operators.
Microblogging decline bites Weibo
A newly released annual government report on China’s Internet is full of good news for the online business community, with most sectors posting double-digit growth as overall penetration neared the 50 percent mark. But a few sectors stood out as distinctive losers in the report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), led by the microblogging space that saw a sharp decline in users.
That’s not too surprising due to departures or pull-backs in the space last year by big names like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700), though it certainly doesn’t bode too well for sector giant Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB). Another relative loser was online video, which posted only tiny growth last year as the sector came under regulatory assault aimed at reining in companies like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. Read Full Post…
Two big news stories were at the center of heated discussion in of the microblogging realm this past week, led by Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) high profile dispute with one of China’s main business regulators over accusations of being soft on piracy. At the same time, Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) roll-out of advertisements on its WeChat mobile messsaging platform also drew lots of comments, as users were suddenly greeted with unsolicited messages in the popular Moments feature that functions much like Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) newsfeeds.
Of course no weekly microblogging round-up would be complete without a mention of the media savvy Xiaomi, which was once again creating buzz after an embarrassing gaffe by global marketing chief Hugo Barra. That gaffe saw Barra use a politically incorrect version of a map of India in one of his presentations, showing India as the correct owner of parts of a disputed area of its long border with China. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The broadcasting regulator needs to rethink the way it treats online video companies and create a uniform set of standards that apply to both to them and traditional TV stations.
Tencent ties up with NBA
Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) made headlines last week with an exclusive deal to broadcast live NBA games over the Internet in China, literally scoring a major victory over its rivals in the hotly contested online video space. But having won that victory over its Internet peers, it’s probably only a matter of time before China’s traditional TV broadcasters call foul and complain that Tencent’s deal will compete with their own live broadcasts of hugely popular NBA basketball games. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Tencent’s strong early showing for a new WeChat-based advertising service and its investment in a take-out dining service reflect building momentum in its drive to build WeChat into a major new profit center.
BMW, Coke launch ad campaigns on WeChat
A couple of media reports are shining a spotlight on Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat, and some of the new steps it is taking to monetize the hugely popular service that is rapidly expanding beyond its roots as a mobile messaging service. At the same time, another report from Tencent itself is providing some insight into who exactly uses WeChat. It should come as no surprise that the report shows WeChat’s biggest fans are young and mostly male users, which are some of the most attractive targets for the online merchants and advertisers that Tencent wants to do more business on the platform. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Sougou could gain some momentum in the search market this year following some innovative new tie-ups with WeChat, while Xunlei’s stock will remain under pressure as it gets dogged by more piracy issues.
Sogou launches news feature on WeChat
More than a year after emerging as China’s third-largest search engine with the merger of 2 second-tier players, Sogou is finally making an interesting move by launching a news app that takes advantages of its ties to Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700). The move looks particularly promising, since the rapid rise of another similar app called Today’s Headlines shows that this is clearly an area with strong demand. The move could pose a serious challenge to the high-flying Today’s Headlines, which earlier this week was named as one of China’s top 10 mobile apps for 2014. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Internet executives were busy quashing a number of rumors on their microblogs this week, with smartphone sensation Xiaomi trying to stamp out reports of bitter relations with SNS giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), and e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) quashing talk of a major new investment in South Korea. But some of the more interesting chatter focused on the concept of company valuations, and just how widely such valuations can vary for China’s dynamic tech firms.
At the same time, a coming flurry of year-end parties began to kick off in the run-up to the Chinese New Year holiday that’s just a month away. The microblogging realm saw e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) singing its own praises at the company’s annual party, taking a shot at fast-fading rival Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) in the process. At around the same time, a stumbling Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) also held an annual awards ceremony for notable microbloggers, in its own attempt to remain relevant in the social networking realm. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new list of China’s top apps spotlights fast-growing names like news app Today’s Headlines, photo app Meitu and dictionary app Youdao, which could raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new funds this year.
Meitu earns place on top 10 app list
A newly released list of China’s top 10 apps for 2014 is shining a spotlight on an up-and-coming field of lesser known names that could be companies to watch, as many are much younger than stalwarts like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (HKEx: 700). The “BAT” trio of China’s biggest Internet firms took 4 of the top 10 spots on the list, which was compiled by Baidu. But far more interesting were some of the other names, including recently listed social networking app Momo (Nasdaq: MOMO) and news app Today’s Headlines, which made its own headlines with its meteoric rise last year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 17-19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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