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What previously looked like an exciting Hong Kong IPO by CICC, China’s earliest homegrown investment bank, is rapidly losing its luster, with word that the company’s Chairman Jin Liqun is leaving the company. His departure, which was first rumored earlier this month, comes just a week after Levin Zhu, CEO of the company formally known as China International Capital Corp, also resigned to reportedly pursue a start-up in the hot area of Internet finance. Read Full Post…
Beijing’s notorious smog was thick in the blogosphere this past week, with tech executives sending out a flurry of cautionary messages as the city held its annual marathon. This particular issue shines an important spotlight on the fact that many of China’s top tech firms are clustered in the Chinese capital, running the range from search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to top portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992).
Meantime, other interesting buzz in the blogosphere was coming from security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which finally admitted defeat in its anti-monopoly lawsuit against Tencent (HKEx: 700) after the case was denied a final appeal by China’s highest court. One final interesting tidbit came from several executives at Lenovo, which unleashed a flurry of buzz after the company’s announcement of vague plans to set up a separate unit dedicated to smart devices. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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A couple of new reports are shining a spotlight on the turmoil rippling through the online video space, following a period of huge optimism that ended earlier this year with a crackdown by Beijing. One report shows a major consolidation that took place last year could be getting ready to enter a second round, with word that struggling social networking (SNS) firm Renren (NYSE: RENN) is selling its 56.com online video unit to Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of the sector’s leaders.
The other report details a new spending binge on self-produced original programs by another leader, Baidu-backed (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. That trend is accelerating following the regulatory crackdown, which has made purchasing popular TV programs and movies suddenly much more difficult. That’s forcing sites to find other ways to keep their viewers entertained and maintain their viewership. Read Full Post…
New sales data for August is showing that China’s cellphone market is rapidly cooling due to saturation, putting even more pressure on domestic brands that have engaged in a battle for share that has resulted in plummeting prices. At the same time, a separate report is showing that mobile advertising is zooming, in a development that’s almost certain to mean big headaches for companies like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) that depend heavily on advertisers that traditionally targeted desktop PC users. The pair of trends both cast a spotlight on how quickly things can change in the tech and media landscapes, putting huge pressure on established companies to innovate and spend heavily to translate their leadership into emerging areas. Read Full Post…
The end has finally come for group buying site LaShou, though this former Internet superstar survived for far longer than I ever imagined it would before its newly announced acquisition by conglomerate SanPower Group, which owns a number of online and offline retail brands. Of course this acquisition doesn’t mean the actual death of LaShou, and it’s quite possible the company could still make a comeback under its new ownership. But its acquisition marks one of the final big consolidation moves for a group buying sector that saw explosive growth 3 years ago, followed by a major correction that saw most companies either close or get acquired. Read Full Post…
I’ve stopped using the term “love affair” to describe the romance between Hollywood and China over the last 2 years, as it no longer seems sufficient to describe the flood of tie-ups that have emerged since China became the world’s second largest box office. The Long March of new deals has now gained 2 more members, with word that US film giant Warner Bros (NYSE: TWX) is in a major new movie financing deal with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), China’s leading regional maker of filmed entertainment. In a separate headline, other reports are saying that real estate giant Wanda Group is also deepening its own involvement in movie industry finance, by filing to make a domestic IPO for its movie theater business. Read Full Post…
Wanda Group is already one of China’s leading commercial property owners, and now it’s taking aim at the fast-growing travel sector with word that it’s purchased a major travel agency in affluent Zhejiang province. There’s no financial detail on the deal, but the purchase should help to bolster Wanda’s position that has already made it China’s leading travel company just 2 years after its formation. The group could ultimately become one of China’s leading integrated travel and leisure companies if it eventually lists, providing an attractive alternative to the crowded field of publicly listed firms like online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and leading hotel operator Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN). Read Full Post…
Big foreign multinationals may be feeling the heat from a recent string of anti-monopoly investigations, but Chinese Internet firms won’t have to face such worries anytime soon. That’s the latest message coming from Beijing, with word that China’s Supreme People’s Court has ruled in favor of social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) in a long-running lawsuit claiming the company controlled a monopoly in the instant messaging market. I originally sided with Tencent when the case was filed 3 years ago by security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), because I felt the lawsuit looked retaliatory for an unrelated suit between the pair at that time. But much has changed since then, most notably the meteoric rise of Tencent’s wildly popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service that has become an indispensable tool for millions of people in China, myself included. Read Full Post…
Publicity savvy smartphone maker Xiaomi was making awkward noises in the blogosphere this past week, as it found itself stinging from critical remarks made by a top executive at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the company’s role model. At the same time, the company got an unexpected show of support from another source, as controversial Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi defended the smartphone maker over a different brouhaha involving involving an embarrassing data security investigation in Taiwan.
In separate news, TV giant TCL (Shenzhen: 000100) Chairman Li Dongsheng was talking up a potential electronic payments alliance, with word that his company is discussing a tie-up with UnionPay, operator of China’s leading electronic transactions network. Just last week I commended Li for taking some new risks a decade after 2 disastrous partnerships with European companies. But this latest chatter is starting to get a bit worrisome, as Li seems to be thinking in quite a few directions that are increasingly scattered and lack any common theme. Read Full Post…
Two high-profile executive moves are highlighting the recent attraction of China’s tech story to both domestic Chinese and foreigners, lured by breakneck growth that produced the world’s biggest-ever IPO last month with the $24 billion IPO of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). The first move has seen former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Jai Mani leave his position in a California-based start-up to take an India-based job at fast-rising Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi. The other has seen well-known Chinese financier Levin Zhu jump ship from the top post at CICC, China’s oldest investment bank, reportedly to start his own company involved with Internet-based finance. Read Full Post…
