China was traditionally known for its rampant piracy, but is now suddenly becoming a strong copyright protection advocate with the rise of a new generation of video site operators looking to protect their intellectual property. In the latest twist of this new and somewhat unexpected trend, Internet TV operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) has successfully sued fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi for copyright violations related to Xiaomi’s problem-plagued Internet TV set-top boxes. Read Full Post…
Tag Archives: Baidu
Alibaba Picks NYSE, Plays With Yahoo, Football
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve written a post exclusively about leading e-commerce company Alibaba, so I thought I’d end the week with a round-up of a few company news bits including its selection of the New York Stock Exchange for its highly-anticipated IPO. In related news, the company’s major shareholder Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) is reportedly in talks to reduce its planned sale of Alibaba shares in the offering. Last but not least, Alibaba has formally added its name to one of its latest acquisitions, a stake in one of China’s leading soccer clubs. Read Full Post…
QVOD, Shenzhen Govt Face Off Over Record Fine
An exciting showdown that could become a landmark case in copyright protection is shaping up in Shenzhen, where a company accused of rampant piracy is refusing to pay a record fine formally levied this week by the city government. I first wrote about the massive 260 million yuan ($42 million) fine against video sharing site QVOD, whose Chinese name is kuaibo, about a month ago when the record-breaking sum was first announced. (previous post) Now Shenzhen has formally levied the fine, and QVOD has refused to pay and is threatening to take its own legal action. Read Full Post…
Congress Report Spotlights China Company Risk
US-listed Chinese companies were in the spotlight last week, after a new congressional report detailed the risks they pose to investors due to the unique structure they use to qualify for trading in New York. Uncertainties created by the variable interest entity (VIE) structure are just the latest in a long list of unusual risks that highlight why Chinese firms are quite different from other companies that trade in New York.
But while their risks may be different and often bigger, the rewards of investing in some of China’s biggest corporate names are also potentially huge, as evidenced by exponential growth for shares of some names. Read Full Post…
News Digest: June 24, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Mobile Subscriber Growth Continues Unbalanced In May At Big 3 Telcos (Chinese article)
- China’s Fosun (HKEx: 656) To Invest In Robinov’s Studio 8 (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) To Launch TV Gaming Platform – Source (English article)
- BMW (Frankfurt: BMW) Extends Joint Venture With Brilliance China To 2028 (English article)
- Jiugui Liquor (Shenzhen: 000799) Retreats To Home Base, Limits Area (Chinese article)
Weibo: ZTE, Vancl, Jumei In Verbal Sparring Online
The World Cup kick-off seems like an appropriate theme for this week’s wrap of the microblogging realm, where a series of verbal sparring matches has broken out among a number of tech officials. One of the most entertaining saw a ZTE (HKE: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) smartphone executive launch a sarcastic assault at Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, who was spouting his usual nonstop promotional hype. While ZTE went on the offensive, executives from e-commerce firms Jumei (Nasdaq: JMEI) and Vancl were on the defensive, deflecting accusations and insinuations against their companies and executives. Meantime, a top JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) executive provided some lighter entertainment with his own reminiscences of watching actual World Cup games in his younger years. Read Full Post…
Huayi, Englight Stray From Film-Making With New M&A
Two of China’s leading filmmakers are in the headlines today, with Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027) and Enlight Media (Shenzhen: 300251) both making mid-sized acquisitions to diversify their operations in the rapidly changing media space. Both companies are taking steps outside their core businesses, reflecting the latest in a series of uneasy marriages between traditional content makers and newer companies involved in an array of content making and media-related services.
In the first case, Huayi is buying a controlling stake in Shenzhen Huayuxun Tech Co, operator of the maizuo.com Internet ticketing platform. The second deal will see Enlight buy a similar controlling stake in game developer and operator Refeng Network Technology. Read Full Post…
Alibaba Dances With UCWeb, Tesla, Zara
E-commerce leader Alibaba has always been a very active headline grabber, but these days its penchant for making news is getting a bit out of control, reflecting an M&A strategy that also looks increasingly overcharged and lacking focus. One might compare Alibaba these days to a creature that has suddenly developed a huge appetite and is devouring everything in sight. That’s my assessment today based on the company’s involvement in 3 major headlines, one involving web browsers, another electric cars, and a third that’s actually related to its core e-commerce services.
Tencent Opens WeChat Content To Sogou
Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) is wasting little time in its search for synergies with its growing stable of strategic partners, with word of a new tie-up between its popular WeChat instant messaging service and its search partner Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). The new partnership will see WeChat provide exclusive access to its huge volumes of user-generated content for indexing by Sohu’s Sogou search engine. The alliance comes just 9 months after Tencent and Sohu announced an equity tie-up that saw the 2 companies combine their search businesses to form China’s third largest player. Read Full Post…
Web Clean-Up Expands To Baidu, Youku Tudou
The web clean-up that began in April with a relatively innocuous-looking crackdown on Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) video sites is showing signs of becoming a major movement, with word that regulators in Beijing are investigating 52 website operators for violent and pornographic content, including giants Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). News of this new clean-up comes after similar reports emerged last week that online game operators were coming under similar scrutiny, and indicates the current crackdown could last for the next few months. Read Full Post…
News Digest: June 6, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Probes Baidu, Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Over Violent Shows -Xinhua (English article)
- SASAC Requires Telcos To Sharply Reduce Marketing Expenses – Reports (English article)
- Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Microsoft Targets Of Chinese Media In US Spat (English article)
- Alibaba Buys 50 Pct Of Evergrande Soccer Club For 1.2 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
- Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) In Education Investments To Develop Future China Leaders (Businesswire)
