Less than 2 months after Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) founder Robin Li called on his employees to rekindle their “wolf spirit” that made his company great, media are reporting that Li has personally stepped in to take charge of Baidu’s mobile division in a bid to reverse its sinking fortunes. Baidu was once the envy of China’s Internet world, defeating global giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) to take the crown as the dominant player in China’s online search market. While it still controls the big majority of China’s online search market, many observers believe the company has become complacent in the last year due to its near-monopoly status in the market.
Tag Archives: Baidu
News Digest: January 12-14 报摘：2013年1月12-14日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 12-14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), Netease Youdao Partner on Microblog Translation (English article)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Says Apple’s CEO Cook Discussed Cooperation Issues (Chinese article)
- Citic Telecom (HKEx: 1883) Buys 79 Pct of Macau Phone Operator (English article)
- Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Announces Changyou (Nasdaq: CYOU) Mgmt Changes (PRNewswire)
- Robin Li Takes Direct Oversight of Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Mobile Division (Chinese article)
Qihoo Seeks Potent Partner in Google 奇虎或牵手谷歌 瞄准中国市场
The Year of the Snake could well go down as the time when Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) finally lost its dominance over China’s lucrative online search market, following the rapid rise of a new challenger from up-and-comer Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) that may soon tie-up with global search titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Such an alliance would mark the latest assault in Qihoo’s campaign that has seen its so.com site soar past other more established players to become China’s second largest search engine in just half a year.
Facebook Forges Links, Sina Shuffles; Facebook未弃中国梦 新浪或将一分为二
News involving a new China tie-up by Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) will undoubtedly reignite speculation that the social networking giant could finally enter the world’s biggest Internet market in 2013, fulfilling the long-stated goal of company founder Mark Zuckerberg. Meanwhile in other Internet news, leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is reportedly undergoing yet another new internal shuffle, foreshadowing major changes in store for one of China’s oldest online companies in 2013.
Qihoo, Group Buying Set For 2013 Growth 奇虎360、团购网站明年料增长
As we approach the end of 2012, online search and group buying look like 2 spaces on China’s Internet that could see some big changes in the year ahead and provide some interesting investment opportunities. In the online search space, the new year could well shape up as the one when dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) finally received some serious competition from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which is quickly adding important features to its up-and-coming search service launched over the summer. Meantime, the new year could also see the revival of some of the nation’s beleaguered group buying sites, which have spent the past year in a bloody retrenchment that has seen many players either close or merge with rivals. In that space, we’re getting word that 55tuan, one of the former top players, has finally managed to turn a profit after altering its business model.
Phoenix New Media Clips VP 凤凰新媒体执行副总裁离职
Web portal Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) appears to be going through a behind-the-scenes reshuffle, with word that a top executive has left the company as it continues to struggle with fallout from a national advertising slowdown. It’s hard to know what exactly is going on behind the scenes at Phoenix, which once wowed investors with triple-digit gains in its core advertising business following its 2011 IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. But its most recent financial reports have clearly shown the company is having a much harder time than many of its larger peers in coping with China’s recent advertising slowdown, which I suspect is a major reason for the newly announced resignation of vice president Wang Yulin. (Chinese article)
Weibo, WeChat Set For 2013 Showdown 微博、微信将于2013年决战
An epic battle on the Chinese Internet is shaping up for the New Year, pitting dominant social networking site (SNS) Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo against up-and-coming challenger WeChat, also known by its Chinese name Weixin. The looming battle in many ways reflects the rapid rise in China of the mobile Internet, where WeChat has found an eager new audience that likes to use SNS all the time instead of only at desktop computers where Sina Weibo dominates.
News Digest: December 22-24 报摘： 2012年12月22-24日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 22-24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Alibaba Outbids Tencent, Baidu to Invest in Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Microblog – Source (English article)
- China Probes Safety of Yum Brands’ (NYSE: YUM) KFC Chicken Products (English article)
- Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Web Services (AWS) China Site Goes Live (Chinese article)
- Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) Vice President Wang Yulin Resigns (Chinese article)
- Online Wine Seller Jiumei Launches Financial Product With Rothschild (Chinese article)
Yahoo: Preparing For China Exit? 雅虎关闭在华音乐搜索服务 全面撤离即将来临？
The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that tarnished former Internet titan Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) will shutter its Chinese Internet music service, with many pointing out the move reflects a broader reshuffling in the online music space. But from my perspective, the much more intriguing question is whether this move represents the first small step before Yahoo withdraws from the market completely — a step that seems increasingly likely as it focuses on turning around its core US search business.
LeTV Joins Set-Top Box Wars 乐视网加入机顶盒大战
The latest “me-too” war is brewing on China’s vibrant but crowded Internet with word that online video specialist LeTV is rolling out a new set-top box product that will allow consumers to surf the Web on their TVs. This new product roll-out comes just a month after up-and-coming smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its own set-top box product, and not long after PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) also entered this space that looks promising but has yet to find a major audience. (previous post)
Alibaba, Sohu Win US Anti-Piracy Nod 阿里巴巴、搜狐被从美国盗版名单上移除
Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba and web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) won a major victory last week when web sites operated by both were removed from an annual US list of companies that facilitate rampant piracy. The victory came after both firms made efforts to aggressively police their sites and quickly remove any pirated or counterfeit materials. While the companies should be commended for their effort, the achievement came with an important footnote that shows there is still work to be done.
