Media are buzzing with word that the US securities regulator is once again tussling with major auditors over access to the accounting records of US-listed Chinese firms, in the latest chapter of an ongoing story; but what has me more intrigued is the scramble that is probably taking place behind the scenes, as those same auditors try to figure out what they will do when the inevitable happens and they are forced to share their records with the US Securities and Exchange Administration.
Tag Archives: Baidu
Baidu on the Downtrack? 百度在滑落？
Excitement over the first serious challenge to Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) longtime supremacy in online search seems to be getting a bit overblown, with investors jumping on just about any excuse to punish Baidu and reward fast-rising challenger Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU). Some may find it a bit odd that I’m defending Baidu at this juncture, since I’ve been a regular critic of this company that has abused its dominant position in online search for years to squelch potential rivals. But all I’m really saying is that it’s far too early to write a death notice for Baidu, which still has plenty of fight left in it as it tries to defend its dominant position that has seen it control more than 70 percent of China’s lucrative online search market for years.
News Digest: December 4 报摘： 2012年12月4日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Ernst & Young to Pay $117.6 Million to Settle Sino-Forest Shareholder Suit (English article)
- Strategic Materials Advisory Council Lauds A123 Sale Congressional Opposition (Businesswire)
- CNZZ: Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Search Traffic Share Down Slightly in November (English article)
- LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Reports Financial Results for Q3 of Fiscal 2012 (PRNewswire)
- China’s Wanda In Talks With “Well-Known” Hotels For US Buys (English article)
Baidu’s Video Play, Qihoo’s Music 百度奇虎明争暗斗
New music and video moves by Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) reflect the intensifying competition between China’s dominant search engine and a fast-rising challenger, providing an interesting new form of entertainment for industry watchers. Media are reporting that Baidu has just acquired a video search and recommendation website called Jinwankansha, whose Chinese name means “What Are You Watching Tonight?” If true, the acquisition would be one of a series of recent signals that indicate Baidu is preparing to make a serious play for the online video market, potentially challenging more established players like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). Meantime, Qihoo 360 has also formally launched its own music service tied to its fast-rising search business, in what looks like a direct shot at rival services operated by Baidu.
News Digest: November 30 报摘： 2012年11月30日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), Fosun Int’l (HKEx: 656) Launch China Life Insurance JV (Businesswire)
- Bank of China (HKEx: 3988) Completes Issue of 39 Bln Yuan in Subordinated Bonds (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Debuts Music Search Service (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Video Search Company Jinwan Kan Shenme – Source (Chinese article)
- Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
IPOs: New Noise From Xunlei, Jingdong 迅雷看看、京东商城或明年上市
New noises are coming from online video site Xunlei and e-commerce giant Jingdong Mall that indicate a US or Hong Kong IPO or other equity sale may be coming soon, as each looks for new cash to fund its money-losing operations. But that said, the latest signals from these 2 Internet companies indicate that neither will be able to tap a rare window in the offshore IPO market that appeared last week when commercially-focused social networking site YY (Nasdaq: YY) made the first successful public offering by a Chinese firm in New York in more than a year. (previous post)
Worried Baidu Invokes “Wolf Spirit” 百度寻找“狼性”
An internal company memo penned by Robin Li, one of China’s richest men and founder of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), has been buzzing through the domestic media, which are interpreting the message as the sign of a looming crisis at the nation’s leading search engine. The theme of the memo revolves around the concept of the “Wolf Spirit”, which Li says has been lost at his company that pioneered the online search market in China. (Chinese article) In place of that spirit, Baidu has become a more complacent panda-like creature that simply enjoys its easy domination of the search space and the billions of dollars in advertising revenue it reaps each year from the business.
Baidu Seeks Excitment With Bonds 百度发债欲寻求兴奋点
If you can’t build it yourself, then go out and buy it. That looks like the message coming from leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), which has just raised a tidy $1.5 billion in its first-ever bond offering that could be used in part for acquisitions as the company looks to diversify. Baidu surprised many, myself included, with this massive new bond offering, which comes as growth for its core search business shows signs of slowing sharply.
News Digest: November 22 报摘： 2012年11月22日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- YY (Nasdaq: YY) Shares Rise 8 Pct on Trading Debut to Close at $11.30 (Chinese article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Pricing of US$1.5 Bln Notes Offering (PRNewswire)
- Unicom (HKEx: 762) to Buy Fixed-Line Unit From Parent for 12.2 Bln Yuan (HKEx announcement)
- Group Buying Site 24Quan Sued by More Than 20 Suppliers, Customers (Chinese article)
- Toyota (Tokyo: 7203) Venture Says China Retail Sales Rebounding After Plunge (English article)
Advertising Winter Enters Deep Freeze 中国广告行业进入严冬
Leading Chinese media company CCTV has been trumpeting the results of its annual advertising auction for 2013 held over the weekend, which saw spending increase by 11.4 percent despite the recent slowdown that has hit the sector. But from my perspective, these results look very gloomy indeed for reasons I’ll explain shortly, meaning advertising-dependent Internet leaders like search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and video sharing site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOUKU) won’t have much to cheer about in 2013.
Sohu: China’s Biggest Little Net Firm 搜狗拟分拆上市
I had to smile this morning when I read the latest reports on Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of China’s oldest web firms, which I’m officially christening as “China’s biggest little Internet company” following word that it plans to make an IPO for its Sogou search engine. If readers note some sarcasm in my tone, it’s certainly there. But at the same time, I do have a certain level of fascination with this company, which seems determined to spin off as many of its units as possible into separate publicly listed companies.
