Tag Archives: China Mobile

China Mobile latest Business & Financial news from Doug Young, the Expert on Chinese Companies, (former Journalist and Chief editor at Reuters in Asia)

Loyalty Boosts Apple In iPhone 6 Debut

iPhone 6 draws crowds in China launch

Nearly a month after their global launch, Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhones are now formally on sale here in China. We’ll no doubt get flooded with numbers about initial sales in the next few days, some of which may be correct but many of which will probably be just guesses. One larger question that’s on everyone’s mind is promotions by the nation’s 3 telcos, as China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as all come under government pressure to cut back on their aggressive subsidies.

The early news looks relatively good for Apple on that front, with one media report saying the 3 telcos are mostly maintaining their aggressive iPhone subsidies from previous levels. We’ll examine that issue shortly, and whether it even matters much. But first let’s look at the bigger picture that had the iPhone 6 receive a relatively strong reception after it went on sale in China on Friday, 4 weeks after its global debut and 3 weeks after its Asia launch. Read Full Post…

Trade Tone Improves Between China And The West

Spring coming for China-Western trade ties?

After fraying under a steady stream of disputes over the last 2 years, China-Western trade relations took a much-needed turn for the better last week with new reports showing that Beijing and its major trading partners were taking constructive steps to reduce the tensions. Two reports indicated Beijing will take steps to reduce some of the government support it gives to emerging high-tech industries, addressing a sore spot in its trade relations with the west. Read Full Post…

News Digest: October 14, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • After 13 Year Wait, Beijing Approves Universal Studios Theme Park (Chinese article)
  • Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Launches 10 Bln Yuan Rural Expansion Plan (English article)
  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) To Inject 10.4 Bln Yuan In Migu New Media Unit (Chinese article)
  • Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN), Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006) Among Top 10 Global Hotels (Chinese article)
  • Medical Site Guahao.com Gets $100 Mln Funding Led By Tencent (HKEx: 700) (Chinese article)

News Digest: October 11-13, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 11-13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) Extends China JV 25 Years To Tighten Market Grip (English article)
  • Nokia, China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Sign $970 Mln Framework Deal (English article)
  • Airbus (Paris: BUS) Signs Tentative Deal To Open New Plant In China (English article)
  • Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Updates Bet, Sees Passing Gree (Shenzhen: 00651 ) Within 5 Years (Chinese article)
  • Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) Announces Board Change, President’s Resignation (PRNewswire)

VNO, Number Portability Programs Limp Ahead

China telcos obstruct competition

Two news stories in the telecoms space reflect the obstructionist role that the country’s big 3 telcos often play when it comes to boosting competition in their tightly regulated sector. The first story involves moves by the regulator to revive its sputtering program to juice up the sector with competitive products offered by dozens of recently licensed virtual network operators (VNOs). The second story involves the glacially slow progress in “number portability” — a years-old initiative that would encourage more competition by allowing consumers to keep their old mobile phone numbers when changing carriers. Read Full Post…

News Digest: September 26, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Expands Number Portability Pilot To 5 Provinces (Chinese article)
  • China Detains 2 Executives At Embattled Business Newspaper (English article)
  • Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) To Invest In Merged BesTV+Oriental Pearl Media Firm (English article)
  • Master Kong (HKEx: 322) Prepares To Sue China Business News Over False Story (Chinese article)
  • PetroChina (HKEx: 859) Exec Exposed For Buying Luxury Goods With Company Fund (Chinese article)

Smartphone Stress In Coolpad Cuts, China Mobile ‘Naked’ Policy

Coolpad cuts 10 pct of workforce

Several news bits are casting a spotlight on growing stress in the low-end smartphone market, where a crowded field of Chinese companies have been engaged in a cut-throat series of price wars for the past year. Leading the headlines is word that Coolpad, a leading homegrown brand, is cutting 10 percent of its workforce as it explores a new joint venture with some of its distributors. At the same time, other reports say that China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) won’t be coming to the rescue of these struggling companies by selling their smartphones to its subscribers at subsidized prices, as the leading Chinese carrier embarks on its own cost-cutting campaign to bolster its sagging profits. Read Full Post…

Alibaba’s NY Listing Is China’s Loss

China stock markets come up empty on Alibaba IPO

A year of hype surrounding what’s likely to become the biggest IPO in history will officially end later this week, when homegrown Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba formally lists on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO will give most global investors access to Alibaba’s shares and a chance to profit from one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing e-commerce markets. Read Full Post…

News Digest: September 6-9, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 6-9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Alibaba Sets IPO Price Range Of $60-$66, To Raise Up To $24.3 Bln (Chinese article)
  • SAIC: E-Commerce Firms Face Fines Up To 500,000 Yuan For Fake Transaction Reporting (Chinese article)
  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Completes Purchase Of 18 Pct Of Thailand’s True Corp (HKEx announcement)
  • China Auto Rental To List In HK On September 19, Raise Up To $468 Mln (Chinese article)
  • LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) Settles Class Action Lawsuit (PRNewswire)

iPhone Subsidies Evaporate In Unicom Pre-Orders

Unicom takes iPhone 6 pre-orders

Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) highly anticipated iPhone 6 could face an uphill climb in China when it gets released next week, at least based on the first figures I’ve seen for how much the model will cost. According to the latest reports, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), the nation’s second largest carrier and Apple’s oldest partner in China, will sell the new iPhone 6 for a starting price of 5,288 yuan, or about $860. That would be significantly higher than the price tag of $750 that many believe will be the iPhone 6’s starting price when it goes on sale in the US later this month. Read Full Post…

VNOs Sputter, Squashed By Big 3 Telcos

VNOs hobbled by MIIT rules

People like myself who were holding out big hopes for a new crop of private firms challenging the 3 big state telcos will be disappointed to learn that the group of virtual network operators (VNOs) are off to a glacially slow start, boding poorly for the program. It’s obviously way too early to call the program a failure, since it’s only 3 months since the first private VNOs were launched. To consumers these VNOs look the same and offer similar services to the 3 existing state-run telcos. But the VNOs don’t actually own any telecoms networks, and instead must lease network capacity from the traditional carriers. Read Full Post…