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)

China Mobile’s Sagging Profit: Time To Buy?

China Mobile: Time to buy?

I don’t usually offer direct investment advice in this space, but today I can’t resist opining that perhaps investors are being a bit hasty in dumping shares of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) after the nation’s dominant wireless carrier reported its first annual profit decline in more than a decade. The decline shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, since China Mobile reported an 8.8 percent profit decline in the third quarter. Obviously falling profits are never something investors want to see. But in this case it’s also worth noting that China Mobile has responded to the challenge with a number of new initiatives that show it is finally waking up to a new reality where it faces growing competition from the private sector. Read Full Post…

News Digest: March 21, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) Unveils $2.4 Bln Shanghai Complex (English article)
  • New JD.com IPO Filing Shows Big Drop In 2013 Net Loss (Chinese article)
  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Reports Full-Year 2013 Results (HKEx announcement)
  • Alibaba Invests $215 Mln In Real-Time News App Tango (Chinese article)
  • Trina (NYSE: TSL) Gets Favorable Arbitration Award, Adjusts Q4 Results (PRNewswire)
  • Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Unicom’s Half-Baked 4G Strategy Moves Ahead

Unicom advances half-baked 4G plan

The 4G strategies of China’s 2 smaller telcos are starting to emerge under an unusual hybrid scheme being rolled out by the nation’s telecoms regulator, and the path being pursued by China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) certainly doesn’t look encouraging. Both Unicom and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) have been given the nod to launch commercial 4G service using a homegrown standard known as TD-LTE, even though both plan to build their main networks using a more globally tested technology technology called FDD-LTE. But whereas China Telecom is making minimal investment in TD-LTE, Unicom seems intent on wasting billions of dollars, with word that it has awarded contracts to 8 companies to start construction of a network based on the technology. (Chinese article) Read Full Post…

China Mobile Beefs Up 4G, Targets Tencent

China Mobile revs up for 4G WeChat assault

Leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is talking tough in Barcelona at the world’s top trade show, detailing aggressive plans to quickly boost its new 4G service in a bid to take on the massive challenge from Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) wildly popular WeChat mobile messaging service. I’ve previously criticized China Mobile for failing to innovate and relying too much on its highly protected status in China’s telecoms services markets. But this new series of announcements seems to highlight a newer posture at the state-run behemoth, hinting that it may finally start to become more dynamic in response to a growing number of private sector threats. Read Full Post…

News Digest: February 28, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Tencent (HKEx: 700) Hires Barclays To Explore JD.com Investment – Sources (Chinese article)
  • Bayer Buys Dihon To Add Traditional Chinese Medicine
  • Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q4, Fiscal Year Results (PRNewswire)
  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Accelerates TD-LTE Development Plans (PRNewswire)
  • Alibaba’s Yu’ebao Users Top 81 Mln, Deposits Top 410 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

News Digest: February 26, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Sues Chinese Government Over Siri (English article)
  • Tencent (HKEx: 700) Video to Announce M&A Deal in H1 2014 – Source (English article)
  • Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Needs 4-6 Quarters To Turn Motorola Profitable – CEO (Chinese article)
  • Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) Reports Q4 and Fiscal Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941), France Telecom Develop TDD/FDD-LTE Smartphone (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Telco Execs Flock To VNOs

Telecoms execs jump to new VNOs

A new report about a sudden exodus of middle- and top-level executives from China’s big 3 telcos is forcing me to rethink my earlier assertion about the relationship between those carriers and a group of new competitors called virtual network operators (VNOs). Earlier reports about the defection of a top executive from one of the big telcos to a new VNO had prompted me to declare the big 3 state-run carriers were trying to sabotage the new VNO scheme to quash any new competition. But now this new report reveals that similar defections at all levels of management are becoming widespread, indicating perhaps that market economics really are at work here. Read Full Post…

China Telecom, Unicom Rush Into 4G

China Telecom’s 4G launch imminent

A new flurry of reports are saying that 4G service launches are coming soon from the nation’s 2 smaller telcos, China Telecom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHA) and Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), as both seek to stop leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) from gaining any advantage from its earlier roll-out of similar service. The move initially came as a slight surprise to me, as I really didn’t expect either company to aggressively promote 4G until the second half of this year for technological and cost reasons I’ll explain soon. But this sudden acceleration in their plans actually looks like a smart strategic move to prevent China Mobile from gaining new momentum, even if such a tack could create both technical and financial challenges for both smaller carriers. Read Full Post…

Weibo: Alibaba, Sina Cast Envious Eyes on WeChat Hongbao

WeChat scores big hit with red envelopes

Things have certainly changed over the last 3 years in Lunar New Year messaging, as reflected by the flood of tech executives using their microblogs to weigh in on Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) launch of a red envelope gift function for its popular WeChat platform over the holiday period. Most of the comments were admiring and even in a slight state of awe at the big success of WeChat’s hongbao product, which lets users send gift money to their friends and relatives over the popular instant messaging platform. But at least one post from Alibaba smelled of sour grapes, and a Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) executive also took a backhanded swipe at the rival to his company’s own Weibo microblogging service. Read Full Post…

China Mobile Shakes Up Fixed-Line Broadband

Competition comes to fixed-line broadband

A welcome development looks set to shake up China’s fixed-line broadband sector this year, with word that leading wireless carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is offering aggressive pricing after receiving a license to offer fixed-line service late last year. Of course I’m speaking from the consumer’s perspective, since China’s 1.3 billion consumers and millions of businesses have had little or no choice for the last decade when choosing a fixed-line broadband supplier. The development looks less positive for the existing duopoly of China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU, which may actually have to lower prices and improve their products to continue attracting new customers and keep existing ones from defecting. Read Full Post…

News Digest: January 23, 2014

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Lowers Prices For Home Broadband Users (Chinese article)
  • Online Travel Agent Tuniu To Raise $100 Mln In New York IPO – Source (Chinese article)
  • Fosun Group, Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU) Expand Partnership In China (Businesswire)
  • Nu Skin (NYSE: NUS) Issues Apology, Takes Corrective Steps In China (Chinese article)
  • Wanda Hotels And Resorts Holds Its First Brand Ceremony (PRNewswire)