Dominant Chinese mobile carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has a well established track record for its inability to do much outside its home market, but that could change soon with word that it’s teaming with European giant Vodafone (London: VOD) to bid for a mobile license in Myanmar. I’m often quite critical of China Mobile, as I think this cash-rich but lazy company has done little to take advantage of its huge size and resources to innovate and expand both at home and abroad. But in this case we’re finally seeing an initiative that looks well conceived, giving it a good chance of success as China Mobile looks to move into more competitive global markets. Read Full Post…
Tag Archives: China Mobile
News Digest: April 5, 2013
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941), Vodafone (London: VOD) To Bid For Myanmar License (HKEx announcement)
- Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) Closes Biggest China Stores (Chinese article)
- UBS Was Mystery Lender For Thai Group’s Ping An Buy (HKEx: 2318) – Sources (English article)
- Moonbasa Lands Fourth-Round Funding (English article)
- LDK (NYSE: LDK) Provides Update on Purchase Agreement for LDK Anhui (PRNewswire)
Unicom Sides With Tencent WeChat
A new memo that has been reportedly leaked from China’s second largest mobile carrier, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), shows the nation’s 3 telcos may not be nearly as united as many may think in their approach to Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular WeChat mobile app. This revelation, if true, doesn’t surprise me at all, since industry giant China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has been leading the assault on WeChat from the very beginning, complaining the popular mobile instant messaging app uses huge amounts of its networking capacity. But it’s far from clear if the nation’s other 2 mobile carriers, Unicom and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) share China Mobile’s discontent. Read Full Post…
Govt, Rivals Assault Tencent WeChat
In the space of just a half year, Internet giant Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular mobile messaging WeChat app has gone from obscurity, to red-hot rising star, to its latest position as a target of attack from just about everyone. The popular app has come under assault in the last 3 months from the nation’s 3 telcos, which complain that WeChat users are taking up a growing share of their network capacity. The trio have found a potent ally in the nation’s telecoms regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which has stepped in to help “mediate” the dispute. On top of all that, a wave of envious rivals with copycat products is quickly appearing on the scene. Read Full Post…
Tencent WeChat Looks Globally 腾讯微信全球化
A social networking (SNS) application called WeChat has boomed on China’s Internet over the last two years, challenging Twitter-like industry leader Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo and even cellular titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) with its innovative and cleverly designed features. Now the popular instant messaging program for smartphones is showing early signs of stepping onto the world stage, with the potential to become China’s first true contribution to a vibrant global Internet culture. Such a development would mark a significant milestone for China, whose most successful high-tech firms have thrived so far by largely copying existing global technologies.
News Digest: February 22 报摘:2013年2月22日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Reports Q4 and Full Year 2012 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- Court To Hear Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Case against Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) (English article)
- EU And China Stumble Towards Solar Trade War (English article)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) 4G Network To Reach 100 Cities This Year (Chinese article)
- Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Announces New Company Structure (English article)
China Mobile Stabilizes, Set For Growth 中国移动3G市场份额持稳 蛇年或恢复增长
New subscriber data for China’s 3 major telcos has just come out for January, so it seems like a good time to take a look at what’s ahead this year as Beijing gets set to issue 4G licenses that will usher in a new era for the sector. Based on the data and other recent developments, it does indeed look like industry leader China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) could finally return to a growth track in the Year of the Snake after years of stagnation as it struggled under its own massive weight. That prediction comes at least partly from the latest industry data, that shows China Mobile’s share in the important 3G market has finally stabilized after it lost steady share over the last 2 years to more aggressive rivals China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU).
International Board: The Endless Wait 国际板:无休止的等待
Since China first announced its plans to launch an International Board several years ago, a group of overseas-based companies that do big business in China have been waiting patiently to list on the board to raise both cash and their profiles on the mainland. Many of those companies were genuine foreign firms, such as banking giants HSBC (HKEx: 5; London: HSBA) and Standard Chartered (HKEx: 2888; London: STAN); but an equally large group were Chinese companies like mobile carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992), which incorporated overseas so they could list their shares in Hong Kong. Now it appears that at least some of the Chinese companies that wanted to list on the International Board are losing their patience with the slow progress, with word that Lenovo’s parent and telecoms carrier China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) may both be exploring more traditional A-share listings for some of their units.
China Mobile’s 4G Word Games 中国移动的4G“文字游戏”
I don’t know about other people, but I’m getting increasingly tired of China Mobile’s (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) non-stop string of word games as it aggressively pushes the country’s telecoms regulator to quickly issue 4G licenses that will allow it to offer a commercial 4G wireless service. But perhaps my frustration would be more appropriately directed at the telecoms regulator itself, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), whose massive bureaucracy means it often takes ridiculously long periods to approve just about anything, putting China’s telecoms market at a major disadvantage to global peers.
News Digest: February 5 报摘:2013年2月5日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Q4 And Fiscal Year Results (PRNewswire)
- Yum’s (NYSE: YUM) China Woes Slam Sales And Profits (English article)
- Sinopec (HKEx: 386) Says To Place HK$24 Bln Worth of Shares (HKEx announcement)
- Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) Reports Q4 and Fiscal Year Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches TD-LTE Commercial Trials in Hangzhou (English article)
SMS At Start of Long Decline For Telcos 短信业务风光不再
New government data on mobile text messaging, also known as SMS, is underscoring how this former cash cow for China’s telcos is quickly losing its audience, forcing the carriers to quickly look for replacement revenue sources. The new data also adds some new perspective to the high-profile clash between leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and top Internet player Tencent (HKEx: 700) that erupted last month, as the former accused the latter of stealing its SMS business.