The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Unicom (HKEx: 762) In Race To Offer iPhone 5 First (Chinese article)
- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Microblog Launches Professional SNS Service (English article)
- Strategic Materials Advisory Council Opposes Chinese Acquisition of US Defense Supplier (Businesswire)
- Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) Reports Q3 Results (PRNewswire)
- Belarus In Talks With China, India, Others On Potash Giant (English article)
No one is writing very much about China Unicom’s (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) newly announced plan to buy fixed-line networking assets from its parent, perhaps because people have lost all interest in this laggard telco that has been mired in management disorder for much of the last 2 years. Despite my own negative feelings about the company’s recent performance, I’m going to go ahead and actually praise Unicom for the move, as it finally looks like the company is doing something that has a small hint of being driven by a broader corporate strategy — something we haven’t seen for quite a while.
The rapidly changing mobile landscape is creating some interesting challenges for China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which is finally seeing its 3G market share stabilize as it reportedly may be weighing a bid to buy out the partner for its fading Fetion mobile messaging service. The 3G news is clearly the more important in this pair of news bits, and probably reflects a combination of factors that should bode well for China Mobile as Beijing gets set to issue new 4G licenses. Meanwhile, the latter rumors involving Fetion is probably more wishful thinking from Fetion’s current owners, who would like to get some money for their instant messaging platform which is rapidly being overtaken by newer smartphone applications, most notably Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat.
The news wires are buzzing today with word that wireless titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) appears to have lost a major battle to quickly become a major player in the fixed-line broadband space by purchasing a stake in a new national cable TV operator now being formed. If the reports are true, this development certainly wouldn’t surprise me since regulators in Beijing are probably quickly tiring of listing to the constant complaints coming from China Mobile, which believes it was treated unfairly in the country’s awarding of 3G wireless licenses 3 years ago.
With signs growing by the day that China will issue 4G licenses quite soon, perhaps by March next year, the nation’s second and third largest carriers are sensing a sudden urgency to get ready for the roll-out and avoid a possible booby prize that either could easily receive. The 2 telcos I’m talking about of course are China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), both of which have suddenly begun trialing 4G technology in anticipation of the imminent issue of 4G licenses.
The headlines are buzzing with news bits from each of the country’s 3 major telcos, with high-speed services taking big steps forward even as US telecoms equipment powerhouse Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) could be bracing for a Chinese winter. In the former group of headlines, media are reporting that China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has made a significant step into 4G with plans to expand its trial TD-LTE network into China’s interior, while China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE CHA) has just won an important new license to offer TV and other video and data services over its fixed-line broadband network. Meantime, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) is also making headlines with reports that the company is replacing Cisco-supplied equipment from some of its key network due to security concerns.
