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LinkedIn, Evernote Low-Key In China Internet Approach

By newsdoug on November 8, 2013

LinkedIn takes low-key approach to China

Since everyone is buzzing with excitement today over the successful IPO for social networking (SNS) pioneer Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), I thought I would end the week with a look at 2 other up-and-coming US Internet firms and their decidedly low-key approach to China. I’m talking about LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), the professional networking site, and Evernote, a cloud-based note-taking service. Neither of these 2 up-and-comers has made any high-profile announcements about their entries to China, even though both are active in the market. That could be a smart approach, following high-profile missteps by earlier arrivals that may have ultimately hurt their prospects in the large but also challenging market. Read Full Post…

Weibo: Xiaomi Finds Fans In Facebook, Vancl

By newsdoug on October 24, 2013

Xiaomi’s Barra finds fan in Facebook’s Zuckerberg

High-flying smartphone maker Xiaomi is at the center of 2 recent strings of microblog posts, one touching on an interesting new connection with Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and the other hinting at an increasingly cozy relationship with struggling online clothing seller Vancl. Interestingly, Xiaomi’s talkative co-founder and chief executive Lei Jun is largely absent from the dialogue in both cases, which each has sensitive overtones, implying that perhaps we could see more news in the weeks ahead. Read Full Post…

Alibaba Sees Sudden Urgency In SNS

By newsdoug on October 23, 2013

Alibaba in major Laiwang push

I’ve been watching with interest this week as e-commerce leader Alibaba has discovered a sudden urgency to grow its business in the social networking (SNS) space, with founder Jack Ma leading the charge. In the last few days, media have reported that Alibaba has made a major new acquisition in the sector, and Ma is also trumpeting the importance of the company’s recently launched Laiwang instant messaging service that will compete with Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) hugely popular WeChat service. All this comes after Alibaba earlier this year signed a landmark agreement to buy a major stake in Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo service, often called the Twitter of China. Read Full Post…

Baidu Gets Sticky With Renren, Flirts With Finance,

By newsdoug on October 23, 2013

Baidu gets chummy with Renren

Update: After originally posting this item, a Renren spokesman has gotten in touch to deny there are any talks for asset sales to Baidu beyond the original Nuomi sale.

Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is the subject of a new flurry of news bits, including growing ties with social networking leader Renren (NYSE: RENN) and a new financial services initiative, spotlighting the sudden urgency it feels to grow beyond its core search business. The Renren news bits are the most interesting to me, because they highlight the importance of social media to the growth strategies of most major Chinese Internet companies and could also presage an eventual acquisition. The financial services initiative also reflects the sudden rush by Chinese web giants into this area, though Baidu looks a bit late in its arrival to the space. Read Full Post…

Ya’an Quake Adds Responsibility to Frivolous SNS

By newsdoug on May 13, 2013

The Ya’an earthquake now already 2 weeks ago has cast an interesting new spotlight on China’s vibrant field of social networking services (SNS), showing a different side to these sites that are largely seen as little more than frivolous, time-wasting toys. As a frequent user of Chinese sites like Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), I can personally testify that I mostly use these sites to fill up idle time at home or on the subway, often when I’m trying to procrastinate or am just feeling bored. But these sites are suddenly earning new praise as a critical communication tool during the Ya’an earthquake, arguably the first major global disaster since SNS services began their meteoric rise less than a decade ago. Read Full Post…

Tencent WeChat Looks Globally 腾讯微信全球化

By newsdoug on February 25, 2013

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.

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Facebook Forges Links, Sina Shuffles; Facebook未弃中国梦新浪或将一分为二

By newsdoug on January 1, 2013

News involving a new China tie-up by Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) will undoubtedly reignite speculation that the social networking giant could finally enter the world’s biggest Internet market in 2013, fulfilling the long-stated goal of company founder Mark Zuckerberg. Meanwhile in other Internet news, leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is reportedly undergoing yet another new internal shuffle, foreshadowing major changes in store for one of China’s oldest online companies in 2013.

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Renren Buy-Back: Does Anyone Care? 人人回购股票：有人关心吗？

By newsdoug on December 27, 2012

Beleaguered social networking site (SNS) Renren (NYSE: RENN) is resorting to the feeble tactic of buying back its shares to boost its anemic stock, even as it faces little or no prospect of major new growth in the current chilly advertising climate. What the company really needs right now is a major jolt to excite investors, perhaps through a privatization or a mega-merger with leading rival Kaixin. Both of those could be possibilities in the new year, with the merger option as the most exciting that could breathe new life into a company that was once considered the Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) of China.

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Facebook Keeps Calling on China Facebook继续推动进军中国市场

By newsdoug on April 19, 2012

Facebook may be making global headlines for its upcoming mega IPO, but the social networking giant is making much quieter headlines in China as well, where local media are saying it has been meeting with potential joint venture partners in its long-stated pursuit of entering the market. (English article) All this comes amid a broader opening up of China’s tightly controlled media space, which is also seeing the website of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, roaring towards a landmark IPO that, not surprisingly, is seeing huge investor demand. Let’s look at the latest Facebook talk first, which has media saying founder Mark Zuckerberg has made a number of low-key recent trips to China to meet with potential joint venture partners. There’s no reason to believe the reports aren’t true, as Zuckerberg has been very open about wanting to enter China and has made a number of trips to the country. Those include an official visit in late 2010 where he reportedly met with a number of partners including search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), and another lower-profile visit just last month where he was spotted shopping in Shanghai in what was described as a personal visit. (previous post) My sources told me last year that Beijing had laid down a number of conditions that would make it difficult for Facebook to come to China, including requiring it to self-censor any China site it operated and also to make any information on the site available to the central government. (previous post) While such conditions looked like a deal killer at that time, Zuckerberg’s determination to enter the market, which includes a recent campaign to hire local Chinese engineers (previous post), seem to indicate he is willing to play by Chinese rules. I admire his determination, but should also point out that if and when Facebook ever does come to China, it will receive the same scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity that western organizations gave to Internet giants like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) when they entered the market. Facebook will also face stiff competition from established players Renren (NYSE: RENN) and Kaixin, which dominate the market but are having more difficulty finding profits there. Given Zuckerberg’s determination, I would say that China will be one of his top priorities after the IPO, and I could see the company entering the market as soon as late this year. Meantime, the People’s Daily has put out its own self-congratulatory statement in the run-up to its domestic IPO, saying it has tripled the size of the original offering due to strong demand and will sell shares that value the company at an 18 percent premium to its peers. (English article) As I’ve said before, I expect this IPO to be a huge success due to strong support from cash-rich party members and their associates. The stock could also do well in the longer term due to its party connections, but I wouldn’t look for anything too exciting in terms of growth or business initiatives due to the company’s political nature.

Bottom line: The latest reports on Facebook’s China plans indicate the company is aggressively aiming to enter the market, with a potential new joint venture possible by the end of this year.

News Digest: April 19, 2012 报摘： 2012年4月19日

By newsdoug on April 18, 2012

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Facebook Seeks Local Partner to Enter China – Sources (English article)

◙ China’s Party Website People.cn Seeks 18% IPO Premium (English article)

◙ MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI), ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Expand Direct-to-Account Service from Japan (Businesswire)

◙ Argentine Move to Seize YPF Spoils Sinopec (HKEx: 386) Deal (English article)

◙ Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) Strengthens Commitment to Being Employer of Choice in China (Businesswire)

◙ Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Nokia Bets on China Telecom 诺基亚联手中国电信

By newsdoug on March 29, 2012

The arrival of spring in China is bringing in a sudden surge of tech and telecoms VIPs, no doubt salivating over a market with more than a billion mobile subscribers and 500 million Internet users and growing. First came Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, whose visit has included courtesy calls on the nation’s 3 telcos as well as his most recent visit with vice premier Li Keqiang, tipped to become the country’s new premier next year. Now he’s being followed by Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) CEO Stephen Elop, who has attended a high profile Beijing event to announce the launch of company’s first smartphone in China using Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) latest Windows mobile operating system. (English article; Chinese article) But wait — there’s more. Apparently none other than Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has also been sighted in China, visiting my own city of Shanghai just a month before the company prepares to make its multibillion-dollar IPO. I already talked about Cook’s visit yesterday (previous post), so will focus this time mostly on Elop and Nokia, which used to dominate the China cellphone market but has seen its share drop sharply in the last 2 years, mirroring a global trend. Elop is hoping to reverse the slide by retiring Nokia’s old operating system and betting on Windows new mobile OS. I found it both interesting and intriguing that Nokia has chosen the smallest of China’s 3 mobile carriers, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as partner for the launch of its first Windows-based smartphone in China, rolling out a Lumina model that will run on the carrier’s 3G network based on a technology called CDMA EVDO. The gamble on China Telecom looks like a smart move to me, as this telco is clearly the more aggressive and better organized of China’s 2 major carriers that use global technology in their 3G networks. The other company, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), has been plagued by operational and management issues; and China’s third major telco, China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) uses a homegrown technology that most major developers have shunned so far. By signing up with China Telecom as its first partner, Nokia can be assured the carrier will give its phones special attention, unlike Apple’s iPhone, which is now offered by both China Telecom and Unicom. China Telecom has said it hopes to add 50 million or more 3G users to its network this year (previous post) as it aggressively chases the market in its drive to steal share from its other 2 rivals. Obviously Lumina phones will account for only a small portion of that, assuming that Chinese consumers like them. Still, that could translate to 3-5 million handset sales if the models prove popular. Meantime, here’s just a quick take on Zuckerman, who was seen shopping with his girlfried in Shanghai’s trendy Tianzfang district. (Englilsh article) The reports say Zuckerberg said he was on vacation, and I believe that’s probably true, since he was in Shanghai and not Beijing and he has much bigger issues at the moment with his company’s upcoming IPO. But he clearly still has his eye on the China market, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make another more formal China visit sometime later this year after the IPO.

Bottom line: Nokia’s pairing with China Telecom for its first Windows smartphone launch in China looks like a smart move, with sales of up to 5 million units possible this year.