The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Alipay Adds Transaction Fee for Transfers to Bank Accounts (Chinese article)
China’s Regulator Tightens Control on Live Video Broadcasting (English article)
Didi Chuxing, Uber China Join With Local Partner to Promote New Energy Cars (Chinese article)
Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Former China Chief Raises $674 Mln in New Funds (English article)
Thomas Cook, Fosun (HKEx: 656) in Joint Venture to Tap China Travel Market (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Tencent’s new crown as Asia’s most valuable company reflects the rapid growth of China’s private sector in the last decade, and could auger an eventual challenge to global social networking leader Facebook.
Tencent takes crown for most valuable Chinese company
Media are fawning on Chinese Internet sensation Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has just edged past telecoms giant China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) to become the nation’s most valuable publicly traded company. Such a feat would have been unthinkable a decade ago, when the nation’s private sector was still in its infancy and state-run monoliths like China Mobile still dominated China’s corporate landscape. But much has changed over the last 10 years, and Tencent in many ways reflects the huge potential that investors see in a Chinese private sector that has come to dominate many emerging industries like Internet-based products and services. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Yihaodian could regain momentum in China’s online grocery market under an aggressive 1 billion yuan promotion by new owner JD.com and strong support from former owner Walmart.
Yihaodian launches 1 bln yuan promotion
One major obstacle for foreign companies in China is their reluctance to engage in the kind of cut-throat price wars that are all too common in many of the nation’s huge but extremely competitive emerging markets. Such reluctance was a big factor behind the disappointing progress for Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) local e-commerce venture Yihaodian, and prompted the US retailer to sell the company in June in exchange for shares of local e-commerce powerhouse JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Now we’re getting word that JD is preparing to position Yihaodian as its flagship online grocery store, and is getting set to launch a massive price war in its bid to achieve that target. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu’s rapid expansion of its global mapping services is mostly targeted at Chinese traveling abroad, and is unlikely to attract many local users because better services are already available in most markets.
Baidu maps South America
Still suffering from a spate of negative news at home, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is trying to draw attention to the more upbeat subject of its global expansion that is slowly inching forward. The company has squarely focused its global drive on emerging markets, and is continuing that trend with word that it’s launching new editions of its mapping services for most of South America. Baidu has already launched a version of its core search business in Brazil, and many will probably view this move to launch mapping services in 13 countries as a prelude to future launches for search service in those markets. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Google’s new opening of an experience center in Shenzhen is the latest signal of a planned return to China, which could include the launch of a Google Play Store and Nexus smartphones in the market by year-end.
Google opens experience center in Shenzhen
After a few months of relative silence, global Internet titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is back in the China headlines with a new move that’s restarting talk of a return to the market after a 6-year absence. This particular China homecoming has now been in the headlines for about a year, meaning it’s not really new and would be quite a disappointment if it doesn’t happen. Still, China is a notoriously difficult place to do business, especially in sensitive high-tech areas involving the Internet, and there’s still a small chance such a homecoming plan could collapse. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Face Profit Hit From New Search Ad Rules (English article)
AirAsia Eyes HK Kisting as It Expands in North Asia (English article)
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Opens Experience Center in Shenzhen, China Homecoming Signal? (Chinese article)
China Has Too Many Mediocre Electric Carmakers, Researcher Says (English article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Secures 6.2 Bln Yen Green Solar Financing in Japan (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Baidu will suffer more damage to its revenue and profits after new actions by China’s Cyberspace Administration, creating a potential opportunity for Bing or even Yahoo in China’s lucrative search market.
Baidu’s search woes offer opportunity for Bing, Yahoo
The woes for Internet search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) continue, with word that China’s Internet censor is ordering the already hobbled company to cleanse itself of inappropriate sites in its search results. But whereas previous crackdowns have focused on politically sensitive content, this latest crackdown focuses on sites of companies that may be engaged in fraud or making inflated or bogus claims. The entire situation looks set to make a major dent in Baidu’s growth story, and could even see the company’s revenue shrink as it finds a new equilibrium.Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New sales of Alibaba and Lenovo shares by big stakeholders partly reflect disappointment in each stock’s performance by the seller, as both companies face issues that could stunt their medium-term growth.
Big stakeholders sell Alibaba, Lenovo shares
The folks at e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and PC leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992) are licking their wounds today, after each was dumped by a major major shareholder. In the first case longtime backer SoftBank has just sold off a big chunk of its Alibaba holdings, raising a hefty $7.9 billion in the process. The second deal has Internet giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) looking to sell about $200 million worth of Lenovo stock. Alibaba and SoftBank are trying to put a positive spin on their development, but the bottom line is that both Alibaba and Lenovo stock have become disappointments recently for all investors. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Japan’s SoftBank Plans to Sell $7.9 Bln in Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Stock to Cut Debt (English article)
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Sells Patents to Xiaomi, Builds ‘Long-Term Partnership’ (English article)
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Seeking Up To $221 Mln by Selling Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Stock (English article)
Jaunt, SMG and CMC Launch Virtual Reality Venture Jaunt China (Businesswire)
Michael Kors Acquires Greater China Licensee for $500 Mln (Businesswire)
Bottom line: CEO Lei Jun’s decision to directly oversee Xiaomi’s product development could help to revive the company by addressing a key problem area, but its new set-top box is unlikely to gain much traction in the US due to stiff competition.
Xiaomi unveils set-top box for US
Amid growing signs of stagnating sales for its core smartphones, the stumbling Xiaomi is taking a couple of big new steps to try and reinvigorate its business, led by a shuffle that will see charismatic CEO Lei Jun take direct control of product development. In a separate but also significant move, the company has just announced a highly-anticipated first big step into the lucrative but ultra-competitive US market, with plans to launch a local version of its online video service.
Among these 2 big new moves, the management shuffle is the most significant and also most reflects Xiaomi’s problems. The company rose to prominence on an extremely successful marketing campaign that used online buzz, artificial product shortages and strategically leaked information. But Xiaomi’s actual smartphones couldn’t meet the high expectations created by Lei’s brilliant marketing campaigns, and instead are seen as largely the same as many of the other many models now on the market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu’s new policy of greater transparency in its search results is long overdue, and is unlikely to have a major impact on its business due to lack of other choices for advertisers in the China search market.
Baidu cleans up search site
What a difference a week makes. After coming under unprecedented assault for putting profits above everything else, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has just done a major overhaul of its core search service to make it more transparent and useful. The overhaul was long overdue but was hardly voluntary, and only came after the company faced the biggest crisis since its founding in 2000.
It’s somewhat ironic that this particular crisis took so long to come, since the kinds of misleading practices at the center of the controversy are widely known and central to Baidu’s huge profitability. Those practices include selling preferred positions on search results pages to advertisers who pay the highest prices, even though that fact was never clearly conveyed to Internet users. Read Full Post…
