Bottom line: A new equity alliance between Qihoo and Norway’s Opera web browser is a smart move that could see initial turbulence due to differing management styles, but should ultimately benefit both sides.
Qihoo in group buying Opera
Security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is taking an important step towards its ambitions of becoming a global Internet brand, with word that it’s part of a group set to buy Norway-based Opera (Oslo: OPERA), maker of the world’s fourth most popular mobile Internet browser. Qihoo is already the maker of one of China’s most popular homegrown web browsers, and is also posing one of the first serious challenges in years to online search leader Baidu(Nasdaq: BIDU) with its Haosou.com engine. It’s also making a big push to move its highly popular security software products into the global marketplace.
Against that backdrop, this new deal looks quite intriguing and also like a smart step for Qihoo to complement its current strengths. But I would also caution that Qihoo is famous for its business tactics, which many might describe as highly aggressive and even unethical. Those include designing products that make big changes to computer and smartphone configurations without their users’ knowledge, most often to favor Qihoo at the expense of rival products. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi and Meizu are trying to expand their exports by working through third-party distributors, and could make a formal entry into the US later this year after studying the market for patent-related liability.
Meizu eyeing US?
After dancing around the edges of the lucrative but extremely competitive US market for much of the last 2 years, fast-fading Chinese superstar Xiaomi and up-and-coming local rival Meizu may finally be preparing to enter the market through tie-ups with local carriers. A flurry of new media reports say the pair of Chinese brands are already making the move via a tie-up that will see their smartphones offered by US Mobile, a virtual network operator (VNO) that uses T-Mobile’s (Nasdaq: TMUS) network.
But no sooner did the reports emerge that Xiaomi issued its own statement saying it had no plans to sell its phones in the US, and that US Mobile was not one of its authorized distributors. Meizu also said it has no announced plans to enter the US. What seems clear from all this is that both companies are probably talking with one or more distributors about selling their smartphones in the US and possibly other western markets, even though neither is quite ready to make a formal announcement. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Google’s new alliance with Lenovo and its rare response to rumors Chinese media rumors are the latest signals of its plans to launch an app store and sell its Nexus smartphones in China later this year.
Google Tangos with Lenovo
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has been in the China headlines twice these last few days, announcing a new tie-up with local PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and issuing a rare response to the latest rumors on its slow march back to the world’s biggest Internet market. These latest signals seem to show that a return to China is almost inevitable for Google, which wants to avoid a negative publicity backlash that will inevitably come when it announces the move later this year.
Google abruptly shuttered its China search service nearly 6 years ago, after Beijing refused the company’s demands to ease strict Chinese rules that require all Internet sites to self-police themselves for politically sensitive content. The closure and acrimony that followed carried a healthy dose of self-righteousness by Google, and thus a return to a market it once scorned might seem just a tad hypocritical. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Lenovo’s plans to turn around its struggling smartphone business lack focus and are likely to fail, which could ultimately result in the exit of longtime chief Yang Yuanqing this year.
Lenovo denies plans to change Motorola logo
Computer giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) was busy showcasing its latest PCs at a major trade show last week in Las Vegas, but industry watchers were far more interested in the outlook for its struggling smartphone business. That’s because 2016 could easily become a make-or-break year for Lenovo, which desperately needs to turn around a smartphone unit that will be critical to its future growth.
In response to a flurry of questions focused on its smartphones, talkative CEO Yang Yuanqing said his company is making steady progress in the BRICS markets of Brazil and India, and that he’s aiming to set Lenovo back on an upward track in its home China market. Lenovo also announced a vague new smartphone partnership with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), and denied any plans to jettison its the famous bat-wing logo for its recently acquired Motorola brand.Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 9-11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Ping An’s Online Finance Platform Lufax Wins $900 Mln Series B Funding (English article)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Making First Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Project Tango Phone (English article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Apologizes Over Fake Moutai Scandal (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Sports in Alliance with NFL American Football League (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Removes Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Products From App Store (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Google’s registration of a company in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone is the latest incremental move in its crawl back to China, but the company will focus on apps and is unlikely to re-enter the sensitive Chinese search market.
Google searches for China opening in Shanghai
What’s becoming one of the slowest homecomings of all time has just taken another small but significant step forward, with reports that US Internet titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has formally registered a new company in a 2-year-old Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Shanghai. The move had Chinese media buzzing about an imminent return to China by Google, nearly 6 years after the company shuttered its local search service after a high-profile dispute with Beijing over censorship.
Like many of the earlier reports, this latest report looks mostly incremental and doesn’t seem to portend any imminent announcements by Google. But the reports do contain a couple of interesting developments that could hint at how the company plans to do business in the world’s largest Internet market if and when it does return. The 2 key new elements are Google’s potential choice of Shanghai for its new China base, and its registration of a new search and email services company to be run under the separate name Pengji. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Resources Challenges ON Semiconductor with Fairchild (Nasdaq: FCS) Bid (English article)
Postal Savings Bank Signs China Life, Ant Financial, Tencent as Investors for HK IPO (Chinese article)
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Registers Company in Shanghai Free Trade Zone (Chinese article)
ZTE (HKEx: 763), Shanghai Oriental Pearl in Strategic Cooperation (HKEx announcement)
Uber Releases China ICP Permit Number in Response to WeChat Blockage (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Google should follow the example set by LinkedIn and Apple and be more transparent when it returns to China, and should work with Beijing to forge a more constructive relationship.
Google eyes China return in 2016
One of the strongest signals yet that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) could soon return to China came late last week, when media reported the company was aiming to open a Chinese version of its Google Play app store next year in accordance with relevant Chinese laws. Such a move would represent an important improvement in the company’s relationship with Beijing, coming 6 years after Google shuttered its China-based search service due to a disagreement on self-policing policies that apply to all sites in China.
The shift is being driven by both sides, amid a realization that they can work together constructively to each other’s benefit. Google’s realizes that China is a market it can’t afford to ignore, with the world’s largest base of 600 million Internet users and 1.3 billion mobile subscribers. Beijing also realizes that a high-tech giant like Google can bring important technology and know-how to the country, whose large stable of smartphone makers already rely heavily on Google’s free Android operating system (OS). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 21-23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Aims for China Launch of App Play Store Next Year: Sources (English article)
China Restarts IPO Process for 10 Companies as Stocks Stabilize (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) China Chief Plans to Take Startup Incubator Public (English article)
Fox International Inks Production Deal With China’s Huace (Shenzhen: 300133) (English article)
Movie Ticket Booking Platform Weiying Shidai Wins 1.5 Bln Yuan Series C Funding (English article)
Bottom line: A new alliance between Ericsson and Cisco, and inability to quickly bring its new Nexus 6P smartphones to China reflect the challenges Huawei will face to maintain its growth as it comes under new pressures both at home and abroad.
Ericsson-Cisco alliance challenges Huawei
Two new developments involving Huawei are spotlighting the kinds of challenges the Chinese telecoms giant will face as it tries to maintain growth for its older networking equipment and newer and rapidly rising smartphone business. The larger of the two items have global giants Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Ericsson (NYSE: ERIC) forming a major new alliance that could provide big new competition for Huawei. The second comes in a smaller news item that has Huawei saying it will launch its new Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) smartphone in Taiwan later this month, but quietly adding it won’t be bringing the Nexus 6P model to its home China market anytime soon.
Huawei grew at a breakneck pace in the first decade of the 21st century, as it made quick inroads into global markets where names like Ericsson and Motorola traditionally dominated. But that growth has slowed sharply in the last few years as the building of traditional telecoms networks slows worldwide. The slowdown has hit not only Huawei, but also led to major consolidation in the global networking equipment industry. At the same time, demand has been growing more strongly for individual company-based networks that are a specialty of Cisco. Read Full Post…
