Qihoo 360’s (NYSE: QIHU) controversial founder Zhou Hongyi was buzzing through the microblogging realm this week, attacking online search archrival Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) in one instance as he was accused by a former employee in another case of attacking Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM), a rival in the security software business. Meantime, telecoms giant Huawei was generating some rare upbeat buzz for its latest smartphone, the P7, getting several high-profile tech executives to hype the model in what looks like a page from the playbook of marketing-savvy smartphone rival Xiaomi. Read Full Post…
When the history books are written, the month of May 2014 could go down as a watershed in the Chinese battle against piracy. An obscure Shenzhen company could also be part of the story, following reports that the firm Kuaibo Technology has been fined a whopping 260 million yuan ($42 million) by the city government for repeated piracy. Then again, it’s also quite possible and likely that Kuaibo will simply shut its doors to avoid paying the fine, and then re-open nearby using another name and company registration. Read Full Post…
We’ll end the week with a couple of smartphone news bits, including reports that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is in talks to start a China-based recycling program and new data that show TCL’s (HKEx: 2618; Shenzhen: 000100) smartphone sales nearly tripled in the first 4 months of the year. Of the 2 news bits, Apple’s is most interesting not only because of its big name, but also because it shows the company is finally taking steps to boost its image as a good corporate citizen in China. TCL’s story looks interesting because it’s one of the few Chinese handset makers that derives the bulk of its smartphone revenue from overseas, which looks like a safer strategy due to the current state of overheated competition in the domestic market. Read Full Post…
I’ve been predicting for a while now that China’s booming smartphone sector was set for a rapid slowdown due to a rapid build-up last year, and now the latest sales data is showing that such a downturn may have begun in this year’s first quarter. Of course one quarter of data is hardly enough to declare the death of last year’s smartphone explosion, and we’ll have to see if the coming months continue a downtrend that saw China’s cellphone sales tumble 27 percent in the first 3 months of the year. Meantime, one of the industry’s top players ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) has just launched yet another new sub-brand aimed at online buyers, reflecting the hyperactive state of competition and intense pricing pressure in the market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 19-21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) To Double Franchised Restaurant Ratio In China By 2015 (Chinese article)
In a move that seemed almost inevitable, leading online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and top telecoms equipment maker Huawei have joined hands to create a set-top box for Internet TV, with plans to launch the product later this month. I’m calling the move inevitable, because Youku Tudou was one of China’s only major online video sharing services that had yet to launch an Internet TV initiative, and Huawei was one of the few remaining hardware makers without such a plan. This alliance looks potentially interesting as it combines 2 leaders in their respective areas, though their relatively late arrival to the game could put them at a slight disadvantage. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) Shares Jump 19 Pct In US Debut (English article)
China Unicom (HKEx: 762) Confident Of Getting FDD-LTE License Within Year (Chinese article)
Media are buzzing about the newly released annual results from telecoms equipment giant Huawei, though everyone is taking a different angle on the latest figures. Some are focused on the company’s return to strong profit growth, while others are highlighting its aggressive plans for the next 5 years. But my favorites are the headlines that trumpet Huawei’s ascendance to become the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, since it officially passed Sweden’s Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) in revenue terms last year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei 2013 Profit At 21 Bln Yuan, Sales Outpace Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) (Chinese article)
Shanghai Media Group Undergoes New Round Of Restructuring (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Targets 100 Mln Handset Shipments In 2015 (English article)
Alibaba Invests $692 Mln In Chinese Department Store Operator (English article)
Tesla’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) China Chief Resigns, Company Cites Personal Reasons (English article)
The number 1,000 took on new significance in the blogosphere this past week, with tech titans Lenovo (HKEx: 992), Huawei and Xiaomi in a sudden new rush to chop prices for some of their newest products to under 1,000 yuan. The number translates to roughly $160, and is certainly not a bad price for the relatively high quality smartphones and tablet PCs that are suddenly being sold by the trio at that price and even less.
Meantime, tech executives were also paying tribute on their microblogs to Pat McGovern, the billionaire founder of the IDG media empire that was one of earliest venture capital investors to realize the potential of China’s Internet. McGovern, who died last Wednesday, leaves behind an empire that helped to fund some of China’s most recognizable Internet names, including sector leaders Tencent (HKEx: 700), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and SouFun (NYSE: SFUN), and many others. Read Full Post…
I generally try to avoid taking sides in political disputes like the one involving US accusations that Chinese telecoms equipment from Huawei could pose a national security threat. But in the case of the latest revelations about US government spying on Huawei, I do think that Washington should at least discuss the results of its efforts to find evidence of a covert relationship between Huawei and the Chinese military. At the same time, I find Beijing’s condemnation of the snooping a bit insincere, as I’m quite sure that China and most other nations also engage in similar electronic spying. (English article) Read Full Post…
