Conspiracy talk was buzzing through the microblogging realm this past week, as numerous executives weighed in on 2 major news events in the China tech world. One of those saw Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) finally unveil its new iPhone 6, only to mysteriously yank China from its global launch map without any explanation. The other saw executives speculating on the significance of and reasons behind the surprise defection of Zhang Yaqin, a longtime China-based Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) executive who abruptly left the company for a job at leading Internet search company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
The volume continues to grow in a war of words between China and the west over a series of antitrust probes against multinationals, including the latest reports that Beijing is targeting Japanese car giant Toyota (Tokyo: 7203) with yet another such investigation. Toyota’s Lexus division is just the latest company to fall under Beijing’s microscope for its pricing policies, following similar investigations into most of the world’s top luxury car makers. Leading US smartphone chip maker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOMO) is also being investigated, and so is leading global software maker Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). Read Full Post…
A new report on the resignation of the head of Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) huge Asia R&D labs to take a job at homegrown Internet giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is shining a spotlight on the growing challenges that multinationals may soon face in retaining some of their top Chinese employees. Just a decade ago, jobs at foreign companies were highly coveted by ambitious Chinese in the high-tech sector, mostly because China didn’t have any of its own big names in the space.
But the emergence of companies like Baidu, Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) have created a whole new set of opportunities for these workers. What’s more, improving working conditions at Chinese-owned firms, combined with Beijing’s subtle anti-foreign bias against high-tech multinationals, could ultimately lead many of China’s brightest tech workers to abandon their jobs at the multinationals for domestic names. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) China Chief Visits NDRC 4 Times, Antitrust Fine May Reach 10 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
The year 2014 could well go down as the “Year of the Crackdown”, as evidenced by 2 more such crackdowns in the headlines as we head in autumn. The first and larger of the pair comes in the online video space, where media are reporting the broadcasting regulator is finalizing rules that would severely limit the amount of foreign content on online video sites. Meantime, a more mild crackdown is also coming in the e-commerce space, where separate reports are saying another regulator is rolling out rules that will punish companies that overstate their transaction volumes. Read Full Post…
Volume grows in foreign complaints over antitrust probes
The volume continues to get louder in the growing chorus of multinationals complaining they are being unfairly targeted in a recent wave of antitrust probes by Beijing, prompting China to reply that domestic companies are also being targeted. The latest headlines have the American Chamber of Commerce in China finally breaking its silence on the matter, joining its European counterpart in voicing its concerns that western firms are being singled out for probes over anti-competitive behavior. Meantime, China has held a couple of high-profile media events to defend its approach, and now is turning up its campaign with new reports of domestic firms that are also being punished for anti-competitive behavior. Read Full Post…
Officials at the 2 main regulators probing foreign firms for anti-competitive behavior are turning up their public relations machine to defend their actions, even as they also turn up the pressure on Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) in one of the highest profile investigations. I remarked last week how unusual it was when the secretive State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) held a rare press conference to defend a series of probes that have targeted Microsoft, along with global smartphone chip giant Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and many major auto makers. (previous post) Now the equally secretive National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the other antitrust regulator, is launching its own initiative by granting an unprecedented newspaper interview to discuss the matter. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
VNOs Enter Silent Period, Sign-Ups Total Just 300,000 After 3 Months (Chinese article)
SAIC Seeks Written Explanation In Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Probe Within 20 Days (Chinese article)
Huawei, Alipay Introduce First Domestic Fingerprint Payment Standard (Chinese article)
Phoenix Publishing & Media (Shanghai: 601928) To Acquire 10 Pct Of PPTV (English article)
China’s Li Ning (HKEx: 2331) Stumbles From Gold Medal Spot To No Man’s Land (English article)
It’s become a sort of rite of passage for CEOs of major tech firms to visit China after moving into their job, which looks set to happen again with a September trip to Beijing set for Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) new top executive Satya Nadella. Tim Cook traveled to China just 6 months after taking the reins from Steve Jobs as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO in 2011, and has visited the country several times since then. Even Twitter’s (NYSE: TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo visited Shanghai earlier this year, just months after the social networking giant’s New York IPO, despite saying earlier that China wasn’t a market where his company could do business. (previous post) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Nadella To Visit China Amid Antitrust Probe – Source (English article)
A headline this morning about a potential new China smartphone chip tie-up for Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) made me realize that this company that once ruled the global semiconductor market has been rapidly losing relevance these last few years. I can remember a time not long ago when finding news about Intel was a huge achievement for any reporter, as the company dominated the market for chips used to power most of the world’s PCs. Nowadays, Intel can’t even seem to attract the attention of China’s anti-trust regulators, who are conducting a series of high-profile probes on top computing names like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM). Read Full Post…
