The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) could soon form a tie-up with software maker Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888), with many speculating the move by China’s leading search engine would be a direct assault on recent Baidu nemesis Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU). But a far more interesting possibility in this potential new tie-up would be a future related deal that would bring together Baidu with the up-and-coming young smartphone maker Xiaomi, whose co-founder Lei Jun has strong ties with Kingsoft.
Tag Archives: Qihoo 360
Baidu’s Li Puts Personal Bets on Mobile 李彦宏亲自挂帅百度移动部门
Less than 2 months after Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) founder Robin Li called on his employees to rekindle their “wolf spirit” that made his company great, media are reporting that Li has personally stepped in to take charge of Baidu’s mobile division in a bid to reverse its sinking fortunes. Baidu was once the envy of China’s Internet world, defeating global giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) to take the crown as the dominant player in China’s online search market. While it still controls the big majority of China’s online search market, many observers believe the company has become complacent in the last year due to its near-monopoly status in the market.
News Digest: January 5-7 报摘：2013年1月5-7日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 5-7. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Qihoo 360 (Nasdaq: QIHU), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Nearing Partnership Deal (English article)
- Automakers In China Brace For Year Of Tepid Growth As Japanese Struggle (English article)
- China’s Huawei Expects Profit Jump After Reporting Drop In 2011 (English article)
- China Galaxy Securities Files Application For $1.5 Bln HK-Shanghai IPO (English article)
- Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Enters Online Gaming Market – Source (English article)
China Mobile Muscles Tencent Into Talks 中国移动与腾讯进行营收共享协议谈判
Just a couple of weeks after telecoms heavyweight China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) complained that Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) was stealing its text messaging business, we’re getting word that the 2 companies may have started talks for a revenue sharing agreement to resolve the dispute. China Mobile’s discontent involves Tencent’s popular mobile instant messaging service WeChat, better known by its Chinese name Weixin, which has soared to prominence in the last 2 years and recently passed the 300 million registered user mark. (previous post) The service allows people to send text messages back and forth over the Internet, letting them circumvent traditional text messaging that is one of the biggest revenue sources for China Mobile and the nation’s other 2 big telcos.
Qihoo, Group Buying Set For 2013 Growth 奇虎360、团购网站明年料增长
As we approach the end of 2012, online search and group buying look like 2 spaces on China’s Internet that could see some big changes in the year ahead and provide some interesting investment opportunities. In the online search space, the new year could well shape up as the one when dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) finally received some serious competition from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which is quickly adding important features to its up-and-coming search service launched over the summer. Meantime, the new year could also see the revival of some of the nation’s beleaguered group buying sites, which have spent the past year in a bloody retrenchment that has seen many players either close or merge with rivals. In that space, we’re getting word that 55tuan, one of the former top players, has finally managed to turn a profit after altering its business model.
News Digest: December 26 报摘： 2012年12月26日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) to Launch Out 4G Trials in 100-Plus Cities in 2013 (Chinese article)
- MIIT to Issue VNO Licenses in Mid-2013 – Source (English article)
- Brazil Approves ICBC (HKEx: 1398) to Set Up Local Banking Unit (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Debuts Image Search Service (English article)
- Sony (Tokyo: 6758) Says China Business Has Recovered, Foresees Growth
News Digest: December 21 报摘： 2012年12月21日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN): Kindle Store Is First China Step, To Strictly Follow Laws (Chinese article)
- Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) Reaches Final Deal For Privatization, To Complete In Q2 (Chinese article)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) to Begin Monetizing Search in January – Ad Agency (English article)
- Tencent (HKEx: 700 Fined for Infringing Music Content (English article)
- AMD (NYSE: AMD) Greater China President Resigns, New President Named (Chinese article)
News Digest: November 30 报摘： 2012年11月30日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), Fosun Int’l (HKEx: 656) Launch China Life Insurance JV (Businesswire)
- Bank of China (HKEx: 3988) Completes Issue of 39 Bln Yuan in Subordinated Bonds (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Debuts Music Search Service (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Video Search Company Jinwan Kan Shenme – Source (Chinese article)
- Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
Rebound Nears For US China Stocks 中概股即将反弹
After a prolonged winter, spring finally appears to be in sight for overseas-listed Chinese companies amid growing investor confidence that accounting issues that have dogged the sector for much of the last 2 years are finally in the past. The latest signs of spring are coming from telecoms software maker AsiaInfo-Linkage (Nasdaq: ASIA), which may be on the cusp of a buy-out at a nice premium; and word that infamous short seller Muddy Waters may finally be ready to cease its relentless attacks on US-listed China companies.
Worried Baidu Invokes “Wolf Spirit” 百度寻找“狼性”
An internal company memo penned by Robin Li, one of China’s richest men and founder of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), has been buzzing through the domestic media, which are interpreting the message as the sign of a looming crisis at the nation’s leading search engine. The theme of the memo revolves around the concept of the “Wolf Spirit”, which Li says has been lost at his company that pioneered the online search market in China. (Chinese article) In place of that spirit, Baidu has become a more complacent panda-like creature that simply enjoys its easy domination of the search space and the billions of dollars in advertising revenue it reaps each year from the business.
News Digest: November 20 报摘： 2012年11月20日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- HSBC (HKEx: 5) In Talks To Sell $9.3 Bln China Ping An (HKEx: 2318) Stake (English article)
- Jingdong Mall Launches Online Music Service (English article)
- MIIT to Release Plan for Trial Private Investment in Telecom Sector (English article)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Reports Q3 Unaudited Results (PRNewswire)
- Total (Paris: TOTF) Sells $2.5 Bln Nigeria Oil Field Stake to Sinopec (HKEx: 386) (English article)
