Qihoo 360 latest business news

News Digest: January 7-9, 2012

By newsdoug on January 7, 2012

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 7-9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Bank of China (HKEx: 601988), Mizuho (Tokyo: 8411) Eye RBS Bank Assets: Sources (English article)

◙ Tencent (HKEx: 700) Says Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Disrupts Tencent App (English article)

◙ Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) Falls After Muddy Waters Questions Ginseng Plantation Buy (English article)

◙ Joy Global (NYSE: JOY) Makes Offer For Int’l Mining Machinery (HKEx: 1683) Shares (Businesswire)

◙ Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Near iPhone Deal With China Mobile (HKEx: 941) – Market Talk (Chinese article)

News Digest: January 6, 2012

By newsdoug on January 5, 2012

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Sinopec (HKEx: 386) Says Ministry of Finance Raises Oil Windfall Tax Threshold to $55 (English article)

◙ SARFT TV Drama Rules May Extend to Online Video (English article)

◙ Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Revamps Regions, Former Acer (Taipei: 2353) CEO To Head Europe (Chinese article)

◙ Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Announces Authorization for Share Repurchase (PRNewswire)

◙ Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) and Ningxia State Power Complete 10 MW China Project (PRNewswire)

News Digest: December 9, 2011

By newsdoug on December 8, 2011

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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◙ Formation of National Cable TV Company Delayed to End 2012 (Chinese article)

◙ Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) Enters Five New Cities Across Mainland China (Businesswire)

◙ Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Rejects Citron Research’s Accusations (PRNewswire)

◙ Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) Makes Low-Cost Android TD-SCDMA Chip, Reaffirms Q4 Outlook (PRNewswire)

◙ New China Life raises $1.9 billion in dual IPO: IFR (English article)

Qihoo, Vancl Fend Off New Attacks 奇虎、凡客和人人承受压力

By newsdoug on December 7, 2011

Qihoo, Vancl, Renren take beating Chinese Web firms continue to come under attack as they stare at a Web bubble that is showing early signs of bursting, with listed companies fending off assaults from short sellers and others struggling to retain employees amid the latest rumors of cash crunches and layoffs. The latest trio to face such assaults include web security software firm Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), leading clothing retailer and IPO candidate Vancl, and struggling social networking services site Renren (NYSE: RENN), which are all putting out various fires in their ranks. Qihoo, after coming under attack from a small research house called Citron last month (previous post) questioning many of its user numbers, has come under assault again by Citron with more similar allegations. Qihoo has come out with its own statement blasting Citron and explaining to worried investors why all its numbers are accurate. (company announcement) I previously said I wouldn’t be surprised if Citron’s claims are at least partly accurate (previous post), though investors so far seem to be giving Qihoo the benefit of the doubt. The company’s stock still trades at around $18, not far from the level it was at when Citron issued its first report and far higher than the $5 per share that Citron estimated Qihoo shares were worth. Meantime, Vancl is fending off reports from an anonymous blogger that it is facing a cash crunch as it repeatedly delays its planned New York IPO. (Chinese article) Vancl has denied the posts, which apparently carry some credibility due to the recent departure of a company vice president and reports in September that it was cutting 5 percent of its workforce. (previous post) Reports earlier this week that Vancl has just received $230 million in new venture funding (previous post) would seem to indicate the company has ample cash for now, but clearly it is feeling pressure to raise even more as competition rages in China’s e-commerce space. Last but not least there’s Renren, which is reportedly getting ready to offer its shares to all employees to let everyone “enjoy the company’s success.” (Chinese article) The only problem is that Renren’s shares now trade at about $3.50, or one-quarter of their $14 IPO price in May. To me this plan looks like desperation in a bid to retain Renren workers, many of whom are probably having doubts about their company’s future.

Bottom line: Assaults on Qihoo 360, Vancl and Renren are the latest signs of turbulence as China’s Internet bubble starts to burst, with many more to come.

News Digest: December 7, 2011

By newsdoug on December 6, 2011

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 7. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ GM (NYSE: GM) China Sales Growth Accelerates as Auto Demand Shrinks for Ford, Honda (English article)

◙ 54% of China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Data Card Users on 2G Networks – Memo (English article)

◙ Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Responds to the Citron Report (PRNewswire)

◙ Merck Establishes New MSD R&D Asia Headquarters in Beijing (Businesswire)

◙ Samsung (Seoul: 005930) Plans Flash Chip Line in China (English article)

Search Wars Heat Up With Latest Anti-Baidu Moves 中国网络搜索战升温

By newsdoug on November 18, 2011

Search wars heat up with latest mass move against Baidu The latest mass movement against online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) looks set to sow new chaos in China’s online community, once again underscoring that Beijing needs to step in and bring some order to the marketplace or risk major disruptions. Chinese media are reporting that 3 major web firms, Tencent (HKEx: 700), Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and Youku (NYSE: YOKU), have all announced new search engine initiatives to rival Baidu, which dominates the market with nearly 80 percent share. (Chinese article) Tencent’s search engine, Soso, is actually already 5 years old, so that part of the story isn’t really news. (previous post) But what’s alarming is that the report says Youku, China’s leading online video sharing site, is launching its initiative after noticing that the number of Baidu search results directing users to its site has dropped sharply since Baidu launched its own video sharing service, called Qiyi. In fact, this is just the latest example of a frequent Baidu practice, namely tampering with its search results to make its advertisers and its own products appear at or near the top of its search results even when other web pages would rank higher under more objective conditions. This latest conflict pitting Baidu against 3 other major web firms comes just weeks after another similar mass protest saw major online retailers including Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and 360Buy block their web pages from searches by Alibaba’s Etao search engine. (previous post) These kind of turf wars between major online players have the potential to create real chaos on the Chinese Internet by undermining the credibility of search engines that are often the first place web surfers go to find what they want on the vast worldwide web. I’m usually opposed to any attempts by Beijing to step in and regulate the online world, but this really seems like one exception where the government should step in and act as impartial arbitrator to set up some basic ground rules that everyone can agree upon to end these turf wars. Otherwise, China’s online world could be looking at 1-2 years of major disruptions until the building brouhaha gets resolved by market forces.

Bottom line: A new uprising by 3 major web firms against Baidu marks the latest unrest in China’s online search market, which needs Beijing to step in and act as impartial arbitrator.

News Digest: November 17, 2011

By newsdoug on November 16, 2011

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) Announces Q3 Results (PRNewswire)

◙ Shandong Gold (Shanghai: 600547) Offers $1 Billion for Jaguar Mining (NYSE: JAG) (English article)

◙ Youku (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Unaudited Q3 Results (PRNewswire)

◙ Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Reports Unaudited Q3 Results (PRNewswire)

◙ Online Wine Merchant Jiuxian Secures Second-Round VC Funding (English article)

News Digest: October 14, 2011

By newsdoug on October 13, 2011

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ 55tuan Closes Some Offices Overnight, Many Coupons Become Worthless (Chinese article)

◙ Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Launches E-Commerce Directory Site (English article)

◙ Agilent (NYSE: A), Datang Establish TD-LTE Joint Development Lab (Businesswire)

◙ India Frees State Firms to Compete With China for Mines Abroad (English article)

◙ Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to Report Q3 Financial Results on October 27 (PRNewswire)

Qihoo Goes to War With Mobile Browsers 奇虎360加强移动互联网布局

By newsdoug on September 22, 2011

Qihoo goes to war with new mobile browsers I’ll be direct and say I don’t particularly like computer security software firm Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) due to its often questionable business practices and its guerrilla-style marketing tactics, which China’s weak legal system seems to encourage through lack of meaningful penalties. That said, market watchers might want to keep any eye on the company’s new plan to put the mobile Internet at the center of its strategy going forward. Qihoo has just launched a new suite of mobile browsers (company announcement), and its CEO Qi Xiangdong says the company is devoting big resources to development of its mobile Internet business. (Chinese article) I don’t know if these new browsers are good or not. But that probably won’t matter, as Qihoo, using its guerrilla-style tactics, will find a way to get these products onto the mobile phones of most Chinese consumers in the next year or 2 whether they want them or not, much the way it has done with its Web security products. Qihoo products, once on a person’s computer or mobile phone, are also very difficult to delete, and the company often designs in features to crowd out competing products. For older folks out there, Qihoo’s tactics are reminiscent of the kinds of things AOL did in the 1990s to become the leading US Internet service provider, before its rapid fall from grace when the Internet moved from dial-up phone service to broadband. The only difference is that AOL at least acted legally, while Qihoo has the added option of illegally sabotaging rival products to help propel its new mobile browsers to prominence. If I were an investor and didn’t have any qualms about ethics, I would say that Qihoo 360 shares could look like a good bet in the future, as the mobile Internet is clearly a strong growth area and Qihoo seems to have the right stuff to be a leader in the space. But then there’s always the chance that Beijing regulators or Chinese courts may some day sit up and try to rein in this unruly company.

Bottom line: Qihoo 360 guerrilla marketing tactics will give its new mobile Internet initiative a good chance of success.

开门见山地说，我不太喜欢计算机安全软件公司奇虎360<QIHU.N>，因为这家公司的商业行为经常令人质疑，采用游击式营销战术，而中国法律体制不够健全，惩罚力度不足，在某种意义上纵容了此类行为。不过，这家公司日前把移动互联网放到公司未来发展的战略中心位置，市场观察人士不妨关注一下。奇虎360刚刚推出一套新的移动浏览器，该公司总裁齐向东称360将投入最大的精力去发展移动互联网。我不知道新浏览器怎麽样。不过浏览器好不好可能无所谓，因为无论消费者想不想要，可能未来一两年内，奇虎都会利用游击战术把新的浏览器加入到中国用户手机上，重演360互联网安全产品的推广过程。奇虎产品一旦安装到电脑或者手机上就很难删除，而且其产品设计往往有排挤竞争产品的特点。对於年龄稍大的人而言，奇虎战术有点美国因特网服务提供商AOL上世纪90年代的影子。唯一的区别是，至少AOL没有违法，但是奇虎却可能利用不当手段，排挤竞争产品，以推动其新的移动浏览器占据显着地位。如果我是一名不太考虑道德规范的投资者，那我会说未来奇虎360股票是一个不错的选择，因为移动互联网显然将增长强劲，而奇虎又具备成为该领域领袖的潜质。不过话说回来，难说中国监管层或中国法院哪天突然决定管教一下这匹脱缰的马。

一句话：凭借游击营销战术，奇虎360移动互联网新计划胜算颇高。