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Tag Archives: Samsung
Samsung in China: latest business and financial News by former journalist at Reuter, expert of Chinese high Tech Market Doug Young
Samsung in China: latest News
Bottom line: China could end 2015 with up to 450 million 4G subscribers, with telcos, 4G smartphone makers and mobile-focused Internet firms most likely to benefit from the massive migration.
China Telecom targets 100 mln 4G users
China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) has just become the final of China’s big 3 telcos to announce an extremely aggressive subscriber target for its new 4G service, confirming my earlier prediction that the nation could end 2015 with as many as 450 million 4G users if everyone meets their goals. If they do reach those targets, it would represent a remarkable transformation that would see around one-third of the nation’s mobile users switching to 4G service by year end. That could provide a bonanza for not only the telcos, but also the smartphone makers and Internet service providers that would also benefit from such a mass migration. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Apple’s surge in fourth-quarter China sales owes to its iPhone 6 release and growing relationship with China Mobile, though it could have trouble retaining its new crown as the nation’s top smartphone brand.
iPhone sales zoom in China
Skeptics who thought Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) might be losing its luster in China might have to rethink that theory, following release of a new report that says the gadget giant grabbed the title of China’s biggest smartphone seller for the first time ever in the fourth quarter. That surprising result came as Apple released new quarterly earnings that showed China sales also surged 70 percent in its latest quarter, more than double the pace of its global revenue growth.
The surprising China surge comes as Apple works closely to address Beijing’s concerns about national security risks and the privacy of Chinese iPhone users, issues that reflect one of the continuing challenges it will face in the market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s new more upscale Mi Note phablet should get a strong reception and sell well, drawing on the company’s trendy name and growing base of loyal buyers.
Xiaomi goes upscale with new Mi Note
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi doesn’t seem content to only follow its role model Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) anymore, and is also taking a page from stumbling sector leader Samsung (Seoul: 005930) with its latest model as it seeks a long-term direction for its products. Of course I’m being just a little facetious with my comparison to Apple, since the only thing Xiaomi shares with the US company is a cool and trendy image. Apple is firmly placed at the top end of the smartphone market, whereas Xiaomi began its life in the mid-range and has steadily moved downmarket since then. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Lenovo’s branding relaunch set for April could see it retire some of its local brands obtained through recent acquisitions, helping to improve its sales through better consumer awareness.
Lenovo prepares for brand overhaul
PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) is hinting at a major overhaul for its crowded stable of brands later this year, in a move to simplify the many names it has acquired in a buying spree over the last decade. This kind of move is long overdue for Lenovo, which launched its global buying binge a decade ago with a landmark deal to buy the PC business of IBM (NYSE: IBM). To this day Lenovo still counts the Think name it got from IBM as one of its leading PC brands, though it has also added a number of other major names over the last 10 years. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Huawei’s low-cost Honor brand is likely to gain global market share in 2015 at the expense of multinationals like Samsung, which is likely to lose its spot as China’s top smartphone seller in the new year.
Sales soar at Huawei’s Honor brand
Two of China’s leading smartphone sellers are in the headlines today moving in opposite directions, reflecting turbulent conditions in the world’s largest but also most competitive market. On the upside, media are reporting that sales are booming for domestic giant Huawei’s low-end Honor brand, as the company borrows a low-cost marketing strategy from domestic rival Xiaomi. Meantime, other reports say market leader and Korean giant Samsung (Seoul: 005930) is sending an emergency team of rescuers to China in a bid to reverse the company’s sudden slide in the market. Read Full Post…
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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Bottom line: Qihoo’s new joint venture looks like a smart tie-up to promote its software and online services, while Xiaomi’s resumption of India sales looks like a hollow win in its patent battle with Ericsson.
Qihoo, Coolpad in JV
A trio of smartphone stories are in the news today, including updates on major news involving security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and the ultra-cool Xiaomi. The first headline has Qihoo moving into the overheated smartphone space through a major new joint venture with domestic giant Coolpad (HKEx: 2369). In the second headline, Xiaomi has been allowed to resume selling some of its smartphones in India, after a judge last week ordered it to stop sales amid an ongoing patent dispute with Swedish mobile technology giant Ericsson (Stockholm ERICb). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New copycat claims by a Japanese air purifier maker reflect the kinds of challenges Xiaomi will face as its profile rises, slowing down its global expansion and potentially undermining its cool image.
Xiaomi faces new coypcat allegations
The last couple of months have been a tough time for smartphone sensation Xiaomi, which is becoming a growing target of accusations that increasingly portray the company as China’s leading copycat. The latest such accusations are coming from a Japanese firm, which says its designs were ripped off for a new line of high-tech air purifiers that Xiaomi announced earlier this week. Those allegations come the same week that Xiaomi was penalized in India for illegally using patented technology from telecoms equipment giant Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb), and 2 months after Xiaomi was slammed by a top Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) executive for being China’s copycat supreme. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi is likely to quickly settle a patent dispute against it by Ericsson in India, which could slightly raise its costs but won’t affect its longer term development in the market.
India judge crimps Xiaomi’s global expansion
The global expansion plans of fast-rising Xiaomi may have hit a major roadblock, with word that a court has ordered the company to stop importing and selling its popular low-cost smartphones in India. Xiaomi had been targeting India as one of the main drivers in its campaign to become a major global smartphone brand, and has made a number of major moves in the market this year. But now it will have to deal with this new litigation, which is coming from global telecoms equipment giant Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) over patent infringement claims. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi is likely to settle a series of patent disputes launched by domestic rivals Huawei and ZTE, but will face more similar actions as its profile rises in its global expansion.
Huawei, ZTE point finger at Xiaomi
New reports about a series of patent violation claims against smartphone sensation Xiaomi are casting a spotlight on the kinds of battles this fast-rising Chinese firm may face in its aggressive global expansion. Just 3 years after launching its first models, Xiaomi has come from nowhere to become the world’s third largest smartphone brand, behind only much older global rivals Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). That rapid rise has caught the attention of older domestic smartphone rivals like Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), which are reportedly now threatening to sue Xiaomi for violating their patents. Read Full Post…
Most of China’s high-tech attention was focused on the scenic canal city of Wuzhen near Shanghai this past week, as a who’s-who of top Internet executives gathered for a conference that billed itself as a global gathering. Most of China’s top names were reportedly at the event, including Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Robin Li, Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Jack Ma and NetEase’s (Nasdaq: NTES) Ding Lei. But the guest list was notably lacking in major global names, and at least one executive commented on the sensitive subject of the exclusion of global leaders like Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) from the Chinese Internet.
Meantime, the marketing savvy Lei Jun, who is also CEO and hypemaster supreme for smartphone sensation Xiaomi, also managed to make his own mini splash in the microblogging realm by declaring his own ambition to overtake Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to become the world’s biggest smartphone brand. Such hype from Lei isn’t all that unusual, though I was somewhat surprised to see several executives from other firms chime in with support for this upwardly mobile company. Read Full Post…
