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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: Google is likely to get Beijing’s permission to open a China version of its app store that could launch next year, paving the way for the roll-out of its smartphones in the market.
Google eyes China app store
A flurry of new reports are saying that global Internet giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is planning to re-enter China by opening an app store there, in what would be a major strategic turnaround for the company. The real story of Google in China is quite complex, and to say it withdrew from the market in 2010 after a high profile spat with Beijing over censorship is quite an oversimplification. The more accurate story is one that’s seen Google diversify from its core desktop-based Internet services to an increasingly mobile portfolio that also includes a growing hardware component. That hardware element of its diversification could well be the focal point for a new China foray if the latest reports about Google’s plan to open a China app store are true. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Lenovo’s latest results show its smartphone business continues to gain market share at the expense of profits, and it would be better advised to focus on building a strong brand to increase customer loyalty.
Lenovo smartphones post health sales gains
The latest results for leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) don’t look too rosy, even as the company’s smartphone business continued to outperform the global market. There are quite a few pieces to this puzzle, which means the longer-term outlook for Lenovo’s smartphone business is still unclear as the overheated market undergoes a much-needed shakeout. The outcome of this story will be crucial to Lenovo’s future, since the global market for its core PC business is stagnating and even starting to contract as consumers gravitate to a newer generation of more mobile, specialized devices. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Sony’s stalling fortunes in China’s smartphone market are the prelude to its eventual pullout, while Lenovo’s high-end push with the Motorola brand is likely to fall flat.
Sony smartphones in China setback
The latest news bits from the overheated Chinese cellphone market show an increasingly grim battle that’s claiming a growing number of victims at the lower and even middle ends. The latest bad news comes from struggling Japanese giant Sony (Tokyo: 6753), which has announced a significant pullback in the market as part of a broader global retrenchment. That could bode poorly for the equally struggling mid-range Motorola, as media report the brand will also target the mid- to upper-range of the Chinese smartphone market under its new ownership by PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). Read Full Post…
Global gadget leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and its chief Chinese imitator Xiaomi have been filling the online airwaves these last few days, though for very different reasons. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was drawing praise and admiration from a wide range of tech executives on their microblogs, following his widely publicized editorial in which he disclosed that he is gay.
Meantime, a number of top officials from the talkative Xiaomi were also talking up a storm, which verged on gloating, as their company once again poached another high-profile Silicon Valley talent. They also had plenty to say as their high-flying company claimed the undisputed spot as the world’s third largest smartphone maker, behind only sector leaders Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Improved working environments are allowing Chinese tech firms to compete with multinationals for top talent, a template that state-run firms and other industries would be wise to follow.
Xiaomi attracts top exec from Spotify
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi made headlines last week when it lured away a top western executive from European online music streaming giant Spotify by offering him an attractive new job at its Beijing headquarters. The move marks the latest in a stream of high-profile defections by technology executives from comfortable jobs at major western firms to join up-and-coming Chinese names like Xiaomi and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).
The movement reflects a maturation for China’s fast-growing high-tech sector, whose rapid rise and improving working conditions are making companies more competitive with big western names traditionally preferred by many highly-skilled workers. But the trend is still limited mostly to China’s private high-tech sector, and is largely absent in state-run firms and other industries. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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30 Pct Of Traditional Retail Stores To Close In Future – Suning VP (Chinese article)
Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) Zuckerberg Says To Start Hiring In China Next Year (Chinese article)
New sales data for August is showing that China’s cellphone market is rapidly cooling due to saturation, putting even more pressure on domestic brands that have engaged in a battle for share that has resulted in plummeting prices. At the same time, a separate report is showing that mobile advertising is zooming, in a development that’s almost certain to mean big headaches for companies like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) that depend heavily on advertisers that traditionally targeted desktop PC users. The pair of trends both cast a spotlight on how quickly things can change in the tech and media landscapes, putting huge pressure on established companies to innovate and spend heavily to translate their leadership into emerging areas. Read Full Post…
Nearly a month after their global launch, Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhones are now formally on sale here in China. We’ll no doubt get flooded with numbers about initial sales in the next few days, some of which may be correct but many of which will probably be just guesses. One larger question that’s on everyone’s mind is promotions by the nation’s 3 telcos, as China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as all come under government pressure to cut back on their aggressive subsidies.
The early news looks relatively good for Apple on that front, with one media report saying the 3 telcos are mostly maintaining their aggressive iPhone subsidies from previous levels. We’ll examine that issue shortly, and whether it even matters much. But first let’s look at the bigger picture that had the iPhone 6 receive a relatively strong reception after it went on sale in China on Friday, 4 weeks after its global debut and 3 weeks after its Asia launch. Read Full Post…
A significant move of consolidation occurred in China’s fragmented microchip design sector last week, when global leader Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) purchased a strategic minority stake in a Chinese company formed through the recent combination of 2 midsized players. The step will bring together domestic smartphone chip designers RDA Microelectronics and Spreadtrum, with Intel’s huge financial resources, R&D muscle and global sales network. Read Full Post…
A trio of headlines are shining a spotlight on a new twist in the brutally competitive smartphone market, where national security is suddenly becoming a major new headache for manufacturers. In one headline, Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi is being investigated in Taiwan for national security risks related to the storage of local user data on some offshore mainland Chinese-based computers. In a similar news bit, Beijing is reportedly considering forbidding government workers from using foreign-made smartphones.
And in yet another related story, global smartphone giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is reportedly finally on the cusp of winning approval to sell its new iPhone 6 in China, following an embarrassing delay that may be related to the cybersecurity issue. Read Full Post…
Cost-cutting pressure is putting a squeeze on China’s 3 big telcos, creating an unusual set of conditions that could claim smartphone giants Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as victims. The latest signs of trouble for the world’s 2 largest smartphone makers comes in the form of an article in the English language China Daily newspaper, calling on China’s big 3 mobile carriers to stop offering packages with Samsung and Apple smartphones and instead only offer models from domestic manufacturers like Lenovo (HKEx: 992), ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and Huawei. Further evidence of the pressure the telcos are feeling comes in an unrelated report, which has the trio denying reports that they’re preparing massive layoffs. Read Full Post…
