Things have certainly changed over the last 3 years in Lunar New Year messaging, as reflected by the flood of tech executives using their microblogs to weigh in on Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) launch of a red envelope gift function for its popular WeChat platform over the holiday period. Most of the comments were admiring and even in a slight state of awe at the big success of WeChat’s hongbao product, which lets users send gift money to their friends and relatives over the popular instant messaging platform. But at least one post from Alibaba smelled of sour grapes, and a Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) executive also took a backhanded swipe at the rival to his company’s own Weibo microblogging service. Read Full Post…
I was a bit surprised to read that the US securities regulator is taking drastic action against the 4 main auditors for New York-listed Chinese firms, in its bid to get them to hand over records for companies suspected of financial fraud. Investors were also probably surprised by the move, which sparked a sell-off in shares of many of the US-listed Chinese firms that could suddenly lose their auditors if the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) executes its decision. That decision had the SEC say it will impose a 6-month suspension on the China arms of the “Big 4” US accounting firms from doing audits on any US-listed companies. Read Full Post…
New data is highlighting an online trend that I wrote about last year, namely that microblogs have peaked in popularity and are starting to decline, in a bad sign for leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) as it rushes monetize and list its popular Weibo service. Frankly speaking, I’m not too optimistic anymore about the prospects for Sina Weibo, which is really just a copy of US social media pioneer Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and hasn’t shown much ability to innovate in the rapidly changing social networking (SNS) space. All that said, I imagine this latest report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) is prompting new urgency for Sina to separately list its Weibo unit, and that such an IPO could come later this year. Read Full Post…
The microblogging space was buzzing with a bit of the past, the present and the future last week, with executives from some of China’s top gadget and Internet companies all hyping their various agendas in cyberspace. In a blast from the past, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak was all over the place in microblog postings from a number of tech companies executives he visited on a trip to China.
In the present, meanwhile, TCL (HKEx: 1070; Shenzhen: 000100) Chairman Li Dongsheng was at the CES trade show in Las Vegas and also attended a board meeting of Imax (NYSE: IMAX), using both opportunities to hype a new home theater tie-up with the US-based large screen movie format specialist. In the future, Long Wei, the low-key founder of leading online restaurant critic site Dianping, was hyping his company’s recent global expansion, perhaps hinting at more to come. Read Full Post…
It’s quiet outside as markets reopen on this first work day after the New Year, so I thought I’d start off 2014 with some predictions for the year ahead in the sectors that I cover. Generally speaking, I do think the first half of the year will see a continuation of strong momentum that began in late 2013 for many sectors. But that momentum will slow as we near the mid-year mark, and 2014 could end with a whimper as the Chinese economy continues to slow and Beijing pushes for higher quality growth. Read Full Post…
A major homecoming for the top executive at e-commerce giant Jingdong is topping the news this week in China’s microblog airwaves, which have been humming with gossip in the run-up to the Christmas holidays. Internet watchers will know I’m talking about Jingdong’s talkative founder Liu Qiangdong, whose voice suddenly disappeared from the microblogging realm for much of this year. Now we’re learning that his silence was due to his quiet departure from China for the US, where he spent a year in a study program.
Elsewhere in the microblogging world, a couple of high level executives at UnionPay, operator of China’s leading electronic payments network, and game operator 4399 are drawing attention to the fact that Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging service may be past its peak and losing its luster. I’ve also noticed this trend, which spotlights how China’s Internet seems much more susceptible to fads than in other parts of the world. Read Full Post…
US-listed Chinese stocks neared the end of 2013 with a wild ride last week, as 3 major developments provided a glimpse of the bumpy road that lies ahead in the New Year. That performance points to a strong start for new IPOs at the start of 2014, even though momentum could quickly flag due to the highly volatile and unpredictable nature of these stocks. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Renault (Paris: RENA) Signs $1.3 Bln JV Deal with Dongfeng (HKEx: 489) (English article)
After gobbling up billions of dollars worth of debt from Chinese Internet companies over the last year, investors may finally be starting to get full on the bond feast with word that online real estate services firm E-House (NYSE: EJ) has sharply trimmed its plan for a new major offering. One can interpret this unexpected twist in a number of ways, which I’ll explain shortly. But from my perspective the development looks like one of the first signs that a resurgence of interest in US-listed Chinese tech firms over the last few months could quickly dim in the first half of 2014 as investors turn their attention to other companies. Read Full Post…
Two of China’s oldest listed Internet firms are in the headlines these last few days, led by word that leading portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) has become the late web giant to make a mega bond offering as it eyes potential acquisitions. In the other more amusing news, NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is reportedly struggling to build up its pig-raising business that it hyped a couple of years ago, spotlighting its inability to expand beyond its core online game business. Read Full Post…
Former social networking (SNS) superstar Renren (NYSE: RENN) is reportedly downsizing its online game division, formerly its most promising unit, leading me to wonder if earlier rumors that the company’s days as an independent entity may be numbered. The story behind Renren’s rapid rise and now apparent fall is simple: The company was once considered China’s equivalent of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), and used that comparison to launch a successful IPO back in 2011. But since then it has been overtaken by other social networking services, most notably Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging service and Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat, putting the company’s future in jeopardy as it looks for a competitive advantage. Read Full Post…
