The Year of the Snake could well go down as the time when Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) finally lost its dominance over China’s lucrative online search market, following the rapid rise of a new challenger from up-and-comer Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) that may soon tie-up with global search titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Such an alliance would mark the latest assault in Qihoo’s campaign that has seen its so.com site soar past other more established players to become China’s second largest search engine in just half a year.
Tag Archives: Sohu
China Mobile, Tencent Spar Over WeChat 中国移动与腾讯就微信展开口水战
It seems that Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo isn’t the only company worried about the rapid rise of WeChat, the wildly popular mobile social networking service (SNS) operated by leading Internet company Tencent (HKEx: 700). That’s my interpretation of the situation, following a recent war of words that has broken out between Tencent and China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China’s dominant mobile carrier. But in this new tussle, Tencent needs to move very carefully since China Mobile is not only a competitor but is also in the powerful position of being able to limit or even completely cut off its more than 700 million mobile subscribers from access to WeChat, more commonly known by its Chinese name of Weixin.
News Digest: December 15-17 报摘： 2012年12月15-17日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Regulator: Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) China’s Kindle Store Violates Regulations (English article)
- US Drops China’s Alibaba’s Taobao, Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sougou From ‘Notorious’ List (Chinese article)
- iPhone 5 Gets Chilly China Reception, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Shares Drop 3.8 Pct (Chinese article)
- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) COO Du Hong to Become CEO – Source (Chinese article)
- Huawei’s US-Based Telecoms Infrastructure Unit Cuts More Than 100 People (Chinese article)
Alibaba, Sohu Win US Anti-Piracy Nod 阿里巴巴、搜狐被从美国盗版名单上移除
Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba and web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) won a major victory last week when web sites operated by both were removed from an annual US list of companies that facilitate rampant piracy. The victory came after both firms made efforts to aggressively police their sites and quickly remove any pirated or counterfeit materials. While the companies should be commended for their effort, the achievement came with an important footnote that shows there is still work to be done.
Baidu’s Video Play, Qihoo’s Music 百度奇虎明争暗斗
New music and video moves by Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) reflect the intensifying competition between China’s dominant search engine and a fast-rising challenger, providing an interesting new form of entertainment for industry watchers. Media are reporting that Baidu has just acquired a video search and recommendation website called Jinwankansha, whose Chinese name means “What Are You Watching Tonight?” If true, the acquisition would be one of a series of recent signals that indicate Baidu is preparing to make a serious play for the online video market, potentially challenging more established players like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). Meantime, Qihoo 360 has also formally launched its own music service tied to its fast-rising search business, in what looks like a direct shot at rival services operated by Baidu.
YY Opens Way For Chinese US IPOs YY为中国企业赴美上市破冰
The prolonged winter for Chinese IPOs in New York may finally be nearing an end, following the modestly successful listing of commercially-focused social media site YY (Nasdaq: YY). I am calling this listing “modestly successful” because it priced at the low end of its range and rose a modest 8 percent on its trading debut, which would be a good but not a great result under most circumstances. But against the broader background of a deep freeze in US investor sentiment towards Chinese companies over the last year and a half, this kind of performance could actually be considered a major breakthrough and triumph for the battered sector.
Sohu: China’s Biggest Little Net Firm 搜狗拟分拆上市
I had to smile this morning when I read the latest reports on Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of China’s oldest web firms, which I’m officially christening as “China’s biggest little Internet company” following word that it plans to make an IPO for its Sogou search engine. If readers note some sarcasm in my tone, it’s certainly there. But at the same time, I do have a certain level of fascination with this company, which seems determined to spin off as many of its units as possible into separate publicly listed companies.
News Digest: November 8 报摘： 2012年11月8日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- US Trade Panel Approves 5-Year Duties on China Solar Products (English article)
- Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou to Go Public As Soon as Next Year – Source (Chinese article)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches Independent Fixed-Line Broadband Services (English article)
- 7 Days Group (NYSE: SVN) Announces Unaudited 2012 Q3 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to Exclude China From MSN Messenger Phase-Out Next Year (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Online Search: More Growth for Qihoo, Sogou 奇虎360和搜狗继续抢占搜索市场份额
Recent gains in online search by Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou are in the headlines today, highlighting the challenges industry leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is facing from a new rival that is quickly gaining momentum and an older rival that also appears to be gaining some traction. At the center of the story is new data for October showing that Qihoo controlled nearly 10 percent of the China search market, just 3 months after the company launched an innovative new search engine. (previous post) Meantime, Sohu’s Sogou search engine, launched nearly a decade ago, also posted a respectable 7.5 percent share, as it reported its search revenue more than doubled in its latest reporting quarter.
Optimism Returns to US China Stocks 乐观情绪回归中概股
Three of China’s leading tech companies have just posted results, with online travel services firm Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP), chip maker SMIC (HKEx: 981) and web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) all providing reports with very mixed messages. But perhaps most interesting is the fact that shares for all 3 firms rallied sharply in response to the reports, in the latest sign that investors may finally be ready to return to this battered group of companies that has suffered for nearly 2 years due to a series of accounting scandals. If that’s the case, we could perhaps be looking at a nice rally for shares of many firms, especially some of the sector leaders, and we could also see a flurry of new IPOs following a hiatus of more than a year.
News Digest: November 4 报摘： 2012年11月4日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Alibaba in Talks With Banks For $1 Bln Bond Issue – Source (Chinese article)
- LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Announces CEO Transition and New Board Appointments (PRNewswire)
- Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) Reports Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- CNZZ: Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Takes 10 Pct of China’s October Search Traffic (English article)
- Xiaomi Acquires E-Reader Software Firm Duokan – Source (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
