It’s not easy being a high-flying start-up, and the burden becomes even heavier when a company builds up huge expectations for itself through excessive hype. Smartphone sensation Xiaomi was in the headlines last week when it launched a big price cut, leading some to speculate the company was struggling to meet its aggressive sales targets. Now in the latest setbacks for other start-ups, media are reporting that a fast-rising news app called Today’s Headlines is being assaulted on several fronts for copyright infringement. Separately, a newly launched group of mobile service providers called virtual network operators (VNOs) has also received a setback after experiencing widespread technical glitches. Read Full Post…
Tag Archives: Suning
New Licenses, Price Wars Coming For VNOs
Last month’s launch of China’s first new mobile services in a decade is showing early signs of shaking up the market, with competition likely to intensify as more licenses are awarded to a new generation of privately owned virtual network operators (VNOs). According to the latest headlines, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is getting ready to issue its third round of VNO licenses, which allow private companies to sell telecoms services under their own brands by leasing network capacity from the nation’s 3 existing state-run telcos. Read Full Post…
News Digest: June 10, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Legend Holdings Profit Up 20 Pct In 2013, Becomes Limited Stock Company (Chinese article)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Takes 18 Pct Stake In Thai Carrier True Corp (HKEx announcement)
- WeChat Opens Contents To Tencent (HKEx: 700) Backed Search Engine Sogou (English article)
- Ping An Bank Forms Alliance With 20 P2P Lending Platforms (Chinese article)
- Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) To Team With Soccer Club FC Barcelona – Reports (Chinese article)
China Telcos Set To Tamp Down Competition
Anyone who thought that Chinese telcos behaved like commercial companies is getting a lesson in the country’s unique blend of capitalism, with news that all 3 state-run carriers have been ordered to slash their promotional spending. In any other market, such a move would carry huge anti-competitive overtones and the regulator would quickly step in and stop such coordinated action. But this isn’t any other market, and the order to slash spending is coming from the government organization that is effectively the major shareholder of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom. (HKEx: 728; NYS:E CHA) Read Full Post…
News Digest: May 23, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Gains In Debut After Larger-Than-Planned IPO (English article)
- China’s Bright Food To Buy Control Of Israel’s Tnuva To Boost Dairy Sales (English article)
- Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q1 Unaudited Results (PRNewswire)
- China to Introduce Security Checks on Foreign IT Products (English article)
- Suning (Shenzhen: 002024), Changhong Sign 3 Year, 26 Bln Yuan Supply Deal (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Regulator Vigilance Needed As More VNOs Launch
After more than a year of preparation, China’s newly licensed virtual network operators (VNOs) began launching mobile service last week, as part of Beijing’s drive to invigorate the stodgy telecoms services sector long dominated by 3 state-run carriers. The launch of VNOs by e-commerce giant JD.com and leading electronics chain Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) both look well-conceived by targeting specific groups of consumers who are both relatively affluent and big users of mobile services. Read Full Post…
Baidu Chases Google In Silicon Valley
Chinese search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is trumpeting its opening of a new R&D center in Silicon Valley, becoming the latest Chinese Internet company to make such a move in the tech capital of the world. The announcement is obviously full of symbolism, since Silicon Valley is home to global search leader Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), which once tried to purchase Baidu but was rebuffed by company founder Robin Li. Company watchers will also be asking if the move could auger a major new step for Baidu, which could see it challenge Google in lucrative but highly competitive western markets. Read Full Post…
Google Tests Out China Hardware Market
Four years after its high-profile withdrawal from China’s online search market over censorship issues, global Internet giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is showing growing signs that it’s gearing up for a new play at the country’s lucrative and less controversial hardware market. Media are reporting the world’s largest online search company has formed a new tie-up that will see it exhibit its cutting-edge glasses product, Google Glass, in partnership with Suning (Shenzhen: 002024), one of China’s leading electronics retailers. Read Full Post…
News Digest: April 26-28, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 26-28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Budget Airline Spring Plans $400m IPO In Shanghai (English article)
- Cheetah Mobile Announces IPO Price Range, To Raise Up To $200 Mln (Chinese article)
- Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Announces Pricing Of Offering of 25 Mln ADSs (PRNewswire)
- Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) To Exhibit Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Glass In China (English article)
- Many Return To Work After Yue Yuen (HKEx: 551) Offer In China Strike (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Alibaba Makes Bad Buy With Dept Store
E-commerce leader Alibaba clearly has far too much cash and doesn’t know what to do with it. That’s my best explanation for its purchase of a stake in department store operator Intime Retail (HKEx: 1833), the latest acquisition in a supercharged buying spree over the last year. I’m personally quite puzzled by this latest deal, as it seems to contradict Alibaba’s mantra that it’s different from all of its rivals because it doesn’t own any actual retail businesses. Instead, the company has risen to prominence by operating online shopping malls that are populated by other retailers, which pay rent and other fees to Alibaba.
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Beijing Puts Brakes On New Financial Services
A yearlong explosion in new financial services from non-financial companies took a pause last week, when the central bank put the brakes on a plan by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) to offer virtual credit cards in partnership with Citic Bank (HKEx: 998). The sudden rush into financial services by private firms has provided some much-needed competition for China’s stodgy traditional lenders, most of which are state-run banks noteworthy for their lack of innovation. Read Full Post…
