A couple of separate reports are shining a spotlight on some of the shenanigans happening at former social networking (SNS) superstar Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), and also on its dimming prospects as it gets overtaken by more nimble, innovative rivals. The first and more entertaining of those reports details how Weibo routinely inflates the number of followers for some of the most popular people on its service through use of phantom “zombie” accounts. The second details a worrisome trend that says the number of mobile users for Weibo dropped sharply in August, hinting at problems ahead in this high-growth area. Read Full Post…
Much of the world is fixated on the upcoming IPO of e-commerce giant Alibaba in New York, but a far smaller new listing plan by mobile game developer Feiyu Technology is shining a low-key spotlight on a recent jump for such listings in Hong Kong. Many have said that Hong Kong should be the most attractive offshore listing ground for Chinese venture-backed IPOs, since the former British colony is closer geographically and culturally than the currently favored site of New York. But strict listing rules on profitability and ownership structure have kept most Chinese venture-backed tech firms looking to New York instead. Read Full Post…
I usually don’t write about any company more than once a week, and certainly not twice on the same day. But today I’m making an exception for the upcoming IPO of Alibaba, which will finally come to an end with its trading debut on Friday. The latest news bits in the run-up to what’s likely to be the world’s biggest IPO of all time have media reporting that Alibaba may raise the upper end of the price range for its shares, allowing it to raise even more money. At the same time, Alibaba’s talkative and charismatic founder Jack Ma has made a surprise appearance in Hong Kong as part of the company’s road show, where he was warmly greeted by investors. Read Full Post…
A year of hype surrounding what’s likely to become the biggest IPO in history will officially end later this week, when homegrown Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba formally lists on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO will give most global investors access to Alibaba’s shares and a chance to profit from one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing e-commerce markets. Read Full Post…
It seems that oil refining giant Sinopec (HKEx: 386) just can’t say “no” when it comes to choosing partners for its new retail joint venture, which is part of Beijing’s pilot program to inject more private money into big state-owned enterprises. That’s my quick assessment, following the company’s announcement that it has chosen a whopping 25 mostly domestic partners for the new venture, which will own and operate the company’s vast network of gas stations and convenience stores throughout China.
I’ve been covering the Chinese corporate scene for quite a while now, and can truthfully say that 3 or 4 partners in a single joint venture is already considered a lot. In short, I’ve never seen so many partners named for a single joint venture, and suspect Sinopec is taking this strange move to avoid having to give any of these numerous partners any actual voice in the running of its retail unit, Sinopec Sales. Read Full Post…
A couple of smaller deals are in the headlines today, with smartphone sensation Xiaomi dipping its toe into the financial services market and online news portal Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) eying the news feed business. Both deals are relatively small in terms of size, but each provides some interesting insight on the thinking at these 2 different companies in the tech and new media space. The first deal has Xiaomi joining a group of investors betting on a peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending platform called Jimu Box. The second has Phoenix investing in Particle Inc, maker of an app that lets users design personalized feeds to receive news over their mobile phones. Read Full Post…
A new report on the resignation of the head of Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) huge Asia R&D labs to take a job at homegrown Internet giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is shining a spotlight on the growing challenges that multinationals may soon face in retaining some of their top Chinese employees. Just a decade ago, jobs at foreign companies were highly coveted by ambitious Chinese in the high-tech sector, mostly because China didn’t have any of its own big names in the space.
But the emergence of companies like Baidu, Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) have created a whole new set of opportunities for these workers. What’s more, improving working conditions at Chinese-owned firms, combined with Beijing’s subtle anti-foreign bias against high-tech multinationals, could ultimately lead many of China’s brightest tech workers to abandon their jobs at the multinationals for domestic names. Read Full Post…
The final countdown has just begun for e-commerce giant Alibaba’s highly anticipated New York IPO, allowing us to see just how much the company might be worth, how much money it might raise and whether it might be the biggest US or even global IPO of all time. The final answer to all of those questions will remain a mystery until Alibaba actually prices the deal, but at least we can speculate now what the chances are of it meeting some of the lofty goals that market watchers have set for the company. I’ll start by giving my view that the deal should price relatively strongly, and make some conclusions from that later in this post. Read Full Post…
Big privatization deals are never easy, as we’re seeing with signs that a buyout plan launched by the controlling shareholder of online game firm Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is rapidly unraveling. Shanda Games’ parent, Shanda Interactive, launched the plan back in January, as part of a broader wave of similar privatizations for undervalued US-listed Chinese companies. Shanda Interactive is saying the buyout is still alive, though other shareholders are clearly growing skeptical, based on Shanda Games latest stock price. Read Full Post…
It’s rare that one issue dominates the blogosphere among the many tech executives who like to tweet about their companies on their microblog accounts. But the past week saw one such debate occur around a spat between 2 old friends in the smartphone space. In one corner was Luo Yonghao, a well-known English teacher who has recently moved into the highly competitive smartphone space. In the other was Wang Ziru, a self-styled gadget critic who has become quite influential. As many might guess, the debate centered on a recent critical review by Wang for Luo’s newly launched smartphone model under his Smartisan brand.
While the Luo-Wang spat kept the blogosphere well supplied with musings from a wide range of tech executives, a few other tidbits also provided some intriguing hints of things to come at other leading tech names. A couple of posts from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi suggested that a major restructuring could be on the way; and separate musings from an executive at e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) also hinted at potential similar moves. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
US Business Lobby Says Concerned China Antitrust Probes Unfair (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) To Buy Celebrity Century Shop From Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) (PRNewswire)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Acquires Majority Of Yunnan Metallurgical New Energy (PRNewswire)
KKR Sells Final Stake In China Modern Dairy (HKEx: 1117) For $80 Mln: Source (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Invests $70 Mln In Online Medical Portal DXY (English article)
