E-commerce leader Alibaba is back in the headlines with its purchase of a stake in a Singaporean parcel delivery company, continuing its hyperactive acquisition spree that seems increasingly lacking in focus. Meantime, another e-commerce tie-up that I wrote about earlier this week has formally happened, with word that a new series of e-commerce channels run by JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) has begun to appear on one of the top screens for users of Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular WeChat mobile messaging service. Read Full Post…
Techies have been buzzing about the huge potential of the mobile Internet for much of the last 2 years, but the latest headlines from social networking (SNS) giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) and recently listed mobile game developer Sungy Mobile (Nasdaq: GOMO) show the space is still rife with growing pains. Tencent is discovering that its wildly popular WeChat mobile messaging service is attracting not only hundreds of millions of legitimate users, but also masses of spamsters and scam artists and is trying to clean up the platform. Meantime, Sungy has just announced quarterly results that might look good for a company in any other space, but were clearly a disappointment for investors who were looking for meteoric growth. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) In Clean-Up Of WeChat “Moments”, Public Accounts (Chinese article)
Ford (NYSE: F) Automotive Finance (China) Completes First ABS Transaction in China (Businesswire)
With its new IPO now firmly in the past, e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) is finally getting back to business as it seeks to challenge industry leader Alibaba. Two of its newest moves in that drive both look quite exciting, and are part of its recent equity tie-up with leading social networking company Tencent (HKEx: 700). One of those has JD making a major personnel move in its underdeveloped C2C e-commerce business that it recently acquired in the Tencent tie-up. The other has JD on the cusp of launching a major new sales channel over Tencent’s wildly popular WeChat mobile messaging service. Read Full Post…
E-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) has formally ended its IPO process with a solid trading debut, capping a surprisingly strong performance despite signs that investors were rapidly losing interest in Chinese Internet stocks. But in a much lower profile move, smaller IPO candidate Chunkong Technology has quietly delayed its own New York offering plan, becoming the first formal casualty of fading sentiment. Chukong’s decision looks particularly significant because the company operates in the mobile gaming space, which is supposed to be one of the fastest-growth areas in China’s tech world. Read Full Post…
When the history books are written, the month of May 2014 could go down as a watershed in the Chinese battle against piracy. An obscure Shenzhen company could also be part of the story, following reports that the firm Kuaibo Technology has been fined a whopping 260 million yuan ($42 million) by the city government for repeated piracy. Then again, it’s also quite possible and likely that Kuaibo will simply shut its doors to avoid paying the fine, and then re-open nearby using another name and company registration. Read Full Post…
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…
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…
Leading restaurant ratings site Dianping has been making steady headlines these last 3 months, including the latest reports that it’s investing in an app that lets users order and pay for take-away food over their smartphones. The tie-up looks relatively modest and has Dianping investing about 50 million yuan ($8 million) in Dazuiba, whose name means “big mouth” in Chinese. More broadly speaking the deal seems to reflect a few recent trends for Chinese Internet M&A, including the rapid disappearance of attractive targets and a growing preference for strategic investments instead of outright acquisitions. Read Full Post…
After a low-key awarding of licenses last last year, the first batch of new virtual network operator (VNO) mobile carriers are quietly coming into the market this month in a move aimed at shaking up the industry dominated by 3 big state-run telcos. In one of the most anticipated launches, e-commerce giant JD.com has just announced its first mobile packages that show how it plans to compete with the trio of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA). Read Full Post…
Leading online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) is generally regarded as one of China’s best run and most focused Internet companies, which is why new reports that it’s chasing a tie-up with 2 of the nation’s top group buying sites look a bit worrisome. The company is sitting on top of a huge cash pile, worth nearly $2 billion at the last check in March, and is looking increasingly desperate for places to spend the money. It has already been spurned by some of the travel sector’s most likely acquisition targets, which is probably why it’s now looking elsewhere for places to invest its treasure chest. Read Full Post…
