Tencent cash pile to double with new mega bond plan
In writing my final post of the week, I’ve just come to the realization that all 3 of my daily posts this Friday mention leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has just announced a massive bond issuing program almost certainly aimed at future M&A. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Tencent’s name is showing up in almost everything related to the Internet in China these days, since the company is quickly becoming the nation’s dominant online company alongside leading e-commerce firm Alibaba and search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
I don’t usually offer direct investment advice in this space, but today I can’t resist opining that perhaps investors are being a bit hasty in dumping shares of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) after the nation’s dominant wireless carrier reported its first annual profit decline in more than a decade. The decline shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, since China Mobile reported an 8.8 percent profit decline in the third quarter. Obviously falling profits are never something investors want to see. But in this case it’s also worth noting that China Mobile has responded to the challenge with a number of new initiatives that show it is finally waking up to a new reality where it faces growing competition from the private sector. Read Full Post…
Solar panel maker Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) don’t normally have too much in common, other than the fact that both are based in China and come from the tech sector. But on this particular day, both are joined by the unflattering fact that their latest earnings reveal companies deeply mired in the red, sparking sharp drops in their share prices. Yingli’s situation certainly isn’t encouraging, though its issues look more temporary. Renren is a different story, and its latest numbers show the company won’t be able to survive on its own over the longer term and it would be well advised to start looking for a strategic partner. Read Full Post…
Word that Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo is making a trip to China just 4 months after his company’s IPO will almost certainly set to world tweeting about whether the social networking giant could be considering a play for the world’s largest Internet market. Such a move seems just a tad unlikely in the very near future, since Costolo has previously said that China isn’t a place where Twitter can operate due to the country’s tough self-censorship laws. But much has happened in the last 4 months that could be causing him to re-think his position, including the recent entry to China by corporate networking giant LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and the upcoming $500 million New York IPO for Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, often called the Twitter of China. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Files For $500 Mln US IPO (English article)
Central Bank Halts Virtual Credit Cards Of Alibaba, Tencent (HKEx: 700) (English article)
Alibaba To Submit IPO Application As Early As April – Sources (Chinese article)
Mobile E-commerce Site Maimaibao Gets $200 Mln Funding – Sources (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Shuts Group Of WeChat Public Accounts For Violations (Chinese article)
Leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is talking tough in Barcelona at the world’s top trade show, detailing aggressive plans to quickly boost its new 4G service in a bid to take on the massive challenge from Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) wildly popular WeChat mobile messaging service. I’ve previously criticized China Mobile for failing to innovate and relying too much on its highly protected status in China’s telecoms services markets. But this new series of announcements seems to highlight a newer posture at the state-run behemoth, hinting that it may finally start to become more dynamic in response to a growing number of private sector threats. Read Full Post…
Leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is rushing ahead with plans to separately list its Weibo microblogging unit, with word that it’s taken the first major step towards a New York IPO by formally hiring investment banks for the deal. I’ve previously said Sina was likely to accelerate its listing plan, amid growing signs that Weibo’s growth was slowing and users were abandoning the service in favor of Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) more mobile-friendly WeChat. The latest quarterly earnings report just out from Sina adds further reason for pessimism about the upcoming IPO, showing Weibo remains highly dependent on advertising for most of its revenue. Read Full Post…
I haven’t written about Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) in a while, mostly because the company hasn’t made any concrete moves into China lately despite previous assertions that it would like to enter the market. But the company’s newly announced plan to purchase the popular WhatsApp mobile messaging service for up to $19 billion looks like a good opportunity to revisit the topic, and what this deal might mean for Facebook in China. Facebook’s own site has been blocked in China since 2009, making it inaccessible to the vast majority of more than 600 million Chinese web surfers. But WhatsApp is widely available, even though it competes with the wildly popular rival WeChat service from local Internet giant Tencent. (HKEx: 700)
WeChat in new commercial moves with Unicom, Wangfujing Dept Store
Much has been written about the meteoric rise of Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat mobile instant messaging service, with many drawing parallels to the equally rapid ascent of Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging service starting in 2010. But while Sina has struggled to wring money out of Weibo, Tencent is having much more success with WeChat, as evidenced by news of its latest commercial tie-ups with retailer Wangfujing Department Store and mobile carrier China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU). I have a lot of respect for Sina, which has emerged as a leading information provider in China since it first went public in 2000. But the company has shown itself less adept at earning money, unlike Tencent, which has proven much more skillful at milking cash from its innovative core social networking service (SNS) products. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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US To Pursue Trade Dispute Over Chinese, Taiwanese Solar Imports (English article)
China’s Wanxiang Wins US Bankruptcy Auction For Fisker Automotive (English article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Acquires Controlling Interest In Lefeng For $133 Mln (PRNewswire)
Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) Guangdiantong Unveils WeChat Public Account Ad Product (English article)
Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Sets Up Transport Services Headquarters (Chinese article)
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…
