SNS moves beyond idle chatter in after Ya’an quake
The Ya’an earthquake now already 2 weeks ago has cast an interesting new spotlight on China’s vibrant field of social networking services (SNS), showing a different side to these sites that are largely seen as little more than frivolous, time-wasting toys. As a frequent user of Chinese sites like Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), I can personally testify that I mostly use these sites to fill up idle time at home or on the subway, often when I’m trying to procrastinate or am just feeling bored. But these sites are suddenly earning new praise as a critical communication tool during the Ya’an earthquake, arguably the first major global disaster since SNS services began their meteoric rise less than a decade ago. Read Full Post…
Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) colorful but low-key Chairman Pony Ma is suddenly losing his shyness at a major Internet conference in Beijing, where he is clearly in his preferred environment mixing with lots of other Internet geeks and techies. Media have been buzzing these last few days with words from the head of China’s biggest Internet firm, with much of the talk centered on Tencent’s hot mobile instant messaging platform called WeChat or Weixin in Chinese. Ma has addressed 2 of the key questions facing WeChat, both centered on how the service can generate profits for Tencent from its base of 300 million users. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Games Will Be Breakthrough Area For Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat – Ma (Chinese article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Online Video Business of PPS for US $370 Mln (PRNewswire)
Ex-Qidian Team to Provide Content for Tencent (HKEx: 700) Book Channel (English article)
Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) Changes China Head For 4th Time In 3 Years (Chinese article)
Alibaba Posts Q4 Profit Of $640 Mln, Up 172 Pct (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 4-6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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EU To Propose Punitive Duties On Chinese Solar Panels (English article)
Note: Since originally writing this post, Sina and Alibaba have formally announced their tie-up. (company announcement) Under the deal, Alibaba has purchased 18 percent of Sina Weibo for $586 million, valuing Weibo at about $3.3 billion. The pair said they expect the alliance to generate $380 million in revenue for Weibo over the next 3 years. Sina shares jumped nearly 10 percent after the news came out.
Weibo, Alibaba in new tie-up
It looks like I may have been premature in declaring last month that talks for a tie-up between leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and e-commerce leader Alibaba were dead. According to the latest reports, the pair have resuscitated their negotiations that began late last year and later collapsed due to disagreement over a valuation for Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging platform. Now media are reporting the talks have quietly resumed in recent weeks, and a deal could be announced very soon. (English article; Chinese article) Read Full Post…
In what looks like a major development in the ongoing feud between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) over the latter’s popular WeChat service, China’s telecoms regulator has said it will no longer play the role of mediator in the issue and instead will let the market resolve the matter. I have to commend the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology (MIIT) for its decision, as I’ve previously said a regulator’s job is to maintain order in the industry and not to get involved in commercial disputes. This interesting turn of events could also signal that China Mobile itself may be preparing to back down in this case, following widespread criticism that it’s trying to blame others like Tencent for its own lackluster performance. Read Full Post…
I was a bit surprised by the just-released latest quarterly results from cellular crybaby China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which I expected to contain abundant evidence supporting its grievances in an ongoing battle with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). China Mobile complains that Tencent’s popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service is hogging up capacity on its network, and is pressuring Tencent to start charging fees for the service so that both companies can share that revenue. At the same time, China Mobile is also complaining that WeChat helps mobile subscribers circumvent traditional SMS services by routing messages over the Internet, robbing China Mobile of an important revenue source. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 20-22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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GM (NYSE: GM) Renews Cadillac Campaign In China (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches 20 Bln Yuan Tender For TD-LTE (Chinese article)
We’re seeing some interesting new moves in the smartphone space from e-commerce leader Alibaba and dominant carrier China Mobile, as each makes big new bets in the fast-evolving area. Alibaba is launching its mobile operating system (OS) on a new series of smartphones with several Chinese partners, following a similar aborted attempt last year. China Mobile, meanwhile, is planning a major overhaul for its popular but rapidly aging Fetion mobile messaging service, in an attempt to compete with newer, more popular third-party apps like Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat. Read Full Post…
The non-stop debate over Internet giant Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service has moved south to Hainan island, where executives on both sides of the issue are speaking out at a major annual forum in the city of Boao. On one side of the issue, former China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) Chairman Wang Jianzhou is saying that WeChat and other popular mobile apps are a huge burden for the nation’s telcos, which must invest big bucks in infrastructure that these Internet-based programs require to operate. On the other side of the issue, Tencent President Martin Lau is saying that WeChat will remain free, contradicting recent signals from the telecoms regulator that Tencent will soon start to charge for the service. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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In China, Off-Balance-Sheet Lending Risks Lurk In The Shadows (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat Cost to Carriers Far Exceeds New Revenue – Wang Jianzhou (Chinese article)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Strength in Smartphones Delivers Increased Profitability (Businesswire)
Huawei CFO Says Revenue To Grow 10 Pct Annually In Next Few Years (Chinese article)
