Tag Archives: Weibo

latest Financial News of Sina Weibo , by Doug Young, expert of Chinese Business (former Reuters journalist in China).
SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) Business and Financial report

News Digest: December 2, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Hua Hong NEC, Grace Close To Merger – Sources (English article)

◙ Sina-Invested (Nasdaq: SINA) Mecox Lane (Nasdaq: MCOX) Reports $14.4 Mln Q3 Loss (Chinese article)

◙ Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Launches Voluntary Real Name System (English article)

◙ NetEase’s (Nasdaq: NTES) Board Approves New Share Repurchase Program (PRNewswire)

◙ Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Launch Windows-Based Smartphone Next Year (Chinese article)

Govt’s Microblog Shift Looks Good for Weibo 政府口风转变或有利於新浪微博

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It seems like barely a day goes by lately without state media singing the latest praises of microblogging, a development which could bode well for dominant player Weibo but which could also hold risks if Beijing decides this popular form of social networking is too important to leave to organic development in the hands of private developers. Followers of Weibo, often called the Twitter of China, will recall that the platform was the source of criticism by state media for much of the first half of the year, which blamed it for spreading rumors from users who could hide behind cloaks of anonymity. One official even came out as recently as last month and suggested that all microblog users might have to register with their real names, a development that would have sent a huge chill through networks like Weibo and other services operated by names like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES). (previous post) Fast forward to now, when the tone in the debate has changed quite a bit, following Beijing’s latest  decision that microblogging was a great tool for the government to communicate with the people. Following that shift, major state media gush almost daily about the latest government agencies that have opened accounts on Weibo, and have also taken to reporting the other positive effects of microblogging sites. The lead story on page 1 of today’s China Daily is headlined “Micro blogs open a world of communication”, and a search on the subject on its web page reveals positive stories praising everything from microblogging’s role in fighting organized crime to helping people to find love. No mention seems to be made anymore of rumor mongering and the medium’s ability to create social unrest. Of course all that should be good for Weibo and its struggling parent, Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), whose shares have lost about half their value since June as many of its investments outside its core web portal business have stumbled. All this latest praise from Beijing seems to indicate Weibo won’t be shut down or reined in anytime soon, which should be a relief to Sina. Now it just has to find a way to make money off the platform, and also take care to keep Beijing happy by convincing it of Weibo’s important role in developing a harmonious society.

Bottom line: Beijing’s recent shift in tone marks a positive development for microblogging services like Weibo, which are now being called important communicators rather than rumor mongers.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina Results: Not So Diversified After All 新浪仍依赖广告,突围遇阻

◙ Weibo Still Faces Crackdown Despite Govt Tie-Up 新浪微博难改“被监管”命运

◙ Sina’s Weibo: Growth Engine or Growing Burden? 新浪微博：动力or负担？

News Digest: October 22-24, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 22-24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ China Slams US Over Solar Complaint (English article)

◙ Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Unveils On-Deck Search Site (English article)

◙ Huawei to Break Into US Through Innovation – Executive (Chinese article)

◙ Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Statement on SolarWorld America’s Petitions (PRNewswire)

◙ Saab’s Survival Chances Dwindle as Chinese Investors Cut Offer (English article)

Weibo Still Faces Crackdown Despite Govt Tie-Up 新浪微博难改“被监管”命运

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Everyone is buzzing over remarks from a senior party official saying government agencies should embrace mircroblogging to better perform their jobs, interpreting the comments to mean that the popular medium dominated by Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo service won’t come under regulatory pressure soon as many had feared. But a closer look at the actual remarks by Wang Chen, director of China’s State Council Information Office, offers no such reassurances, and I predict it’s only a matter of time before the industry indeed comes under strict new regulations, seriously hampering Weibo and other Twitter-like microblogging services in China. (English article) Wang’s remarks sparked a rally in Sina shares, which soared 18 percent on the news. But a more careful look at his comments show he merely encouraged government agencies to actively use microblogging to better serve society. That sounds fine, but it doesn’t really address the major concern that sparked a sell-off of Sina shares earlier this month after another official said the government was likely to require all microbloggers to register with their real names in the future to curb the rampant rumor mongering and anonymous critical blabbering that has become a staple on the medium. (previous post) That requirement sent a chill over Sina shares because investors realized that many of Weibo’s 200 million registered users would probably decline to open new accounts using their real names if such a new requirement was added, greatly lowering the number of users and Weibo’s attractiveness to advertisers and others who might be willing to pay for exposure on the system. While the latest remarks indicate Weibo isn’t likely to be shut down anytime soon and may even have good government relations, they don’t change the reality that strict new regulations are almost inevitable as the government tries to clean up the mircroblogging space.

Bottom line: New remarks showing government support for microblogging don’t change the fact that strict new regulations are coming that will lower traffic dramatically.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina’s Weibo: Growth Engine or Growing Burden? 新浪微博：动力or负担？

◙ Investors Punish Sina for Slow Weibo Progress

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

Sina’s Weibo: Growth Engine or Growing Burden? 新浪微博：动力or负担？

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After months of seeing its shares and prospects soar on non-stop hype about its phenomenally successful Weibo microblogging service, Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is quickly learning that what goes up often comes down, and that great chances for growth also carry equally great risk. In a rare setback for Weibo, which boasts 200 million users, Hong Kong media reported over the weekend that China is considering new regulations for the unruly microblogging sector, which has become an increasingly fertile ground for fanning public discontent and spreading rumors by people often using fictitious names. (English article) According to the report, the biggest change being considered would require all microbloggers to register accounts using their real names — a development that would instantly probably wipe out about 90 percent of the accounts now in use. Such a move is certainly consistent with previous measures taken by Beijing, which is trying to limit things like rumor mongering and spam, even as some criticize such moves as also limiting free speech. Even if less drastic measures are ultimately taken, the increased regulation doesn’t look good for Weibo and microblogging in general. Investors, recognizing that fact, have been dumping Sina shares en masse, sending the stock down by a third in the last 3 weeks. Making the situation worse, in my opinion, is the steady stream of reports about new social networking services (SNS) that Sina is now rolling out to try and leverage Weibo’s popularity. In the latest of those, local media are reporting that Sina is launching a new SNS product called Kandian (English article), after launching another related product called Qing back in July. (previous post) I understand that Sina is looking for ways to turn Weibo into a profit center, but this pattern of launching so many new businesses in such a short time looks very rushed and lacking in long-term vision, and could very well backfire by leaving Sina and Weibo with a new group of lackluster performers rather than the next new Internet sensation.

Bottom line: Looming new government regulations and an increasingly chaotic growth strategy both look like bad developments for Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging site.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina, Tencent Pose Threat in SNS, E-Commerce 新浪腾讯攻城掠地

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ Sina’s Weibo Steps Outside China 新浪微博进军日本市场

Investors Punish Sina for Slow Weibo Progress

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Leading Web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is discovering there’s nothing like a good rumor to hammer one’s stock. The company’s shares are down nearly 18 percent over the last two days, including a 15 percent tumble on Tuesday, apparently on concerns that Beijing is preparing to license all microblogging siites, and that Sina’s sector leading Weibo service is not among 4 companies set to receive licenses. (Chinese article) Beijing has certainly shown a recent tendency to want to license things on the Internet, first requiring electronic payments firms to register with the government and later making similar requirements for online mapping companies. But in both instances, the government has shown little or no inclination to severely limit the number of licenses, and instead these mandates look more like efforts to provide more government oversight to ensure orderly development. That said, we’ve heard little or no indication so far that Beijing wants to regulate other areas like search, music, video or online games by forcing all participants to get government licenses. In this case, I suspect the sell-off reflects investor fatigue over the near non-stop hype surrounding Weibo since Sina spun it off into a standalone unit earlier this year (previous post) in preparation for a separate listing as soon as next year if the unit can find a way to turn its vast user base of 200 million into a profit center. Even after the sell-off, Sina’s price to earnings ratio for the next year is quite high at 125, though that probably doesn’t include any contribution from Weibo. Inn that light, this sell-off seems to be a call by investors for Sina to tone down the Weibo hype and instead to show some profits for this asset that looks attractive for its user base but has yet to show any contribution to Sina’s bottom line. Given Sina’s strong record at execution, I would say that Weibo should finally be able to show investors some money as soon the end of next year.

Bottom line: A sell-off of Sina shares reflects investor impatience over development of its Weibo microblogging site, which could turn a profit as soon as the second half of next year.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina, Tencent Pose Threat in SNS, E-Commerce 新浪腾讯攻城掠地

◙ Sina’s Weibo Steps Outside China 新浪微博进军日本市场

◙ Weibo in Smart Telecom Tie-up, Silly English Move 微博与中国电信合作实属明智之举 推英文版纯属浪费时间

Renren Discovers Microblogging Too Late

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Leading Chinese social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) has finally discovered microblogging, with the launch of a new service, called Xiaozhan, designed to emulate Twitter to complement its traditional SNS site that looks and feels more like Facebook. (company announcement) The only problem is, China already has a company called Weibo, a unit of leading Web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), which looks unstoppable as it signs up millions of new users each month and whose name has become interchangeable with microblogging in China. Rival microblogging sites operated by such big names as NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) have struggled to compete with Weibo, and Chinese search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) even shuttered its own microblogging site earlier this year, acknowledging it was unable to play in the space. (previous post) In fact, Weibo, whose Chinese name actually means “microblog” in Chinese, launched its own traditional SNS site, called Qing, last month, in a bid to leverage its huge popularity to steal business from Renren and other traditional SNS sites like Kaixin. (previous post) Some  might argue that Renren needs to fight back with its own microblogging service to offer a more complete social networking experience, and that it can leverage its traditional SNS platform to lure many of its subscribers to this new Xiaozhan service. I agree to some extent that Renren needs to find related services to leverage its user base to grow. But unless it can offer something revolutionary in microblogging, which I seriously doubt, I would advise the company to look for other new opportunities and leave this space for Weibo. Barring anything unusual, I would expect this new Xiaozhan service to struggle for its entire existence, and could see Renren quietly shuttering the service in the next 1 to 2 years.

Bottom line: Renren’s newly launched microblogging service is destined for failure in the face of  insurmountable competition from Sina’s Weibo.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Renren Results: A Mixed Bag for Everyone 人人网业绩：苦乐参半

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ New Weibo Makes First M&A Move 新浪微博并购忙

Sina, Tencent Pose Threat in SNS, E-Commerce 新浪腾讯攻城掠地

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Despite their late arrival to the game, Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) could soon become potent forces in their newly chosen fields of SNS and e-commerce, respectively. Sina looks the sharpest in this latecomer strategy, reporting that its Boke Qing social networking site, which held its beta launch last month (previous post) has already registered its 1 millionth user. (English article) Sina has achieved the breakneck growth by packaging Qing as a more substantial complement to its wildly popular Weibo microblogging service, considered the Twitter of China. Qing, which links seamlessly with Weibo, is likely to grow exponentially over the next few months, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it reach 10 million users by year end. If it achieves that kind of growth, it could easily challenge industry leader Renren (NYSE: RENN), which reported 31 million users in the first quarter of this year. If Qing really achieves such fast take-up and Weibo starts generating some profits, I could see Sina packaging these two units together and making a US public listing for the pair as soon as the end of 2012. Meantime, Tencent has detailed plans to develop a mega-platform for both B2C and C2C called Paipai, and will put 500 million yuan, or about $80 million, behind the effort. Like Sina, Tencent has proved to be very adept at leveraging a huge user base for its wildly popular QQ instant messaging service into other areas, overtaking Shanda (Nasdaq: SNDA) and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) in just a few years to become China’s biggest online game operator. Of course, it will face stiffer competition in e-commerce, going up against sector giant Taobao, along with other names like Dang Dang (NYSE: DANG), 360Buy and Wal-Mart-invested (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian. Despite that, I’d still give Tencent’s e-commerce initiative a fair shot at success due to its unique position as China’s Internet leader, while Qing’s success looks almost 100 percent guaranteed due to its links to Sina and Weibo.

Bottom line: Sina’s new Qing SNS service could become a major player by year-end, while Tencent’s new e-commerce initiative also stands a good chance of success.

新浪(SINA.O)在社交网络服务领域、腾讯(0700.HK: 行情)在电子商务领域，都算是後来者，但可能迅速崛起。新浪势头凌厉，上月启动轻博客公测版後，其注册用户已突破100万。新浪以轻博客作为微博的补充，两款产品实现相互联通，实现用户数量迅猛增长。新浪轻博客在未来几个月可能呈飞速成长，若到今年底用户达到1,000万，我一点都不会惊讶。若这成为现实，则可挑战该领域领头羊–人人网(RENN.N)，今年第一季人人网注册用户已达到了3,100万人。如果轻博客果真发展神速，微博也开始盈利，我认为，最快到明年底，新浪就可能将轻博客与微博整合到一起，在美国上市。与此同时，腾讯也制定详细计划，打造B2C和C2C商务平台拍拍网，将为此投入5亿元资源。与新浪相似，腾讯也善于利用其庞大的QQ用户群，将服务拓展至新领域，短短几年时间就取代盛大(SNDA.O)和网易(NTES.O)，成为中国最大的网络游戏运营商。当然，腾讯在电子商务领域面临的竞争会更激烈一些，需要面对当当网(DANG.N)、京东商城、和沃尔玛(WMT.N)投资的1号店等强劲对手。但鉴于腾讯在中国互联网领域的地位，我还是对其在电子商务领域的尝试寄予厚望。至于新浪的轻博客，其成功几乎没有悬念。

一句话：新浪轻博客到今年底将成为社交网络服务领域重要力量，而腾讯在电子商务领域新尝试也很有希望取得成功。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ Wal-Mart Buys Into China E-Commerce 沃尔玛进军中国电子商务

◙ Belle, Baidu See Beauty in Online Shoe Store 百度和百丽投资优购网或为明智之举

Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

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It’s official: Less than two months after Chinese media first carried reports of a new Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) service that I said looked suspiciously like a Facebook-type SNS product (previous post), China’s most popular Web portal has announced the public beta testing launch of the new product, called Boke Qing in Chinese, or Blogging Light. (Chinese article) Sina’s own description of the new service, which ingeniously allows users to interlink new accounts with their existing accounts on its wildly popular Twitter-like Weibo product, says that Qing is designed to complement Weibo by providing users with the ability to post longer messages, as well as photos and other multimedia offerings. Does this sound a bit like Facebook? The beta site at qing.weibo.com says the service already has about 700,000 users, though I’ve no doubt that is probably a bit inflated. Still, considering Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) early success with its new SNS product, Google Plus, despite being years behind Facebook, I’d say this new Qing product, which smartly draws on Weibo’s huge user base, stands a strong chance of success and could quickly pose a major challenge to industry leaders Renren (NYSE: RENN) and Kaixin, as well as SNS products being developed by established net giants like Tencent (HKEx: 700). From a broader perspective, Qing will undoubtedly be coupled with Weibo into a single SNS business unit at Sina, which is hoping to quickly build up the company for a blockbuster IPO in the next two to three years. It’s still too early to say if Qing will be able to make big headway in the market, but I would say the chances are good that it could quickly catch up with and possibly even overtake Renren or Kaixin in the next couple of years.

Bottom line: Sina’s beta launch of a new SNS product, Qing, is the latest move to leverage its popular Weibo service, which could soon pose a challenge to SNS leaders Renren and Kaixin.

媒体一个多月前首次报导称，新浪<SINA.O>推出了轻博客，我当时说过，这项新服务看似像Facebook一类的社交网产品。新浪周一正式宣布启动轻博客公测版本。用户可使用新浪微博账户直接登录轻博客，两款产品已实现相互联通，据新浪描述称，轻博客是微博的补充，可以发布长文和组图，以及其他多媒体功能。这听起来是不是有点像Facebook？轻博客（qing.weibo.com）测试版网页称，该服务已拥有约70万名用户，我怀疑这可能有点言过其实。但鉴於谷歌<GOOG.O>在社交领域多年落後Facebook，而其新推出的社交产品Google Plus仍初获成功，我敢说，由於聪明地利用了新浪微博庞大用户群的优势，因此轻博客的成功机率很大，并且可能很快会对人人网<RENN.N>、开心网以及正研发社交产品的腾讯<0700.HK>等构成较大威胁。更宏观地看，轻博客无疑将与微博联手，成为新浪独立的社交网业务，在未来两到三年进行大规模首次公开募股（IPO）。现在谈轻博客是否能在该市场取得重大进展还为时过早，但我认为，轻博客未来一两年迅速赶上、甚至超越人人网和开心网的机率较大。

一句话：新浪启动最新社交产品轻博客公测版，是利用新浪微博杠杆效应的最新举措，可能很快会对人人网和开心网构成挑战。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina’s Latest Weibo Move Looks Like SNS 新浪似要发展社交网站

◙ Sina’s Weibo Steps Outside China 新浪微博进军日本市场

◙ Weibo in Smart Telecom Tie-up, Silly English Move 微博与中国电信合作实属明智之举 推英文版纯属浪费时间