Bottom line: Hugo Barra’s remarks in defense of criticism that his employer Xiaomi copies Apple’s designs could mark the start of a longer-term war of words that could end in one or more lawsuits by Apple.
Barra defends Xiaomi’s copycat ways
A trans-Pacific war of words that began with critical remarks made by Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) chief designer 2 weeks ago is continuing, with the foreign face of Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi giving fresh remarks on the copycat controversy in his company’s defense. The comments from Xiaomi’s international marketing head Hugo Barra are a bit lame in my view, and I really doubt he would have made such remarks last year when he was still a rising star at global Internet giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Read Full Post…
There was never really much doubt that Chinese PC leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992) would ultimately close its purchase of Motorola Mobility, the former cellphone giant that has rapidly become irrelevant in a sector where change occurs at lightning speed these days. Lenovo has just announced that it closed the purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), some 9 months after first announcing the deal. Now the real work will begin for Lenovo as it tries to figure out what exactly to do with Motorola, including the small possibility that it could retire the company’s storied name. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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YYeTs , Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) On Hollywood Piracy Blacklist (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Smartphone sensation Xiaomi is rapidly becoming an expert at shuffling its user data from country to country, with word that it will store data for its users in India on western-based servers rather than shipping such information back to computers in its home China market. This particular move looks largely preemptive, aimed at preventing a new brouhaha similar to one it faced in Taiwan related to concerns over national security and protection of user privacy. The move looks like a relatively smart one in the current climate of global concerns about cyber-security. But it does pose a larger challenge of added costs for China-based companies like Xiaomi with global aspirations. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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30 Pct Of Traditional Retail Stores To Close In Future – Suning VP (Chinese article)
Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) Zuckerberg Says To Start Hiring In China Next Year (Chinese article)
Beijing’s notorious smog was thick in the blogosphere this past week, with tech executives sending out a flurry of cautionary messages as the city held its annual marathon. This particular issue shines an important spotlight on the fact that many of China’s top tech firms are clustered in the Chinese capital, running the range from search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to top portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992).
Meantime, other interesting buzz in the blogosphere was coming from security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which finally admitted defeat in its anti-monopoly lawsuit against Tencent (HKEx: 700) after the case was denied a final appeal by China’s highest court. One final interesting tidbit came from several executives at Lenovo, which unleashed a flurry of buzz after the company’s announcement of vague plans to set up a separate unit dedicated to smart devices. Read Full Post…
Nearly a month after their global launch, Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhones are now formally on sale here in China. We’ll no doubt get flooded with numbers about initial sales in the next few days, some of which may be correct but many of which will probably be just guesses. One larger question that’s on everyone’s mind is promotions by the nation’s 3 telcos, as China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as all come under government pressure to cut back on their aggressive subsidies.
The early news looks relatively good for Apple on that front, with one media report saying the 3 telcos are mostly maintaining their aggressive iPhone subsidies from previous levels. We’ll examine that issue shortly, and whether it even matters much. But first let’s look at the bigger picture that had the iPhone 6 receive a relatively strong reception after it went on sale in China on Friday, 4 weeks after its global debut and 3 weeks after its Asia launch. Read Full Post…
Publicity savvy smartphone maker Xiaomi was making awkward noises in the blogosphere this past week, as it found itself stinging from critical remarks made by a top executive at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the company’s role model. At the same time, the company got an unexpected show of support from another source, as controversial Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi defended the smartphone maker over a different brouhaha involving involving an embarrassing data security investigation in Taiwan.
In separate news, TV giant TCL (Shenzhen: 000100) Chairman Li Dongsheng was talking up a potential electronic payments alliance, with word that his company is discussing a tie-up with UnionPay, operator of China’s leading electronic transactions network. Just last week I commended Li for taking some new risks a decade after 2 disastrous partnerships with European companies. But this latest chatter is starting to get a bit worrisome, as Li seems to be thinking in quite a few directions that are increasingly scattered and lack any common theme. Read Full Post…
Two high-profile executive moves are highlighting the recent attraction of China’s tech story to both domestic Chinese and foreigners, lured by breakneck growth that produced the world’s biggest-ever IPO last month with the $24 billion IPO of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). The first move has seen former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Jai Mani leave his position in a California-based start-up to take an India-based job at fast-rising Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi. The other has seen well-known Chinese financier Levin Zhu jump ship from the top post at CICC, China’s oldest investment bank, reportedly to start his own company involved with Internet-based finance. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Anbang Insurance Deal For Waldorf Astoria Raises US Security Fears (English article)
EU, China Have Resolved Telecoms Dispute: EU Trade Chief (English article)
Xiaomi Signs Former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Exec As India Products Manager (English article)
Costco (Nasdaq: COST) Makes China Debut On Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Tmall Platform (Businesswire)
China’s Gingko Tree Said In Talks To Buy Siemens (Frankfurt: SIEGn) Offices (English article)
