Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi is back in the headlines with an update on a high-profile bet made last year by chief Lei Jun, who predicted his company would surpass the older and much larger appliance giant Gree (Shenzhen: 000651) in the next 5 years. At the same time, Lei has also updated a previous pledge that his company won’t go public during that time, which probably reflects the fact that Xiaomi will probably be losing money for much of the next 5 years. Lastly a separate news bit has Xiaomi investing in a GPS technology company, in a further indication that the company intends to follow a path similar to role model Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) in its future development. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 11-13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) Extends China JV 25 Years To Tighten Market Grip (English article)
Nokia, China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Sign $970 Mln Framework Deal (English article)
Airbus (Paris: BUS) Signs Tentative Deal To Open New Plant In China (English article)
Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Updates Bet, Sees Passing Gree (Shenzhen: 00651 ) Within 5 Years (Chinese article)
Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) Announces Board Change, President’s Resignation (PRNewswire)
Senior and mid-level executives from a wide range of Chinese tech firms were on the move this past week, crossing the Pacific to tour some of the top US tech names in Silicon Valley. Stops on the tour, co-organized by a Chinese outfit with the colorful name of Geek Park, included such Internet giants as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), as well as newer companies like Airbnb and Pinterest, and electric car powerhouse Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). But certainly the biggest and most intriguing stop on this Silicon Valley tech tour was a visit to the global headquarters of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), which also happens to be in the process of opening a China office. Read Full Post…
A trio of headlines are shining a spotlight on a new twist in the brutally competitive smartphone market, where national security is suddenly becoming a major new headache for manufacturers. In one headline, Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi is being investigated in Taiwan for national security risks related to the storage of local user data on some offshore mainland Chinese-based computers. In a similar news bit, Beijing is reportedly considering forbidding government workers from using foreign-made smartphones.
And in yet another related story, global smartphone giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is reportedly finally on the cusp of winning approval to sell its new iPhone 6 in China, following an embarrassing delay that may be related to the cybersecurity issue. Read Full Post…
The headlines are buzzing today about the latest Hurun Report listing the richest people in China, which has a decidedly tech flavor this year that hints at trouble ahead for the overcharged Internet sector. The report has become a gold standard for gauging the latest business trends in China, but is also famous for focusing on industries that have become overheated. That’s not too surprising, since it’s often such overheating that leads to huge surges in company share prices, which are most often the main foundation for calculating individuals’ wealth. This year half of the top 10 richest men in China come from the tech sector. Read Full Post…
I decided to write about leading online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) today after reading a new report that says the company has posted a hefty 1.77 billion yuan ($290 million) in losses since its New York IPO 4 years ago. A little math will show that translates to average losses of about $20 million in each of the approximately 15 reporting quarters since it went public in December 2010. Much has changed in China’s online video space over that time, including a recent regulatory campaign to stop Youku Tudou and its peers from competing directly with traditional TV stations. Read Full Post…
Several news bits are casting a spotlight on growing stress in the low-end smartphone market, where a crowded field of Chinese companies have been engaged in a cut-throat series of price wars for the past year. Leading the headlines is word that Coolpad, a leading homegrown brand, is cutting 10 percent of its workforce as it explores a new joint venture with some of its distributors. At the same time, other reports say that China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) won’t be coming to the rescue of these struggling companies by selling their smartphones to its subscribers at subsidized prices, as the leading Chinese carrier embarks on its own cost-cutting campaign to bolster its sagging profits. Read Full Post…
A couple of smaller deals are in the headlines today, with smartphone sensation Xiaomi dipping its toe into the financial services market and online news portal Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) eying the news feed business. Both deals are relatively small in terms of size, but each provides some interesting insight on the thinking at these 2 different companies in the tech and new media space. The first deal has Xiaomi joining a group of investors betting on a peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending platform called Jimu Box. The second has Phoenix investing in Particle Inc, maker of an app that lets users design personalized feeds to receive news over their mobile phones. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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3 Domestic Cement Firms Probed By NDRC For Antitrust Violations (Chinese article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Removes Hotel Products From Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) (English article)
Xiaomi Invests In P2P Lending Platform Jimu Box (Chinese article)
Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 6 To Go On Sale In China On September 26 (Chinese article)
Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) Makes Strategic Investment In News Feed App Yidian (PRNewswire)
Corporate culture is seldom on public display for most of China’s top tech firms, even though such culture often determines the success or failure of a company and is well known to industry insiders. The internal cultures at PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 922) and smartphone sensation Xiaomi were the subject of chatter in the blogosphere this past week, as executives from inside and outside the companies discussed the less visible side of these well-known names. In Lenovo’s case, the talk came from a company executive herself, on the release of her new book. The latter saw a couple of outside executives comment on less attractive elements behind the inside culture at China’s hottest smartphone maker.
Meantime, the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” was also all over the tech sphere, with nearly every major executive mentioning the topic on his personal microblog. Many also took the plunge that raises money for a rare neurological disease, but has also been derided as little more than a publicity stunt. Read Full Post…
You know a company is starting to mature when it becomes the subject of headlines beyond its control, which is what we’re seeing in the case of 2 of the latest news bits involving smartphone sensation Xiaomi. In the brief 4 years since its founding, Xiaomi has proven itself a master of marketing, able to keep its name constantly in the headlines through a strategic series of news leaks, sensational sales figures and other media savvy tactics. The latest headlines themselves are relatively benign, one involving a new gaming tie-up and the other involving a minor scandal related to pirated products. Read Full Post…
