Much of the China tech world was focused last week on the world’s largest telecoms trade show taking place in Barcelona, but one company that was noticeably absent from the Mobile World Congress was fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi. That absence was all the more noticeably because Xiaomi has made no secret of its plans for a global expansion this year as part of a strategy to maintain its explosive growth in the 4 years since its founding. Xiaomi seems to have skipped the big show this year, and instead focused its energies on its own internal suppliers meeting, as reflected by a flurry of microblog posts from that event. Read Full Post…
The recent window of positive sentiment towards Chinese tech firms continues to fuel a wave of offshore IPO plans, with video sharing site Xunlei and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) parent Legend Holdings the latest subjects of new listing rumors. All these reports come as a top New York Stock Exchange executive predicts 15-20 Chinese firms will list in New York this year. (English article) That forecast by David Ethridge, a senior vice president at NYSE Euronext, certainly looks quite bullish, especially compared with only 6 companies that listed in New York last year and just 2 in 2012. But it’s also worth noting the figure is a bit more conservative than another forecast earlier this month from an unnamed investment banking source for as many as 30 New York listings this year. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) may be rapidly yielding market share to 2 up-and-coming rivals, even as its latest results show it’s still king of the hill when it comes to getting revenue from online advertisers. But the company is still searching for new innovation, with word that charismatic Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun came to speak at an internal event this week as Baidu seeks to rekindle its own “wolf spirit”. Baidu’s quest to become more diversified and has moved into high gear with a spree of major acquisitions over the last year in a wide range of areas. Still, its latest results, while impressive, show just how heavily dependent the company remains on online advertisers. Read Full Post…
Executives from smartphone sensation Xiaomi were playing their usual marketing tricks in the microblogging realm this past week, trumpeting an online promotion in the run-up to a more formal launch next month in Singapore, the first stop on the company’s global expansion. Meantime, US professional networking giant LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) was moving more quietly in the other direction into China, where its recently hired top executive was tweeting about his ongoing hiring efforts as the company builds up a local operation. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Q4 And Fiscal Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Parent Legend Holdings Launches Process For HK IPO (Chinese article)
Xunlei Wins $25 Mln Xiaomi Funding, Prepares for US IPO (English article)
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Posts First-Ever Profit As It Moves Toward IPO (Chinese article)
Shanghai To Forbid Use Of Taxi Apps During Rush Hour From March (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 22-24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Fosun Int’l (HKEx: 656) May Acquire Forbes Media For Under $250 Mln (Chinese article)
CCTV Commentator Calls For Ban Of Alibaba’s Yu’ebao, Calling It A Vampire (Chinese article)
Vipshop Acquires Minority Interest in Ovation For $55.8 Mln (PRNewswire)
China Auto Lobby, Policymakers Collide Over Foreign Investment (English article)
UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, Tencent has announced it will purchase 20 percent of Dianping for an undisclosed amount. (company announcement)
Talk involving major new investments in online clothier Vancl and restaurant ratings site Dianping was buzzing through the blogosphere this past week, reflecting the many new partnerships that are quickly forming amid intense competition plaguing the overheated Internet space.
Vancl has been racing to find profits before it runs out of cash, and recently received a lifeline in the form of $100 million in new funding from a group led by Lei Jun, the marketing-savvy co-founder of trendy smartphone maker Xiaomi. Lei Jun and Vancl CEO Chen Nian engaged in a round of online banter this week on their microblogs that could hint at some of the new directions and tactics that Vancl will take as it searches for the elusive business model that can move it into the black. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) To Buy 20 Percent Of Restaurant Ratings Site Dianping (HKEx announcement)
Dongfeng (HKEx: 489) To Pay 800 Mln Euros For 18 Pct Of Peugeot (Paris: PEUP) (English article)
MIIT: China’s 4G User Base To Reach 30-50 Mln In 2014 (English article)
Xiaomi Enters Singapore To Kick Off Global Expansion (Chinese article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) To Introducing Free Security Services To The World (PRNewswire)
The final death knell for one of China’s oldest software developers is casting a spotlight on just how difficult it is for companies to break into the global market for computer operating systems (OS). The end for Red Flag Software also bodes poorly for a number of more recent Chinese initiatives to create a mobile OS to rival Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) wildly popular Android and Apple’s (Nasdaq: APPL) own iOS. No specific reasons were given in the reports for Red Flag Software’s final demise, though I suspect defections by the company’s core state-run customers and a broader decline in the traditional desktop PC market were both factors. Read Full Post…
China was closed for much of last week, but that didn’t some of its top tech executives from emitting a steady stream of tweets on their microblogs regaling followers with tales of their travels over the Lunar New Year holiday. The US emerged as the travel destination of choice for many who favored a destination that has been quite generous towards their sector over the last few months.
Regular tech readers will know I’m talking about the huge success of 5 major Chinese Internet IPOs in New York, many of which have nearly doubled in value since their trading debuts in the last 2 months of 2013. Executives at JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce company, are hoping to ride that wave of positive sentiment with another New York IPO this year. That pending deal saw one JD.com executive complain of having to take part in a late-night teleconference during the Lunar New Year holiday that I suspect was connected to that upcoming listing. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bright Food Plan Advances To Buy Israel’s Tnuva For Up To 14 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Offers 2.6 Mln Shares, $100 Mln Convertible Notes (PRNewswire)
Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) Confirms Use Of Chemical Food Additive In China (English article)
