High profile smartphone maker Xioami is making headlines with word that it has purchased a stake in a unit of software maker Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888), in what could be the first in a new wave of tie-ups for this fast-rising company that aspires to be like global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). I have to admit that I’m not exactly sure what Xiaomi hopes to do with this new tie-up, which has it purchasing around 10 percent of Kingsoft Cloud Group, which is Kingsoft’s cloud computing unit. (Chinese article) The purchase price is quite modest, with Xioami paying just $1.82 million for its 10 percent stake. There’s not much other information in the report, though it does point out that Xioami’s charismatic co-founder Lei Jun is a major stakeholder in Kingsoft.
Tag Archives: Xiaomi
News Digest: December 1 报摘： 2012年12月1日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad mini & iPhone 5 Arrive in China in December (Businesswire)
- Yum (NYSE: YUM) Warns Of China Q4 Sales Drop As Macro-Economy Bites (English article)
- China Approves Wanxiang Plan To Buy US Battery Maker A123 (English article)
- ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) Announces Q3 Results (PRNewswire)
- Xiaomi Invests $1.8 Mln To Buy 10 Pct of Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888) Cloud Unit (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Box, WeChat Spar With Beijing 小米盒子、微信与中国政府的摩擦
A couple of items in the news today are shining a spotlight on the very real and unique risks of doing business in China from heavy-handed government oversight, with fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi and Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) both sparring with Beijing in different own ways. Xiaomi’s situation looks the most serious with the “temporary” suspension of its newly launched Internet TV service, which probably reflects the company’s youth and inexperience at dealing with government bureaucrats. Tencent also appears to be playing a game of brinksmanship with Beijing by bringing its own unusual interpretation to a controversial “real name” registration requirement imposed on all social networking sites early this year.
News Digest: November 23 报摘： 2012年11月23日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Alibaba Talks On Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Investment At Impasse Over Price – Source (Chinese article)
- AIG (NYSE: AIG) Explores Joint Venture with PICC Group and PICC Life (Businesswire)
- GM (NYSE: GM) Rolls Out China-Developed Electric Car in World’s Top Auto Market (English article)
- Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat Reinstates “Public” Account Verification (English article)
- Xiaomi Box Temporarily Suspends Video Content Service (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Bets Big on Internet TV 小米押注互联网电视
Smartphone darling Xiaomi is in the new headlines again with the release of its new Internet TV product, including interesting comments by marketing-savvy founder Lei Jun indicating he intends to pour big money into this new endeavor. Specifically, media quoted Lei saying he has invested more than $100 million to acquiring a set-top box developer for Xiaomi’s Internet TV project — quite a hefty sum for such a young company whose business scale is still relatively small. (Chinese article)
News Digest: November 15 报摘： 2012年11月15日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Tencent (HKEx: 700) Announces Q3 Results (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Launches Mobile Search (English article)
- China Telecom (HKEx: 728) Prepares to Launch iPhone 5 (Chinese article)
- ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Gets Approval For Branches in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait (HKEx announcement)
- Xiaomi Releases Internet TV Set-Top Box (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
News Digest: November 4 报摘： 2012年11月4日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Alibaba in Talks With Banks For $1 Bln Bond Issue – Source (Chinese article)
- LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Announces CEO Transition and New Board Appointments (PRNewswire)
- Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) Reports Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- CNZZ: Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Takes 10 Pct of China’s October Search Traffic (English article)
- Xiaomi Acquires E-Reader Software Firm Duokan – Source (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Xiaomi Explores Internet TV 小米开发电视盒
Homegrown smartphone sensation Xiaomi is looking more and more like a Chinese version of global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) these days, following the latest reports that the company is preparing to launch an Internet TV product. I’m sure that Xiaomi’s marketing-savvy founder Lei Jun loves the comparisons his company is getting to the world’s biggest tech company, which of course would include the inevitable comparisons to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Perhaps Lei will even change his company’s English name to “Little Rice”, which is what Xiaomi means in Chinese, to play on Apple’s own food-related associations.
News Digest: October 18 报摘： 2012年10月18日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- White House Review Finds No Evidence of Spying By Huawei – Sources (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) Executives to Take 50 Pct Pay Cut (English article)
- Suning.com (Shenzhen: 002024) in Final Talks to Buy Masa Maso – Source (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Establishes Location Based Services (LBS) Division (English article)
- Xiaomi Testing TV Set-Top Box – Sources (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Alibaba Catches Baidu, Trails Tencent 阿里巴巴追上百度，落后于腾讯
The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba will soon announce the sale of 20 percent of its shares held by Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) to a new investor group for $7.6 billion, in the first step of a slow-motion divorce between these 2 Internet giants. (English article; Chinese article) From my perspective, the most interesting elements of the announcement will be the latest valuation Alibaba gets as a result of the deal, and also the names of the new investors in this massive new stake sale. Both will hint at what the future holds for Alibaba in terms of growth as it moves towards an IPO as soon as 2014.
News Digest: September 8-10, 2012 报摘： 2012年9月8-10日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 8-10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Insigma (Shanghai: 600797), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) Establish Cloud JV, Plan Overseas IPO (English article)
- Suntech (NYSE: STP) Announces Departure of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) (PRNewswire)
- Alibaba’s Taobao E-commerce Site Signs Deal With US Film Rep to Curb Piracy (English article)
- FedEx (NYSE: FDX), UPS (NYSE: UPS) Win Domestic Parcel Delivery Licenses (Chinese article)
- Xiaomi Sells Out Second Batch of 200,000 Mid-Range 1S Smartphones (English article)
