The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Legend Holdings To Make $2-$3 Bln Hong Kong IPO In H2 – Source (Chinese article)
Chinese Dot-com IPOs Fading In 2015 After Record Year (English article)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) To Post 94.2 Pct Growth In Full-Year Profit (Businesswire)
Tumblr, Still Not Blocked In China, Soon To Offer Chinese Version (English article)
Online Classifieds Site Baixing Wins $100 Mln Investment (English article)
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s new more upscale Mi Note phablet should get a strong reception and sell well, drawing on the company’s trendy name and growing base of loyal buyers.
Xiaomi goes upscale with new Mi Note
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi doesn’t seem content to only follow its role model Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) anymore, and is also taking a page from stumbling sector leader Samsung (Seoul: 005930) with its latest model as it seeks a long-term direction for its products. Of course I’m being just a little facetious with my comparison to Apple, since the only thing Xiaomi shares with the US company is a cool and trendy image. Apple is firmly placed at the top end of the smartphone market, whereas Xiaomi began its life in the mid-range and has steadily moved downmarket since then. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s smartphone market is likely to contract another 10 percent this year, forcing some newer domestic manufacturers out of business, while Huawei’s bid to go upscale in the space is likely to face difficulty.
Huawei posts strong growth on smartphones
New data on China’s booming smartphone sector show the industry crossed a tipping point in 2014, with sales starting to sag after several years of explosive growth. That earlier growth was fueled by companies like Huawei, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers, which has just given some preliminary financial data for 2014. Huawei cited a big jump in smartphone sales as a major factor behind its 20 percent jump in total revenue last year, as strong gains for its consumer products division offset slower growth in its older telecoms networking equipment unit. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Huawei could make significant progress in the US smartphone market this year if it devotes more resources to the campaign, while LeTV’s smartphone foray looks necessary but could face difficulty due to stiff competition.
Huawei to step up US smartphone campaign
Rapid developments in the smartphone space are showing no sign of slowing in the New Year, with the latest reports that stalwart Huawei is preparing for a major new push in the US, as online video specialist LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) prepares its own campaign to enter the crowded arena. Of these 2 news bits, the Huawei one looks like the most significant, as it will see the company make a major play at a US market that is the world’s largest but has been elusive for the Chinese telecoms giant. LeTV previously hinted at its plans to enter the crowded smartphone space, and its relatively late arrival means its endeavor in the crowded field could ultimately fail. Read Full Post…
Tech executives welcomed in the New Year with some intriguing hints on their microblogs, with posts suggesting major new moves in China from global media titan News Corp (Nasdsaq: NWSA) and online video operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104). In the former case, a local tech executive posted a photo of himself meeting with Rupert Murdoch in China, indicating the News Corp chief was back doing business in the country after a long absence. In the latter case, LeTV chief Jia Yueting was hinting that his company could soon become the latest Chinese Internet firm to enter the overheated smartphone market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: ZTE’s relaunch to focus on a wider range of interconnectivity products and services looks smart and well-conceived, but could be harder to execute if it tries to do too much too quickly.
ZTE launches new logo
The last few years have been a difficult time for telecoms equipment giant ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), but the company is hoping to kick off a new chapter this year with the launch of a new strategy that focuses on interconnectivity at all levels. A news release and CEO’s letter detailing this new approach are filled with hype and buzzwords, though the broader idea looks strategically smart. I’ll admit I’m just a little skeptical that this company is capable of such a broad transformation, though I’m also hopeful that it can achieve at least some of its goals to jump-start its prospects. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Fosun (HKEx: 656) To Buy Meadowbrook In $433 Mln Transaction (English article)
Ping An Unit Buys 1 Bln Yuan In United PV (HKEx: 686) Convertible Bonds (Chinese article)
Linekong (HKEx: 8267) Finishes Flat In HK Trading Debut (Chinese article)
China Plans To Extend Green Vehicle Subsidies Until 2020 (English article)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Unveils Redesigned Logo In New Strategic Focus On M-ICT Innovations (Businesswire)
Bottom line: The target of Qihoo’s rumored smartphone purchase could be Coolpad, while Xiaomi’s new tie-up with Midea could be followed by similar pairings in a broader drive to develop smart appliances.
Qihoo eying Coolpad?
A couple of big deals are bubbling around in the smartphone space today, led by yet another new tie-up involving smartphone sensation Xiaomi, this time with home appliance maker Midea (Shenzhen: 000333). But the hyperactive Xiaomi is having to share the spotlight with the edgier security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which is reportedly eying a deal for its own major smartphone acquisition worth up to $1 billion.
Each of these deals has slightly different motivating factors, but the central theme is that companies like Qihoo and Xiaomi increasingly see smartphones as a central element of larger suites of product and services rather than just a stand-alone product. In Xiaomi’s case, the company already counts smartphones as its core central product and is trying to build up an ecosystem of related products and services like smart TVs and air conditioners. Qihoo is eying smartphones as a vehicle for propagating its core software and Internet services. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi is likely to quickly settle a patent dispute against it by Ericsson in India, which could slightly raise its costs but won’t affect its longer term development in the market.
India judge crimps Xiaomi’s global expansion
The global expansion plans of fast-rising Xiaomi may have hit a major roadblock, with word that a court has ordered the company to stop importing and selling its popular low-cost smartphones in India. Xiaomi had been targeting India as one of the main drivers in its campaign to become a major global smartphone brand, and has made a number of major moves in the market this year. But now it will have to deal with this new litigation, which is coming from global telecoms equipment giant Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) over patent infringement claims. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi is likely to settle a series of patent disputes launched by domestic rivals Huawei and ZTE, but will face more similar actions as its profile rises in its global expansion.
Huawei, ZTE point finger at Xiaomi
New reports about a series of patent violation claims against smartphone sensation Xiaomi are casting a spotlight on the kinds of battles this fast-rising Chinese firm may face in its aggressive global expansion. Just 3 years after launching its first models, Xiaomi has come from nowhere to become the world’s third largest smartphone brand, behind only much older global rivals Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). That rapid rise has caught the attention of older domestic smartphone rivals like Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), which are reportedly now threatening to sue Xiaomi for violating their patents. Read Full Post…
Most of China’s high-tech attention was focused on the scenic canal city of Wuzhen near Shanghai this past week, as a who’s-who of top Internet executives gathered for a conference that billed itself as a global gathering. Most of China’s top names were reportedly at the event, including Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Robin Li, Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Jack Ma and NetEase’s (Nasdaq: NTES) Ding Lei. But the guest list was notably lacking in major global names, and at least one executive commented on the sensitive subject of the exclusion of global leaders like Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) from the Chinese Internet.
Meantime, the marketing savvy Lei Jun, who is also CEO and hypemaster supreme for smartphone sensation Xiaomi, also managed to make his own mini splash in the microblogging realm by declaring his own ambition to overtake Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to become the world’s biggest smartphone brand. Such hype from Lei isn’t all that unusual, though I was somewhat surprised to see several executives from other firms chime in with support for this upwardly mobile company. Read Full Post…
