Smartphone makers Xiaomi and Huawei are learning tough new lessons this week, reflecting intense competition in the overheated market where a feisty field of Chinese players are vying for a place alongside global leaders Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (Seoul: 005930). In Xiaomi’s case, the company has become emboiled in an embarrassing new gaffe in Taiwan involving collection of personal data. Meantime, Huawei’s Honor line of smartphones, which it’s trying to position as an mid- to upscale brand, is rapidly moving into the bargain bin with word that it has slashed the price on a new 4G model to just 799 yuan, or $130. Read Full Post…
I recently wrote how smartphone price wars may be claiming one of their first major victims in ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), and now we’re getting word that crosstown rival Huawei may also be getting crunched in the ongoing battle for supremacy at the low end of the market. The latest reports cite Huawei’s mobile device chief saying the company is formally ducking out of ultra low-end smartphones in its home China market, in what can only be seen as a major retreat for one of China’s biggest tech companies. Read Full Post…
Beijing’s recent campaign against foreign tech firms is picking up more momentum, with word that security software makers Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) and Kaspersky Lab have been banned from selling to government agencies. The move continues a trend that has seen Beijing take similar moves against software from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and hardware from IBM (NYSE: IBM) over worries that their products could compromise national security.
Meantime in another ominous sign for foreign tech firms, a government ministry that conducts anti-monopoly investigations is warning Microsoft not to interfere with its ongoing probe of the company. Industry watchers will note that the warning from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) comes as an unrelated trial gets set to start for a British-American couple being charged with interfering in a bribery probe into British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (London: GSK). Read Full Post…
The aggressive duo of Huawei and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) may be consolidating their spots on the global smartphone stage, as domestic rival ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 00063) shows signs of stumbling. Those are my major takeaways from the latest quarterly smartphone results released from industry research firm IDC, which show big sales and market share gains for Huawei and Lenovo in the second quarter of this year. ZTE, meantime, appeared to be moving in the opposite direction, falling further in the ratings after briefly surging last year. Read Full Post…
After an embarrassing recent gaffe that saw him ridiculed by fellow smartphone executives, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun was back in the spotlight this week with the launch of his company’s fourth-generation phone aimed at mid-end users. The company managed to get the usual widespread media coverage for the launch of its Mi 4, which it hopes will give it a sales boost necessary to meet an aggressive growth target for this year. But that said, I do sense that media and consumers are starting to tire of the company’s relentless hype and marketing. That could ultimately hurt its growth prospects, especially as China’s mid-range smartphone market becomes flooded with similar products from other domestic manufacturers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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GAPPRFT to Restrict Branded Video Channels on Internet TV – Source (English article)
China’s CICC Said To Invite Investment Banks For Hong Kong IPO (English article)
Regulator To Discuss Unconditional Return Policy With 10 E-Commerce Firms (Chinese article)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Raises Forecast for 6-Month Profit On Strong 4G Sales (Businesswire)
Vita Coco Coconut Water Sells 25 Pct Stake To Red Bull China (Businesswire)
Customer loyalty poll highlights Xioami’s long march ahead
Cyberchatter over the past week was shining a spotlight on the huge task ahead for domestic Chinese smartphone makers, as they engage in cut-throat competition in their massive home market. A new survey posted by a top regional telecoms executive showed just how little loyalty Chinese customers feel towards most of the domestic brands, underscoring the fact that low prices are still their major attraction.
Meantime, fading e-commerce veteran Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) was also facing its own uphill battle, as its core online book business was reportedly on the cusp of being overtaken by much newer rival JD.com (Nasdaq: JD), China’s second largest player. True to his usual form, Dangdang’s talkative but short-sighted co-founder Li Guoqing was more focused on a new employee incentive plan than the looming negative milestone for a division that was once his company’s core business. Read Full Post…
Lenovo’s IBM, Motorola buys come under the microscope
A month after word first emerged that Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) mega-deal to buy IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business was running into political headwinds, Lenovo is coming out and directly saying it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. Some of my sources near IBM are giving a similar message, even after a top Lenovo executive said last month that the ongoing cybersecurity spat between Beijing and Washington could derail the deal. Lenovo is also saying it expects to close its separate purchase of Motorola Mobility in the same time frame, marking the first time I’ve ever seen anyone imply that the purchase of that company from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might face any political headwinds. Read Full Post…
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi is wowing the world with impressive sales figures for the first half of the year that show it is well on the way to meeting its ambitious 2014 target, as it seeks to become the China version of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). But hidden in the latest figures are the less encouraging news that Xiaomi’s revenue grew far more slowly than unit sales of its flagship smartphones, meaning its prices fell sharply and probably so did its margins. That’s not too surprising considering the stiff competition in China’s smartphone market, where Xiaomi has to compete with well-funded homegrown rivals like Lenovo (HKEx: 992), Huawei, ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and Coolpad. Read Full Post…
After several false alarms, China’s slow-moving telecoms regulator has finally made its highly anticipated award of 4G licenses to the nation’s 2 smaller telcos, providing a much needed boost as they lose share to dominant telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). Now China Telcom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHA) will have to quickly build networks based on 4G FDD-LTE technology, the standard used in most of the rest of the world that will now finally make its debut in China. Read Full Post…
