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Journalist China
Business news from China By Doug Young.
Doug Young, journalist, has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies.
He is based in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.
He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications in both China and the west, including Forbes, CNN, Seeking Alpha and Reuters, as well as Asia-based publications including the South China Morning Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Observer
A flood of low-cost smartphones into the China market looks set to accelerate with word that the trendy Xiaomi is preparing to launch a low-end model that will sell for just 1,000 yuan, or about $160. Xiaomi’s new phone, called Hongmi or “Red Rice” has been rumored for a while, and was actually supposed to launch in June but ran into unspecified regulator snags. (previous post) Now media are reporting the Hongmi phones could launch this week, adding a new player to an already overheated market for low-end smartphones. Read Full Post…
Investors are taking a decidedly negative view on the latest news from web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) and game operator Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME), in a wave of buyer fatigue following recent rallies for these 2 Internet companies. Shares of both companies lost 10 percent or more in the latest trading day in New York, after Sohu released a very solid set of financial results and Shanda announced an acquisition that should help to boost its struggling core game business. In all fairness, both companies’ shares have rallied sharply this year for different reasons, so some might view this sell-off as a classic case of the “buy on the rumor, sell on the news” mentality. As such, the setback may be a one-time correction, and different factors will determine whether the companies resume their rallies in the weeks ahead.
Digital Domain gets new owner, Wanda expands Imax ties
A couple of news bits are highlighting China’s rapidly blossoming love affair with Hollywood, and also hinting at the turbulence we’re likely to see in the next couple of years as Chinese firms invest too much as they become smitten with show business. One of those deals has US digital effects house Digital Domain being taken over by a new Chinese owner less than a year after it was purchased out of bankruptcy by a Beijing-based film producer. The other has leading theater chain owner Wanda Group significantly boosting its ties with Canada’s Imax (Toronto: IMX), as it invests heavily in Imax’s big-screen technology. Read Full Post…
I should have a bit more confidence in my predictions, following word that leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700) has become a major shareholder in top global electronic game designer Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) as part of a deal to buy out the company from its parent. I had predicted last year that Tencent could buy Activision outright, after France’s Vivendi (Paris: VIV) put the US gaming company up for sale to raise cash and divest non-core assets. But then when more than a year passed without any word of a deal, I concluded that Tencent was either unable to raise the financing for a transaction, or perhaps had lost interest. Read Full Post…
China and the West broke a decades-old pattern of troubled trade relations over the weekend with a landmark deal to settle a trade dispute between China and the EU involving Chinese manufactured solar panels. Leaders in China and the West should use this breakthrough agreement as a template for resolving future trade disputes, turning to compromise rather than destructive accusations and punitive tariffs to end their disagreements. Read Full Post…
As if its China troubles weren’t bad enough following a weak earnings report, global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is now coming under political fire from central bureaucrats in Beijing for failing to deliver promised donations after an earthquake earlier this year. Frankly speaking, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Apple or any of the other firms that get this kind of criticism, since I find their quickness to announce donations after any major disaster somewhat insincere and largely a publicity ploy. But the fact that yet another foreign firm is coming under attack from central government sources this month certainly adds to my previous assertions that Beijing has recently embarked on a drive to discredit foreign firms and divert attention from other domestic problems. Read Full Post…
Western fast food chains have seen decidedly mixed results in China, reflecting a wide range of factors in this image-conscious society where perceptions and promotions are often just as important as product quality. It’s not often that I break news in this sector, but now I’m excited to report that US pizza specialist Domino’s is preparing a major push into the China market, aiming to tap the growing trend for products that can be delivered to the home. Read Full Post…
It’s a new day, and that means time for the latest new scandal surrounding a foreign company doing business in China. This time McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) and Yum’s (NYSE: YUM) KFC are in the spotlight for serving water that contains excess levels of bacteria. This scandal is just the latest in a nonstop stream for foreign companies this month, providing plenty of food for domestic media during the summertime that is usually considered a slow period for news. Read Full Post…
I’m pleased to see that after a major socialist-style clash in China’s mobile Internet space earlier this year, all of the relevant parties are turning to the business of more market-oriented competition with the roll-out of new rival products. Internet followers will know I’m talking about the high-profile clash in early 2013 between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) involving Tencent’s highly popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service. In the latest wrinkle to the story, media are reporting that online game operator NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is teaming up with China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), the smallest of China’s 3 mobile operators, to roll out their own WeChat rival product. Read Full Post…
Online gaming giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) is making headlines today on a couple of fronts, with founder Pony Ma officially becoming China’s richest man as the company has also signed a major new licensing deal with US game developer Electronic Arts (EA) (Nasdaq: EA). The former development reflects the meteoric rise of Tencent over the last decade, as it leveraged its popular original QQ instant messaging platform to become China’s dominant online game and social networking company. Meantime, the new EA tie-up provides the latest evidence that Tencent is trying to diversify beyond its previous alliance with US game development giant Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), as part of Tencent’s bigger globalization drive. Read Full Post…
Stability has become the buzzword of the moment for Chinese tech firms, which appears to be the driving factor behind the positive receptions for what otherwise look like so-so results from online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and telecoms equipment giant Huawei. In Baidu’s case, the company has been hit by slowing revenue growth and evaporating profits in the last few quarters caused by growing competition and a sharp slowdown in ad spending. Huawei, meantime, is fighting a sluggish global economy and also growing resistance in the US and Europe to its core networking equipment. Read Full Post…
