The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yum’s (NYSE: YUM) China Sales Fall Less Than Expected, Shares Rise (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to Invest $100 Mln In Lenovo Unit Fancy Maker – Source (English article)
Bottom line: Disney’s decision to delay the opening of its Shanghai theme park looks wise, and should help it to avoid some of the negative publicity that usually occurs with the launch of such major projects.
Disney delays Shanghai park opening
In what should come as a big surprise to no one, media are reporting that Disney (NYSE: DIS) is delaying the planned opening for its massive Shanghai theme park by up to half a year due to a number of issues. On the surface at least, this particular news isn’t completely unexpected but certainly doesn’t sound encouraging. But I would take a different view and say the decision actually looks encouraging, as it shows that Disney is willing to suffer from some negative short-term publicity now to make sure that the opening is a good one when it finally comes. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s overall Internet growth will continue to slow as the market starts to become saturated, with messaging and other mobile services continuing to steal share from microblogging and video operators.
Microblogging decline bites Weibo
A newly released annual government report on China’s Internet is full of good news for the online business community, with most sectors posting double-digit growth as overall penetration neared the 50 percent mark. But a few sectors stood out as distinctive losers in the report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), led by the microblogging space that saw a sharp decline in users.
That’s not too surprising due to departures or pull-backs in the space last year by big names like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700), though it certainly doesn’t bode too well for sector giant Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB). Another relative loser was online video, which posted only tiny growth last year as the sector came under regulatory assault aimed at reining in companies like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. Read Full Post…
Two big news stories were at the center of heated discussion in of the microblogging realm this past week, led by Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) high profile dispute with one of China’s main business regulators over accusations of being soft on piracy. At the same time, Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) roll-out of advertisements on its WeChat mobile messsaging platform also drew lots of comments, as users were suddenly greeted with unsolicited messages in the popular Moments feature that functions much like Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) newsfeeds.
Of course no weekly microblogging round-up would be complete without a mention of the media savvy Xiaomi, which was once again creating buzz after an embarrassing gaffe by global marketing chief Hugo Barra. That gaffe saw Barra use a politically incorrect version of a map of India in one of his presentations, showing India as the correct owner of parts of a disputed area of its long border with China. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: SAIC’s foray with GM into Indonesia could stand a moderate chance of success, while BYD’s new auto financing joint venture is unlikely to provide a major boost for its stalling EV campaign.
BYD gets approved for auto finance JV
Two of China’s more innovative automakers are in the headlines today, making interesting moves as each looks to maintain growth as the domestic car market sputters. One move will see domestic leader SAIC (Shanghai: 600104) make a new attempt to move outside China with plans to open an Indonesian factory with US joint venture partner General Motors (NYSE: GM). The second move has the sputtering BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) getting government approval to launch a vehicle finance joint venture, which could potentially help to jump-start its stalling electric vehicle (EV) program. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba’s Ant Financial unit is likely to get a strong valuation with a planned new private placement, and will embark on a series of high-profile moves before making a multibilllion-dollar IPO next year.
Ant Financial eyes 2016 IPO
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) high-profile spat with Beijing is finally starting to subside, paving the way for the company’s affiliated financial unit, Ant Financial, to move into the headlines with word of plans for a major new fund-raising. But anyone holding Alibaba stock shouldn’t get too excited about Ant, which is separate from the listed company and whose rapid rise will only benefit Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
At the same time, other media reports are saying that Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) has formally cleansed its popular WeChat mobile messaging platform of a holiday red-envelope feature from Alipay, Ant Financial’s most valuable asset. That development isn’t a surprise, but it does spotlight one of several major challenges that Ant will face as it tries to carve out a profitable place for itself in China’s fast-evolving financial services sector. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The broadcasting regulator needs to rethink the way it treats online video companies and create a uniform set of standards that apply to both to them and traditional TV stations.
Tencent ties up with NBA
Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) made headlines last week with an exclusive deal to broadcast live NBA games over the Internet in China, literally scoring a major victory over its rivals in the hotly contested online video space. But having won that victory over its Internet peers, it’s probably only a matter of time before China’s traditional TV broadcasters call foul and complain that Tencent’s deal will compete with their own live broadcasts of hugely popular NBA basketball games. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Ant Financial Unit Weighs Private Placement, Valued At $50 Bln (English article)
WeChat Freezes Out Alipay, Sets Stage For Lunar New Year’s Red Envelope War (Chinese article)
Everbright Securities Agrees to Buy Hong Kong’s SHK & Co Brokerage Unit (English article)
GM (NYSE: GM) Confirms Indonesia Factory Plan With China’s SAIC Motor (English article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Gets Government Approval For Auto Finance JV (HKEx announcement)
Bottom line: A new conciliatory tone will help to diffuse a spat between Alibaba and a regulator that accused it of being soft on piracy, but the issue will weigh on the company for the rest of this year.
Tensions subside in Alibaba-SAIC spat
After reaching a fever pitch last week, rhetoric in the high-profile spat over piracy between e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and one of the nation’s main business regulators appears to be softening as the 2 sides move towards a compromise. The latest headlines say Alibaba and the State Administration For Industry And Commerce (SAIC) have joined hands to fight piracy, marking a sharp toning down of the angry rhetoric that was flying for much of last week. At the same time, Alibaba is now facing the usual flood of shareholder lawsuits, as law firms accuse the company of misleading investors by failing to disclose the magnitude of the piracy problem before its record-setting IPO last year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: 55Tuan’s increased IPO target and a major new funding round for online financial site Juzi Licai show investor interest remains high in Chinese Internet firms, though it could taper off in the second half of the year.
Juzi Licai wins $100 mln in funding
You know the market is still hot for China Internet companies when when money losers can boost the size of their IPOs, and start-ups can raise $100 million or more. That’s exactly what’s happening, with word that loss-making 55Tuan has boosted its IPO fund-raising target by more than 50 percent, as it seeks to become China’s first listed group buying site. At the same time, other media reports say Juzi Licai, an online financial site, has just raised a nifty $100 million in its second round of funding just 6 months after the launch of its core product. Read Full Post…
