Bottom line: Sohu’s latest results hint at lingering weakness in online games and Internet advertising, while online video also continues to suffer amid a regulatory crackdown.
Sohu looks weak in games, advertising
The latest results from diversified web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) are quite a mixed bag, with its lackluster search business finally showing some promising signs of accelerating growth, even as its core advertising and online gaming businesses sputter. Then there’s its money-losing online video business, which is facing a growing number of hurdles due to a regulatory crackdown, just as the unit looks set to make a minor acquisition that probably won’t add very much to its future prospects. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Improved working environments are allowing Chinese tech firms to compete with multinationals for top talent, a template that state-run firms and other industries would be wise to follow.
Xiaomi attracts top exec from Spotify
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi made headlines last week when it lured away a top western executive from European online music streaming giant Spotify by offering him an attractive new job at its Beijing headquarters. The move marks the latest in a stream of high-profile defections by technology executives from comfortable jobs at major western firms to join up-and-coming Chinese names like Xiaomi and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).
The movement reflects a maturation for China’s fast-growing high-tech sector, whose rapid rise and improving working conditions are making companies more competitive with big western names traditionally preferred by many highly-skilled workers. But the trend is still limited mostly to China’s private high-tech sector, and is largely absent in state-run firms and other industries. Read Full Post…
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.
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Xiaomi Said To Seek Funding At Valuation Of About $50 Bln (English article)
Bottom line: Shares of China’s big 4 banks could see some upside in the next year, as they work with Beijing to keep their bad loans and slowing profit growth within government-set limits.
Qatar sells down AgBank stake
A major sell-down by one of Agricultural Bank of China’s (HKEx: 1288; Shanghai: 601288) largest foreign shareholders looks a bit ominous for the lender, coming just after all of the nation’s big 4 banks reported rapidly declining profit growth and swelling bad loans. That raises the bigger question of whether we could see a broader exodus from Chinese banking shares by investors in the months ahead, and whether the stocks are looking at a longer term downturn while they work out the billions of dollars in non-performing loans on their books. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s acceptance of applications for bank card clearing services from foreign firms marks a positive step for Visa and MasterCard, but it could still be years before such services become reality.
By Lu Jin
UnionPay set to lose longtime monopoly
Many people traveling to China may have experienced an embarrassing moment as they got stuck at the cashier in a local shop after having their foreign bank-issued credit card rejected. Anyone who has experienced such embarrassment knows that what happened next is they need to run around in desperate search for an ATM machine or simply forget about the purchase.
That situation is expected to change, or at least there is real hope now. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Hugo Barra’s remarks in defense of criticism that his employer Xiaomi copies Apple’s designs could mark the start of a longer-term war of words that could end in one or more lawsuits by Apple.
Barra defends Xiaomi’s copycat ways
A trans-Pacific war of words that began with critical remarks made by Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) chief designer 2 weeks ago is continuing, with the foreign face of Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi giving fresh remarks on the copycat controversy in his company’s defense. The comments from Xiaomi’s international marketing head Hugo Barra are a bit lame in my view, and I really doubt he would have made such remarks last year when he was still a rising star at global Internet giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 1-3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Qatar Sells Down AgBank (HKEx: 1288) Stake To 17 Pct Of H-Shares From 22.5 Pct (HKEx announcement)
SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) Signs Investment, JV Agreements With Topspur (PRNewswire)
Xiaomi Poaches Spotify’s Donovan Sung To Lead Int’l Product Development (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700), Konka (Shenzhen: 000016) Partner on TV Gaming (English article)
Danone Bolsters China Presence With $550 Mln Yashili (HKEx: 1230) Milk Deal (English article)
I’m not a big fan of “events” like the upcoming November 11 Singles’ Day, which are often created by companies in an attempt to boost sales. But in this case the latest reports on the upcoming date are providing a bit of controversy and entertainment, with word that e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is taking steps to protect trademark rights to a shopping event that it single-handedly created. In this case, media are reporting that Alibaba is saying that it owns the rights to the “Double Eleven” trademark, and is telling media to reject related advertisements from rivals like JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Read Full Post…
There’s a bit of buzz in the travel space today, with word of major new initiatives in the hotel and airline sectors for global hotelier Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) and domestic real estate titan Wanda Group. The former will see Hilton roll out the welcome mat for one of its main low-cost brands in China, taking aim at names like Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN) and China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT). The latter move has Wanda’s talkative founder Wang Jianlin discussing a potential new airline launch, as his company also makes a big push into the travel and leisure sector. Read Full Post…
There was never really much doubt that Chinese PC leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992) would ultimately close its purchase of Motorola Mobility, the former cellphone giant that has rapidly become irrelevant in a sector where change occurs at lightning speed these days. Lenovo has just announced that it closed the purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), some 9 months after first announcing the deal. Now the real work will begin for Lenovo as it tries to figure out what exactly to do with Motorola, including the small possibility that it could retire the company’s storied name. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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