A pair of articles in today’s English-language China Daily nicely illustrates the recent woes being felt at a number of major foreign multinationals in China, as they face an unusual wave of government hostility that may be partly due to their strong market position. German carmaker Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) is the central player in the pair of articles, as it tries to recover from a recent wave of negative publicity for its Audi brand. The saga follows years of stellar growth that has made Audi cars a must-have product for Chinese government officials and many of the nation’s newly wealthy individuals. Read Full Post…
A new management shakeup in the top ranks of eLong (Nasdaq: LONG) didn’t excite investors too much, but hints that something is happening behind the scenes at this online travel laggard controlled by US giant Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE). The shakeup has seen eLong’s CFO and COO both resign, though the company’s CEO is staying in his current position, at least for now. Rumors circulated earlier this year that a buyout could be coming for eLong from sector leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP), though such a deal never came. Read Full Post…
A trio of headlines are shining a spotlight on a new twist in the brutally competitive smartphone market, where national security is suddenly becoming a major new headache for manufacturers. In one headline, Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi is being investigated in Taiwan for national security risks related to the storage of local user data on some offshore mainland Chinese-based computers. In a similar news bit, Beijing is reportedly considering forbidding government workers from using foreign-made smartphones.
And in yet another related story, global smartphone giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is reportedly finally on the cusp of winning approval to sell its new iPhone 6 in China, following an embarrassing delay that may be related to the cybersecurity issue. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 27-29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) Invests Up To $1.5 Bln In China Mobile Chip Venture (English article)
Hershey (NYSE: HSY) Completes Initial Purchase Of Shanghai Golden Monkey (Businesswire)
Two news stories in the telecoms space reflect the obstructionist role that the country’s big 3 telcos often play when it comes to boosting competition in their tightly regulated sector. The first story involves moves by the regulator to revive its sputtering program to juice up the sector with competitive products offered by dozens of recently licensed virtual network operators (VNOs). The second story involves the glacially slow progress in “number portability” — a years-old initiative that would encourage more competition by allowing consumers to keep their old mobile phone numbers when changing carriers. Read Full Post…
Major news items involving shenanigans at 2 of China’s top financial media are shining a spotlight on a phenomenon that doesn’t get much coverage in the west, but which is quite common in China and can often wreak havoc on companies’ stock prices. In one case, police have detained 2 top editors at the 21st Century Business Herald, one of China’s most respected financial newspapers, following an extortion scandal at the company’s website. In the other, leading instant noodle maker Master Kong, owned by Hong Kong-listed Tingyi (HKEx: 322), says it is preparing to sue the similarly prestigious China Business News for false reports that damaged its business. Read Full Post…
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), the sputtering “Wintel” pair that once dominated the high-tech industry, are both in the China headlines today, as each tries to reverse its downward slide in the important market. In the first case, Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella is visiting China in his first overseas trip since assuming his current title, and is quickly finding himself quite busy putting out fires on a number of fronts. In the latter case, Intel is paying a hefty premium for a Chinese cellphone chipmaker as it attempts to find a place in a critical sector that is rapidly overtaking its core business making chips for traditional PCs. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Expands Number Portability Pilot To 5 Provinces (Chinese article)
China Detains 2 Executives At Embattled Business Newspaper (English article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) To Invest In Merged BesTV+Oriental Pearl Media Firm (English article)
Master Kong (HKEx: 322) Prepares To Sue China Business News Over False Story (Chinese article)
PetroChina (HKEx: 859) Exec Exposed For Buying Luxury Goods With Company Fund (Chinese article)
Product development centers aren’t extremely expensive as investments, but they carry a much higher level of prestige for developing countries due to their status as cutting-edge centers for innovation. Against that backdrop, major new R&D moves by global corporate giants Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Visa (NYSE: V) certainly don’t look too good for China. In the former case, software giant Adobe has announced it will shutter its China R&D facility, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs. In the latter, financial services giant Visa has also snubbed China by announcing a major new global technology development strategy that includes a new center in neighboring India but not in China. Read Full Post…
Two news bits involving employee movements are casting a spotlight on major stories that have rippled through the Chinese corporate headlines over these last few months. The first has employees of leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) moving into the Chinese corporate headquarters of faded cellphone giant Motorola, indicating the former is confident of closing its landmark purchase of the latter. The second has US-owned meat processor Husi laying off most of the workers at its Shanghai plant, which is reeling from a massive downturn after investigative TV reporters uncovered food safety violations at the facility. Read Full Post…
Two major news events were at the center of the microblogging realm this past week, as tech executives from across the spectrum commented on the blockbuster IPO for Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and the debut of latest iPhone from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Executives were generally full of praise for the Alibaba IPO, which shattered numerous records when the stock began trading last Friday in New York. But there were also some hints of jealousy, as top executives from fast-fading e-commerce rival Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) suffered from valuation envy.
Meantime, domestic smartphone makers Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) took advantage of the iPhone’s formal launch last Friday to tout their own products, which are far cheaper and enjoy a reputation for reasonable quality. But unlike the iPhone, Huawei and ZTE still suffer from the “Made in China” stigma, and don’t command anything near the level of respect and buzz that the iPhone gets. Read Full Post…
