Note: Since originally writing this post, Sina and Alibaba have formally announced their tie-up. (company announcement) Under the deal, Alibaba has purchased 18 percent of Sina Weibo for $586 million, valuing Weibo at about $3.3 billion. The pair said they expect the alliance to generate $380 million in revenue for Weibo over the next 3 years. Sina shares jumped nearly 10 percent after the news came out.
Weibo, Alibaba in new tie-up
It looks like I may have been premature in declaring last month that talks for a tie-up between leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and e-commerce leader Alibaba were dead. According to the latest reports, the pair have resuscitated their negotiations that began late last year and later collapsed due to disagreement over a valuation for Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging platform. Now media are reporting the talks have quietly resumed in recent weeks, and a deal could be announced very soon. (English article; Chinese article) Read Full Post…
As spring finally arrives in Shanghai, I wanted to take a break from some of the heavier issues I usually explore to look at a cute new marketing campaign from Spring Airlines, the Shanghai-based budget carrier that everybody loves to hate. I should start by saying that I love the season called spring, but I’m personally no fan of Spring Airlines for reasons I’ll give shortly. But that said, I did find myself smiling when I read about the airline’s latest marketing campaign that reflects Shanghai’s increasingly creative spirit and sophistication. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 27-29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) To Buy Online Video Firm For $400 Mln-Paper (English article)
Websites Closed In Crackdown On Pirate Movie Networks (English article)
AgBank (HKEx: 1288) OKs Plan To Issue 90 Bln Yuan In Capital Instruments (HKEx announcement)
China Telecom (HKEx: 728) Sells E-Surfing Media Stake To Parent (HKEx announcement)
I have to extend my sympathies to education services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU), which seems unable to earn any respect from US investors these days. The company has just reported earnings that look quite respectable to me, after being exonerated last year by the US securities regulator over potentially problematic accounting. And yet despite all that good news, investors have greeted this latest earnings report largely with indifference, leading me to speculate that New Oriental could soon join a growing list of US-traded Chinese firms to privatize. Read Full Post…
Moral justice is the big victor in a courtroom drama between Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) and security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which has just ended with a guilty verdict against Qihoo for unfair competition. This new ruling comes just a month after another court ruled in Tencent’s favor in a similar but separate case where it was accused of unfair competition by Qihoo. What all of this shows is that China’s court system is becoming more sophisticated in settling business disputes, and can now make strong judgments to stop illegal behavior after it occurs. But the courts are still largely ineffective at discouraging such behavior in future cases, since Chinese law usually severely limits the size of damages for most transgressions. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) can’t seem to do anything right these days, even when it posts quarterly earnings results that look relatively respectable to me. I suspect that the same short-term traders who bid up Baidu’s stock to meteoric heights in the years after its 2005 IPO are now trying to make more money by short selling the company. That’s my best explanation for the 8 percent sell-off in Baidu stock in after-hours trade after it posted its latest quarterly earnings report. If the losses carry into the regular Friday session, Baidu could easily see its market capitalization drop below the $30 billion mark as its stock tests new lows not seen for more than 3 years. Read Full Post…
Chinese media are buzzing over the fact that tech giant Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) China sales slowed sharply in the first 3 months of 2013, raising the question of whether its days of strong growth in the market may be finished. Quite a few factors are at play in this case, including some short term issues like difficult comparisons from a year earlier. But other longer terms issues are also at play, most notably negative publicity which has tarnished the company’s “cool” image. Apple will need to address these latter issues in China over the next year, since continued image erosion could easily put the company on a long-term downward track.
When in doubt, regulate. That seems to be the growing attitude in Beijing these days towards China’s tech sector, following the latest media reports that one government agency is getting ready to tackle the problem of mobile spam, while another prepares rules for the newly emerging industry of apps that help people call taxis. I do agree that many problems like mobile spam need to be controlled, and that emerging sectors like taxi apps could always use some guidance to promote orderly development. But China’s growing tendency to try to regulate all things in the tech realm is a bit worrisome, and reflects a broader national love of rules, regulations and bureaucracy. (previous post) Read Full Post…
The latest stomach-churning results from fast food giant Yum (NYSE: YUM) are a good opportunity for an updated look at the impact that bird flu is having on companies that rely on the restaurant and travel industries in China. Somewhat ironically, these latest dismal results from the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants actually sparked a rally in Yum shares, since many were expecting the figures to be even worse than they were. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) Greater China Revenue Grows Just 8 Pct (Chinese article)
China to Mandate 7-Day Returns for E-Commerce Purchases (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Buys 15 Pct of USTC iFlytek (HKEx announcement)
New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) Announces Q1 Results, $50 Mln Buyback Plan (PRNewswire)
