In what looks like a major development in the ongoing feud between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) over the latter’s popular WeChat service, China’s telecoms regulator has said it will no longer play the role of mediator in the issue and instead will let the market resolve the matter. I have to commend the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology (MIIT) for its decision, as I’ve previously said a regulator’s job is to maintain order in the industry and not to get involved in commercial disputes. This interesting turn of events could also signal that China Mobile itself may be preparing to back down in this case, following widespread criticism that it’s trying to blame others like Tencent for its own lackluster performance. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei Lowers Long-Term Target For Enterprise Sales (English article)
Taiwan Investigates Taobao for Tax Evasion (English article)
MIIT: Market To Decide If Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat Charges Fees (Chinese article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Signs $165 Mln Loan With China Dev Bank (PRNewswire)
Columbia Pacific, China Partner To Develop Senior Living Projects (Businesswire)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) has become the latest player in China’s struggling solar sector to get a lifeline from Beijing, as an interesting picture starts to emerge of the relative health of the sector’s major players and who is likely to lead a coming consolidation. The list of who gets these lifelines could also reflect the relative importance Beijing places on China’s wide and varied field of solar panel and panel component makers, meaning some of these lifeline recipients could emerge as potential leaders to help consolidate the sector in the months ahead. Read Full Post…
I was a bit surprised by the just-released latest quarterly results from cellular crybaby China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which I expected to contain abundant evidence supporting its grievances in an ongoing battle with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). China Mobile complains that Tencent’s popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service is hogging up capacity on its network, and is pressuring Tencent to start charging fees for the service so that both companies can share that revenue. At the same time, China Mobile is also complaining that WeChat helps mobile subscribers circumvent traditional SMS services by routing messages over the Internet, robbing China Mobile of an important revenue source. Read Full Post…
A recent spat over the past week between a feisty short seller and real estate services firm SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) is providing some good entertainment for China stock watchers, though investors may be less entertained. The ongoing tussle has seen the self admitted short seller, a company called Glaucus Research, issue 3 reports over the period, with SouFun replying in each instance that it’s done nothing wrong. All of this shows that US-listed Chinese companies remain attractive targets for short sellers some 2 years after a series of attacks that sent many companies’ shares tumbling and kicked off a prolonged winter for the entire sector. Read Full Post…
Shanghai media have been buzzing these past few weeks about the dangers posed by advertising screens in the back seats of most city taxis, after a woman was critically injured when her head slammed into one such screen during a traffic accident. Local readers will instantly recognize the screens I’m talking about, as they’ve become an unpleasant fixture in 60 percent of Shanghai cabs, bombarding backseat passengers with nonstop advertisements from the moment they step in the taxi. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sexy pictures of concept cars are filling the headlines this week as China’s biggest annual auto show revs up in Shanghai, but the bigger story at this year’s event is a sudden and dramatic slowdown in the nation’s luxury auto market. The newspapers have been brimming these last 2 days with reports from the show that opened on Sunday, including copious pictures of all the new car models that will soon hit the roads of the world’s largest car market. But interviews with executives from the big luxury brands were nearly identical in their conservative tone, with most executives saying they would be satisfied to see growth this year of just 10-15 percent. Read Full Post…
The coming months will be a pivotal time for Beijing to show its commitment to free trade, as China’s three telcoms operators get set to award billions of dollars in new contracts to build 4G mobile networks. The building spree will mark the first batch of big new contracts since both the US and Europe took moves last year that could severely limit or ban the import of Chinese networking equipment for reasons of national security and unfair competition. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 20-22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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GM (NYSE: GM) Renews Cadillac Campaign In China (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Launches 20 Bln Yuan Tender For TD-LTE (Chinese article)
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has remained faithful to Chinese car maker BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594), refusing to change his 10 percent holdings in the company despite a rapid tumble as its bet on electric vehicles (EVs) fails to take off. But soon the man known as the Oracle of Omaha may have no choice but to reduce his stake, since BYD has just announced a plan to issue more shares to raise desperately needed cash. Of course Buffett may choose to buy some of those new shares to maintain his stake at 10 percent; but I suspect his patience is probably running out with this company, with the result that his stake in BYD will get diluted with this planned share issue. Read Full Post…
