After years of nonstop talk about making Lenovo (HKEx: 992) the world’s largest PC brand, CEO Yang Yuanqing is readjusting his sights these days onto competing with global smartphone and tablet PC leaders Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (Seoul: 005930). On the one hand, I have to congratulate Yang for finally focusing on the right targets in his quest to build Lenovo into a true global computing leader. But on the other hand, I have serious doubts about whether Yang can challenge either Apple or Samsung, despite his success in overtaking Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) briefly last year to become the world’s largest PC brand. Read Full Post…
A new media report says global banking giant HSBC (HKEx: 5; London: HSBA) is likely to sell-off more of its Chinese assets, continuing an ongoing divorce by top global lenders tired of slow progress in the complex China market. This latest report doesn’t have any specific insider knowledge of a looming sale, but rather quotes analysts saying such a move is likely. (English article) Still, such disposals seem both likely and logical, following HSBC’s sale last year of its 15.6 percent holdings in Ping An Insurance (HKEx: 2318; Shanghai: 601318) after years of inability to get any strategic returns out of the tie-up. Read Full Post…
A new “scandal” involving a popular brand of bottled water is casting an embarrassing spotlight on China’s tendency to over-regulate many consumer goods and services, creating confusion among the very people such oversight was meant to protect. China should see this case as a wake-up call and take steps to unify and streamline its complex and sometimes contradictory regulatory system. Otherwise it risks a continuing stream of similar “scandals” that will bruise the country’s reputation as a good place to do business, and needlessly worry consumers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 16. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
‘Django Unchained’ Abruptly Pulled From China Theaters (English article)
Wanda Establishes E-Commerce Subsidiary in Beijing (English article)
Bertelsmann (Frankfurt: BTGGg) Joins With Kaixin Targeting Mothers, Children (Chinese article)
Shanda Games’ (Nasdaq: GAME) Actoz to Issue Shares For Mobile Expansion (PRNewswire)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Transforming To Compete With Apple, Samsung – CEO (Chinese article)
New statements from 2 of China’s top 4 banks indicate a recent share buyback by their state-owned controlling stakeholder is done, raising the question of just how effective the program was and whether we might see more similar buybacks soon. Based on my own quick analysis, the program does seem have had some limited positive effect, with Shanghai-listed shares of both ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) and Agricultural Bank of China (HKEx: 1288; Shanghai: 601288) outperforming the market over the last 6 months during the program period. Read Full Post…
A new media report is underscoring the importance of games for the future of China’s mobile app developers, who are desperately looking for ways to monetize the big sums of money they spend developing such applications. Social networking sites Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Renren (NYSE: RENN) are all good examples of companies that have quickly built up communities of tens and even hundreds of millions of users by developing popular desktop and mobile apps. But earning money from those huge communities has proven much more difficult, as all of these companies are quickly discovering. In that environment, games have emerged as one of the few things that users of these popular apps are actually willing to pay for. Read Full Post…
The recent turmoil at struggling PC maker Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) is spilling over into its operations in China, where the company’s president has just resigned even as a top Asia executive discusses a new strategic direction for the market. All of this comes against a broader backdrop that saw global PC sales post their worst drop in history during the first quarter, as more consumers switched off their computers in favor of smaller and more convenient tablet computers and smartphones. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════x
Yum (NYSE: YUM) Says Bird Flu Hits China April Sales; March Down (English article)
Commerce Dept Finds Chinese Solar Importers Evading Duties (Businesswire)
Games Contribute 88 Pct of China Mobile (HKEx: 941) App Store Revenues (English article)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Announces Completion of Buy-Back By Central Huijin (HKEx announcement)
Dell (NYSE: DELL) Greater China President Yang Chao Resigns (Chinese article)
New signals from embattled telecoms equipment giant Huawei indicate the company may be seeking a new “middle road”, as it tries to ease western concerns that its products could be used for spying by Beijing. This subtle but perhaps significant shift is coming in the form of a press release just issued by Huawei, in which it says Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard encouraged the Chinese company to expand its commercial business in Australia during a trip to China this week. Read Full Post…
The rapid rise of location-based services (LBS) on the Internet is spawning a new generation of start-up companies, with taxi finders one of the latest to join the trend. Such apps use GPS technology to create services that rely on a person’s location, such as helping that person to find nearby restaurants or shops. Just this week a friend was telling me about one such new LBS to help frustrated consumers find taxis, and now we’re reading about 2 other companies that are moving onto the investor radar with their own new tie-ups. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) Still Struggling In China Amid Bird Flu Fears (English article)
