The number 94 seems to have special meaning for BYD (HKEx: 1211; 002594), the struggling car maker backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, which has just reported some preliminary data that show its profit last year fell 94 percent as it failed reverse its sharp decline of the last 2 years. But perhaps more alarming, this new data show the company’s operations fell into the loss column in the last 3 months of 2012, even though it technically remained profitable overall due to strong government support. That means that 2013 could continue to be a difficult year for the company, which could start reporting some net losses as it struggles to regain its footing in China’s competitive car market.
News Digest: February 28 报摘：2013年2月28日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941), UnionPay To Launch Mobile Wallet Product in March (Chinese article)
- Youku Tudou (Nasdaq: YOKU) Announces Q4 And Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- BYD (HKEx: 1211) Announces Preliminary 2012 Financial Results (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Search Targets 20 Pct Market Share In 2013 (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Launches Group Buy Business (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Spreadtrum’s Bad 3G Bet Hits Profits 展讯通信押注3G失利拖累业绩
Former high-flying cellphone chip maker Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) survived a high-profile short-seller attack last year, but it’s having a much harder time fighting weakening investor sentiment as its big bet on a homegrown Chinese technology looks increasingly like a dud. The bottom line in this saga is reflected in Spreadtrum’s stock, which fell 3.7 percent after it announced its latest quarterly results on Tuesday in New York. The drop continued a downward trend that has seen Spreadtrum’s shares lose about 30 percent of their value since last November when it began to grow apparent that its gamble on a Chinese technology called TD-SCDMA wasn’t developing as well as many had hoped.
China Mobile Expands Commercial 4G 中国移动增加4G试商用城市
Dominant wireless carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is turning up its campaign to pressure the telecoms regulator to issue 4G licenses soon, this time through aggressive comments from its chairman at the world’s biggest industry event taking place this week in Spain. Among all the latest talk, the item that most caught my attention was the disclosure that China Mobile is preparing to launch a “trial commercial” service this week in the major southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, expanding a program it began last month. (English article)
News Digest: February 27 报摘：2013年2月27日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Alibaba’s Jack Ma Says Aims To Shake Up Traditional Finance Business (Chinese article)
- Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Q4 and Fiscal Year 2012 Results (PRNewswire)
- China Smartphone Penetration Rate Passes, US, UK – Nielsen (Chinese article)
- TCL, Future Television, Tencent (HKEx: 700 Launch Smart TV QQ App (English article)
- Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) Announces Q4 And Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
ZTE Eyes Profits, Meituan Targets Growth 中兴关注利润 美团瞄准增长
Companies have been filling the airwaves with 2013 sales and revenue targets these last few weeks as the new year gets underway, with smartphone maker ZTE (HKEx: 763) and top group buying site Meituan becoming the latest to add their forecasts to the list. In ZTE’s case, the company seems to be taking a smart approach to its newer, fast-growing smartphone unit by shifting its focus to improving margins and making the business profitable sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Meituan’s announcement of extremely aggressive sales targets seem to reflect the company’s confidence that it will emerge stronger than ever from the painful consolidation now gripping China’s group buying sector.
Qihoo Polishes Image With Govt Deal 奇虎360与商务部合作 改进形象
Internet security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is in the headlines much more than most companies of its size, sometimes for positive news but equally often for its controversial business tactics that many might consider bordering on the unethical. Against that backdrop, it’s interesting to see that Qihoo has just announced a new government tie-up that looks like an effort to improve its image in the marketplace. That announcement has Qihoo saying it will provide enterprise Internet security solutions to the Commerce Ministry, a major government body. (company announcement)
Tencent WeChat Looks Globally 腾讯微信全球化
A social networking (SNS) application called WeChat has boomed on China’s Internet over the last two years, challenging Twitter-like industry leader Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo and even cellular titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) with its innovative and cleverly designed features. Now the popular instant messaging program for smartphones is showing early signs of stepping onto the world stage, with the potential to become China’s first true contribution to a vibrant global Internet culture. Such a development would mark a significant milestone for China, whose most successful high-tech firms have thrived so far by largely copying existing global technologies.
News Digest: February 26 报摘：2013年2月26日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- ZTE (HKEx: 763) To Increase Smartphone Revenues By 30 Pct In 2013 (Businesswire)
- Tencent (HKex: 700) Establishes US Office for WeChat (English article)
- CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Says Completed Nexen Acquisition On Feb 25 (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) To Provide Internet Security Products to Commerce Ministry (PRNewswire)
- Yum (NYSE: YUM) Cutting Some Supplier Ties After China Food Scare (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Shanda Ties With Alibaba 盛大牵手淘宝 合作失败可能性大
China’s unruly and highly competitive Internet space has created all kinds of interesting partnerships, with word of a new tie-up between e-commerce giant Alibaba and former online game leader Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) emerging as the latest. The driving force behind most of these tie-ups is a desire to drive more traffic to Internet sites as companies search for more customers. In this case, it appears the 2 companies are aiming to sell e-commerce goods to Shanda’s millions of online gamers from Alibaba’s hugely popular TMall online shopping mall. (Chinese article)
Best Buy + Gome: Good Bedfellows? 百思买会将收购国美视为明智选择吗？
It’s a relatively quiet news day, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about an intriguing rumor that would see struggling US electronics retailing giant Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) purchase its equally struggling Chinese counterpart Gome (HKEx: 493). There are quite a few reasons why there may be no truth to these rumors; but at the same time, there are also some indications that perhaps something is happening, which makes it worth taking a look at this potential tie-up.
