Bottom line: LeTV will announce the launch of a new smart TV and video services in the US during the Consumer Electronics Show in last Vegas next month, but the foray will end in failure due to inexperience and fierce competition.
LeTV goes to CES
China’s LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) looks set to launch its trademark smart TVs and affiliated video service in the US, a move that would make it the first Chinese player to enter a major western market. In this case LeTV is making lots of noises that point to such a move, though it hasn’t officially announced anything just yet.
The company is preparing to attend the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month for the first time, providing the perfect venue for such an announcement. The other major signals for such a launch come from LeTV’s own recently launched US online mall, lemall.com/us, whose product offerings include a $799 smart TV that is currently not available but “coming soon”. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba is placing its take-out dining service bets on Ele.me with its new $1.25 billion investment, and will spend other major resources next year to try to clean up its sites of trafficking in fake goods.
Alibaba invests in Ele.me
E-commerce juggernaut Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is back in the M&A market, gobbling up a headline-grabbing 28 percent of leading online-to-offline (O2O) take-out dining service Ele.me for a tidy $1.25 billion. Alibaba has yet to confirm the deal, which would become the latest in a growing string of investments worth $1 billion or more for the company. A deal of this size would have been major news just 3 years ago before a wave of M&A began sweeping China’s Internet, though now such transactions have become far more common.
Meantime, Alibaba is in another set of headlines in its battle against piracy, with word that it’s adding 200 people to the team charged with ridding its huge online marketplaces of trafficking in pirated goods. This particular move comes less than 2 weeks after Alibaba managed to avoid seeing its name reappear in an annual US list of the world’s most notorious marketplaces for trafficking in pirated goods. Having dodged that bullet, Alibaba is now showing it plans to get far more serious in tackling the problem next year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Says Adding 200 Workers to Assist in Anti-Piracy Efforts (Chinese article)
Wanda Sports Sets Up Global HQ in Guangzhou, Doesn’t Rule Out Future IPO (Chinese article)
Deutsche Bank to Sell Huaxia (Shanghai: 600015) Stake for up to $4 Bln (English article)
China to Require Internet TVs Use Homegrown Smart TV OS (English article)
Galaxy Internet Becomes First China-Listed Venture Investor Via Backdoor Listing (Chinese article)
Bottom line: A corruption probe against the head of Unicom could be the latest signal that Beijing plans to merge the company with China Telecom in the next 2 years to create a serious rival to China Mobile.
Corruption probe nets Unicom chief
China’s 2-year-old corruption crackdown has finally made the inevitable move into the nation’s telecoms sector, with word that the newly named head of Chinia Unicom(HKEx: 763; NYSE: CHU) is being probed for corruption. But while many are speculating that Chang Xiaobing is just the latest victim in the anti-corruption campaign, the timing of his downfall could also be the newest signal of a coming overhaul for China’s big state-run 3 telcos.
Industry watchers will recall that Chang assumed his position at the head of Unicom just 4 months ago, in a slightly bizarre but also somewhat typical case that saw him swap positions with the then-head of Unicom who is now the chief of rival China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA). (previous post) That led to buzz that the telecoms regulator might be preparing the consolidate Unicom and China Telecom into a single company, a move that would have reduced the current field of 3 major telcos to just 2. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New acquisitions by China Lodging and Tongcheng reflect consolidation in China’s travel industry, which is likely to accelerate in 2016 as the nation’s economy slows.
China Lodging goes upmarket with new buy
Two smaller acquisitions from the travel realm are in the headlines as we close out 2015, with China Lodging (Nasdaq: HTHT) and Tongcheng both buying domestic companies. The first deal will see China Lodging, operator of the HanTing budget hotel chain, purchase a smaller operator called Hotel Home. The other comes in the related travel services space, and has Tongcheng buying a smaller rival called Shanghai MCTS.
Neither of these deals looks extremely exciting as both are quite small, but both do reflect a recent wave of consolidation that is sweeping China’s fragmented travel industry. Industry veteran Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) is emerging as the clear leader and top consolidator in the travel services space. The hotel space is a bit less clear, with China Lodging, Homeinns (Nasdaq: HMIN) and Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006; Shanghai: 600574) all jockeying for position in that space. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 26-28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Invests $1.25 Bln in Ele.me, Becomes Largest Stakeholder (Chinese article)
It’s official: the fast-rising Huawei has formally passed the 100 million mark for smartphone sales this year, cementing its place as the world’s undisputed third largest player behind only Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (Seoul: 005930). In a relatively unusual move for this low-profile company, Huawei is also trumpeting the milestone in a formal press release and forecasting more strong growth for next year.
Huawei has been China’s biggest success story to date in the young smartphone space, gaining rapid momentum over a crowded field of domestic rivals that includes Lenovo (HKEx: 992), ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and smaller names like Alibaba-backed Meizu. But the company should also carefully watch the case of the stumbling Xiaomi, which was being called a homegrown Chinese version of Apple before it began its recent rapid fall from grace. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Apple should put out a short statement to answer online chatter that its new China headquarters looks like an older software park in Shandong, while Alibaba’s latest high-profile hire is its own move to tackle piracy on its sites.
Alibaba prioritizes piracy in 2016
A trio of piracy-related stories are in the headlines as we head into year-end, reflecting the recent focus that Beijing has put on an issue that is likely to get big attention in 2016. Leading the news are online observations by some web surfers that Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) new China headquarters building bears a striking resemblance to a much older software park in northeastern Shandong province.
Next there’s the announcement of a major new anti-piracy hire by e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), which dodged a bullet last week by keeping its name off an annual US list naming the world’s most notorious markets for pirated goods. Alibaba’s new announcement has seen it name a former top Apple investigator to lead a renewed campaign to rid its online marketplaces of trafficking in pirated goods. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China to Cut On-Grid Tariffs for Solar, Wind Power: State Planner (English article)
JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Finance Unit Solicits 5 Bln Yuan in Series A Funding – Reports (English article)
China Lodging (Nasdaq: HTHT) Buys 85 Pct of Rival Operator Hotel Home (Chinese article)
MIIT Says Has Achieved Telecoms Services Price Reduction Targets for 2015 (Chinese article)
Bottom line: The new alliance between Tencent and Zhejiang TV reflects the growing strength of China’s big Internet companies in online video, and will benefit but also challenge both sides.
By Lin Nanwei
Tencent, Zhejiang TV in new partnership
Last week’s World Internet Conference in the scenic water town of Wuzhen attracted media attention due to attendance by most of the sector’s top leaders, even though few said anything substantial. But Tencent(HKEx: 700) Chairman and CEO Pony did a little homework before he came.
The day before the curtain came down on the big event, Ma appeared at another event in nearby Hangzhou to announce a strategic partnership between Tencent and Zhejiang Television & Radio Group, the province’s largest state-owned TV broadcaster. According to reports, the 2 sides will focus on cooperation in development of content, channels and promotional activities. (Chinese article) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s global Internet conference this week was mostly empty pageantry, but it did reveal that Baidu might like to privatize from New York one day, and attracted a handful of China-friendly global executives.
Wuzhen Internet pow-wow mostly empty talk
China’s big Internet pow-wow this week in the picturesque town of Wuzhen hasn’t produced much news despite its big aspirations, reflecting Beijing’s tight control over cyberspace and companies that do business there. But the globally-minded event did produce at least one interesting tidbit on the recent privatization wave by US-listed Chinese companies, and also an entertaining photo of 2 top executives that went viral online.
The news item came from Robin Li, founder of leading Chinese search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), who hinted that he hopes to someday join the recent wave of Chinese companies now privatizing from New York due to undervaluation. The photo that went viral captured a humorous moment involving a catnap during the conference by Zhou Hongyi, the controversial and more often outspoken CEO of security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU). Read Full Post…
