After years of lurking around the periphery of China and visits by its top executives to the country, social networking (SNS) giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is preparing to dip its toe into the massive market with plans to open a sales office in Beijing. That move raises the bigger question of whether the world’s biggest SNS company is planning to open a China-based service anytime soon, which has always been part of its long-term strategy. The answer is that Facebook will almost certainly use the new Beijing office to work towards a formal China site, though such an effort could take at least a year to yield results. Read Full Post…
Leading budget hotel operator Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN) has just released its latest results that show continuing weakness at the China lodge, as operators take a double hit from the nation’s slowing economy and a building boom that has led to overcapacity. Home Inns’ latest results continue a trend from last month, when China Lodging (Nasdaq: HTHT), operator of the Hanting chain of budget hotels, announced similar preliminary results that point to a period of pressure on the sector that is likely to last for the rest of this year and quite possibly linger into the first half of 2015. Read Full Post…
Wireless carrier China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) was in the headlines last week with its launch of a financial product similar to savings accounts, becoming the latest in a long string of companies to enter an area dominated for decades by state-run banks. At the same time, separate reports said the central bank was nearing a plan to introduce its first major regulation of these new products, in another widely expected move. Read Full Post…
The recent wave of labor unrest at big multinational factories has taken a step into China’s heartland, with word that hundreds of workers at a Shanghai plant operated by toilet giant Toto (Tokyo: 5332) went on strike last week. But the unrest was reportedly short lived, with the strike lasting just 3 days before the workers agreed to go return to their jobs. The strike and its rapid resolution reflects growing boldness among workers to demand better working conditions, which looks worrisome not only to employers but also to Chinese officials obsessed with maintaining public order. Read Full Post…
Just when it looked like the New York market for Chinese IPOs was running out of steam, we’re seeing new positive signs with the modestly successful trading debut of online travel site Tuniu (Nasdaq: TOUR) and the setting of a relatively upbeat price range for JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce firm. Both signals continue a current trend of softening sentiment in the market, as investors tire of giving billions of dollars in new money to Chinese Internet firms. But they also show there may still be some life left in the market, leading me to return to a prediction I made early this year that the current IPO window could last through the end of June. Read Full Post…
You know that things are bad when leading online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) doesn’t issue a press release trumpeting its recent receipt of simultaneous broadcast rights for the highly hyped return of the US television series “24”. That’s my conclusion after having to read about this relatively big win for Youku in the news headlines rather than a company press release. In fact, Youku Tudou may deliberately want to downplay this latest triumph to avoid attracting Beijing censors who have recently started banning some popular US television series from online video sites. Read Full Post…
We’ll end the week with a couple of smartphone news bits, including reports that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is in talks to start a China-based recycling program and new data that show TCL’s (HKEx: 2618; Shenzhen: 000100) smartphone sales nearly tripled in the first 4 months of the year. Of the 2 news bits, Apple’s is most interesting not only because of its big name, but also because it shows the company is finally taking steps to boost its image as a good corporate citizen in China. TCL’s story looks interesting because it’s one of the few Chinese handset makers that derives the bulk of its smartphone revenue from overseas, which looks like a safer strategy due to the current state of overheated competition in the domestic market. Read Full Post…
Chinese tech firms making IPOs in New York are calling on some wealthy friends to help them succeed as mainstream investors rapidly lose interest in the group. That’s my conclusion following the modestly successful pricing and debut for security software maker Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM), which comes as a small positive sign for the market. Cheetah relied on some big-name friends to help its listing succeed, including controlling shareholder Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888), as well as smartphone sensation Xiaomi and leading Chinese search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
Three industry leaders have just announced their latest quarterly results, and the numbers look downbeat for online travel giant Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Internet real estate services firm Soufun (NYSE: SFUN). Meantime, some limited results from solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) look more positive, showing that both sales and prices are picking up more quickly than expected amid a spotty sector recovery from a 2 year downturn. Read Full Post…
A couple of restaurant deals are in the news this week, reflecting the big potential of China’s dining-out market as consumer tastes broaden beyond fast-food. One deal has an investment arm of luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton buying a Singaporean restaurant chain with a big China presence, while the other has leading restaurant ratings site Dianping buying an online take-out dining platform. But China’s growing taste for wine could be starting to slow, with word of another major deal involving the struggling Dynasty Fine Wines (HKEx: 828), one of the country’s leading domestic producers. Read Full Post…
It’s been a quiet week in the microblogging realm, due to the 3 day May Day holiday that saw much of China closed down for the latter part of the week to enjoy the arrival of spring. The vacation didn’t see any slowdown in the ongoing smartphone price wars in China, which are forcing local players to look overseas to escape the overheated domestic market. Mid-sized player Vivo became the latest player to look outside China, starting down a path that looks similar to that being blazed by smartphone sensation Xiaomi.
Meantime, top executives from car website Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) and software security maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) were having a bit more fun on their holidays. The vacation saw Autohome founder Li Xiang, and Qihoo’s controversial CEO Zhou Hongyi both take a break from their usual business thoughts to make some entertaining posts on their microblogs, showing how they like to spend their non-working time. Read Full Post…
