Alibaba’s colorful and sometimes controversial founder Jack Ma has been called many things in the past, but even he must be surprised and somewhat alarmed at the latest monicker of “vampire” given to him by an influential commentator at CCTV, China’s leading broadcaster. I don’t usually take sides in this kind of politically sensitive debate, though in this case I really do think that CCTV’s claim is largely unjustified. I suspect the attack, which Alibaba is correctly taking quite seriously, was prompted at least partly at the urging of big state-run lenders that are unhappy about the meteoric rise of Alibaba’s Yu’ebao service, which competes with traditional savings accounts. Read Full Post…
Spreadtrum, Mozilla offer super low-end smartphone chipset
I don’t usually write about new product announcements from chip makers, as such companies are continually rolling out new offerings in their attempts to drum up more business. But the case of a super-cheap new smartphone chipset from Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) is causing me to make an exception to my rule, since this new product looks so cheap that it could actually point to similar products from rival chipmakers and result in a new round of smartphone price wars. I’ll end the suspense right now by revealing the new chipset, which includes the free Firefox open-source mobile operating system (OS), carriers a price tag of just $25. (company announcement) Read Full Post…
I haven’t written about Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) in a while, mostly because the company hasn’t made any concrete moves into China lately despite previous assertions that it would like to enter the market. But the company’s newly announced plan to purchase the popular WhatsApp mobile messaging service for up to $19 billion looks like a good opportunity to revisit the topic, and what this deal might mean for Facebook in China. Facebook’s own site has been blocked in China since 2009, making it inaccessible to the vast majority of more than 600 million Chinese web surfers. But WhatsApp is widely available, even though it competes with the wildly popular rival WeChat service from local Internet giant Tencent. (HKEx: 700)
I don’t usually write about the same news twice in a single week, but in this case reports with new details on looming tie-ups involving 4 of China’s top e-commerce firms seem to justify an update. In the larger of the deals, the latest reports say top Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700) is nearing a deal that would see it buy 6-20 percent of JD.com, forging a partnership that would create a major new e-commerce contender to rival industry leader Alibaba. In the second update, 2 smaller e-commerce firms, Yihaodian and Dangdang (NYSE: DANG), have confirmed earlier reports that they will announce a major alliance early next month. Read Full Post…
A new report about a sudden exodus of middle- and top-level executives from China’s big 3 telcos is forcing me to rethink my earlier assertion about the relationship between those carriers and a group of new competitors called virtual network operators (VNOs). Earlier reports about the defection of a top executive from one of the big telcos to a new VNO had prompted me to declare the big 3 state-run carriers were trying to sabotage the new VNO scheme to quash any new competition. But now this new report reveals that similar defections at all levels of management are becoming widespread, indicating perhaps that market economics really are at work here. Read Full Post…
Two of China’s fastest rising tech stars are getting ready to take on the world, with word that security software specialist Qihoo 360 and trendy smartphone maker Xiaomi are both launching signature products outside their home market. Xiaomi’s formal move into Singapore marks the beginning of a broader global growth push, as the company looks to replicate its cool and trendy image and business model in both Asia and the west. Meantime, Qihoo is preparing to showcase its security software at one of the world’s top telecoms shows later this month, saying it wants to take the products global. Read Full Post…
Reports of major new funding for online travel site Tongcheng are casting a spotlight on a sudden rise in competition for the sector, which for years was dominated by industry leaders Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and eLong (Nasdaq: LONG). The trend looks a bit worrisome to me, hinting at a new looming round of price wars and potentially some consolidation. Ctrip could well become a leader of such consolidation if it occurs, since the company now has a huge cash pile of nearly $2 billion following its raising of $800 million through a highly popular convertible bond offer last fall. Read Full Post…
UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, Tencent has announced it will purchase 20 percent of Dianping for an undisclosed amount. (company announcement)
Talk involving major new investments in online clothier Vancl and restaurant ratings site Dianping was buzzing through the blogosphere this past week, reflecting the many new partnerships that are quickly forming amid intense competition plaguing the overheated Internet space.
Vancl has been racing to find profits before it runs out of cash, and recently received a lifeline in the form of $100 million in new funding from a group led by Lei Jun, the marketing-savvy co-founder of trendy smartphone maker Xiaomi. Lei Jun and Vancl CEO Chen Nian engaged in a round of online banter this week on their microblogs that could hint at some of the new directions and tactics that Vancl will take as it searches for the elusive business model that can move it into the black. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) To Buy 20 Percent Of Restaurant Ratings Site Dianping (HKEx announcement)
Dongfeng (HKEx: 489) To Pay 800 Mln Euros For 18 Pct Of Peugeot (Paris: PEUP) (English article)
MIIT: China’s 4G User Base To Reach 30-50 Mln In 2014 (English article)
Xiaomi Enters Singapore To Kick Off Global Expansion (Chinese article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) To Introducing Free Security Services To The World (PRNewswire)
Tie-up talk swirls around Tencent-JD.com, Dangdang-Yihaodian
It’s a new day on the Chinese Internet, which is as good an excuse as any to talk about rumors of the latest tie-ups in the overheated e-commerce space. One of the latest pieces of gossip has a partnership taking shape between JD.com and Tencent (HKEx: 700), China’s second and third largest e-commerce operators. The other has an alliance forming between Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and Yihaodian, 2 smaller players at the bottom of the list of the country’s top 10 e-commerce firms. I’ll offer my own guess that there’s a 50-50 chance the first rumor is true, while chances of Dangdang-Yihaodian tie-up look much smaller, perhaps around 20 percent. Read Full Post…
The latest reports of unrest among some unhappy investors who bought a product that failed to deliver on promised returns through top lender ICBC (HKEx: 1398; HKEx: 601398) bodes poorly for a recent boom in similar products, hinting at a looming crackdown that could send a chill over the entire industry. I previously predicted we could see such consumer backlash, as many of the products flooding into the market promised unrealistically high returns to lure in investors. Such products may also include disclaimers saying that returns could also be lower, or that investors may even lose money. But unsophisticated Chinese investors often ignore such small-print, which will inevitably lead to howls of complaint when they don’t receive the headline returns. Read Full Post…
