Some new figures are showing just how dramatically China’s group buying sector has contracted over the past year, with word that another major player Wanzhong has folded due to lack of funds. Wangzhong’s closure comes as the number of group buying casualties finally starts to slow, simply because so many have now left the space. I do expect we’ll see at least one or two more major closures or mergers this year, and previously predicted that former high-flyer LaShou could be one of those. But that said, the year could also see 2 or 3 major players finally emerge that have the potential to make IPOs and post strong long-term growth, similar to what we’ve seen recently from global sector leader Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN). Read Full Post…
A slew of year-end news about China’s auto industry is shining a spotlight on the tough times that domestic car makers are facing not only at home but also abroad as they grapple with tough competition and other market factors. Domestic nameplates like Geely (HKEx: 175), Chery and BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) have steadily lost share in their home market over the last few years to big foreign names like GM (NYSE: GM) and Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG), but posted strong export gains as they looked to overseas markets to partly offset the declines at home. But now even the export picture is looking bleak, with the latest word that no Chinese car makers will attend the industry-leading North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. (English article) Read Full Post…
After logging another strong year in 2013, outbound acquisitions by Chinese firms are getting off to another strong start in the New Year with 3 major new deals in the headlines last week. These latest deals reflect a broad range of targets, both in terms of industries and company health, in a welcome relief from an old pattern that saw Chinese companies often chase sickly, troubled western firms. Read Full Post…
App stores have suddenly become a hot ticket in China’s online space, with word that 4-year-old operator Wandoujia has just landed $120 million in funding from a group led by Japanese tech investor giant Softbank. The deal comes just a half year after online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) acquired another app store, 91Wireless, for more than $1 billion, leading me to wonder if Wandoujia could soon become a target for one of China’s cash-rich and recently very acquisitive top Internet companies. Such a purchase would certainly make sense for names like e-commerce leader Alibaba and social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), which, along with Baidu, are all spending heavily to build up their mobile Internet business. Read Full Post…
The latest signals coming from former electronics retailing high-flyer Gome (HKEx: 493) are a bit confusing, reflecting the fast change of pace in China’s retail environment. I also get a slight sense of desperation in the latest news that Gome will close 50 stores in top-tier cities this year, as it explores an odd-looking partnership with Wumart (HKEx: 1025), a mid-sized supermarket chain. It has now been nearly 5 years since Bain Capital purchased a 10 percent stake of Gome, and I suspect the US equity giant is getting restless with the investment and looking for reasons to sell it. Read Full Post…
A recent story about a group of stubborn street vendors in the Zhabei and Baoshan districts got me thinking about the broader problem of sidewalk clutter in China, a seemingly mundane topic but one that Shanghai really needs to address as it tries to transform into a modern, cutting-edge city. Vendors of this type are all too familiar not only in Shanghai but throughout China, and are colorful and sometimes convenient but more often just an annoying presence on the sidewalks they inhabit. Read Full Post…
Anyone who thinks the trendy Xiaomi is just trying to copy the playbook of global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may have to reassess that comparison, following the latest reports that the fast-rising Chinese smartphone maker is preparing to enter the ultra low-end segment of the market. Word that Xiaomi will launch a smartphone costing just 300 yuan, or $50, looks a bit suspicious to me, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smartphone costing so little. Such a move would also contrast sharply with Apple, which has made a very conscious decision to stay in the premium end of the market. Read Full Post…
I have to admit I was quite disappointed to read that China’s regulator has set an extremely modest target for a new group of virtual network operators (VNOs) that will finally break the telecoms services monopoly held by China’s big 3 state-run telcos. I wasn’t expecting huge things from this new group of operators, who will lease network capacity from the trio of existing telcos and then sell telecoms services under their own brands. But the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s goal of just 50 million VNO mobile service subscribers by the end of next year looks ridiculously low to me and hints of worries that this new pilot program could be plagued with problems. (English article) Read Full Post…
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi is known for its savvy marketing tactics, but the company has been on the defensive in the blogosphere this past week after a rare tactical blunder that saw it come under attack from disappointed fans. Meantime, the former CEO from the literature unit of online entertainment company Shanda was openly discussing his recent bout with depression on his microblog, following rampant speculation about the reasons for his abrupt departure from the company last month. Read Full Post…
Chinese media are buzzing with anticipation as dominant mobile carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) prepares to finally offer the latest iPhones for its network next week, after becoming the last of the country’s 3 telcos to sign a deal with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). The move will almost certainly provide a nice boost for China Mobile’s newly launched 4G service, and I expect we could see up to 2-3 million iPhones sold over the next 2 weeks in the run-up to the gift-giving Lunar New Year late this month. But the real beneficiary of the deal will be Apple itself, which could see its iPhone sales boom as China’s 2 other telcos offer their own attractive new iPhone promotions. Read Full Post…
New signals from Beijing hint at a problem I’ve talked about for the last 2 months as China embarks on a major solar energy program, namely that many new plants being built could become useless white elephants. Potential for such a problem is very real, and could end up not only costing enthusiastic builders of new power plants billions of dollars in wasted funds, but could also leave solar panel makers themselves with huge amounts of unpaid bills. Meantime, the latest signals from Suntech (NYSE: STPFQ) and LDK (NYSE: LDK) indicate these 2 former giants are nearing the end of their lives, as each looks set to disappear in an ongoing industry consolidation. Read Full Post…
