When someone writes a future book about the history of telecoms in China, the period between 2008 and 2013 could easily be titled “The Lost Period For China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU),” a reference to the numerous squandered opportunities for China’s second largest wireless carrier during that time. Now we’re getting word that this “lost period” could extend into 2014 and perhaps beyond, with reports that Unicom has undergone yet another major management overhaul that has become a regular occurrence at the company over the last 5 years. Read Full Post…
Stodgy telecoms giants ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and Huawei were fighting a heated battle in the microblogging realm to be the “New Cool of School” last week, as each trumpeted niche smartphone brands aimed at copying the success of the ultra-trendy Xiaomi. But the original “King of Cool” had no time for the pair of challengers, and instead hinted at a major new global distribution deal as it chases its own role model, global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). The subtext of all this is that everyone making smartphones ultimately wants to imitate Apple, whose careful cultivation of a premium and trendy image over the years has helped it to stay on top in the fast-changing world of high-tech gadgets for far longer than most companies.
On this day before Christmas, e-commerce giant Jingdong is making new noises that indicate it may make another attempt at an IPO in the new year, with word that it finally became profitable in the first three quarters of 2013. Meantime, the small but longtime Nasdaq-listed Linktone (Nasdaq: LTON) has announced it plans to voluntarily de-list from the Nasdaq to save cash, continuing the steady stream of departures by many underappreciated US-listed Chinese firms. Unlike other firms to de-list in the current wave, Linktone’s move isn’t a true privatization and looks more like a pure effort to save cash, indicating the company may be struggling financially. Read Full Post…
I thought I’d close out the year with a look at 2 upcoming bans that could have a profound impact on life in Shanghai in 2014. News junkies will know I’m talking about a ban on live chicken sales in local markets that will begin next month at the Lunar New Year, and another proposed ban on eating in the city’s sprawling subway system.
Both bans look like good ideas to me, and I also like the way the city is implementing each. The live chicken ban is aimed at curbing and hopefully preventing another outbreak of bird flu in the upcoming flu season, and is quite strict. The subway eating ban, by comparison, is just a proposal at this point and still open for public discussion. Read Full Post…
Thank goodness! That’s my first and main reaction on reading that after years of negotiations, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) have finally announced their highly anticipated deal to sell the iPhone on the 3G and 4G networks of China’s dominant telco. Of course now the next big questions will be: How will China Mobile price the new iPhones, and how many units will it sell? Investors are clearly quite hopeful, with Apple’s shares rising 3.8 percent after the deal was finally announced. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Telecom (HKEx: 728) To Save 3.14 Bln Yuan After Cut In Fees (English article)
Shanghai has been in the news nonstop these last few months, first with the establishment of its new Free Trade Zone in September and again more recently when the city celebrated the 170th anniversary of the official opening of its port to the outside world. These 2 major events nicely encapsulate Shanghai’s unique identity as an open city that has become a living laboratory for the mixing of eastern and western ideas.
Shanghai’s achievements are all the more unusual because at many times there wasn’t any single pilot in control of an economic engine that was one of Asia’s most influential cities in the early 20th century. In many ways that’s part of Shanghai’s unique character and charm. It’s an open place that can be anything to anyone, and where people are largely free to pursue their own interests. Read Full Post…
I don’t write too much about cloud services in China, mostly because I think the market is too immature despite Beijing’s strong promotion of the industry. Still, the latest announcement by e-commerce giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) that it’s formally launching cloud computing services in China seems like a good opportunity to re-examine the cloud phenomenon, including how the industry is likely to develop and who is best positioned to emerge as sector leaders. Read Full Post…
US chocolate giant Hershey (NYSE: HSY) is in the headlines this wintry day in late December, with word that it’s dipping its toe deeper into China with a modest acquisition of a Shanghai candy maker. I’ll admit I don’t know much about Golden Monkey Food, even though this company being acquired by Hershey is based here in my adopted hometown of Shanghai. But a description of the company provided by Hershey, combined with my own perusal of Golden Monkey’s web page, makes this particular deal look like a good one for Hershey as it tries to take on hometown rivals Mars and Dove in China’s rich candy market. Read Full Post…
I thought I would end the week with 2 interesting auto stories, one spotlighting legal speed bumps in the market and the other highlighting big potential in the car rental industry. The first case has US electric car maker Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) officially driving into China despite its failure to resolve a trademark dispute, meaning it has no official Chinese name as it enters the market. The second case has leading online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) tying up with a car rental start-up, representing its latest move into a related area with strong growth potential. Read Full Post…
It seems appropriate that 2 more longtime-listed Chinese companies are bowing out of New York as we head into the final days of 2013, with word that shareholders have approved plans to privatize telecoms software maker AsiaInfo-Linkage (Nasdaq: ASIA) and drugmaker Simcere Pharmaceutical (NYSE: SCR). AsiaInfo was the more lively of these 2 de-listing stories, with a narrow majority of shareholders approving a buy-out offer after several months of protest from others who thought the price was too low. Meantime, Simcere’s looming privatization raises the question of what’s next for this neglected company, whose foreign partners include Bristol-Myers Squbb (NYSE: BMY) and Merck (NYSE: MRK). Read Full Post…
