The number 94 seems to have special meaning for BYD (HKEx: 1211; 002594), the struggling car maker backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, which has just reported some preliminary data that show its profit last year fell 94 percent as it failed reverse its sharp decline of the last 2 years. But perhaps more alarming, this new data show the company’s operations fell into the loss column in the last 3 months of 2012, even though it technically remained profitable overall due to strong government support. That means that 2013 could continue to be a difficult year for the company, which could start reporting some net losses as it struggles to regain its footing in China’s competitive car market.
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China Mobile Expands Commercial 4G 中国移动增加4G试商用城市
Dominant wireless carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is turning up its campaign to pressure the telecoms regulator to issue 4G licenses soon, this time through aggressive comments from its chairman at the world’s biggest industry event taking place this week in Spain. Among all the latest talk, the item that most caught my attention was the disclosure that China Mobile is preparing to launch a “trial commercial” service this week in the major southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, expanding a program it began last month. (English article)
ZTE Eyes Profits, Meituan Targets Growth 中兴关注利润 美团瞄准增长
Companies have been filling the airwaves with 2013 sales and revenue targets these last few weeks as the new year gets underway, with smartphone maker ZTE (HKEx: 763) and top group buying site Meituan becoming the latest to add their forecasts to the list. In ZTE’s case, the company seems to be taking a smart approach to its newer, fast-growing smartphone unit by shifting its focus to improving margins and making the business profitable sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Meituan’s announcement of extremely aggressive sales targets seem to reflect the company’s confidence that it will emerge stronger than ever from the painful consolidation now gripping China’s group buying sector.
Qihoo Polishes Image With Govt Deal 奇虎360与商务部合作 改进形象
Internet security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is in the headlines much more than most companies of its size, sometimes for positive news but equally often for its controversial business tactics that many might consider bordering on the unethical. Against that backdrop, it’s interesting to see that Qihoo has just announced a new government tie-up that looks like an effort to improve its image in the marketplace. That announcement has Qihoo saying it will provide enterprise Internet security solutions to the Commerce Ministry, a major government body. (company announcement)
Tencent WeChat Looks Globally 腾讯微信全球化
A social networking (SNS) application called WeChat has boomed on China’s Internet over the last two years, challenging Twitter-like industry leader Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo and even cellular titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) with its innovative and cleverly designed features. Now the popular instant messaging program for smartphones is showing early signs of stepping onto the world stage, with the potential to become China’s first true contribution to a vibrant global Internet culture. Such a development would mark a significant milestone for China, whose most successful high-tech firms have thrived so far by largely copying existing global technologies.
Shanda Ties With Alibaba 盛大牵手淘宝 合作失败可能性大
China’s unruly and highly competitive Internet space has created all kinds of interesting partnerships, with word of a new tie-up between e-commerce giant Alibaba and former online game leader Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) emerging as the latest. The driving force behind most of these tie-ups is a desire to drive more traffic to Internet sites as companies search for more customers. In this case, it appears the 2 companies are aiming to sell e-commerce goods to Shanda’s millions of online gamers from Alibaba’s hugely popular TMall online shopping mall. (Chinese article)
Best Buy + Gome: Good Bedfellows? 百思买会将收购国美视为明智选择吗？
It’s a relatively quiet news day, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about an intriguing rumor that would see struggling US electronics retailing giant Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) purchase its equally struggling Chinese counterpart Gome (HKEx: 493). There are quite a few reasons why there may be no truth to these rumors; but at the same time, there are also some indications that perhaps something is happening, which makes it worth taking a look at this potential tie-up.
Solar: Big Get Better, Smaller Suffer 太阳能：大企业获好转，小企业遭困境
A couple of new items from the battered solar sector hint that the situation may be improving for the largest companies, even as smaller players continue to struggle and face the very real danger of collapse. Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that I’ve predicted a rebound for this embattled sector once or twice before based on optimistic company statements, and in each instance the rebound I was sensing never came. This time the difference could be that many smaller players have now closed or are tottering on the brink of insolvency, meaning they are losing share to the larger, relatively healthier players with more resources.
Suning Joins Reorganization Crowd 苏宁重组以赢得投资者信心
I recently wrote that 2013 could well become the year of the reorganization for China’s vibrant Internet sector, as many of the nation’s top companies look to make their increasingly complex operations more efficient. (previous post) Now another major player has joined this growing trend with the announcement of yet another major overhaul by Suning (Shenzhen: 002024), operator of one of China’s top e-commerce sites. The Suning announcement follows similar moves by just about every one of China’s Internet sector leaders, including online game and SNS giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), e-commerce leader Alibaba and top portal operator Sina (Nasdaq: SINA).
Shanghai Street View: Airport Entertainment 沪经动向：机场娱乐
As a frequent traveler in Greater China, I’ll openly admit that Hong Kong is my favorite airport in the region, boasting an interesting array of shops and restaurants and convenient layout that makes it easy to find things and get to flights. But on the mainland, Shanghai is easily my favorite flying destination, thanks to its well-run Hongqiao Airport focused on domestic flights, and the more international airport in Pudong. Both airports are easy to get to, offer fast check-in and security screening, and a wide array of amenities that are both convenient and useful.
China’s Smartphone Crown: Who Cares? 看待中国称冠智能手机市场不要太认真
I’m feeling a bit cranky and contrarian today, so I’m going to be somewhat bold and give the following response to yet the latest headlines trumpeting China’s passing the US to become the world’s largest smartphone market: Who cares? I’ll admit that my response to this development is perhaps a bit unfair, since China’s attainment of the world’s smartphone title is certainly an important milestone for a country where even traditional wired telephone service was still rare as recently as 20 years ago.
