The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that tarnished former Internet titan Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) will shutter its Chinese Internet music service, with many pointing out the move reflects a broader reshuffling in the online music space. But from my perspective, the much more intriguing question is whether this move represents the first small step before Yahoo withdraws from the market completely — a step that seems increasingly likely as it focuses on turning around its core US search business.
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LeTV Joins Set-Top Box Wars 乐视网加入机顶盒大战
The latest “me-too” war is brewing on China’s vibrant but crowded Internet with word that online video specialist LeTV is rolling out a new set-top box product that will allow consumers to surf the Web on their TVs. This new product roll-out comes just a month after up-and-coming smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its own set-top box product, and not long after PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) also entered this space that looks promising but has yet to find a major audience. (previous post)
Beijing Delivers Tough Solar Medicine 中国政府艰难救助太阳能行业
A new report in today’s China Daily is providing the clearest indication yet that Beijing is delivering some tough medicine to many of the nation’s smaller solar panel and polysilicon makers by letting them go backrupt to return the struggling sector to health. Up until now, much of the talk in China has focused on rescuing the money-bleeding sector through a comprehensive bailout plan designed to create about a dozen major players as the industry’s backbone. But little has been said about the bankruptcies and closures that also need to accompany such a clean-up, in a country where state support due to local factors often allows companies to keep running even after they become hopelessly mired in the loss column.
Shanghai Street View: Reality Microblogging 沪经动向：现实微博秀
Shanghai is once again showing off its status as China’s premier mixing ground between east and west, staging a recent microblogging event that combines the Chinese love of Internet chatter with the broader global explosion of reality TV. The origins of this creative new story began last week, when a distressed migrant took a worker hostage in a Shanghai hotel and held her in one of the guest rooms for more than 6 hours as police tried to negotiate his surrender. The man was desperate after failing to find work in the city, and was hoping that police would shoot him to death during the drama. The situation finally ended after negotiations failed and police stormed the room and rescued the hostage.
Qualcomm Charges China Mobile TD 高通TD芯片面世将照亮中移动业务前景
This may look like something only a techie can appreciate, but the recent start of production by leading global chipmaker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) for cellphone chips using a homegrown Chinese technology looks set to provide a major boost to dominant Chinese telco China Mobile (HKEx; 941; NYSE: CHL). This latest development comes as big and important news for TD, the homegrown technology being used by China Mobile in its 3G and 4G networks.
China Samples Food M&A With Yili NZ Buy 中国食品企业或掀起海外并购热潮
Just a month after Shanghai’s Bright Food Group gobbled up British breakfast cereal maker Weetabix, we’re hearing that rival dairy products specialist Yili (Shanghai: 600887) has developed its own appetite for global M&A with its purchase of a New Zealand dairy. This latest purchase could mark the beginning of a broader wave of M&A by Chinese food makers, who are looking outward not only to tap foreign food markets but also to hopefully learn a lesson on how to better control the quality of their food.
BYD Boosts EV Network With US Plan 比亚迪拟在美建厂生产电动大巴
If struggling car maker BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) ultimately fails in its dream to become a leader in new energy vehicles, at least it will have lots of global assets to leave as a record of its efforts. Perhaps I’m sounding a bit too cynical in my latest musings on this company, since I really am starting to become more convinced that perhaps BYD’s electric dreams could actually someday become a reality, especially with its new announcement of plans to build an electric bus manufacturing plant in the US. (English article)
CDB, China Gas Power More Energy 中国企业持续进行能源并购交易 M&A
Just a week after Canada approved the $15 billion purchase of oil exploration firm Nexen (Toronto: NXY) to Chinese rival CNOOC (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO), we’re seeing a couple of interesting new M&A deals in the energy sector, one involving policy lender China Development Bank and the other from Hong Kong-listed China Gas (HKEx: 384). The common theme is that many Chinese energy investors are relatively flush with cash right now, and are looking for bargains in a global sector where asset prices have become depressed due to lingering effects of the global downturn. But that said, these 2 deals are both quite different, with the first most likely being driven at least partly by Beijing while the latter looks like a more traditional private sector deal.
Spring Comes Early For NQ, Vipshop 网秦和唯品会的春天来临
The official start of winter may fast be approaching, but there are growing signs that an early spring has arrived for US-listed China stocks, with Internet security provider NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ) and e-commerce firm Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) making headlines that look good for both themselves and the broader sector. NQ, which was formerly called NetQin Mobile, has proven once more that short sellers no longer hold the same kind of influence over these stocks the way they did just 6 months ago, with its shares bouncing back strongly after a recent attack. Meantime, Vipshop, one of only 2 major Chinese firms to list in the US this year, has suddenly become a darling of investors, who have sent its shares to new highs as they scramble to buy a piece of what has quickly suddenly China’s largest listed e-commerce company.
Amazon Kindle Store Hits Regulatory Snag 新闻出版总署叫停亚马逊Kindle商店
Global e-commerce giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) was decidedly low-key in the launch last week of its Kindle bookstore in China, and now perhaps we know why. Just days after Amazon formally opened the store on its China site selling books for its Kindle tablet PCs, media are reporting the government agency that regulates the publishing industry has said Amazon’s new store violates Chinese regulations, implying the store may have to close until the situation gets sorted out. Whether or not such a closure, if it comes, would be temporary or permanent remains to be seen, though I think it would probably be temporary. But this case does once again underscore the regulatory risk of doing business in China, where numerous government agencies often oversee specific industries and anyone who operates needs to take care to keep all those regulators happy.
Amazon Turns Up China Press With Kindle 亚马逊在华上线Kindle电子书店
Media are buzzing with the latest news on Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) in China, which is turning up the heat in the country’s overheated e-commerce space with the opening of a store on its Chinese site selling electronic books for its Kindle tablet PCs. (English article; Chinese article) Since Kindle products are not yet available in China, the site also offers free software that allows consumers to read Kindle-formatted books using other devices, including Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) smartphones and tablet PCs, and similar devices based on Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) popular Android operating system.
