ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) is easily China’s most outward-looking bank, and it is showing its global aspirations once gain with word that it plans to open branches in the Middle Eastern markets of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. (company announcement) This latest announcement that it has received local approval to set up branches in these 2 lucrative markets comes just a week after ICBC said it has also received local regulatory approval to buy a controlling stake in the Argentine unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, its longtime partner in Africa.
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Xiaomi Bets Big on Internet TV 小米押注互联网电视
Smartphone darling Xiaomi is in the new headlines again with the release of its new Internet TV product, including interesting comments by marketing-savvy founder Lei Jun indicating he intends to pour big money into this new endeavor. Specifically, media quoted Lei saying he has invested more than $100 million to acquiring a set-top box developer for Xiaomi’s Internet TV project — quite a hefty sum for such a young company whose business scale is still relatively small. (Chinese article)
Shanghai Street View: Love of Convenience 沪经动向：钟爱便利
If there’s one thing that Shanghai people love, it’s convenience. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the city’s growing love affair with convenience stores, which have multiplied like weeds in the last few years. As a longtime China resident, I can say without hesitation that Shanghai has easily become the Chinese epicenter for expansion by the world’s top convenience store chains. Those chains, including FamilyMart, Lawson and 7-Eleven, are quickly crowding out a host of colorful but less slick local names in what often feels more like an infestation as hundreds of new stores pop up in nearly any location imagineable.
Vipshop, Renren Search for Profits 唯品会与人人网业绩迥异
Two very different stories are emerging from the latest results of discount online retailer Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) and social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN), which are both trying desperately to escape from the loss column amid growing investor impatience with money-losing Chinese web firms. On the one hand, Vipshop’s latest results show it is likely to emerge into the profit column in the final quarter of this year, prompting cheers from investors. But Renren appears to be moving in the opposite direction, reporting a widening loss as China’s ad market worsens. Meantime, new details are also emerging on the latest fund-raising by e-commerce giant Jingdong Mall, which also points to growing investor impatience with money losing web firms.
Alibaba Raises Profits, Jingdong Raises Money 阿里巴巴净利翻番 京东商城完成新融资
New reports from the e-commerce space show that Alibaba continues to dominate the sector with its popular TMall, even as leading rival Jingdong Mall shows no signs of easing its challenge as it has raised $400 million in new funds. Before I go any further in this discussion, I should add a disclaimer saying that both of these companies are private and not required to disclose any information publicly. As such, both have become masters at strategically giving or leaking information to the media that plays to their greatest advantage. That said, there’s usually at least some truth to the information they release, which is what makes it worth looking at.
eBay, Xiu: A Smart Partnership eBay牵手走秀网为明智之举
A couple of weeks after news first leaked out of eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) return to China through a new partnership with an online fashion seller (previous post), we’re getting more details about the tie-up with Xiu.com. My major takeaway is that this looks like a smart, well-conceived arrangement that could have a strong chance of success. EBay seems to have learned some important lessons and is applying them to this new tie-up, following its previous Chinese foray that began nearly a decade ago and ended in a failure costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars.
China Suffers Cold in Hollywood 中国投资好莱坞需谨慎
China is finding out quickly that Hollywood may be all glitter and sparkle on the outside, but it’s quite a different world to insiders where cutthroat competition is more the norm and laggards are quickly cast aside to the B-list or worse. That’s the message coming across from a new report saying Hollywood movies are taking a growing piece of the Chinese movie market since Beijing started allowing more US films into the market earlier this year. It’s also the message that Chinese firms are likely to learn the hard way as they try to buy into the Hollywood scene, as one Beijing company will probably learn after last week signing a deal to invest in a big-budget US film.
China Telecom Jumps Into 4G Race 中国电信加入4G争夺战
With signs growing by the day that China will issue 4G licenses quite soon, perhaps by March next year, the nation’s second and third largest carriers are sensing a sudden urgency to get ready for the roll-out and avoid a possible booby prize that either could easily receive. The 2 telcos I’m talking about of course are China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), both of which have suddenly begun trialing 4G technology in anticipation of the imminent issue of 4G licenses.
Lenovo: PC King With Margin Malaise 联想利润率低迷
Everyone else is commenting on the latest quarterly results from global PC leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992), so of course I need to give my own opinion on this company that could soon find itself facing a number of challenges following its recent taking of the global PC crown from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). I should start with a look at investor reaction to the latest results, which seems to be a yawn of indifference and perhaps some impatience with the company. Lenovo shares lost 2.7 percent after the result came out on Thursday, even though the company’s profit was ahead of expectation. Shares bounced back in early Friday trade and were up more than 4 percent, but the conflicting movement again reflected the growing fatigue investors are feeling toward this company and all of its big talk.
Monster Roars Out of China 巨兽拟出售中华英才网
I’ve always wondered whatever happened to online job site ChinaHR since its purchase in 2008 by US industry leader Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW); now I have my answer with new reports that the tie-up has been more or less a failure and that Monster plans to sell its main China asset. This latest disaster shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone, since Monster follows a long list of much better known US web giants that have also tried and failed in China, including Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY).
YY Marches To Market YY开赴市场
The latest signs of a thaw in overseas sentiment toward Chinese stocks is coming today with news that online networking site YY has set a price range for its New York IPO, in what would become only the second major US offering by a Chinese firm this year. At the same time, media are reporting that the US securities regulator is moving closer to a deal with its Chinese peers that will give it better access to the auditing records of US-listed Chinese firms, another major development that should further boost investor confidence.
