Tag Archives: Apple

Latest News about Apple in China, financial news and Business analysis overview of the Chinese high Tech market expert based in China : Doug Young

More Proview Empty Talk in iPad Dispute 唯冠寻求禁售新款iPad将是徒劳之举

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It’s been a week since I last wrote about Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and even longer since I wrote about its simmering trademark dispute with a failing Chinese electronics company, so I thought I would close out this Good Friday with some comments on the latest development in that story, which appears to be slowly turning in Apple’s favor. I should start off this post by repeating that I firmly support Apple in this dispute, not because I favor the big guy over the little guy, but rather because I think Apple is in the right and Beijing should send a clear signal that it won’t allow its legal system to become a playground for irresponsible companies to extort money. But let’s move beyond that and look at the latest news, which has the company, a nearly insolvent PC monitor maker named Proview (HKEx: 334), seeking to stop the import of Apple’s new iPad model to China pending resolution of the dispute over rights to the iPad name in China. (English article) Proview’s latest move comes just days after one of its creditors launched a failed bid to push the company into bankruptcy, with Chinese officials preferring to wait until the iPad trademark dispute is resolved. A Chinese court ruled in Proview’s favor in the case last year, after the company argued it had registered the trademark in China a decade ago, even though it stopped producing any products under the iPad name several years ago. Apple had purchased rights to the iPad name in a number of markets, including China, under a broader deal before the release of its popular line of tablet computers in 2010. But for reasons that have yet to be fully explained, at least not in the media, the trademark transfer was never officially consummated in China and thus Proview was still technically the holder of the iPad name for that market. Now, rather than admit it failed to complete its part of the iPad name sale, the financially struggling Proview is seeking to use its own failure to keep its word, Proview is attempting to earn some much-needed extra money by selling Apple a trademark that it technically already sold under the earlier deal. Apple, which has appealed the case to a higher court, won a victory in Shanghai earlier this year when a court in that city ruled that Proview couldn’t block the sale of iPads in Shanghai until the appeals court made its final ruling. (previous post) I suspect that any attempts to stop import of the new iPads by Proview under this latest move will also meet with similar failure, as Chinese customs officials probably don’t want to get involved in this dispute until they absolutely have to. Meantime, I also suspect that top leaders in Beijing may be getting involved in this case, following a meeting last week between Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Chinese premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang (previous post), and I would say the chances for a final ruling in Apple’s favor are now better than 50 percent.

Bottom line: Proview’s latest move to block the new iPad from entering China is mostly talk, as the odds for victory in its trademark dispute with Apple sink below 50 percent.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Apple Wins iPad Round in Shanghai: New Justice? 苹果在iPad商标侵权案中扳回一局

◙ Apple Bytes: Labor, a State Visit and Baidu 库克中国行猜想：他在下一盘很大的棋

◙ iPads: An Endangered Species in China? 中国高级司法官员应介入iPad商标权纠纷

Apple’s Hon Hai Investment Talk: Why Not? 苹果投资入股鸿海：为什么不？

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I’m going to do something today I don’t usually do and comment on an interesting report that appeared on a Chinese website that has since been removed regarding a potential massive investment by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) in Taiwanese electronics giant Hon Hai (Taipei: 2317), one of its biggest iPhone manufacturing partners. The reason for my exception is that the deal sounds extremely intriguing and makes lots of sense in the current climate, even though removal of the article and lack of similar reports in western media make me suspicious of whether anything is really happening. But let’s move past all this discussion and look at the report itself, which said that Apple was preparing to make a massive $9.76 billion investment in Hon Hai, which was going to issue new shares in the form of global depositary receipts (GDRs) to make Apple its second largest shareholder. Hon Hai currently has a market capitalization of about $40 billion, meaning an investment that size, presuming it was new shares, would make Apple the owner of about 20 percent of Hon Hai’s shares. Again, I want to emphasize I have serious doubts about whether such a deal is actually being discussed for the reasons I previously mentioned. But at the same time, I really do believe that such a deal makes lots of sense for both Apple and Hon Hai for many reasons. From a cash standpoint, the investment would represent a minor amount of money for Apple, which has so much cash at this point, around $100 billion to be exact, that it took the unusual step last month of restoring a dividend for shareholders after a 17 year gap, and also said it would buy back another $10 billion worth of its stock. (English article) From a strategic standpoint, it makes perfect sense for Apple to make such a large investment in one of its biggest manufacturing partners, which shows not only its commitment to the health of that partner but also to the efficient and ethical running of its operations. The focus on not only efficiency but also ethical treatment of employees has become an extremely relevant issue over the past year, as Hon Hai’s Foxconn International (HKEx: 2038) unit, which manufactures iPhones for Apple, has come under intense scrutiny during that period for working conditions that some consider harsh, including pressure for its young employees to work lots of overtime and in isolated conditions on production lines to discourage socializing. That issue has become so big that Apple’s Tim Cook made a special trip to a Foxconn factory in the central city of Zhengzhou during his inaugural trip to China last week since taking over as CEO of the company in 2011 shortly before the death of Steve Jobs. (previous post) Last but not least, Hon Hai shares are quite attractively priced right now, down about 34 percent from where they were a year ago on all the negative publicity as well as rising costs, even as the rest of the market has rallied. So, on the whole, even if Apple isn’t considering this deal, I think it should as it makes lots of sense from so many angles, with the potential to benefit both Apple and Hon Hai.

Bottom line: A report citing Apple in talks to make a major investment in manufacturing partner Hon Hai looks like a smart move that Apple should strongly consider, even if the rumor isn’t true.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Apple Bytes: Labor, a State Visit and Baidu 库克中国行猜想：他在下一盘很大的棋

◙ Apple CEO Cook Stirs Up Guessing Firestorm 苹果CEO库克低调访华意欲何为？

◙ China Telecom iPhone Debut Looks Strong 中国电信iPhone初次发售，势头强劲

News Digest: March 31-April 2, 2012 报摘： 2012年3月31日-4月2日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 31-April 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Preparing to Invest $9.76 Bln in Taiwan’s Hon Hai (Taipei: 2317) – Report (Chinese article)

◙ People’s Daily Website IPO Approved, to Launch After Qing Ming Festival (Chinese article)

◙ Dangdang (NYSE: DANG), Gome Online Launch Electronics, Computers B2B2C Platform (PRNewswire)

◙ IBM (NYSE: IBM) China to Build Cloud Computing Center in Jilin (English article)

◙ Sino-Forest (Toronto: TRE) Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Seeks Sale (English article)

Apple Bytes: Labor, a State Visit and Baidu 库克中国行猜想：他在下一盘很大的棋

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As Tim Cook’s inaugural visit as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) new CEO wraps up, I thought I’d take a quick look back at what he’s done on the trip since my previous post earlier this week, which should indicate not only where his China priorities, but also his global ones, will lie in the years ahead. After writing my first post, which included calls on China’s major telcos, an Apple store and Beijing’s mayor, Cook has gone on to visit China’s premier-in-waiting, Li Keqiang, as well as a central China iPhone-producing factory. There are also interesting new rumors on a tie-up between Apple and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), though it’s unclear if Cook actually met with any executives from China’s dominant search engine during his visit. The bigger picture emerging  from all these stops is that Cook is quite serious about developing the China market, and wants to strengthen not only his company’s relations with China’s top 3 telcos, but also improve its broader distribution and sales channels in a market that could easily become its largest globally in the next 5 years. Secondarily, he also seems to be more interested in his company’s image as a good corporate citizen than his predecessor Steve Jobs, whose death last year came just months after Cook officially assumed the CEO title. The visit to the Beijing Apple store underscores Cook’s determination to raise his company’s profile and sales channels in China. The company already enjoys a strong reputation in the nation’s major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but is less well known in smaller cities that are home to the vast majority of China’s 1.3 billion people and could provide a huge new business opportunity. To cultivate this market, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Apple roll out some lower-end iPhones and iPads in the next 1-2 years, and in fact such initiatives have been rumored in the past. Cook’s visit with Li Keqiang also marked a rare state visit for a corporate executive with a top Chinese leader, indicating that both China and Apple want to see this relationship thrive, as China surely realizes it needs companies like Apple to push its own companies away from lower-end manufacturing and up the value chain. By visiting with both Li and Beijing’s mayor, Cook also showed he wants to have a more elevated profile compared with the lower-key Jobs as he tries to cultivate the company’s image as a good global corporate citizen in the many markets where it operates. The visit to one of the central China factories that makes iPhones also underscores this priority, as the facility operated by Taiwan’s Foxconn (HKEx: 2038) has come under scrutiny in the last 2 years for its high-pressure workplace tactics that some consider abusive. Following those ongoing criticisms, Apple said after Cook’s visit that it would work with Foxconn to improve that situation. (English article) Lastly there’s the Baidu tie-up, though that one is only rumored and would reportedly see Apple make Baidu’s search site the default for all of its iPhones sold in China. (English article) Such a move certainly seems to make sense as Baidu controls the overwhelming majority of China’s search market, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a deal on that front in the next few months.

Bottom line: Tim Cooks’ weeklong China trip underscores that the market will become a top priority for Apple during his tenure as CEO, as will improving his company’s corporate image.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Apple CEO Cook Stirs Up Guessing Firestorm 苹果CEO库克低调访华意欲何为？

◙ China Telecom iPhone Debut Looks Strong 中国电信iPhone初次发售，势头强劲

◙ Apple Wins iPad Round in Shanghai: New Justice? 苹果在iPad商标侵权案中扳回一局

News Digest: March 30, 2012 报摘： 2012年3月30日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Foxconn (HKEx: 2038) Revamp China Work Conditions (English article)

◙ Huawei Internet Business CEO Resigns (English article)

◙ ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Announces Annual Results (HKEx announcement)

◙ Citic Securities (Shanghai: 600030) in Talks to Buy C.Agricole’s (Paris: CAGR) CLSA (English article)

◙ Coca-Cola (NYSE: KU) Continues Strong China Investment with 42nd Bottling Facility (Businesswire)

ZTE Results: Waiting for Returns 中兴坚持低成本手机策略 亟需尽早盈利

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I’m feeling slightly artistic this morning, hence my choice of headline for this posting which is a reference to the famous Samuel Beckett play “Waiting for Godot,” about 2 people excitedly waiting for a person who will probably never appear. The same story could be true for ZTE (HKEx: 763;  Shenzhen: 000063), whose just-released results showed plunging profits and rapidly rising costs as the company takes a risky bet on the low-cost smartphone market that may bring in lots of new revenue but never pay any returns in the form of new profits. (results announcement; English article) Let’s take a closer look at the earnings, which show the company’s profit plunged nearly 50 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, accelerating from a 40 percent decline in the previous quarter as profits for the year fell 37 percent. A closer look at the company’s income statement shows that costs rose sharply, with R&D and marketing expenses up 20 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the company’s annual profit would have tumbled even more if not for a big jump in one-time investment gains. ZTE has been quite direct about its desire to become a top-five cellphone maker in the next 2-3 years, and has embarked on a focused strategy to achieve that goal by rolling out a new line of lower cost smartphones priced very aggressively. That goal is certainly commendable and I applaud the company for staying focused on its aim despite the profit erosion that is clearly a cause of concern for investors. The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares are down 45 percent over the last 52 weeks, and have lost around 20 percent of their value so far this year, even as the broader market has rallied about 15 percent. The cellphone gamble is at once both a smart move and a very risky one. On the one hand, ZTE realizes its need to diversify beyond its core networking equipment business, which has run into numerous roadblocks in the last few years from western markets concerned about security issues. Cellphones are much less controversial and have steadier sales, and ZTE is drawing on its expertise as a low-cost manufacturer to focus on the lower end of the booming market for smartphones that can take advantage of high-speed 3G and 4G wireless networks. The only problem is that ZTE is hardly the only company to notice the trend, and is joining a very crowded market that includes heavyweights like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V), not to mention hometown rival Huawei Technologies, which is making a similar aggressive smartphone play. At the end of the day there’s no reason a few companies can’t succeed in the low-cost smartphone market, and ZTE could certainly be one of those. But unless it can start to show some profits by the second half of this year from its cellphone gamble, look for trouble  ahead for this company and continuing downward pressure on its stock.

Bottom line: ZTE’s latest results reflect its ongoing push into low-cost cellphones, but it needs to show returns by the second half of this year or risk losing investor confidence.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Baidu, ZTE Earnings: More of the Same 百度和中兴财报：看上去没变化

◙ Huawei and ZTE: Swapping Networking for Cellphones? 华为和中兴：转型进军手机市场？

◙ ZTE Faces More Profit Erosion With Latest Low-Cost Moves 中兴通讯以低价机抢占市场恐损及获利

Nokia Bets on China Telecom 诺基亚联手中国电信

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The arrival of spring in China is bringing in a sudden surge of tech and telecoms VIPs, no doubt salivating over a market with more than a billion mobile subscribers and 500 million Internet users and growing. First came Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, whose visit has included courtesy calls on the nation’s 3 telcos as well as his most recent visit with vice premier Li Keqiang, tipped to become the country’s new premier next year. Now he’s being followed by Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) CEO Stephen Elop, who has attended a high profile Beijing event to announce the launch of company’s first smartphone in China using Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) latest Windows mobile operating system. (English article; Chinese article) But wait — there’s more. Apparently none other than Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has also been sighted in China, visiting my own city of Shanghai just a month before the company prepares to make its multibillion-dollar IPO. I already talked about Cook’s visit yesterday (previous post), so will focus this time mostly on Elop and Nokia, which used to dominate the China cellphone market but has seen its share drop sharply in the last 2 years, mirroring a global trend. Elop is hoping to reverse the slide by retiring Nokia’s old operating system and betting on Windows new mobile OS.  I found it both interesting and intriguing that Nokia has chosen the smallest of China’s 3 mobile carriers, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as partner for the launch of its first Windows-based smartphone in China, rolling out a Lumina model that will run on the carrier’s 3G network based on a technology called CDMA EVDO. The gamble on China Telecom looks like a smart move to me, as this telco is clearly the more aggressive and better organized of China’s 2 major carriers that use global technology in their 3G networks. The other company, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), has been plagued by operational and management issues; and China’s third major telco, China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) uses a homegrown technology that most major developers have shunned so far. By signing up with China Telecom as its first partner, Nokia can be assured the carrier will give its phones special attention, unlike Apple’s iPhone, which is now offered by both China Telecom and Unicom. China Telecom has said it hopes to add 50 million or more 3G users to its network this year (previous post) as it aggressively chases the market in its drive to steal share from its other 2 rivals. Obviously Lumina phones will account for only a small portion of that, assuming that Chinese consumers like them. Still, that could translate to 3-5 million handset sales if the models prove popular. Meantime, here’s just a quick take on Zuckerman, who was seen shopping with his girlfried in Shanghai’s trendy Tianzfang district. (Englilsh article) The reports say Zuckerberg said he was on vacation, and I believe that’s probably true, since he was in Shanghai and not Beijing and he has much bigger issues at the moment with his company’s upcoming IPO. But he clearly still has his eye on the China market, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make another more formal China visit sometime later this year after the IPO.

Bottom line: Nokia’s pairing with China Telecom for its first Windows smartphone launch in China looks like a smart move, with sales of up to 5 million units possible this year.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Nokia Looks For Fresh China Start With New Country Chief 诺基亚中国区新官欲扭颓势

◙ China Telecom Turns Up Volume in 3G Drive 中国电信计划一鼓作气 3G市场欲再下一城

◙ Nokia Facing China Backlash After Years of Dominance 诺基亚手机在华“失宠”

News Digest: March 29, 2012 报摘： 2012年3月29日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to Make Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) China Default Search Engine – Reports (English article)

◙ ZTE (HKEx: 763) Announces 2011 Annual Results (HKEx announcement)

◙ Youku (NYSE: YOKU), Buick (NYSE: GM) Debut “Micro Movie” Series from Major Directors (PRNewswire)

◙ Huawei Sales Rose 11.7 Percent in 2011 – Executive (Chinese article)

◙ CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Announces Record High 2011 Profit (PRNewswire)

Apple CEO Cook Stirs Up Guessing Firestorm 苹果CEO库克低调访华意欲何为？

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I’ve been quite amused by the flood of articles coming out these last few days guessing at the mission behind the low-key visit to China by Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO shortly before Jobs’ death last year. The trip is Cook’s first to China since he took the helm at the  world’s biggest technology company, and follows another low-profile visit last year when he was still chief operating officer and was spotted at the offices of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). (previous post) So what exactly is Cook up to this time around? Different media are all playing the guessing game to try and figure it out. The few certain facts include his visit to a Beijing Apple store, where Cook was spotted and photographed, as well visits to China’s 3 wireless carriers, China Mobile, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA). Cook is also paying a visit on Beijing’s mayor, but that’s where the certainty ends. Reuters, my former employer, is saying that Cook is on a mission to try to sort through some of Apple’s recent headaches in China, including labor issues at some of its manufacturing partner and an ongoing trademark dispute over the iPad name. (English article) Bloomberg, meanwhile, is putting a more positive spin on its guess, focusing on Apple’s plans to invest further in China, its second largest market. Bloomberg’s report points out that Apple currently has a relatively modest 5 retail stores in China — far less than it was aiming for by this time in an earlier interview. (English article) Meantime, the Chinese tech website operated by NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is covering all the bases, leading off with an investment story and Cook’s many meetings, while also giving smaller play to the trademark dispute. (Chinese article) The rival tech news website operated by Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) also has all the bases covered, though it has kicked off its Cook-fest with speculation that the trademark dispute is the main focus of his trip. Since everyone else is weighing in with their guesses, I don’t mind also getting in my own view, which is that Cook is here to focus on big picture issues such as expansion of the company’s store and distribution networks. That means the smaller things, like the trademark dispute and image problems due to labor issues, are probably very low on his agenda, and are being left for the company’s public relations department to handle. One topic that nobody has mentioned, which should be near the top of Cook’s agenda, is Apple’s desire to sign a deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile carrier with two-thirds of the market and the only one of China’s 3 telcos without a formal iPhone deal. Such a deal has been elusive so far since China Mobile’s 3G network uses a homegrown technology, meaning Apple would have to develop a new  iPhone model just for China Mobile. Still, China Mobile’s 650 million subscribers must look very attractive to Apple and should be worth the investment. And with the retirement last week of China Mobile’s long-serving Chairman Wang Jianzhou (previous post), who was unable to reach an iPhone deal in earlier talks, perhaps Apple and China Mobile could finally reach a deal with the company’s newer, more aggressive leadership.

Bottom line: Apple CEO Tim Cook’s visit to China is focused on big picture issues, including the sealing of an elusive iPhone tie-up with leading mobile carrier China Mobile.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ China Mobile Nears iPhone Deal, Continues 4G Press 中移动iPhone协议近尾声 加紧4G攻势

◙ Apple’s COO Comes Calling on China Mobile 苹果首席运营官造访中移动

◙ China Telecom iPhone Debut Looks Strong 中国电信iPhone初次发售，势头强劲

News Digest: March 28, 2012 报摘： 2012年3月28日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ China Life (HKEx: 2628) Plans to Complete $6 Billion Sub-debt Sale in 2012 (English article)

◙ Apple (Nasdaq: APPL) CEO in China Mission to Clear Up Problems (English article)

◙ Geely (HKEx: 175) Targets to Become China’s Largest Exporter of Cars (English article)

◙ Huawei Willing to Reveal Source Code to Enter Australia Network Bidding (Chinese article)

◙ Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Merges YouA into Leho (English article)

◙ Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

NEC China Cellphones: New Lenovo Tie-Up? NEC计划重回中国手机市场 或与联想联姻

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What looks like a new wrinkle has emerged in the growing love affair between Chinese PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and Japanese electronics giant NEC (Tokyo: 6701), in what could well end up as a marriage that could serve as a template for similar Sino-Japanese tie-ups in the consumer electronics space. Media are reporting that NEC has announced it will once again enter the China cellphone market 6 years after its high-profile departure, with plans to sell a smartphone model, as well as 2 tablet PCs. (English article) Historians will recall that NEC left China back in 2006, at the time citing mismanagement for its decision to leave the world’s largest cellphone market. Of course the real issue was that its phones had become virtually invisible in the market, paralleling a trend in the rest of the world that has seen not only NEC but most Japanese brand cellphones and PCs become non-players nearly everywhere except for their highly protected home market. So what’s different now that would embolden NEC to return to China, the world’s biggest mobile market but also an incredibly competitive one where consumers are especially price sensitive and NEC has little or no brand recognition? The answer is: Lenovo. Last year the 2 companies entered into an interesting agreement that effectively saw Lenovo take over NEC’s PC operations through the establishment of a joint venture. (previous post) Lenovo followed later by saying it may move some of its production to Japan, in what looked like a bid to ease concerns from NEC’s Japanese customers who were undoubtedly worried that their computers could suffer a quality downgrade if all production was moved to China. (previous post) This kind of tie-up looked interesting as it had the potential to provide Lenovo with a quick entry to the lucrative Japan market that has been one of the toughest for foreign brands to tap due in part to local preference for domestic brands that are perceived as higher quality. It also gave Lenovo, the world’s second biggest PC maker, a new premium brand to market outside Japan through its numerous sales channels in both western and developing markets. There aren’t any details in the latest reports about NEC’s decision to re-enter China’s cellphone market, but I would be willing to bet that Lenovo, as China’s dominant PC player with about a third of the market, will be a strong partner behind the scenes, providing NEC with access to its strong sales and service networks throughout the country. Furthermore, while the Lenovo name is synonymous with good quality PCs in China, the same is hardly true for its cellphones, which have had a much more difficult time establishing a strong name in the company’s home market as it vies with better known names like HTC (Taipei: 2498), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and up and comers Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063). This NEC move back into China, if Lenovo is really involved, could provide Lenovo with an important new premium brand that doesn’t have any of the baggage associated with its own cellphones. That could pave the way for an eventual joint venture for the NEC cellphone brand similar to the 2 companies’ PC tie-up. In fact, TCL (Shenzhen: 000100; HKEx: 2618), another Chinese brand known for its cheap cellphones, made a similar shift with its purchase of the Alcatel cellphone brand name around 5 years ago, and Alcatel-branded phones now account for the lion’s share of its sales outside China. So, what exactly is the end game in this growing love affair between Lenovo and NEC? If the PC partnership proves successful in Japan and this new NEC cellphone initiative in China is also a success, I could easily see an eventual sale in the next 2-3 years that would see Lenovo acquire outright NEC’s PC and cellphone units, 2 of its main consumer electronics businesses. Such a deal could serve as a template for future tie-ups between Chinese electronics companies and their Japanese counterparts. Chinese companies could use such deals to shed their image as makers of cheap, lower-end products, while Japanese firms could shed their increasingly unprofitable and marginal electronics businesses.

Bottom line: NEC’s re-entry to the China cellphone market looks like the latest wrinkle in its growing ties with Lenovo, which could ultimately result in a longer-term marriage.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Lenovo Considers Japan Production 联想向日本转移制造业务为明智公关手段

◙ Lenovo Results: Honeymoon Nearing an End? 联想并购後的蜜月期何时结束？

◙ Lenovo-NEC: Let the Defections Begin 联想与NEC结盟注定失败