Bottom line: Shanghai Disneyland will meet its target of opening in the half of this year, but the event will be marked by numerous small problems that are common with such big projects but generate negative publicity.
Disneyland set for June 16 opening
The countdown to launch for what’s likely to become one of Disney’s (NYSE; DIS) biggest growth drivers for the next decade has officially begun, with announcement of a June 16 opening date for the $5.5 billion Shanghai Disneyland resort. The most noteworthy thing about this particular announcement is the date itself, which falls within Disney’s target for an opening in the first half of the year. The newest Disneyland was originally set to open by the end of last year, and another delay would have sent a negative signal that the park was running into more problems.
But the June 16 opening date comes just within Disney’s latest target, hinting at the huge complexity of a project that will draw not only huge crowds but also intense media attention at the start. From a purely seasonal perspective, a more ideal opening date would have been in April, when Shanghai’s weather starts to warm and a full day outside becomes a comfortable proposition for tourists after the long winter. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Shanghai Disney (NYSE: DIS) Resort to Open on June 16 (English article)
China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Unicom (HKEx: 762) Partner to Improve Operations (English article)
Yum’s (NYSE: YUM) China Sales Rose 1 Pct in December Before Planned Spinoff (English article)
Bottom line: Shanghai’s clampdown on piracy of the Disney brand reflects the city’s desire to protect its huge investment in the soon-to-open Shanghai Disneyland, and also Disney’s growing clout in China.
Shanghai protects Disneyland investment
Disney (NYSE: DIS) pirates, beware. As the grand opening of mainland China’s first Disneyland draws near, the park’s home city of Shanghai is stepping up efforts to protect is multibillion-dollar investment by clamping down on piracy of the Disney brand. That crackdown is certainly long overdue, and has just netted 5 hotels that were illegally using the Disney name to dupe visitors into thinking they were affiliated with the US entertainment giant.
In an interesting aside to this clampdown story, the 5 properties busted in the new clampdown were owned by Shenzhen-based Vienna Hotels Group. That’s significant because in August Vienna was reportedly in talks to be acquired by Shanghai’s leading hotel group Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006; Shanghai: 600754). (previous post) Thus this latest crackdown could signal the Jin Jiang-Vienna talks ultimately collapsed, since it’s unlikely Vienna would have been targeted in such a high-profile way if it was part of the locally well-connected Jin Jiang. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Disney’s Uniqlo tie-up highlights its new focus on China retailing as the opening of its Shanghai Disneyland draws near, and could be followed by a major film-production tie-up in the next 1-2 years.
Disney in new China retailing tie-up
Entertainment and retailing juggernaut Disney (NYSE: DIS) is turning up the volume of its advance into China, with Shanghai emerging at the epicenter of its campaign. In the latest move on that front, the company has just announced it will launch a new concept store in China’s commercial capital in partnership with Japanese fast-fashion retailing juggernaut Uniqlo. That particular move comes just 4 months after Disney opened its first China Disney store in the heart of Shanghai’s financial district. That store was also Disney’s largest in the world.
This sudden retailing push comes as Disney prepares for the main event in the first half of next year, which will see it open its first mainland Chinese Disneyland, also in Shanghai. That opening will cap years of lobbying and planning, and will be the first new Disneyland since the last one opened in Hong Kong a decade ago. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Rupert Murdoch’s shift in China strategy towards less controversial retail and entertainment projects looks smart, but is likely to meet with lukewarm success due to lack of awareness of 20th Century Fox among Chinese consumers.
Rupert Murdoch eyes China theme park
Rupert Murdoch just can’t seem to ignore the China story for too long, with new reports saying his Twenty-First Century Fox (Nasdaq: FOX) is finalizing plans for a theme park in a country that has been quite elusive for the aging media mogul. The theme park approach certainly looks safer than Murdoch’s previous attempts to enter China with more traditional media like TV and movies, and mirrors what some of the world’s other top media companies have done. Of course that means Murdoch and Fox are coming a bit late to this particular show, and the fact that 20th Century Fox theme parks aren’t exactly a well-known brand means his media empire could face a steep uphill ride finding a Chinese audience. Read Full Post…
My award this year for the world’s most patient company goes to Universal Studios, which has just received the official green light to build one of its trademark theme parks in Beijing after more than a decade of perseverance. I’ll admit I’m writing about this particular story partly for sentimental reasons, since Universal Parks & Resorts first announced its plans to build theme parks in Shanghai and Beijing shortly after I first arrived in Asia in 2002. Now some 12 years later, China’s powerful state planner has reportedly finally given the green light for such a park to be built in Beijing, in an investment totaling more than 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion). Read Full Post…
Retail village to debut alongside Shanghai Disneyland
An amusing rivalry between 2 US entertainment giants is rapidly shaping up in Shanghai, with developers of the new Disneyland (NYSE: DIS) resort announcing a major new retail development just days after DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) broke ground on its own massive entertainment complex in the city. The close timing of these 2 announcements may be partly coincidental, but the rivalry certainly isn’t. Hollywood followers will know that DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg was formerly the head of Disney’s famous animation division, and only left the company after a famous fall-out with former Disney chief Michael Eisner. Read Full Post…
