Bottom line: LeTV’s new smartphones should generate major buzz when they go on sale this weekend and could easily sell 1 million units in their first 3-4 months, challenging domestic “cool” incumbent Xiaomi.
LeTV takes pre-orders for new smartphones
Smartphone sensation Xiaomi has emerged as one of China’s hottest tech names in the last few years with its cool and trendy image, focusing its sights largely on global leaders Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and especially Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as it looks for a place on the global stage. But this globally-minded company could soon have to watch its back as well, with the recent meteoric rise of LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) as the newest hipster in town.
LeTV went largely unnoticed for the first part of its life, when it was mostly an Internet-based provider of video content similar to YouTube. But it has zipped into the spotlight over the last year, first as it posed a serious challenge to China’s traditional broadcasters and now as it rolls out its own new line of smartphones. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Gree’s launch of a smartphone line is far too late and could signal the start of a major shake-out for the sector, while ZTE’s move into Japan will be tough but could reap big rewards if it can gain traction.
Gree starts shipping smartphones
You know China’s smartphone market is due for a major correction when a stodgy home appliance maker like Gree (Shenzhen: 000651), better known for its air conditioners, enters the market. But that’s exactly what’s happened, in a move that has the word “dud” written all over it. Meantime, the more established smartphone maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) is making a risky but wiser move by targeting the lucrative but often ignored Japanese market, as it looks for growth alternatives outside a Chinese market that is the world’s largest for smartphones but also incredibly competitive. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Said To Probe Medical Device Firms On Bribe Suspicions (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Dalian Wanda (HKEx: 3699) Says 4 Investors To Put $3.9 Bln Into 20 New Malls (English article)
Wanda Cinema Line Issues Stock At Low Price, Well Below Other Valuations (Chinese article)
Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Forms Logistics, Financing Unit (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 10-12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: Chinese appliance makers and Internet companies need to focus their smart device efforts on one or two key alliances each, or risk spreading their resources too thin.
Haier in new tie-up with Evergrande
Smart devices look set to become a theme of the New Year, with new reports that domestic appliance giants Haier (HKEx: 1169) and Midea (Shenzhen: 000333) have formed major new tie-ups to develop the space. Similar alliances began accelerating in the second half of last year and are aimed at developing the “Internet of Things”, which envisions an interconnected world where devices and their owners can talk to each other at any time over a wide range of wired and wireless networks. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The snowballing of a recent series of mudslinging remarks by major companies underscores the rampant lack of business ethics in China, and could prompt some much-needed public debate on the topic.
China business ethics in need of fixing
What started as a couple of stories highlighting the shady business practices that are all too common in China is starting to snowball, with home appliance giant Gree (Shenzhen: 000651) and a local start-up air purifier maker adding their voices to this entertaining year-end war of words. At the heart of this verbal mudslinging is a toxic Chinese business culture where practices like illegal copycatting, corporate espionage and violation of business contracts are quite common and even accepted to a certain degree. Read Full Post…
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi is back in the headlines with an update on a high-profile bet made last year by chief Lei Jun, who predicted his company would surpass the older and much larger appliance giant Gree (Shenzhen: 000651) in the next 5 years. At the same time, Lei has also updated a previous pledge that his company won’t go public during that time, which probably reflects the fact that Xiaomi will probably be losing money for much of the next 5 years. Lastly a separate news bit has Xiaomi investing in a GPS technology company, in a further indication that the company intends to follow a path similar to role model Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) in its future development. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 11-13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) Extends China JV 25 Years To Tighten Market Grip (English article)
Nokia, China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Sign $970 Mln Framework Deal (English article)
Airbus (Paris: BUS) Signs Tentative Deal To Open New Plant In China (English article)
Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Updates Bet, Sees Passing Gree (Shenzhen: 00651 ) Within 5 Years (Chinese article)
Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) Announces Board Change, President’s Resignation (PRNewswire)
Quite a lot has happened in the last 2 decades for AOL (NYSE: AOL), which went from online start-up, to Internet superstar, to global media giant and back to its current form of humble Internet player during that time. At the pinnacle of its success following its merger with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), the company made a splash into China more than a decade ago through a highly-hyped Internet joint venture with PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). That venture ultimately failed miserably, but now AOL is finally making a second move into the market through a new partnership with a local media player. Read Full Post…
A yearlong explosion in new financial services from non-financial companies took a pause last week, when the central bank put the brakes on a plan by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) to offer virtual credit cards in partnership with Citic Bank (HKEx: 998). The sudden rush into financial services by private firms has provided some much-needed competition for China’s stodgy traditional lenders, most of which are state-run banks noteworthy for their lack of innovation. Read Full Post…
