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Tag Archives: iQiyi
iQiyi, is China’s leading advertising supported online television and movie portal.
Overview of the expert of Chinese high Tech company expert Doug Young
Bottom line: Online real estate stocks could resume their rebound if their latest forecasts are accurate, while Youku Tudou shares are holding steady despite widening losses on hopes for a merger deal with iQiyi.
Online real estate stocks drop on weak earnings
This week marks the height of earnings season for US-listed Chinese stocks, prompting me to look at a quartet of struggling companies in the real estate and online video spaces that have just reported results. The former category has seen the trio of SouFun (NYSE: SFUN), E-House (NYSE: EJ) and Leju (NYSE: LEJU) all release their earnings over the last 2 days, revealing gloomy results as an ongoing correction shows no signs of easing in China’s real estate market. Meantime, former online video leader Youku Tudou’s (NYSE: YOKU) latest results also look weak, showing the company’s losses ballooned as it continues to search for an elusive model for long-term profitability. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Shares of Youku Tudou and Vipshop are likely to remain stable over the next few weeks, as the former moves towards a rumored merger with iQiyi and the latter fends off a short seller attack.
Vipshop likely to fend off short seller attack
Two stories with big implications for individual company stocks are in the news as we begin the new week, led by a denial from Baidu-backed (Nasdaq: BIDU) online video site iQiyi that it’s in talks for a merger with large rival Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). The other big news has high-flying discount e-commerce site Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) coming under a short-seller attack, prompting it to issue not one but two separate statements denying the allegations. The week ahead could be bumpy for both of these stocks, which is why I’m weighing in with my own view of what may be happening behind the scenes. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A merger between Youku Tudou and iQiyi looks like a strong possibility because it would greatly benefit both companies, creating a clear market leader to rival LeTV and traditional broadcasters.
Youku Tudou in merger talks with iQiyi?
Rumors that former online video leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) is in talks to merge with rival iQiyi have reignited interest in the former’s beleaguered stock, as investors get excited about another landmark deal in the space. Youku Tudou’s shares soared 17 percent in the latest trading session, and have now nearly doubled since the beginning of April.
The sourcing is quite vague on the reported talks for a merger with iQiyi, which is owned by online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). But I would give the reports a strong chance of being true, as this kind of a move seems consistent with past behavior of Youku Tudou’s CEO Victor Koo, who is highly practical and thus would seriously consider selling his company if such a move made financial sense. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Spin Off Smart TV Unit As JV With Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) (English article)
Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) In Merger Talks With iQiyi – Market Talk (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Smartphone Sales Rise 36 Pct To 15 Mln Units In Q1 (Chinese article)
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Reports Q1 2015 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: TVB’s choice of a Shanghai-based traditional broadcaster as its mainland partner looks like a bad selection to ensure its future, as such traditional media rapidly get overtaken by more nimble Internet-based players.
TVB places bets on Shanghai Gang
Hong Kong has been buzzing this past week over the latest mainland encroachment on its media sector, which is seeing leading broadcaster TVB (HKEx: 511) sell a stake in itself to a Chinese investor. But few have gone past the headlines to see what’s really behind this deal, and whether it can help to ensure the longer term survival of a company that has long dominated Hong Kong’s broadcasting scene. In a nutshell, TVB is placing its bets on a group of Chinese media high-flyers that I like to call the “Shanghai Gang”, because they are rooted in China’s largest media market and have strong ties to the city’s monopoly broadcaster, Shanghai Media Group (SMG). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: More Chinese online video companies could soon follow LeTV onto the global stage as their home market soars, providing competition in smaller markets to locally entrenched players like Hong Kong’s PCCW and TVB.
LeTV marches into HK
China is generally considered a technology follower rather than a leader, but new data are showing an exciting trend that could see it finally emerge as a global innovator in Internet-connected video services. The factors behind this movement are uniquely Chinese, and stem from a huge pent-up demand in China for quality video services. Such services are finally starting to come from a growing range of private companies led by names like LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104), Xiaomi and Youku Tudou (Nasdaq: YOKU), which are far more innovative and nimble than the stodgy state-run firms that dominate the traditional broadcasting sector.
Those newer companies are showing early signs of trying to go global, using Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian markets as their stepping stones onto the world stage. Such markets are relatively small and rely heavily on western content, making them particularly fertile ground for some of these Chinese firms that can create and distribute content more suitable for Asian audiences. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New moves against e-commerce and online video firms are extensions of a broader crackdown on rogue Internet practices, which will slow short-term growth at some companies but ultimately create a healthier business environment.
E-Commerce in China
Crackdowns widen on video, e-commerce
It seems like I write about the latest Internet crackdown far too often these days, as Beijing focuses on a wide range of industries where it wants to clean up what it sees as unhealthy business practices. Another 2 such crackdowns are in the headlines as we head into spring, one in the scandal-wracked e-commerce space and the other in online video. Both crackdowns actually began earlier, and these latest moves just show the regulators don’t feel that their job is finished yet.
Of course it’s a slight oversimplification to say this broader series of crackdowns is coming from a single source, since the commerce regulator has been the main driver behind the e-commerce crackdown and the broadcasting and publishing regulator is behind the video clean-up. But those 2 concurrent campaigns, along with other similar ones, probably underscore a recent resolve by central leaders in Beijing to clean up a Chinese business landscape that’s often riddled with corrupt and illegal practices. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Youku Tudou’s big bet on original content development could pay dividends in the long term, but will push the company further into the loss column in the short term as it spends heavily on the business.
Original content in focus at Youku Tudou
When the history books are written, the story of China’s online video industry could well be called “A Tale of 2 Business Models”. The most common model is seeing a growing number of players invest big money on development of original content, which is what former leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) is doing with a major new announcement in that direction. The other model is seeing players like LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) focus equally or more on distribution by rolling out new products like smartphones and Internet TVs to deliver their content. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: LeTV could be a company to watch as it embarks on a global expansion, drawing on a savvy business model that sells smart TVs and smartphones at low prices in exchange for video subscription contracts.
LeTV makes cryptic debut at trade show
A major telecoms show happening this week in Spain was filled with small bits of news, but one of the biggest surprises came when I stumbled on an area decked out with signage for the racy online video firm LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104). So far as I could tell, none of the company’s many rivals like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and iQiyi were at the show, and even global leader YouTube was absent. That’s not hard to understand, since the Mobile World Congress taking place in Barcelona is a telecoms show whose main attendees are telecoms equipment and smartphone makers. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s overall Internet growth will continue to slow as the market starts to become saturated, with messaging and other mobile services continuing to steal share from microblogging and video operators.
Microblogging decline bites Weibo
A newly released annual government report on China’s Internet is full of good news for the online business community, with most sectors posting double-digit growth as overall penetration neared the 50 percent mark. But a few sectors stood out as distinctive losers in the report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), led by the microblogging space that saw a sharp decline in users.
That’s not too surprising due to departures or pull-backs in the space last year by big names like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700), though it certainly doesn’t bode too well for sector giant Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB). Another relative loser was online video, which posted only tiny growth last year as the sector came under regulatory assault aimed at reining in companies like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A weak debut for eHi reflects waning investor enthusiasm for Chinese IPOs, while a new $585 million investment in Huayi Bros reflects strong growth prospects for the independent filmmaker.
eHi IPO sputters out of the gate
A flurry of fund-raising events are in the headlines today, led by a weak trading debut for car rental specialist eHi Car Services (NYSE: EHIC) and a big capital infusion for Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027), one of China’s leading independent film makers. Rounding out the activity are reports confirming that smartphone high-flyer Xiaomi has made its largest investment to date, spending $300 million for a stake in iQiyi, China’s second largest online video site owned by Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
