First it was smartphones, then it was Internet TV, and now wireless routers have become the latest flavor of the day for Chinese web firms as everyone looks to drive traffic to their sites and services in the fast-evolving market. I previously wrote when security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) entered the router space in June, and now a new report says smartphone maker Xiaomi, search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and game specialist Shanda are preparing to enter the sector as well. Meantime in a separate but related telecoms move, leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is making a feeble move into the international market with a relaunch of its Jego service that it suspended shortly after an original roll-out earlier this year. Read Full Post…
I previously welcomed the installment of a new generation of leaders at China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) about a year ago, but a steady series of mixed signals since then have me wondering if these new executives may be just as confused as their predecessor, former Chairman Wang Jianzhou. Since taking the helm of the world’s biggest telco, the new executives, led by new Chairman Xi Guohua, have made a number of moves that seem to reflect a company whose head remains in a haze. The latest of those has seen China Mobile just announce that it’s suspending its Skype-like Jego mobile messaging service just weeks after its launch. (Chinese article) Read Full Post…
After months of complaining about new competition from the private sector, dominant mobile carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is finally developing its own rival products to combat the rapid rise of WeChat, a popular mobile messaging app run by Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). This move is what China Mobile should have done from the start, and marks the carrier’s own important realization that it can’t depend on Beijing to protect its dominant market status the way it might have in the socialist era. Read Full Post…
