I previously predicted that e-commerce giant Jingdong would try to make a IPO in the first half of this year, and now we’re hearing that the company has come out galloping in the Year of the Horse by filing a plan for a major New York listing. Word of the plan comes after a year-end boom for Chinese Internet IPOs in New York, most of which have soared since theirdebuts. Jingdong undoubtedly wants to try to seize some of that momentum, but equally important is keen to make its offering before the highly anticipated IPO of its much larger rival Alibaba expected later this year. Alibaba itself was also in the headlines over the Lunar New Year holiday, with the latest financials on the company adding further froth to its soaring valuation. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Nu Skin (NYSE: NUS) Probe Drags Down Herbalife,USANA Too (English article)
Xiaomi to Invest in Video Sharing Site Xunlei – Source (English article)
China Microblog Users Fall By 28 Mln, Or 9 Pct, In 2013 (Chinese article)
Shanghai Disneyland (NYSE: DIS) Starts Recruiting For 2015 Park Opening (Chinese article)
Jingdong Plans IPO In Second Half Of 2014 To Raise $2 Bln – Source (Chinese article)
I have to admit I was quite disappointed to read that China’s regulator has set an extremely modest target for a new group of virtual network operators (VNOs) that will finally break the telecoms services monopoly held by China’s big 3 state-run telcos. I wasn’t expecting huge things from this new group of operators, who will lease network capacity from the trio of existing telcos and then sell telecoms services under their own brands. But the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s goal of just 50 million VNO mobile service subscribers by the end of next year looks ridiculously low to me and hints of worries that this new pilot program could be plagued with problems. (English article) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) In Talks To Invest In Jingdong – Source (English article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE), China National Nuclear Corp In Solar Projects JV (PRNewswire)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Gradually Enter US Smartphone Market – Americas Chief (Chinese article)
Alibaba, Suning Chances Good For 1st Round Of Private Bank Licenses (Chinese article)
China Suspends Ban On Video Game Consoles After More Than A Decade (English article)
It’s quiet outside as markets reopen on this first work day after the New Year, so I thought I’d start off 2014 with some predictions for the year ahead in the sectors that I cover. Generally speaking, I do think the first half of the year will see a continuation of strong momentum that began in late 2013 for many sectors. But that momentum will slow as we near the mid-year mark, and 2014 could end with a whimper as the Chinese economy continues to slow and Beijing pushes for higher quality growth. Read Full Post…
The microblog realm has been buzzing loudly this final week of 2013 with stories that are likely to be major themes in the new year, led by a probable IPO by Jingdong, China’s second largest e-commerce firm. Meantime, e-commerce leader Alibaba was showing no signs of slowing down the endless promotion of its recently launched mobile instant messaging (IM) service Laiwang, as it tries to catch up with Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) hugely popular WeChat rival service. Lastly, tweets coming from top e-commerce firms Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) hint that 2014 could see the start of consolidation in the booming but also fiercely competitive parcel delivery sector, perhaps including a few major acquisitions and closures and a long-awaited domestic IPO for China Postal Express, the parcel delivery unit of China’s Post Office. (previous post) Read Full Post…
We’ll start off this first day of the new year with what could well become a major theme for 2014, with word that make-up giant Revlon (NYSE: REV) is officially pulling the plug on its China operations. This timing of this move, which was officially announced just before year end, was most likely related to accounting issues, as Revlon probably wants to take some or all of its resulting $22 million write-down in the fourth quarter. But that said, Revlon’s withdrawal shines a spotlight on the tough market for consumer goods in China, as a slowing economy leads many to cut back their spending on non-essential daily items like make-up. Read Full Post…
After moving extremely slowly throughout the year, the telecoms regulator is suddenly surprising everyone with a flurry of major new announcements in the final weeks of 2013. First the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued long-awaited 4G wireless licenses earlier this month, and now we’re learning that it has just issued its first batch of virtual network operator (VNO) licenses. This sudden issue of VNO licenses comes as a bit of a surprise, since there were no advance indications for the timing and many believed the MIIT wouldn’t make the move until next spring. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Telecom (HKEx: 728) To Save 3.14 Bln Yuan After Cut In Fees (English article)
A major homecoming for the top executive at e-commerce giant Jingdong is topping the news this week in China’s microblog airwaves, which have been humming with gossip in the run-up to the Christmas holidays. Internet watchers will know I’m talking about Jingdong’s talkative founder Liu Qiangdong, whose voice suddenly disappeared from the microblogging realm for much of this year. Now we’re learning that his silence was due to his quiet departure from China for the US, where he spent a year in a study program.
Elsewhere in the microblogging world, a couple of high level executives at UnionPay, operator of China’s leading electronic payments network, and game operator 4399 are drawing attention to the fact that Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo microblogging service may be past its peak and losing its luster. I’ve also noticed this trend, which spotlights how China’s Internet seems much more susceptible to fads than in other parts of the world. Read Full Post…
CNNIC says China Internet users cross 600 mln mark
It’s a quiet news day on this Black Friday after the US Thanksgiving holiday, so I thought I would close out the week with a couple of interesting items that show how quickly the China’s Internet market is still growing and how e-commerce’s influence is rising. The rapid growth is showing up in the latest government data that says China’s Internet community has officially passed the 600 million user mark, further bolstering the market’s position as the world’s largest. At the same time, another new report involving Shunfeng, a leading domestic parcel delivery firm, is revealing a potential new trend that could see e-commerce firms form new alliances with their suppliers and logistics companies. Read Full Post…
