Bottom line: Tesla is likely to announce a new $9 billion electric car joint venture in Shanghai within the next two months, which could begin production as the industry starts to gain traction in the next 1-2 years.
Tesla on cusp of electric car JV
Almost a year to the day after media reported an imminent deal that would see electric car maker Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) set up a plant in Shanghai, new reports are emerging saying the long delayed deal will finally be announced. Anyone sensing a bit of “boy who cried wolf” with the latest reports is probably justified in feeling slightly skeptical. But I would quickly add this time perhaps we could finally see an announcement. It may not be as imminent as the reports are indicating, but perhaps within the next month or two.
Anyhow who feels compelled can go back and look at the reports a year ago, at which time I also predicted an announcement could be coming in the next month or two. (previous post) I tend to probably believe such reports a bit too much, mostly because China is a famously leaky place for such news. But that leakiness means that talks for deals often get out when they’re still in the relatively early stages, whereas in the west most such leaks don’t occur until the deal is nearly done. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Google will get permission from Beijing to open a Chinese version of its app Play Store later this year, most likely through a joint venture with NetEase or Tencent.
Google, NetEase talk China Play Store JV
The glacial return to China for Internet titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is making its debut in the 2017 headlines, with word that the company is in talks to open a Chinese version of its app store with online game giant NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES). That tidbit nicely sets the stage for what’s likely to be a banner year for Google and possibly US Internet rival Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) in their race to see who can be first to plant a tent pole in China. Read Full Post…
A rally for shares of China’s 3 major telcos early this week is raising the interesting question of whether an extended uptick is coming for these 3 companies, which are facing several developments that could help to lower costs and boost revenues, raising their profits. Media are citing the newest of those developments, the formation of an infrastructure joint venture between the trio, as the main driver for the Monday rally in shares of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA). But the bigger story is a number of major factors at play, all of which could help these 3 stodgy state-run firms boost their profits. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 12-14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba Estimates Own Market Value At $130 Bln (Chinese article)
China’s Hony Capital Snaps Up Pizza Express For $1.6 Bln (English article)
China’s 3 State-Owned Carriers Form Telecoms Tower Firm (English article)
China State TV Says Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone Creates Security Concern (English article)
Headphone Maker Beats Sues Chinese Counterfeiters For $135 Bln (English article)
Let’s end the week with a couple of new energy developments, led by word that China and the European Union could be heading for a new showdown after the pair narrowly avoided a trade war last year over dumping accusations towards Chinese solar panels. The news looks quite disappointing and bodes poorly for the broader solar sector, where protectionist forces have been rapidly building in the last few months. On a more positive note, Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang has just announced a new battery joint venture with Japan’s NEC (Tokyo: 6701), which looks full of potential to help solve one of the biggest problems for clean energy producers. Read Full Post…
A controversial new plan could see China’s 3 major wireless carriers pool their resources to form a base station joint venture, marking a rare collaboration just as Beijing is trying to foster more competition in the highly protected industry. While the move appears to have anti-competitive overtones, it would actually represent a smart and much-needed step towards reducing costs that would benefit both the companies and consumers. Read Full Post…
A day after we saw the latest sign that Lenovo (HKEx: 992) was pursuing a major purchase in the US, we’re getting news of another smaller deal by China’s leading PC maker with word of a new smartphone tie-up with faded Japanese brand NEC (HKEx: 6701). Whereas I quite like the US deal that would see Lenovo buy the low-end server business of IBM (HKEx: IBM), this smaller deal with NEC looks more like Lenovo’s older pattern of buying up dying global brands with little or no real value. Read Full Post…
