Bottom line: The absence of most mid-sized Chinese smartphone brands from the world’s biggest telecoms show this week in Spain reflects their inability to mount serious global campaigns, and also growing financial pressures many are facing.
Mid-sized Chinese brands skip MWC
China’s crowded field of low-cost and mid-range smartphone brands may claim to have global aspirations, but you would never know that judging by their loud absence at the world’s biggest telecoms show this week in Spain. I’ll admit that I’m not personally attending this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, so I’m dependent on the show’s website and media reports to determine who is and who isn’t attending.
But based on my own findings, including talks with spokesmen from at least one of the big domestic brands, most companies are skipping this show that has emerged in recent years as a major venue for debuting new smartphones. There are several reasons for skipping the show, but I suspect that chief among those is costs. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi and Meizu are trying to expand their exports by working through third-party distributors, and could make a formal entry into the US later this year after studying the market for patent-related liability.
Meizu eyeing US?
After dancing around the edges of the lucrative but extremely competitive US market for much of the last 2 years, fast-fading Chinese superstar Xiaomi and up-and-coming local rival Meizu may finally be preparing to enter the market through tie-ups with local carriers. A flurry of new media reports say the pair of Chinese brands are already making the move via a tie-up that will see their smartphones offered by US Mobile, a virtual network operator (VNO) that uses T-Mobile’s (Nasdaq: TMUS) network.
But no sooner did the reports emerge that Xiaomi issued its own statement saying it had no plans to sell its phones in the US, and that US Mobile was not one of its authorized distributors. Meizu also said it has no announced plans to enter the US. What seems clear from all this is that both companies are probably talking with one or more distributors about selling their smartphones in the US and possibly other western markets, even though neither is quite ready to make a formal announcement. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Gets 2 Bln Yuan Bank Loan Infusion, Prepares to Reorganize (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Leads $800 Mln Funding for Augmented Reality Firm Magic Leap (Chinese article)
China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT) to Form China Time Share JV with Weshare (Chinese article)
China Media Capital Invests 100 Mln Yuan in Financial New Media Huaerjie Jianwen (Chinese article)
T-Mobile Supplier to Import Xiaomi, Meizu Smartphones (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Lenovo’s plans to turn around its struggling smartphone business lack focus and are likely to fail, which could ultimately result in the exit of longtime chief Yang Yuanqing this year.
Lenovo denies plans to change Motorola logo
Computer giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) was busy showcasing its latest PCs at a major trade show last week in Las Vegas, but industry watchers were far more interested in the outlook for its struggling smartphone business. That’s because 2016 could easily become a make-or-break year for Lenovo, which desperately needs to turn around a smartphone unit that will be critical to its future growth.
In response to a flurry of questions focused on its smartphones, talkative CEO Yang Yuanqing said his company is making steady progress in the BRICS markets of Brazil and India, and that he’s aiming to set Lenovo back on an upward track in its home China market. Lenovo also announced a vague new smartphone partnership with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), and denied any plans to jettison its the famous bat-wing logo for its recently acquired Motorola brand.Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Ant Financial Finance Arm Said to Seek at Least $1.5 Bln (English article)
New World (HKEx: 17) to Prepare Buyout Offer for $7 Billion China Unit – Source (English article)
Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) Names New CEO, CFO, COO (GlobeNewswire)
Smartphone Maker Meizu Cuts 5 Pct of Headcount to Boost Competitiveness (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Co-Founder Li Wanqiang Returns to Head Xiaomi Pictures Division (Chinese article)
Bottom line: A new patent lawsuit against it in the US highlights one of the biggest challenges Xiaomi and other Chinese tech brands will face in their global expansion, and exposes a major weakness in China’s own patent protection system.
Xiaomi hit with US patent lawsuit
Stumbling smartphone sensation Xiaomi suffered a recent new setback in its global aspirations, after being sued in the US for patent infringement involving technology used in several of its popular models. The new action comes a year after Xiaomi was sued over similar allegations in India, and reflects one of the biggest challenges Chinese high-tech brands face as they try to expand beyond their home market.
Foreign companies often choose to pounce when these Chinese brands venture abroad, because they know that legal systems are more mature and patent enforcement more effective in these countries than in China. Many of these countries take immediate action against suspected patent violators if they believe a case is valid, unlike China where cases can often drag on for months or even a year or more before a verdict is reached. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Huawei’s strong sales for its Mate line of mid-range smartphones and positive coverage of Apple’s newest China store opening spotlight 2 of this year’s top Chinese smartphone trends, which should continue into next year.
Huawei aims high with Mate 8 launch
A couple of smartphone headlines are spotlighting 2 of this year’s top trends in the market, namely the rapid rise of Huaweiand the remarkable turnaround in China for Apple(Nasdaq: AAPL). The first headline has Huawei announcing lofty targets for the latest model from its line of mid-range smartphones. The second has Beijing becoming Apple’s unofficial Asian capital, with the opening of its fifth store in the city — more than any other in Asia.
Both of these stories are quite remarkable, as each represents a major shift from previous trends in 2014. Huawei has struggled for the last few years to differentiate itself from a crowded field of domestic smartphone makers, but finally emerged as a leader this year based on its better product designs. Similarly, Apple’s recent surge marked a major turnaround from the last few years, when its reputation took a beating in China due to poor relations with Beijing. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The bankruptcy of a major component supplier to ZTE and Huawei is the latest sign of stress in the overheated smartphone sector, and at least 1-2 small to mid-sized brands are likely to leave the market by mid-2016.
Smartphone price wars undermine parts maker Fosunny
Fresh new cracks are appearing in China’s smartphone making machinery, with reports that a major component supplier to Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) has gone bankrupt. At the same time, another report is citing bad weather for a supplier’s delivery delays that are causing Alibaba-backed (NYSE: BABA) smartphone maker Meizu to postpone the launch of a new high-end model.
The most worrisome of these 2 stories is the bankruptcy of Fosunny, a maker of metal casings used for smartphones. The company lists US wireless carrier AT&T (NYSE: T) and Europe’s Vodafone (London: VOD) among its customers on its website, but I suspect that both of those relationships come via third-parties like Huawei and ZTE that supply smartphones to those telcos. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Qihoo and Meizu are likely to struggle with their new smartphone campaigns in India, where intensifying competition will also undermine domestic rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei that have recently entered the market.
Qihoo unveils new Qiku smartphones
Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) and Meizu have announced they are taking their smartphones to India, becoming the latest Chinese brands to export to the fast-growing but increasingly competitive market. India is actually the second stop on Qihoo’s smartphone roadmap, which will begin in its home China market with the launch of the first 2 models of its new Qiku smartphone brand. Meizu has become a major second-tier player in its home China market over the last few years, and formally announced its own move into India this week as it looks to move overseas.
The pair will join several of China’s top smartphone makers in the increasingly crowded India market, which shares many qualities with China. Xiaomi launched in India last year and the market quickly became its second largest globally, while Huawei’s Honor brand has also scored rapid progress in the market. But Qihoo’s biggest competitor in India could be Coolpad (HKEx: 2369), which is already a big player in the market but will also produce Qihoo’s new smartphones through a joint venture formed by the pair last year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Strong sales growth for Huawei’s Honor brand in the first half of the year reflects the company’s broader accelerating momentum, and could pose a growing challenge for domestic rival Xiaomi.
Huawei’s Honor brand grows in India, eyes US
More new data is showing the growing momentum for smartphone aspirant Huawei, with word that the company’s Honor brand surpassed its sales target in the first half of the year as it prepares to enter the US. The latest numbers continue to portray a surging Huawei, and show how the company is using its traditional strengths in product development and a newer expertise in consumer marketing to overtake big domestic rivals like Xiaomi and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and also a host of smaller ones like Meizu and Coolpad (HKEx: 2369).
These latest numbers don’t look extremely impressive at first glance, as they show that Honor just slightly surpassed its sales target for the first half of the year. But in the current climate where many companies are missing their targets due to intense competition in China, the ability to not only meet but even slightly exceed a sales target does seem like a noteworthy accomplishment. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Global PC Shipments to Fall 8.7 Pct This Year – IDC (Chinese article)
