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Web portal Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) was in the headlines last week as founder and longtime chief executive Charles Zhang discussed a major restructuring for one of China’s oldest Internet companies to ensure its long-term survival. (Chinese article) His disclosure put Sohu alongside most of China’s other major Internet companies in announcing such plans, as each seeks to chart a new course in a rapidly changing environment. Read Full Post…
Many of China’s biggest tech leaders were chattering in cyberspace last week from Beijing, where they were gathered for this year’s National People’s Congress and the related Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as the lianghui. Lei Jun, CEO of handset sensation Xioami, was uncharacteristically low-key in talking about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as was Li Dongsheng, the soft-spoken CEO of leading TV maker TCL (HKEx: 1070; Shenzhen: 000100). But the marketing savvy Xiaomi was still up to its usual publicity tricks, helping to spread a series of photos showing Robin Li, founder of search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), using a Xiaomi handset in one of the sessions. Read Full Post…
The list of major Chinese entertainment firms jumping on the Hollywood bandwagon has just gained an important new member with word that Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027) is on the cusp of investing in a major new production house. I’ve been following the China media scene for more than a decade now, and can say that Huayi was one of the nation’s earliest major players to emerge in a space that was extremely difficult for years due to tough restrictions and extreme fragmentation. But Huayi has shown not only an ability to survive, but also to thrive in a market where the movie theater business is suddenly booming and online video has quickly become an important new revenue source. Read Full Post…
Search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) may be rapidly yielding market share to 2 up-and-coming rivals, even as its latest results show it’s still king of the hill when it comes to getting revenue from online advertisers. But the company is still searching for new innovation, with word that charismatic Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun came to speak at an internal event this week as Baidu seeks to rekindle its own “wolf spirit”. Baidu’s quest to become more diversified and has moved into high gear with a spree of major acquisitions over the last year in a wide range of areas. Still, its latest results, while impressive, show just how heavily dependent the company remains on online advertisers. Read Full Post…
It may be a holiday in China, but there’s been no break in an increasingly entertaining war of words between 2 prominent short sellers and the US-listed Chinese firms they have been targeting in credibility-related attacks for more than a year now. The latest chapter in this saga has seen educational services firm New Oriental (NYSE: EDU), the most recent company to come under attack, just release a report saying an investigation by independent auditors found no evidence of wrongdoing related to allegations raised by short seller Muddy Waters. (company announcement) But as it released its report, Muddy Waters itself fired back by attacking one of New Oriental’s independent auditors, who just happens to be China’s richest man and the founder of leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Robin Li.
