Tag Archives: Sina Weibo

INTERNET: Twitter Tweets Indecisively Around China

Bottom line: Twitter’s conservative approach to China reflects a broader indecision at the company that is limiting its growth potential.

Twitter shackled by indecision in China

While social networking giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) actively flirts with China in a bid to enter the world’s largest Internet market, the smaller, struggling Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) seems unable to make up its mind. That seems to be the key takeaway from a new interview on the prickly subject of China between Maya Hari, Twitter’s Asia Pacific chief, and Caixin, a well-respected Chinese financial media that also happens to be my current employer.

This particular message seems to be a recurrent theme with Twitter, which, like Facebook, doesn’t like China’s strict self-censorship policies but also finds it hard to ignore such a big market. In Facebook’s case, the company has made it quite clear it’s willing to tolerate China’s self-censorship policies for a chance to build a presence in the market, most likely through a future joint venture with a local partner. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Twitter Eyes China Ads, Weibo Eyes Car Services

Bottom line: Twitter’s growing pursuit of business from Chinese advertisers shows it is watching the market for a potential future entry, while a new equity tie-up could see Didi Kuaidi’s hired car services launch on Weibo later this year.

Twitter chases China advertisers

Social networking (SNS) pioneer Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and its Chinese clone Weibo Corp (Nasdaq: WB) are both in the China headlines today, each taking gambles on different parts of the market. After previously saying that China isn’t a market where it can do business, the original Twitter has quietly begun to court local advertisers, even as its actual service remains blocked in the country. Meantime, Weibo, which rose to prominence after Twitter was first blocked in China in 2009, has announced a relatively large new investment in local hired car services leader Didi Kuaidi. Read Full Post…

FUND RAISING: WuXi Pharma Joins De-Listing Queue, Renren Waits

Bottom line: WuXi PharmaTech’s privatization will be followed by at least 3-4 more similar buy-outs this year for US-traded Chinese stocks, including a 50-50 chance that Renren will attempt a privatization by mid-year.

Wuxi Pharma gets buy-out bid

I’m beginning to feel like I should start a betting list of Chinese candidates that may de-list from New York, following word that unappreciated drug maker WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) has become the latest company to announce a management-led buy-out. At the same time, dying social networking (SNS) site Renren (NYSE: RENN) has also announced results of its own recent Dutch auction-style share buyback plan, which also hints that it could become the next company to attempt a privatization. Read Full Post…

M&A Heats Up With Sohu, PPTV Talk

PPLive eying Sohu tie-up?

I’ve written too much recently about neglected web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), but the latest rumors of a potential tie-up between the company and PPTV, operator of  one of China’s leading video websites, are just too irresistible for me to ignore. Those rumors say Sohu is in talks to combine its own online video business with PPTV to create one of the nation’s top 3 players. News of such talks comes just a couple of weeks after leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) purchased another top video site, PPS, for $370 million, and indicates a new wave of consolidation in China’s Internet space may be gaining momentum. Read Full Post…

Sina’s Weibo Suffers New Setback With Lawsuit 吉林市驻京办可能起诉新浪微博

Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo service is suffering yet another setback as the Beijing representative office of northeastern Jilin province prepares to sue the wildly popular microblogging service, marking an ominous start to the new year for the former high flyer. In this latest setback, the Jilin representative office says it will sue Weibo for defamation after a woman with “verified” status on the site falsely claimed the office as her employer and boasted of a lavish lifestyle. (Chinese article) The case underscores the difficulty Sina will have in verifying the identities of its 250 million users over the next 2 months, after Beijing ordered it and other social network sites to do so as part of a campaign to crack down on rumor-mongering and general unruliness in the space. (previous post) It also exposes the vulnerability that Weibo will face from similar lawsuits by others who say their reputations have been damaged by things that are said and happen on the site, potentially burying Weibo in a pile of legal actions that distract it from its core mission of becoming profitable. The case behind this looming lawsuit looks very similar to another more high-profile one earlier last year, which saw scandal erupt after a woman named Guo Meimei, who had similar “verified” status as an employee for a unit of the China Red Cross, boasted of a lavish lifestyle on the site. Her boasts led many to question how their donations to the Red Cross were being used, and it was later discovered that she really didn’t work for the organization despite her “verified” status. This latest case has seen another woman named Gao Yue, who had similar “verified” status as an employee of the Jilin representative office, make similar claims of a lavish lifestyle, again raising the ire of other Weibo users. The Jilin office  responded by filing a formal complaint with the police, and saying it intends to sue Weibo for defamation. Luckily for Weibo, Chinese law strictly limits potential damages for such lawsuits, meaning Sina is unlikely to face serious financial consequences even if it loses such a suit. But such a development will damage Weibo’s reputation, and could open the doors to many more suits from people and organizations unhappy about activity on the site. I previously predicted that Weibo could make an IPO later this year when its business was booming last year, but now I think the service will be lucky if it can even become profitable by year end.

Bottom line: A looming lawsuit against Sina’s Weibo shows that 2012 will be a year of challenges for the former high-flyer, which will be lucky if it can even become profitable by year end.

Related postings 相关文章:

Microblog Clampdown: Only Chapter 1? 实名制向网络行业吹去冷风

Watch Out Weibo, Weixin Is Growing 新浪微博要小心腾讯微信要崛起

Govt’s Microblog Shift Looks Good for Weibo 政府口风转变或有利於新浪微博