Recent gains in online search by Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou are in the headlines today, highlighting the challenges industry leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is facing from a new rival that is quickly gaining momentum and an older rival that also appears to be gaining some traction. At the center of the story is new data for October showing that Qihoo controlled nearly 10 percent of the China search market, just 3 months after the company launched an innovative new search engine. (previous post) Meantime, Sohu’s Sogou search engine, launched nearly a decade ago, also posted a respectable 7.5 percent share, as it reported its search revenue more than doubled in its latest reporting quarter.
Tag Archives: Tencent
Sina Weibo: Losing Its Edge? 新浪微博：正失去其优势？
I have to admit that I’m becoming just a little bit confused by all the user data coming from China’s top 3 microblog operators, which seems to paint a slightly different picture from the one that Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) would like everyone to believe about the dominance of its popular Sina Weibo service. My attention was first drawn to the subject by a new media report in which NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) says its microblogging service now has more than 260 million registered users, up sharply from 180 million just 2 months earlier. (English article) That number seemed to be a big narrowing of the gap with Sina Weibo, which had 360 million registered users at the end of June.
E-Commerce: Jingdong, Suning, Alibaba 电商：京东商城、苏宁易购、阿里巴巴
After a brief quiet spell, e-commerce is suddenly splashing back into the headlines on several fronts, with big news coming from the sector’s top 3 players, Alibaba, Jingdong Mall and Suning.com (Shenzhen: 002024), as each chases new business. Alibaba leads off the headlines with word that it’s preparing to launch a major new promotion on its popular TMall platform; while Jingdong is getting ready to launch a major overseas foray; and last but perhaps most interesting is Suning.com, which is chasing a new acquisition.
News Digest: October 10 报摘： 2012年10月10日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Japan Car Sales in China Tumble, Hit By Islands Row (English article)
- Tencent (HKEx: 700) E-Commerce to Start 300 Mln Yuan Promotion (English article)
- Suntech (NYSE: STP) Announces Strategy to Solidify Market Leadership (PRNewswire)
- China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Unicom (HKEx: 762) Start Taking iPhone 5 Orders (Chinese article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) Says Equipment Safe, and Poses No Security Threat (Businesswire)
Qihoo Alliance Offensive Targets Baidu 奇虎掀起联姻潮 欲与百度试比高
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is stepping up its challenge to Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) dominance in online search, with word that the security software specialist has formed a new alliance with leading online travel firm Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP). (English article; Chinese article) This new alliance appears to be part of a clever tactic by Qihoo to form new tie-ups with Internet companies that specifically want to see more competition in the Chinese search market and thus are willing to work closely with Qihoo as it embarks on a new online search initiative. Accordingly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more such announcements in the months ahead as Qihoo tries to build up its So.com search engine as a viable alternative to Baidu’s own service that now controls around three-quarters of the market.
Alibaba-Google: China’s Android Addiciton 阿里巴巴—谷歌：中国的“安卓瘾”
Despite its high profile exit from the mainland search market in 2010, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has quietly regained its position as a powerful force in China these last two years through the rapid rise of its Android mobile operating system (OS) that powers many of the nation’s smartphones. Its new rise was on display last week, as the US Internet giant threw a major wrench into the smartphone plans of Alibaba, China’s leading e-commerce company. With most Asian cellphone makers increasingly dependent on Android, Chinese firms that will depend on the mobile Internet for future growth need to think about creating their own new mobile platforms to rival Android. Otherwise they will risk becoming hostage to the world’s biggest Internet company, which could use its clout to ensure its own products always take precedence over its Chinese rivals’.
Alibaba Catches Baidu, Trails Tencent 阿里巴巴追上百度，落后于腾讯
The headlines have been buzzing this week with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba will soon announce the sale of 20 percent of its shares held by Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) to a new investor group for $7.6 billion, in the first step of a slow-motion divorce between these 2 Internet giants. (English article; Chinese article) From my perspective, the most interesting elements of the announcement will be the latest valuation Alibaba gets as a result of the deal, and also the names of the new investors in this massive new stake sale. Both will hint at what the future holds for Alibaba in terms of growth as it moves towards an IPO as soon as 2014.
Tencent Wechat Wows Mobile IM 腾讯微信主导移动即时通讯
The fight for dominance in of China’s mobile Internet is producing some interesting global shifts, with big names like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Alibaba facing aggressive, younger competitors as they try to translate their dominance of the older desktop Internet to the mobile space that will become a key growth driver in the next decade. But one company that seems on track to maintain its dominance is Tecent (HKEx: 700), China’s largest Internet company by market value, which rose to prominence a decade ago with its highly popular QQ instant messaging product. Now it seems that Tencent’s mobile instant messaging product Wechat, better known by its Chinese name of weixin, is facing little or no opposition in its rapid rise to become China’s dominant mobile IM product. (previous post)
55tuan: More Distress in Group Buying 窝窝团：中国团购行业再现危机
We’re seeing the latest signs of distress from the beleaguered group buying space, with word that 55tuan, one of the industry’s biggest players, is failing to pay some of its merchants. This kind of news isn’t really new anymore, as similar talk that many of the country’s money-losing group buying sites are rapidly running out of cash has been circulating for months now. This latest distress sign just shows that the end is fast approaching for many of these companies, though I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised that we haven’t seen any bigger failures yet.
Qihoo Adds “Like” to Search Offensive 360推“拇指计划” 继续向搜索业务发力
Security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is continuing its Internet search offensive by adding a new ratings feature to its product, leading me once again to applaud its innovative approach for this new initiative despite my broader doubts about this company. Media are reporting that Qihoo has added the equivalent of a “like” function to its search results similar to the one now on Facebook, which lets web surfers rate whether or not they find particular sites useful. (English article; Chinese article)
Tencent Bonds: Activision in View? 腾讯债券：目标是动视？
Update: A short time after I issued this article, Tencent released its formal plan to issue $600 million worth of bonds. The notes will mature in 2018 and carry an interest rate of 3.375 percent (company announcement)
Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) is taking a dip into the corporate bond market, an interesting move that should not only test investor aippetite for a new kind of financial product from China’s Internet space, but may also hint at the company’s future M&A plans as it explores a potential bid for Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI). Longtime China Internet watchers may recall that it’s been quite a long time since any companies from this space have issued corporate debt. Veteran players Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) all issued bonds shortly after becoming profitable about a decade ago, but none really needed the money and largely retired the fund-raising method after that.
