Tim Cook Archives ~ Page 3 of 3 ~ Business China : news for investors in China

CELLPHONES: Cook Eyes China Apple Pay, Xiaomi Goes Further Offline

By newsdoug on May 13, 2015

Bottom line: Apple is likely to reach a deal to bring Apple Pay to China in the next 12 months, while Xiaomi’s addition of traditional offline sales channels acknowledges it needs to diversify its approach to maintain its breakneck growth.

The old saying “An apple a day” seems to be appropriate this week in China, where Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook is being quite talkative on his latest China trip with a steady stream of small but noteworthy news. He began the week by announcing a new environmental China initiative for Apple, then followed by launching his own microblog on the locally popular Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), often called the Twitter of China. (previous post)

Now he’s candidly talking about hopes for bringing his company’s Apple Pay electronic payments service to China, perhaps through tie-ups with local e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) or UnionPay, China’s largest electronic transactions network operator. Read Full Post…

CELLPHONES: Apple Holds China Smartphone Crown, CEO Opens Microblog

By newsdoug on May 12, 2015

Bottom line: Apple’s retention of China’s smartphone crown for a second consecutive quarter is partly due to timing, but also owes to CEO Tim Cook’s new PR campaign that will help to win favor from Beijing and the broader Chinese public.

Media are fixated today on a new report showing China’s smartphone sales fell for the first time in this year’s first quarter, in a development that shouldn’t surprise anyone due to the market’s supersaturation. But equally impressive in the report is the ongoing surge of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), which managed to hold onto its title as the nation’s leading smartphone brand for a second quarter after stealing the crown from the high-flying Xiaomi.

Some may say Apple’s surge is due to timing, since it released its latest iPhones in October, fueling a fourth-quarter sales boom that lingered into the first quarter. That may be partly true, though I personally have to applaud CEO Tim Cook for mounting a very focused campaign to woo both Beijing and average Chinese consumers. In the latest move of that campaign, Cook has just opened his official account on Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), China’s equivalent of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), as he moves to communicate more directly with customers in one of his most important markets. Read Full Post…

CELLPHONES: Apple On China Roll With Court Win, Sales Milestone

By newsdoug on April 28, 2015

Bottom line: Apple’s new court victory in a China patent dispute shows its relations with Beijing are improving, positioning it well for growth in a country that is likely to pass the US as its largest global market in the next 1-2 years.

Apple wins China victory in patent dispute

A couple of new reports are showing that global gadget giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may have finally reversed its slumping fortunes in China, led by word that China probably overtook the US to become the world’s largest market for its iPhones in the first quarter of this year. The other report has Apple winning an important court victory against a Chinese company that accused it of illegally using its voice recognition technology.

This pair of upbeat stories come just a week after Apple scored another positive round of publicity in China, announcing it would make a relatively modest investment in 2 solar farms in southwest Sichuan province. (previous post) This sudden flurry of positive stories, and the fact that they’re being widely covered by China’s state-controlled media, shows Apple could finally be turning a corner in the country after a stormy relationship with Beijing over the last 2 years. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: China Reaches Out To Facebook In Growing Courtship

By newsdoug on December 10, 2014

Bottom line: The visit by a top Chinese Internet official to Facebook’s US campus shows Mark Zuckerberg’s charm offensive toward China is producing results, which could see his company finally get permission to enter the market next year.

China Internet official Lu visits Facebook campus

I have to commend Mark Zuckerberg for his tenacity, after the Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) founder once again made headlines for receiving a visit from a top Chinese Internet official visiting the US. There are several interesting things about this latest development involving Zuckerberg’s endless quest to bring Facebook to China, beginning with the source of this latest news.

It turns out the news didn’t come from Facebook or even ordinary people who caught a glimpse of the meeting, but rather it came from the web page China.com.cn, an official government site under the State Council. (Chinese article) What’s more, the account was rather detailed and upbeat, and featured several photos of Zuckerberg chatting happily on the Facebook campus with Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China. Read Full Post…

WEIBO – Praise For Cook’s Coming Out; Xiaomi Glows In Rankings

By newsdoug on November 5, 2014

Global gadget leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and its chief Chinese imitator Xiaomi have been filling the online airwaves these last few days, though for very different reasons. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was drawing praise and admiration from a wide range of tech executives on their microblogs, following his widely publicized editorial in which he disclosed that he is gay.

Meantime, a number of top officials from the talkative Xiaomi were also talking up a storm, which verged on gloating, as their company once again poached another high-profile Silicon Valley talent. They also had plenty to say as their high-flying company claimed the undisputed spot as the world’s third largest smartphone maker, behind only sector leaders Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and Apple. Read Full Post…

Alibaba’s Ma Eyes New Partner In Apple’s Cook

By newsdoug on October 29, 2014

Alibaba, Apple weigh electronic wallet tie-up

The headlines are buzzing today with news about newly listed Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), led by word that the e-commerce giant may explore an electronic payments tie-up with global gadget leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). I’ll be quite frank and say that such a tie-up would seem destined for disaster, based on the previous experience between Alibaba and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), its only other major partner in a similar past tie-up.

Meantime, Alibaba has also announced a spin-off of its fledgling online travel business, posing the interesting possibility of some major acquisitions as it tries to quickly expand the unit and also presenting a challenge to sector leaders Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR). Lastly there’s the largely technical news bit that Alibaba’s stock broke through the $100 mark for the first time in the latest trading session, putting it nearly 50 percent above its IPO price, as investors eagerly await the company’s maiden earnings report set for next Tuesday. (earnings calendar) Read Full Post…

Apple’s Cook In China, Xiaomi Weighs India Production

By newsdoug on October 23, 2014

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook should consider buying a second home in China, based on the growing frequency of his trips to the country since assuming his current title of the world’s biggest gadget maker 3 years ago. That’s my light-hearted suggestion, following reports that Cook is in China yet again after already paying a visit to the country earlier this year. Meantime, I might also suggest that Apple wannabe Xiaomi buy a few condos in India for its building presence in that market. In the latest headlines on that front, media are reporting that Xiaomi is eying India for its first major overseas manufacturing foray as it pushes heavily into the market. Read Full Post…

New Microsoft Chief Sets Sail For China

By newsdoug on August 29, 2014

It’s become a sort of rite of passage for CEOs of major tech firms to visit China after moving into their job, which looks set to happen again with a September trip to Beijing set for Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) new top executive Satya Nadella. Tim Cook traveled to China just 6 months after taking the reins from Steve Jobs as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO in 2011, and has visited the country several times since then. Even Twitter’s (NYSE: TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo visited Shanghai earlier this year, just months after the social networking giant’s New York IPO, despite saying earlier that China wasn’t a market where his company could do business. (previous post) Read Full Post…

China Fires Overwhelm Apple’s Cook

By newsdoug on July 31, 2013

Apple’s Cook back in China to put out latest fires

The US may be one of the world’s most competitive markets, but tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is quickly discovering that fast-growing China is far more complex for a wide range of reasons that are often more political than economic. CEO Tim Cook was in Beijing this week to address some of those issues, in what looks like a hastily arranged trip to put out a growing number of fires facing his firm in the world’s largest smartphone market. Read Full Post…

Apple CEO Cook Stirs Up Guessing Firestorm 苹果CEO库克低调访华意欲何为？

By newsdoug on March 28, 2012

I’ve been quite amused by the flood of articles coming out these last few days guessing at the mission behind the low-key visit to China by Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO shortly before Jobs’ death last year. The trip is Cook’s first to China since he took the helm at the world’s biggest technology company, and follows another low-profile visit last year when he was still chief operating officer and was spotted at the offices of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). (previous post) So what exactly is Cook up to this time around? Different media are all playing the guessing game to try and figure it out. The few certain facts include his visit to a Beijing Apple store, where Cook was spotted and photographed, as well visits to China’s 3 wireless carriers, China Mobile, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA). Cook is also paying a visit on Beijing’s mayor, but that’s where the certainty ends. Reuters, my former employer, is saying that Cook is on a mission to try to sort through some of Apple’s recent headaches in China, including labor issues at some of its manufacturing partner and an ongoing trademark dispute over the iPad name. (English article) Bloomberg, meanwhile, is putting a more positive spin on its guess, focusing on Apple’s plans to invest further in China, its second largest market. Bloomberg’s report points out that Apple currently has a relatively modest 5 retail stores in China — far less than it was aiming for by this time in an earlier interview. (English article) Meantime, the Chinese tech website operated by NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is covering all the bases, leading off with an investment story and Cook’s many meetings, while also giving smaller play to the trademark dispute. (Chinese article) The rival tech news website operated by Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) also has all the bases covered, though it has kicked off its Cook-fest with speculation that the trademark dispute is the main focus of his trip. Since everyone else is weighing in with their guesses, I don’t mind also getting in my own view, which is that Cook is here to focus on big picture issues such as expansion of the company’s store and distribution networks. That means the smaller things, like the trademark dispute and image problems due to labor issues, are probably very low on his agenda, and are being left for the company’s public relations department to handle. One topic that nobody has mentioned, which should be near the top of Cook’s agenda, is Apple’s desire to sign a deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile carrier with two-thirds of the market and the only one of China’s 3 telcos without a formal iPhone deal. Such a deal has been elusive so far since China Mobile’s 3G network uses a homegrown technology, meaning Apple would have to develop a new iPhone model just for China Mobile. Still, China Mobile’s 650 million subscribers must look very attractive to Apple and should be worth the investment. And with the retirement last week of China Mobile’s long-serving Chairman Wang Jianzhou (previous post), who was unable to reach an iPhone deal in earlier talks, perhaps Apple and China Mobile could finally reach a deal with the company’s newer, more aggressive leadership.

Bottom line: Apple CEO Tim Cook’s visit to China is focused on big picture issues, including the sealing of an elusive iPhone tie-up with leading mobile carrier China Mobile.

China Mobile Nears iPhone Deal, Continues 4G Press 中移动iPhone协议近尾声加紧4G攻势

By newsdoug on August 22, 2011

China Mobile picking up speed with iPhone, 4G developments China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), under new leadership as long-serving Chairman Wang Jianzhou gets set to retire, is showing signs of new life on several fronts, including some of its best earnings in quite a while. The company reported its second-quarter profit rose 7 percent — a figure that might look boring by anyone else’s standards but marks a sharp improvement for a company that has reported low single-digit growth and even one decline for most of the past three years. (English article) The company credited the growth to revenue from stronger data services traffic, an area that China Mobile had neglected in the last two years after failing to win a 3G license based on globally developed technology and instead being forced to use a homegrown standard. After those two years of denial, China Mobile seems to finally be not only facing its less-than-ideal 3G reality but also embracing it, pushing hard for a deal to develop and offer a version of Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) popular iPhone based on its homegrown 3G standard. After welcoming Apple’s COO Tim Cook to its Beijing headquarters in June as part of those talks (previous post), China Mobile disclosed last week that none other than Apple chief Steve Jobs himself has joined the negotiations, indicating a deal is likely in the next 1-2 months and the company could offer its own 3G iPhones by the end of the year. Wang is also keeping up China Mobile’s pressure on the telecoms regulator to issue 4G licenses sooner rather than later, saying the company’s 4G trial networks in 6 major Chinese cities could be ready for commercialization by next year. (Chinese article) The commercial launch of such 4G service, which uses more reliable technology than China Mobile’s 3G network, would bring even more momentum back to China Mobile at the expense of smaller rivals China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), and if all goes according to plan I could easily see China Mobile returning to double-digit profit growth as soon as the end of this year.

Bottom line: China Mobile is rapidly regaining momentum under its new leadership, and could easily return to double-digit profit growth by the end of this year.

中国移动(0941.HK)董事长王建宙即将退休，在新领导层带领下，中移动在各方面显露出新成长迹象，包括近期财报表现出色。中移动财报显示，其第二季度利润同比增长约7%，这在其它公司看来或许表现平平，但过去三年中多数时候，中移动一直以个位数低幅增长，甚至出现一次亏损，因此这一增幅标志着其经营状况大幅改观。中移动将此归功于数据服务流量增加，中移动在两年前的3G牌照颁发中仅取得中国自主研发的TD-SCDMA标准後，一直未对数据服务领域给予重视。两年之後，中移动似乎终于面对并接受其差强人意的3G现实并积极应对，正努力争取达成协议，提供基于TD-SCDMA标准的苹果(AAPL.O)iPhone。苹果首席运营官库克（Tim Cook）6月到访中移动北京总部谈判，中移动上周披露，苹果首席执行官乔布斯亲自参与谈判，表明协议或在1-2个月内完成，中移动年底前或推出TD-SCDMA版3G iPhone。王建宙还将继续敦促工信部尽早发放4G牌照，称中移动在六大城市的TD-LTE试点网络预计明年可以实现商用。由于中国移动的4G技术比现有的3G技术可靠，服务商用化启动，4G的商用将对中移动更为有利，但代价是牺牲中国联通(0762.HK, CHU.N)和中国电信(0728.HK, CHA.N)等规模较小的竞争对手，如果一切依中移动的计划推进，我认为，中移动在年底前将轻而易举地恢复利润两位数增长。

一句话：中国移动在新管理层带领下，将迅速夺回市场份额，年底前将轻而易举重返利润两位数增长。