Leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has just released its latest quarterly results that show profits continue to sag by about 10 percent, continuing a theme from the past year. But the figure that’s catching attention in the headlines is the company’s top line revenue, which has fallen for the first time ever in the latest quarter. The revenue drop isn’t all that surprising and comes about a year after China Mobile’s profits first began to decline. But perhaps more worrisome is the prospect that revenue could continue to drop for years until China Mobile finds a way to win back some of the business that is rapidly flowing to third-party service providers like Tencent (HKEx: 700) and a new batch of mobile virtual network operators (VNOs). Read Full Post…
Nearly a month after their global launch, Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhones are now formally on sale here in China. We’ll no doubt get flooded with numbers about initial sales in the next few days, some of which may be correct but many of which will probably be just guesses. One larger question that’s on everyone’s mind is promotions by the nation’s 3 telcos, as China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), as all come under government pressure to cut back on their aggressive subsidies.
The early news looks relatively good for Apple on that front, with one media report saying the 3 telcos are mostly maintaining their aggressive iPhone subsidies from previous levels. We’ll examine that issue shortly, and whether it even matters much. But first let’s look at the bigger picture that had the iPhone 6 receive a relatively strong reception after it went on sale in China on Friday, 4 weeks after its global debut and 3 weeks after its Asia launch. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 30-September 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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6 Detained, Arrested In Husi Tainted Meat Scandal (Chinese article)
iPhone 6 May Cost More Than 6,000 Yuan As Telcos Trim Subsidies (Chinese article)
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), Unicom (HKEx: 763) To Build Charging Outlets Across China (English article)
China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939) Announces Interim Results (HKEx announcement)
Game Maker Linekong Files For HK IPO, Gets Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Funding (Chinese article)
After several false alarms, China’s slow-moving telecoms regulator has finally made its highly anticipated award of 4G licenses to the nation’s 2 smaller telcos, providing a much needed boost as they lose share to dominant telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). Now China Telcom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHA) will have to quickly build networks based on 4G FDD-LTE technology, the standard used in most of the rest of the world that will now finally make its debut in China. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 28-30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Telecom, Unicom Get 4G FDD-LTE Trial Licences In 16 Cities (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Invests $736 Mln For 19.9 Pct Of 58.com (NYSE WUBA) (company announcement)
Trina (NSYE: TSL) CEO Elected First President of New China Photovoltaic Industry Assn (PRNewswire)
New Energy Car Sales Rise 10-Fold, Turning Point Seen For BYD (HKEx: 1211) (Chinese article)
China’s 2 smaller telcos, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), are reportedly urging the telecoms regulator to quickly give them new 4G licenses as they find themselves in the uncomfortable position of rapidly losing share to dominant carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). The development looks a bit worrisome from a broader market perspective, as it appears to show that 3 years of steady gains by the 2 smaller companies in the 3G era could quickly be reversed if the regulator doesn’t act soon, stifling competition and hurting consumers as China Mobile re-emerges as the nation’s overwhelmingly dominant player. Read Full Post…
New data is showing an acceleration in the decline of text messaging (SMS) in the new age of over-the-top (OTT) services like WeChat, underscoring the urgency for China’s 3 telcos to find new replacements for this important revenue generator. The decline of SMS isn’t new, and has been discussed by all 3 of China’s state-run telcos at one time or another over the last 2 years. The issue was also at the center of a high-profile dispute between China Mobile (HKEx: 941) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) in late 2012, involving the rapid rise of WeChat. But the latest figures do point to an acceleration of the decline, which will lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for the big telcos. Read Full Post…
A controversial new plan could see China’s 3 major wireless carriers pool their resources to form a base station joint venture, marking a rare collaboration just as Beijing is trying to foster more competition in the highly protected industry. While the move appears to have anti-competitive overtones, it would actually represent a smart and much-needed step towards reducing costs that would benefit both the companies and consumers. Read Full Post…
Just a day after China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) reported some of its worst results in years, new developments in the telecoms space are showing why the nation’s leading telco will face a rough time for the rest of this year and quite possibly well beyond that. According to the latest media reports, China’s telecoms regulator could issue 4G licenses for the main technology being used by China Mobile’s 2 rivals as soon as next month, injecting a major shot of competition into the market. The second telecoms news bit comes in broadband, with reports that the nation’s newly formed national cable TV company has formally registered and will start business soon. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sina Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) Shares Jump 19 Pct In US Debut (English article)
China Unicom (HKEx: 762) Confident Of Getting FDD-LTE License Within Year (Chinese article)
It’s probably too early to declare the death of an ambitious plan to liven up China’s stodgy telecoms services sector through the injection of new private sector competition. But the latest reports that these new competitors, called virtual network operators (VNOs), are facing difficulties due to high prices being charged by their suppliers is just the latest sign that the plan from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is running into trouble. I’ve been predicting such trouble all along, and these latest reports are raising serious concerns that the new VNOs will never get a serious chance to succeed. Read Full Post…
