Youku Tudou inc News

INTERNET: After Youku Tudou Bid, Weibo Next on Alibaba’s Menu?

By newsdoug on October 19, 2015

Bottom line: Alibaba could make a bid for Weibo in the next 6 months, in a deal that would share many similarities with its newly launched blockbuster offer for Youku Tudou.

China’s Internet is buzzing over the industry’s biggest acquisition to date with Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) offer for Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU), but that deal could presage an even higher-profile one that sees the fading Twitter-like Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) follow a similar fate. Or even more intriguing, Alibaba could make a potential play for Weibo’s parent and founder Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), in a move that would spell the end for China’s leading web portal and one of its oldest Internet firms.

There would be many similarities between such a deal and the Alibaba offer for leading online video site Youku Tudou deal announced late last week. Investors appear to also believe such a deal could possible, based on stock reactions to the blockbuster deal that would see Alibaba pay $4.6 billion for the more than 80 percent of Youku Tudou it doesn’t already own. Weibo shares leaped 13.4 percent after the deal was announced, second only to Youku Tudou’s own 22 percent jump. Read Full Post…

News Digest: October 17-19, 2015

By newsdoug on October 19, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 17-19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Offers $4.6 Bln for Rest of Youku (NYSE: YOKU) Video Site (English article)
Rare Store Sales Data Highlights Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: WMT) China Challenge (English article)
Bright Food to Buy 50 Pct of New Zealand Meat Processor for $200 Mln (English article)
Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL) Cuts 800 Jobs in China, Workers Stage Protest (Chinese article)
IBM (NYSE: IBM) Gives Beijing Access to Software Code (English article)
Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

SMARTPHONES: Apple Goes to War With China’s Pirates

By newsdoug on October 6, 2015

Bottom line: Apple’s new drive to sell legal music, books and video in China stands a reasonably good chance of success, banking on consumers’ growing willingness to pay for such products if they are convenient and affordably priced.

Following the record-breaking debut for its iPhone 6s models, tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is taking a big new risk by attempting something no one has done yet successfully: making profits from selling legal music and movies in China. The move was part of a newly announced major expansion of Apple’s online store in its second largest global market. But while Chinese consumers have shown a big willingness to pay huge premiums for iPhones, it’s far from clear they’ll do the same for movies and music that they can usually download for free.

Apple sold a record 13 million iPhone 6s models worldwide in their first weekend on sale, easily beating the previous record of 10 million for the iPhone 6 models. China was an important factor in achieving the new record, since the iPhone 6 wasn’t available here during the first weekend of its global launch due to technical reasons. Apple hasn’t given any individual country figures yet, but it’s probably safe to assume it sold at least 3 million of the new iPhones in China during their opening weekend. Read Full Post…

ENTERTAINMENT: Baidu Eyes Sale of Piracy-Plagued Music Unit

By newsdoug on September 24, 2015

Bottom line: Baidu’s reported plan to sell its online music unit looks like a smart way to rid itself of a controversial piracy-plagued business that holds little value for its main strategic focuses going forward.

In what could be a move that’s long overdue, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is reportedly eyeing a sale of a music division that was once one of its major attractions but in recent years has become more a liability due to frequent accusations of copyright violations. Baidu wasn’t commenting on the reports, but such a move would be consistent with its recent diversification into a range of new areas, none of which include music as part of their core business.

Such a deal, if it’s really in the works, probably wouldn’t be worth too much, perhaps in the $100-$500 million range at the very most. More significantly would be the disposal of a unit that in the past has come under fire for allowing rampant piracy through illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of copyrighted music. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Nothing New in Youku’s New Paramount Tie-Up

By newsdoug on September 16, 2015

It’s a quiet day on China’s corporate news front, as many companies stay silent and hope that the latest sell-off on the nation’s stock exchanges calms as the week progresses. So in the absence of major news, I thought I’d look at the latest Hollywood tie-up involving Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU), and do some reading between the lines about what it means for the struggling online video company.

The thing that most caught my attention about this latest licensing deal between Youku Tudou and Paramount Pictures was how passe it seemed. Youku Tudou and its rivals were frequently making this kind of announcement a couple of years ago, when they were trying to secure premium content that web surfers would pay to watch on their sites. But nowadays such deals don’t seem like big news anymore, and instead companies are focused on creating their own exclusive content. Read Full Post…

News Digest: September 16, 2015

By newsdoug on September 16, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 16. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════

Carmakers Curb China Output as Sales Growth Stalls (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) to Invest 2 Bln Yuan in Cloud Unit Over Next 12 Months (English article)
Meituan Denies Rumors of Failure for Latest Funding Round (Chinese article)
Yahoo’s (Nasdaq: YHOO) Alibaba Spinoff Remains Cloudy After IRS Notice (English article)
Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Signs Licensing Deal with Paramount Pictures (PRNewswire)

INTERNET: Baidu Spending Binge Continues with New iQiyi Tie-Up

By newsdoug on September 7, 2015

Bottom line: A new 1 billion yuan co-production tie-up for iQiyi marks the latest bid by Baidu to build up its new businesses through big spending, but could pressure Baidu’s shares due to shorter-term profit erosion.

iQiyi, Shanghai New Culture in production tie-up

I have to credit Internet giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) for sticking to its guns with its recent strategy of aggressive spending on acquisitions and tie-ups as the centerpiece of a drive to diversify beyond its core search business. That strategy put a big damper on Baidu’s profit growth in its latest quarterly results, sparking a sell-off that has seen its stock lose more than a third of their value this year.

And yet despite those concerns, Baidu continues to aggressively pour money into its emerging new businesses, many of them companies that are growing fast but are also losing big money. That’s certainly the case with Baidu’s latest investment, which will see it pour 1 billion yuan ($160 milllion) into a new co-production deal between its iQiyi online video unit and a Shenzhen-listed film production house called Shanghai New Culture (Shenzhen: 300336). Read Full Post…

MEDIA: SMG Boss Quits TV, Focuses on New Media

By newsdoug on August 14, 2015

Bottom line: SMG’s Whaley Tech division has become the focus of its drive into the new media realm, following Li Ruigang’s departure from his post as group chairman to focus on the unit’s development.

I don’t generally hold out much hope for traditional Chinese broadcasters for making the transition to new media, since most are bureaucratic, state-run outfits staffed by an older generation that doesn’t really understand the emerging industry landscape. But 2 companies that have the potential make the transition are Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Hunan Satellite TV, which are both making big drives into digital products delivered in on-demand formats over the Internet.

Of the pair, my favorite is Hunan Satellite, since the company has a strong track record of innovation that has helped it to build a national audience despite its location in the relatively backward interior Hunan province. But SMG’s longtime chief Li Ruigang is also trying to show he can take his company into the new media era, with word that he’s formally quit as chairman of his group to focus on development of its new media businesses. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Youku Tudou Eyes Overhaul in Pursuit of Respect

By newsdoug on August 13, 2015

Bottom line: Youku Tudou’s new name and campaign to create more exclusive content look like good strategic moves, but it really needs to sell itself to a larger benefactor to ensure its longer-term future.

Youku Tudou to change name, develop content ecosystem

Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) was once China’s top online video site when it was formed 3 years ago through the merger of the country’s 2 leading players. But those glory days are firmly in the past now, as the company has been overtaken by more aggressive names like LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) and iQiyi, the service backed by cash-rich online search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).

Now media are reporting that Youku Tudou is rolling out a major overhaul that will include a new name for the company, as well as a massive spending campaign to build up an ecosystem for creating its own video content. The campaign certainly seems interesting and long overdue. But I’ve argued for a while now and still believe that what Youku Tudou really needs is to consider selling itself to a stronger Internet partner, rather than trying to continue as an independent company. Read Full Post…

News Digest: August 8-10, 2015

By newsdoug on August 10, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 8-10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006) in Talks To Buy China-based Vienna Hotels Group (Chinese article)
JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) to Buy 10 Pct of Yonghui Superstores for 4.3 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
Gome’s (HKEx: 493) E-commerce Unit Appoints New Management in Drive to IPO (English article)
Anbang Insurance to Make Over $1 Bln Bid for Japan’s Simplex: Sources (English article)
Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Changes Name, to Spend 10 Bln Yuan on Content Development (Chinese article)
Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

MEDIA: Luxury Slowdown Clips Phoenix’s Wings

By newsdoug on July 29, 2015

Bottom line: Sputtering demand for luxury goods and cars is likely to hamstring Phoenix Satellite TV’s earnings for at least the next year, as the company increasingly loses ground to new media rivals.

Sliding luxury demand undermines Phoenix

The recent slowdown in China’s luxury goods market is claiming one of its first victims in the media realm, with Phoenix Satellite TV (HKEx: 2008) warning that a sudden chill in luxury ad sales has wiped out its profits in the first half of the year. The news certainly doesn’t bode well for traditional media companies, which are a favored place for luxury goods makers to advertise. Car makers are another major source of ad revenue for these older media companies, and rapidly slowing sales in that sector also means that names like Phoenix and even some new media high-flyers like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) could be looking at a difficult period ahead. Read Full Post…