I’m just coming back after a week’s absence, so thought I would mark my return by writing about one of my favorite subjects: Ren Zhengfei, the super-shy founder of telecoms giant Huawei Technologies. I don’t usually believe in conspiracy theories, but if I did I might be starting to wonder if Ren is really the powerful and insightful person Huawei keeps describing for us. Instead, I might be starting to wonder if perhaps Ren was a myth created for public consumption, much like the title character in the famous novel “The Wizard of Oz” turned out to be a modest, largely powerless man instead of the powerful wizard he wanted everyone to believe he was.
Tag Archives: ZTE
Smartphones: Xiaomi Sales, ZTE Tie-Up 小米迅速成长 中兴另辟蹊径
A couple of news bits from the smartphone space are shining a spotlight on 2 very different stories in the sector, with up-and-comer Xiaomi’s young but rapid growth moving ahead, while a struggling much larger ZTE (HKEx: 763) is trying a new approach to win more overseas business. The only common theme to these 2 different stories is the lightning pace of change that has developed in the dynamic smartphone space, where a manufacturer can now go from startup to superstar to laggard status in very short time.
News Digest: January 10 报摘：2013年1月10日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Liu Qiangdong: Jingdong Mall Won’t Make IPO Before 2015 (Chinese article)
- China’s Insurance Regulator To Reject $9.4 Bln HSBC (HKEx: 5) Deal: Reports (English article)
- Xiaomi Sells 7 Mln Smartphones in 2012 (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763), Telstra Launch Easy UI Customization for Global Operators (Businesswire)
- Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Cook Visits China Unicom (HKEx: 762) This Morning (Chinese article)
ZTE Sells Assets, Huawei Courts Iran 中兴出售资产，华为讨好伊朗
After a few weeks of silence, embattled telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) are back in the headlines again for the wrong reasons, with more bad news for each of these 2 companies that have lately entered an endless downward spiral. Exactly where this spiral of bad news will end is anyone’s guess, and I suspect 2013 won’t be a particularly good year for either company. But we could finally see the situations at both firms stabilize around the middle of the year, especially if either starts to gain some traction for its less controversial newer smartphone business.
ZTE, Huawei Scale Back Invesments 中兴、华为收缩战线
A couple of months after suffering a major setback in the US, hobbled telecoms equipment giants Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) are trying hard to convince the world that they are still committed to expansion in the west with 2 new investment announcements. But neither announcement looks very exciting in terms of size, and both look like feeble efforts to try to prove that neither company is ready to admit a slowdown in its global expansion. Both cases involve investment in new product development, with ZTE announcing a plan to invest in the US and Huawei focusing on Europe.
News Digest: December 12 报摘： 2012年12月12日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- SEC Charges Consultant With Fraud In Chinese Reverse Mergers (English article)
- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP) Launch Location-based SNS Platform (PRNewswire)
- Regulator OKs Agricultural Bank (HKEx: 1288) Issue of Up To 50 Bln Yuan in Notes (HKEx announcement)
- Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Meets with Lenovo (HKEx: 992) CEO in China (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) to Invest $30 Mln More In The US Market (Businesswire)
Canada OKs CNOOC Buy, AIG Tests US 中海油竞购尼克森获批
Fresh on the heels of a victory in its bid to buy Canadian energy exploration firm Nexen (Toronto: NXY), China is preparing to test its luck once again with another sensitive attempt to buy one of the largest US aircraft leasing companies from insurance giant AIG (NYSE: AIG). I previously predicted the Canadian government would ultimately approve the purchase of Nexen from state-run Chinese oil major CNOOC (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO), which the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally did just before the weekend after months of foot dragging. But a separate group of state-backed buyers that includes China’s biggest bank ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) should look closely at the fine print in final Nexen verdict, which could presage a bumpy flight path ahead in their surprise $5.5 billion bid for ILFC, the aircraft leasing arm of AIG.
ZTE Gears Up For Govt Hand-Outs 中兴积极准备获得政府支持
Having been locked out of the US and worried about the potential for similar problems in Western Europe, struggling telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) is fighting back by doing what it knows best: taking free money from Beijing. I don’t want to sound too negative here, but this latest deal between ZTE and China Development Bank is exactly what ZTE should NOT be doing, at least if it ever wants to convince the world that it’s a serious commercial company. But perhaps the company simply doesn’t care anymore what others think, and there’s also the very real possibility that ZTE is simply fighting for its very survival at this point.
News Digest: December 5 报摘： 2012年12月5日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- US Charges ‘Big Four’ Accountants Over China (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) Forms Strategic Tie-Up With China Development Bank (HKEx announcement)
- Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V), China Mobile (HKEx: 941) In Lumina 920 Deal -Source (English article)
- Tencent (HKEx: 700) Microblog Adds Intelligent Keyword Search Feature (English article)
- Jingdong Mall, Winekee Partner with French Wine Estates (English article)
Xiaomi Ties With Kingsoft in Cloud 小米斥资百万美元购买金山云股权
High profile smartphone maker Xioami is making headlines with word that it has purchased a stake in a unit of software maker Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888), in what could be the first in a new wave of tie-ups for this fast-rising company that aspires to be like global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). I have to admit that I’m not exactly sure what Xiaomi hopes to do with this new tie-up, which has it purchasing around 10 percent of Kingsoft Cloud Group, which is Kingsoft’s cloud computing unit. (Chinese article) The purchase price is quite modest, with Xioami paying just $1.82 million for its 10 percent stake. There’s not much other information in the report, though it does point out that Xioami’s charismatic co-founder Lei Jun is a major stakeholder in Kingsoft.
China, US Shuffle Security Card 中美互打安全牌
New noises are coming from both China and the US on the dangers to national security posed by commercial activities in the high-tech space, as fallout continues to linger from the recent Washington decision to ban Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) from selling their equipment in the US. Some might say this new flare up in trade relations is just an extension of other recent similar tensions between Washington and Beijing, whose complaints of unfair trade against each other have accelerated over the last year. But this latest trade war looks a bit more worrisome, since it’s leveled at the high-tech sector whose products are considerably more valuable than the usual lower tech products usually involved in many of these disputes.
