Bottom line: Weibo's rise from the ashes is likely to be followed by a decline similar to the one after its initial rise, as the current boom in live broadcasting wanes or that part of its business gets stolen by a better product from rival Tencent.
A turbo-charged Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) is in a couple of headlines as the new week begins, led b...
Bottom line: Alibaba could buy the RT-Mart supermarket chain this year to boost its grocery business, while JD.com's more online-focused effort and push into smaller cities looks like a better approach to the sector.
The online supermarket wars that began last year between e-commerce rivals Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) an...
Bottom line: Wanda will continue to operate its ffan e-commerce site for another year, following the departure of its CEO, but could quietly end the initiative afterwards due to lack of synergies with its brick-and-mortar shopping malls.
The headlines have been buzzing this week about the departure of the chief executive of the e-commerce...
Bottom line: Baidu could soon make big cuts at Nuomi and sell or spin off the unit by year end, while it will also put its takeout dining unit on a strict diet that forces it to show a clear path to profitability by year end.
After years of hemorrhaging money from its newer online-to-offline (O2O) businesses, leading search engine Baidu (Nasd...
Bottom line: Ofo and rival Mobike will use their hundreds of millions of dollars in new funds to buy better and more expensive bikes to flood city streets, even though neither has a sustainable business model that can justify such long-term expense.
The race for supremacy in China's fast-moving shared bicycle realm is kicking into high gea...
Bottom line: Xiaomi stands a better than 50 percent chance of stabilizing this year and reversing its 2-year-old decline, based on its push into brick-and-mortar retailing and positive reviews for its newest higher-end model.
Blame it on the Internet. That seems to be the message coming from Xiaomi, the smartphone maker that's in ...
Bottom line: Google will get permission from Beijing to open a Chinese version of its app Play Store later this year, most likely through a joint venture with NetEase or Tencent.
The glacial return to China for Internet titan Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is making its debut in the 2017 headlines, with word that the company is in talks to o...
Bottom line: Yum China's maiden quarterly report and $300 million share buyback program highlight a company that needs to move more aggressively and take more risks to regain its footing after being spun off from its US parent.
Fast food operator Yum China (NYSE: YUM) has just put out its maiden quarterly earnings rep...
Bottom line: Lenovo could reverse its smartphone decline this year under a new leadership team anchored by a respected company veteran, though chances of success are relatively low due to stiff competition and magnitude of the task.
My first post in the new lunar Year of the Rooster seems like a good time to look at the ultra-comp...
Bottom line: Xiaomi's poor handling of a case involving malfunctioning fitness bands in the US is unlikely to erupt into a crisis, but shows how unprepared the company is for moving into PR-savvy western markets.
Smartphone maker Xiaomi just can't seem to catch a break in the final days before the Lunar New Year. Earli...
Bottom line: Alibaba's Koubei is unlikely to gain major traction despite its $1.1 billion in new funding, due to its late arrival to a crowded O2O take-out dining space already dominated by Baidu, Ele.me and Meituan-Dianping.
The longer I stay in China, the more the latest stories coming from the Internet sector look like I've seen them before. T...
Bottom line: The departure of former Google executive Hugo Barra from Xiaomi marks the end of a chapter for the smartphone maker, which stands only a 50-50 chance of surviving over the next 5 years in the cutthroat market.
The world was all abuzz in 2013 when Hugo Barra suddenly gave up his cozy position as a high executive at Google (Nasdaq...
Bottom line: IDG Capital is likely to buy out the venture funding business of US affiliate IDG in the next year, setting the stage for the emergence of China's first global venture capital firm.
A sort of "mouse that roared" story is in the headlines today, with word that US tech finance and information giant International Dat...
Bottom line: Meitu's new disclosure of rapid growth in its internet services revenue looks encouraging, as it takes advantage of its early arrival status in a beauty products sector with big profit potential.
A month after its lackluster IPO, beauty app operator Meitu (HKEx: 1357) is trying to shore up its sagging stock ...
Bottom line: Xiaomi could return to growth mode in China this year on the strength of stronger models, while Huawei's local market share will contract as it focuses on profitable sales and backs away from money-losing businesses.
Two of China's former smartphone leaders are in the headlines going into the weekend, casting a spotlight ...
Bottom line: Seagate's closure of its Suzhou factory, combined with its earlier formation of a Chinese technology-sharing joint venture, reflect the changing approach away from local manufacturing that western tech firms are taking towards China.
New reports are saying that hard disk drive maker Seagate (NYSE: STX) is closing down a factory in...
Bottom line: Alibaba will closely watch the performance of the newly minted Altaba over the next 1-2 years, and could make a privatization bid with Softbank if it feels the company is undermining its own stock.
Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) co-founder Jerry Yang never would have dreamed a decade ago that the ground-breaking search engine he co-founded mig...
Bottom line: A meeting between Jack Ma and Donald Trump is a major coup for Alibaba and bodes well for its US relations, while a privatization plan for its partly owned Intime Retail reflects its spottier record for strategic investments.
E-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is wasting no time making big headlines in the New Year, start...
Bottom line: Chinese smartphone brands with local production are most likely to survive upcoming price wars they are exporting to India, while Nokia's new smartphones are unlikely to make any inroads in China over the next 2-3 years.
A case of deja vu is rapidly shaping up in India, where Chinese smartphone makers have flocked ...
Bottom line: A new arbitration claim by a LeEco supplier could trigger a domino effect that sends the company into crisis, while TCL's first BlackBerry model is likely to get lukewarm reviews when it debuts in March.
We'll close out the week with a couple of smartphone headlines, which seems appropriate since the world's biggest con...
