News on the Internet & Tech Industry in China

Social notwork
China’s LinkedIn struggles for traction
Mar 15, 2013 (WiC 185)

At the time of LinkedIn’s IPO in 2011, the company was asked questions about its China strategy. Or more specifically, why it didn’t seem to have one, especially when the social networking site was virtually nonexistent in the world’s ...

Success in a flash
How US investors fell in love with China’s Vipshop
Feb 15, 2013 (WiC 182)

What was the best performing foreign company to go public in the US last year? You may be surprised to learn it was Vipshop. More eye-opening still: it achieved this feat even though its share price actually dropped 15% on its first day of ...

The search goes on
Qihoo challenge to Baidu grows, with new Google tie-up planned
Jan 18, 2013 (WiC 178)

Qihoo’s chief executive Zhou Hongyi seems to relish confrontation with his rivals. Notoriously he scoffed that Tencent – China’s largest internet firm by market capitalisation – was running “scared” of Qihoo’s messenger product, a ...

On song
Why Nasdaq-listed YY has unique business
Dec 7, 2012 (WiC 175)

Who says being a karaoke singer isn’t a proper career choice? In China, many amateur singers are now making a living crooning online, thanks to YY. The company, which counts Xiaomi founder Lei Jun as a shareholder, launched its IPO on Nasdaq ...

Second chance
eBay has a new China strategy. Will this one work?
Nov 23, 2012 (WiC 173)

If Taobao’s success story merits a business school case study, at least a page should be devoted to this month’s Singles’ Day (on November 11) when the e-commerce site achieved record sales. Taobao’s owners Alibaba are even reporting that ...

Tuning out
Google exits yet another Chinese business, this time music downloads
Nov 2, 2012 (WiC 170)

Imagine a service that provides instant, high-quality music downloads similar to Apple’s iTunes but without the $0.99 per song fee. That’s precisely the gift Google delivered to its Chinese users three years ago. But, perhaps surprisingly, ...

Fight club
Why did 2,000 Hon Hai workers go berserk?
Sep 28, 2012 (WiC 166)

While Tim Cook was making an upbeat statement on Monday that an initial quota of five million iPhone 5s had sold out (Apple was “working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone”, he reassured), little did he know that production at one of ...

China’s data bank
Alibaba’s empire expands into finance industry
Sep 21, 2012 (WiC 165)

While the Democratic National Convention grabbed most of the headlines earlier this month, there was another convention going on in Hangzhou also making the front pages. Hosted by Alibaba Group, Alifest is an annual event at which thousands of ...

Search and destroy
Ugly battle begins between Baidu and Qihoo 360
Sep 7, 2012 (WiC 163)

Zhou Hongyi is not afraid to punch above his weight. Back in November 2010, the chief executive of antivirus software provider Qihoo 360 engaged in a very public battle with Tencent, China’s largest internet company. The accusation was that ...

Looking for friends abroad
Why more and more Chinese firms are using Facebook
Jun 1, 2012 (WiC 152)

Feeling sore that you didn’t get your Facebook “pop”? Investors might be fuming that the IPO of the much-vaunted Silicon Valley firm has turned out to be a gigantically inverted ‘Like’. But for a select group of Chinese companies, ...

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