In the wake of lackluster earnings, Lenovo said it is working towards pumping out products faster from its newly acquired Motorola Mobility division.Lenovo wants the Motorola team to shorten its product development time, CEO Yang Yuanqing said in an earnings conference call Thursday. “By the end of the life cycle the product is not competitive, particularly the Moto G, the Moto X,” he said.Yang wants the company to update its smartphones and add new models every six months. “In the future we will improve our product development cycle. So in every moment our product will be competitive,” he said.Following a streamlining of the business, Lenovo will also create a simpler handset portfolio, with fewer models.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Lenovo is laying off 3,200 employees and trimming down its smartphone portfolio in response to a slowdown in its PC and handset sales.The Chinese company faced a particularly tough market environment during the second quarter, its CEO Yang Yuangqing said Thursday. Demand is down for PCs and tablets, and competition in China’s smartphone market is cutting into sales.The company reported second quarter earnings that failed to meet its expectations. Net profit declined 51 percent year over year to reach US$105 million. Revenue increased by only 3 percent from a year ago, to reach $10.7 billion.In response, Lenovo has announced cost-cutting measures that will reduce its employee strength of 60,000 by 5 percent. It is also restructuring its mobile business group, to pave the way for a simpler product portfolio with fewer smartphone models.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Alibaba Group’s cloud computing and mobile business are surging, but its reported revenue in the second quarter missed analysts’ estimates, amid a slowing Chinese economy.In the quarter ended June 30, Alibaba generated over $3.2 billion in revenue, up 28 percent year over year, but short of the $3.39 billion consensus expectation from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.The e-commerce giant raked in a net profit of US$4.9 billion, for a 150 percent increase, but the huge profit increase largely came from its film production arm, Alibaba Pictures. In June, the company reduced its stake in Alibaba Pictures, and “deconsolidated” it from the financial results. This resulted in a major gain for Alibaba’s investment income.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Continuing to struggle in the smartphone industry, HTC is hoping its upcoming products in virtual reality and wearables can pull in some sales.The Taiwanese company’s earnings took a big dive in the second quarter, with a NT$8 billion (US$257 million) loss. This came as revenue dropped by almost half year over year to NT$33 billion.The weak earnings could continue into the next quarter. On Thursday, HTC estimated that its revenue in the third quarter would reach between NT$19 billion to NT$22 billion. Compared to last year, that could amount to another 50 percent decrease in revenue.Its latest flagship product, the HTC One M9, has so far failed to buoy sales. The phone itself hasn’t been a big enough upgrade from the last generation, according to some reviewers, and this may have prevented it from standing out in the market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China’s control over the Internet is set to expand. In a bid to better police local websites, the country’s security forces are establishing offices at the biggest online firms in the country.The country’s Ministry of Public Security announced the new measures on Tuesday, at a time when authorities have been increasingly concerned also about cyberthreats.Websites based in China already have to abide by strict provisions for online censorship, and will often delete any content deemed offensive by government censors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China’s control over the Internet is set to expand. In a bid to better police local websites, the country’s security forces are establishing offices at the biggest online firms in the country.The country’s Ministry of Public Security announced the new measures on Tuesday, at a time when authorities have been increasingly concerned also about cyberthreats.Websites based in China already have to abide by strict provisions for online censorship, and will often delete any content deemed offensive by government censors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China plans to limit exports of advanced drones and supercomputers for national security reasons.The new export controls on certain drone and high-performance computing technologies will come into effect Aug. 15, Chinese government regulators said Friday. Affected vendors will have to apply for a government permit to ship their technology outside China.The regulations target more advanced drones that can be flown for at least an hour, “beyond the natural sight of the operator” and function more as an unmanned aerial vehicles.Shenzhen-based DJI, a major Chinese builder of drones, seems confident the new export controls won’t disrupt its business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Enterprise customers can expect to hear more from e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. The Chinese company is accelerating the global expansion of its cloud computing business, with a US$1 billion investment.Alibaba announced the move on Wednesday, months after it opened its first data center in the U.S., in an effort to target customers there.The Chinese company clearly has more in store. Part of the $1 billion investment will go toward the international expansion. The rest will go to developing new products, and building up partnerships with other companies in the industry.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A consumer protection group in China is suing Samsung Electronics and a Chinese vendor for placing too many preinstalled apps on phones, and is demanding that the whole smartphone industry eschew bloatware.On Thursday, the Shanghai Consumer Council said it filed public interest lawsuits against Samsung and Oppo for not only placing so much bloatware on their phones, but also making it impossible for the user to easily remove the apps.The consumer protection group has been receiving a growing number of complaints, and found that these preinstalled apps can take up a phone’s storage or download data without the user’s knowledge. In response, the group has filed the lawsuits in a Shanghai court, as a way to discourage smartphone vendors from weighing their products down with pre-installed software.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi has hopes of selling at least 80 million smartphones this year, but that goal may harder to reach than originally thought.On Thursday, the fast-rising company announced it had sold 34.7 million smartphones for the first six months of 2015. Although the figure means that sales were up 33 percent year-over-year, Xiaomi still has its work cut out to reach that 80 million number.Given that Xiaomi sold its first phone only four years ago, the company has made astonishing progress to become one of China’s top smartphone brands. It was even briefly the country’s largest vendor, before falling behind the new market leader, Apple, in this year’s first quarter, according to research firm IDC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China has adopted a new security law that gives the government control over its Internet infrastructure, along with any critical data.On Wednesday, China’s legislature passed the national security law, which covers a wide range of areas including military defense, food safety, and the technology sector.A full text of the law’s final draft has yet to be released, but it calls for better cybersecurity, according to a report from China’s state-controlled Xinhua News Agency. The country’s key information systems and data will also be made “secure and controllable” under the law.Previous drafts of the legislation don’t state in detail what that control might mean, exactly. But U.S. trade groups have expressed ongoing concern that China’s security policies are going too far, and could push foreign businesses out of the country.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi will finally begin selling product in Brazil, marking the first time it has sold handsets outside of Asia.On Tuesday, Xiaomi unveiled its Redmi 2 phone for Brazil, which will cost BRL499 (US$160) when it goes on sale later this month.The company hopes to repeat the success it has had in China selling feature-packed Android handsets at low prices. In just a matter of a few years, Xiaomi has become the country’s largest smartphone vendor. Some in the media have called it “the Apple of China” due to its rising popularity.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
China’s largest chip foundry is entering into a joint venture with Qualcomm to develop chips, at a time when the country is looking for technology to emerge as a semiconductor producing powerhouse.The foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), has partnered with Qualcomm, Huawei Technologies and Belgian firm Imec to establish the joint venture, the companies said Tuesday.In terms of chip technology, SMIC is still two generations behind its rivals including Intel, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). But the new joint venture hopes to help the Chinese foundry streamline its research operations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Alibaba Group has decided to sell off its 11Main e-commerce site in the U.S., as part of its focus on attracting foreign brands to its China business.OpenSky, a U.S.-based online retail company, will be taking over 11Main. “This joining of forces will help drive sales worldwide,” Alibaba said on Tuesday.As part of the deal, Alibaba has also sold its Auctiva and Vendio properties to OpenSky, in exchange for a minority stake of 37.6 percent in the U.S. company.11Main, which launched last year, represented an Alibaba foray into the U.S. market. The site was, however, a small operation and offered goods from boutique merchants, rather than competing head-on with Amazon or eBay.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Cisco plans to invest US$10 billion in China, although its sales in the country are slumping due in part to persistent security concerns surrounding U.S. technology.The investment marks a “new chapter” for the company, and it includes agreements with the Chinese government to expand in areas including research, and job creation, Cisco said on Wednesday.The $10 billion investment will be made over several years, and will help spur technology innovation in the country, Cisco said, without further elaborating. It called the move a “renewed commitment” suggesting that the investment would be added on top of its existing operational expenses in China. Cisco could not be immediately reached for comment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As HTC faces shrinking revenue, the smartphone vendor is testing ads over its BlinkFeed media aggregation app, and some users aren’t happy.On Tuesday, HTC said it had begun rolling out an update to its BlinkFeed app that would include advertisements for users in the U.S., the U.K., China and a few other markets.The ads, for now, will be in a limited number, and promote sponsored apps, in addition to HTC accessories and devices, the company said in a blog post.“Because these are native ads, they will appear like a typical BlinkFeed post rather than as a pop-up or banner ad,” HTC added. However, users will be given an option to opt out from seeing the ads.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Asustek Computer may be considering a bid for HTC, but HTC said Monday it wants nothing do with it.On Friday, Asus Chairman Jonney Shih said he wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of buying HTC.Such a move could help both companies: Asus has been trying to move beyond its traditional PC business into sales of Android smartphones, and acquiring smartphone maker HTC would boost its market presence. It could also provide support for HTC, which has seen its market share dwindle in the face of tough competition from Apple, Samsung Electronics and Chinese smartphone vendors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group is preparing to launch a Netflix-like subscription video service in China, as the company expands into more entertainment ventures.Alibaba isn’t the only player aiming to launch a paid video subscription service in the country. Netflix has recently talked about entering the market, although the company still needs to receive Chinese regulatory permission.The companies would be entering an already competitive market, full of local companies offering video streaming services, many of them for free. Youku Tudou, for instance, is one of the biggest players in the market, and streams both Chinese and foreign TV shows, in addition to producing its own content. Alibaba has acquired a stake in Youku Tudou.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A deal for Taiwanese PC maker Asustek Computer to buy struggling phone-maker HTC makes sense to some, and on Friday Asus’s chairman said he wouldn’t rule it out.An acquisition of HTC would certainly help the PC maker boost its presence in the smartphone market. Asus has only recently begun selling handsets, but it’s aiming at shipping 17 million units this year.At the Asus shareholders’ meeting on Friday, Chairman Jonney Shih said in response to a question that Asus wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of buying HTC, but that no formal evaluation had been made, according to company spokesman Nick Wu.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A deal for Taiwanese PC maker Asustek Computer to buy struggling phone-maker HTC makes sense to some, and on Friday Asus’s chairman said he wouldn’t rule it out.An acquisition of HTC would certainly help the PC maker boost its presence in the smartphone market. Asus has only recently begun selling handsets, but it’s aiming at shipping 17 million units this year.At the Asus shareholders’ meeting on Friday, Chairman Jonney Shih said in response to a question that Asus wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of buying HTC, but that no formal evaluation had been made, according to company spokesman Nick Wu.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Michael Kan