Battling billionaires
Business & Technology
Top business and technology news for March 21, 2017. Part of the daily The China Projectย news roundup "Huge Israeli delegation visits China."
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Secretive billionaire reveals how he toppled Apple in Chinaย / Bloomberg
Bloombergย profiles Duan Yongping ๆฎตๆฐธๅนณ, the founder of the leading Chinese smartphone brandsย Oppo and Vivo. The two companies together shipped more than 147 million smartphones in China in 2016, beating Appleโs 44.9 million. Both brands have developed marketing approaches that appeal to local consumers, and their products surpass the iPhone on measures such as charging speeds and battery life while costing much less. A newly released model Oppo R9s Plus costsย 3,499ย yuan ($507) while an iPhone 7 costsย 5,388ย yuan ($781) in China. In 2016, Appleโs iPhone shipments plummeted 23.2 percent, shrinking Appleโs market share to just 9.6 percent โ the lowest in about two years.
In related news, Reutersย reportsย that on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo in Beijing. Ofo claims that it operates in 43 cities in China with 2.2 million bikes. Its rival, Mobike, which has raised more than $300 million so far this year, just rolled out its operation in Singapore, according toย Tech in Asia. For more on Chinaโs bike-sharing companies, see โBike sharing done right: A real Chinese innovationโ on The China Project. -
A year is a long time in Chinese businessย / Financial Times (paywall)
Real estate tycoon Wang Shi ็็ณ is back in the news after a year of struggling to retain control of Vanke, the company he founded that is one of the countryโs largest property groups. One year ago, real estate and insurance magnate Yao Zhenhua ๅงๆฏๅ, who had accumulated the largest single stake in Vanke, made a bid to buy a controlling stake in the company. Unluckily for Yao, his hostile takeover coincided with a period of market turmoil in China. Government measures to restore stability tightened control over financial markets: One result was that Yao was banned from participating in theย insurance industry for 10 years. Yao has not been detained or further penalized, but Wang is firmly back in charge of his company.
- Why PR chiefs are running Communist Party branches at China tech firmsย / SCMP
- China sits on financial house of cards, OECD findsย / WSJ (paywall)
- China steps up battle against property bubbleย / Financial Times (paywall)
- China Premier Li says will further open services, industriesย / Xinhua
- Chinaโs taxes on imported cars feed trade tensions with U.S.ย / NYT (paywall)
- Chinaโs fitness boom energizes sportswear brandsย / Financial Times (paywall)
- Rise in QR code scams in China puts online payment security in the spotlightย / SCMP
- Dianrong, Quark Finance launch innovative credit factoryย / TechNode
