Samsung Pay launches in China following Apple Pay but faces Alibaba’s AliPay, Tencent’s WeChat Pay and other homegrown rivals March 29, 2016 Samsung will let its smartphone users in China pay with just a swipe of their mobile as it launches Samsung Pay in the country in a partnership with China UnionPay. Samsung follows Apple, which launched in China in February – also with UnionPay – and counted 3m cards set up with Apple Pay within the first two days. Samsung Pay will [...]
Sport, cosmetics and the internet: Why it’s time for investors to be more mature about China December 24, 2015 It’s not hard to find bad news stories about China's economy. China's stock market has plummeted 40 per cent from its peak, iron ore prices have collapsed by 75 per cent, Macau gaming revenue has halved in two years, luxury goods profit warnings abound and the yuan has been devalued. While the quality of official gross domestic [...]
Forget Janet and Mario: 2016 is the year of GARY – CNBC Comment December 15, 2015 Investors have spent the last few years betting with the Fed and the ECB, as monetary policy dominated fundamentals. But many are now stumped over what to do next, as central bankers today seem to carry more risk and less reward. The ECB’s Mario Draghi let investors down this month with a flawed communications strategy. [...]
Apple Pay launch date: Mobile payment service to land in China in February 2016 November 24, 2015 Tech giant Apple's eponymous mobile payment service, Apple Pay, is reportedly coming to China in early February, further capitalising on the boom in mobile and contactless payments among consumers. The company has agreed deals recently with China's big four state-run banks, according to a report by the WSJ. It didn't say how much Apple would charge for [...]
Google, Facebook, Twitter: Which tech companies are best at respecting your privacy? November 5, 2015 Worried about what companies like Google and Facebook are doing with all that personal data of yours they have? Google and Vodafone have come out top in a ranking revealing which tech and telecoms companies are best at respecting your digital rights, based on everything from the data they collect to where they sell it and [...]
China’s Baidu sees shares jump by over six per cent as company reveals growth in mobile business October 29, 2015 Chinese search engine Baidu saw shares shoot up by over six per cent in after hours trading, after the company said its solid third quarter performance had given it confidence to keep investing The figures The company reported earnings per share of 7.92 renminbi (£0.81) for the three months to 30 September, surpassing analysts' expectations [...]
Uber China raises $1.2bn led by Baidu while local rival Didi Kuaidi bags $3bn September 7, 2015 China is the new battleground for Uber – and now it has landed billions to fund a fight against a rival which calls the country home turf. Speaking to Chinese media, Uber boss Travis Kalanick confirmed UberChina has bagged at least $1.2bn (£787m) in its latest round of funding, with the investment led by one of [...]
Alibaba executive Patrick Liu Chunning arrested by Chinese authorities in corruption probe July 10, 2015 Senior Alibaba executive Patrick Liu Chunning has been arrested over allegations of corruption during his time at Tencent, a rival Chinese internet firm. Read more: Alibaba wants to create China's HBO and Netflix equivalent In a statement Alibaba insisted the Chinese authorities' probe had "nothing to do with" its own operations. Liu is vice president of [...]
Alibaba wants to create China’s HBO and Netflix equivalent June 14, 2015 Alibaba is releasing a Netflix-style streaming service in two months, the firm's head of digital entertainment revealed today. The service will be called Tmall Box Office – "TBO" for short – and will feature Alibaba-produced content as well as programming acquired from China and other territories. Read more: Alibaba Pictures share price tumbles following $1.6bn placement [...]
Global social media advertising spend surpasses £10bn in 2014 April 2, 2015 Global spend on social media advertising rose by 41 per cent in 2014 reaching a record $15.3bn (£10.3bn). A new report from technology advisors Strategy Analytics found that as global social network users surpassed 2bn users for the first time, 11 per cent of global digital ad spend went to social networks. Facebook was the [...]