Technology

Meituan Dianping gets better at multitasking

21 August 2019

The $50 bln delivery-to-ride-hailing giant’s takeaway unit is expected to post its first profitable quarter on Friday, as it gets better at juggling multiple businesses. It has scaled down a costly bike sharing venture, while a push into groceries and maps plays to its strengths.

Tech will struggle to evade U.S. antitrust octopus

20 August 2019

Facebook and Apple may soon face state-level probes into their business practices, as well as two by federal agencies. America’s multi-tentacled approach to antitrust is a tangled mess, but a strangely efficient one. It may also favor a tougher end result.

Smartphones may be as good as it gets for Xiaomi

20 August 2019

Revenue at the Chinese group's handset unit rose a tad despite shrinking demand for such devices. But a push into internet services has been disappointing: Boss Lei Jun is struggling to wring more money out of a growing user base. Xiaomi’s premium valuation looks too generous.

Twitter deserves a follow for China mute and block

20 August 2019

The $32 bln social network suspended state-backed accounts trying to subvert protests in Hong Kong. It also will stop taking ads from government-controlled media. Beijing’s wedge issue is a good opportunity for Facebook, YouTube and others to reconsider profiting from propaganda.

It is too soon to call a bottom on Baidu

20 August 2019

Despite a 62% decline in quarterly profit, the $36 bln Chinese internet company gave investors something to cheer with unexpected growth in video. Its main search business is hurting, though, and the ad outlook is weak. ByteDance and Meituan Dianping are coming for Baidu, too.

SoftBank skin in the game risks major organ damage

19 August 2019

CEO Masayoshi Son and his dealmakers could contribute a chunk of the capital for Vision Fund 2, according to reports. Aligning staff and investors’ incentives is one thing. But since SoftBank would lend them the cash, its own losses would be magnified if the tech vehicle flops.

Dell cleans house further with pivot on Pivotal

16 August 2019

Michael Dell’s dealings have left investors mistrustful and owning bits of three overlapping listed firms. Having one, the $58 bln VMware, buy another, Pivotal Software, simplifies things at a reasonable price. The lack of direct benefit for Dell himself may be a selling point.

SoftBank’s Saudi substitute is a head-scratcher

16 August 2019

CEO Masayoshi Son thinks he can raise $108 bln for his second Vision Fund without the Gulf state which bankrolled the first. Yet the numbers make it hard to see how he will do so. They imply either a big corporate or a Kazakhstani fund is writing an unexpectedly large cheque.

Viewsroom: WeWork unfurls the red flags

15 August 2019

The shared-office provider’s long-awaited IPO filing is packed with pointless life-affirming tropes. But it also details a host of conflicts of interest and other risks that should send investors running. Plus: India’s powerhouse Reliance is building a war chest for dominance.

Alibaba gets tailwind from Beijing stimulus

15 August 2019

Better-than-expected quarterly results from Jack Ma's $420 bln e-commerce empire show Chinese consumers are still spending amid slowing economic growth and a trade war. Tax cuts boosted earnings at rival JD.com. Lower levies will also help keep Alibaba's momentum going.

Viacom-CBS is the Rip Van Winkle of TV

14 August 2019

The two firms split 13 years ago to extract value and boost growth. That plan failed, while peers got larger like Disney, or sold like Fox. A reunited Viacom and CBS can best shake off its slumber by amassing a portfolio of great shows to sell to more established video streamers.

Tencent rings a minor note on its content dreams

14 August 2019

Quarterly adjusted earnings rose 19% to $3 bln but music and movies disappointed. It raises a cloud over Pony Ma's plans to buy a stake in Universal Music, and the broader scope of his entertainment ambitions. Instead of more scale, Tencent needs to convince Chinese users to pay.

Huawei desperately wants for friends like Facebook

14 August 2019

The handset maker has rolled out its own operating system in case Washington blocks its access to Google’s Android. The hope is that foreign apps will create compatible versions. Huawei is dangling big incentives for developers but financial ones may not be sufficient.

CBS-Viacom merger is more whimper than Big Bang

13 August 2019

The broadcaster and the MTV owner, both controlled by the Redstone family, have finally inked a $30 bln reunion. Rogue CEOs, supine boards and dumb disputes gummed up the process. Hefty synergies won’t make up for perhaps more than $15 bln of value lost in three years of limbo.

Verizon’s best media strategy is not having any

13 August 2019

The wireless giant’s bet on internet advertising never made sense. The sad trajectory of high profile, low revenue Tumblr illustrates the divide. The site’s sale carries an embarrassing price tag. That’s another wake up call for Verizon to pull the plug on AOL and Yahoo.

Google can battle some authoritarian states

13 August 2019

Russia’s regulator is pressuring YouTube to remove invites to anti-government protests. Luckily for the tech giant, capacity building for extreme censorship takes a while. Unlike in China, Moscow’s muscle is capped by shortcomings in technology and risk of political blowback.

Scout24 demonstrates how not to deal with Elliott

13 August 2019

The $6 bln German classifieds group may sell its automotive arm - a key request of the U.S. activist hedge fund which owns 7%. Scout boss Tobias Hartmann could have announced the no-brainer months ago after a failed buyout. Instead he waited, and Elliott has him on the back foot.

Aramco stocks Reliance’s war chest for disruption

12 August 2019

Mukesh Ambani says the Saudi giant will buy 20% of his oil-to-chemicals unit at a healthy $75 bln valuation. The billionaire is adding cheap broadband to a revolutionary telecoms offering, and aims to reinvent Indian retail too. The Aramco sale hints at how far he'll go to win.

JD deserves to be in trade-war tech discount bin

9 August 2019

Chinese new-age stocks have turned volatile. Loss-making JD, the $40 bln Alibaba-rival, has lost up to one fifth its value since July. The retailer’s focus on sales of big-ticket items make it especially vulnerable to slowing growth and trade tensions. Rivals look more nimble.

Latest Broadcom deal combines two bad ideas in one

8 August 2019

With few rivals left to purchase, the acquisitive chipmaker is moving to the fresher fields of enterprise software. Spending $11 bln on a Symantec unit expands its potential market. But M&A machines often sputter, and buying barely related businesses raises the odds of failure.