DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Apple looks to boost sales in China with hefty discounts as e-commerce festival gets underway
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple is offering hefty discounts on iPhones in China in a bid to boost sales amid intense competition from local brands such as Huawei, as promotions for the country's 618 shopping festival get underway. Chinese e-commerce marketplaces JD.com and Alibaba's Tmall have been selling select iPhone models at discounts as high as 20% since promotions for 618 festival started on Monday. Apple's 256-gigabyte iPhone 15 Pro Max was being sold for 7,949 yuan (US$1,120), down from the original 9,999 yuan, a significantly higher discount than those reported in February. Tmall and JD.com are some of Apple's sales channels in the country that regularly promote discounts during the mid-year 618 shopping festival. Apple is also offering discounts of up to 6,100 yuan on the iPhone 15 when Chinese buyers trade in iPhone 11 or later versions, according to the company's website.

Persons: Alibaba's, Max, Tmall Organizations: Huawei, Apple Locations: Nanjing, Shanghai, China

☆ Alibaba, ASML and more: Jefferies reveals its 'highest-conviction' stocks to buy — and one has 118% upside
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Investment bank Jefferies has revealed its top stock picks that are exposed to major themes like innovation, new products, and emerging markets. The investment bank forecasts Prudential shares will rise 118% to 18,000 British pence over the next 12 months. The investment bank expects Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba to rise to 128 Hong Kong dollars ($17), which implies an 84% upside potential. The investment bank expects shares to rise 57% over the next 12 months. The investment bank believes ASML's current valuation of 33 times forward earnings is too low since it forecasts 49% earnings growth over the next two years.

Persons: Jefferies, Prudential Jefferies, Prudential's, Anil Wadhwani, Eddie Wu, Wu, Alibaba's, Joe Dickerson, Dickerson, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Prudential, Jefferies, Hong, U.S, HSBC Jefferies, HSBC, ASML Semiconductor, DexCom Locations: U.K, Asia, China, India, Africa, Hong Kong, Alibaba

☆ China's JD.com posts higher Q3 profit as supply snarls ease
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A sign of China's e-commerce company JD.com is seen at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2016 in Shanghai, China, May 12, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 15 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com reported quarterly revenue below estimates on Wednesday, but posted a surge in profit as supply chain problems eased. JD.com has fewer popular livestreamers than its competitors, such as Austin Li, who exclusively streams on Alibaba Group's (9988.HK) platform. The company reported net revenue of 247.7 billion yuan ($34.19 billion) for the third quarter, missing analysts' average estimate of 249.26 billion yuan according to LSEG data. But it posted net income attributable to shareholders of 7.94 billion yuan, up 33% from 5.96 billion yuan a year earlier.

Persons: Aly, JD.com, Xu Ran, Austin Li, Alibaba's Tmall, Arsheeya Bajwa, Akash Sriram, Sophie Yu, Varun, Kim Coghill Organizations: CES, REUTERS, JD Retail, HK, Citi, Daiwa, Jefferies, PDD Holdings, Thomson Locations: Asia, Shanghai, China, Bengaluru, Beijing

☆ Xiaomi claims a record $3.11 billion in Singles Day sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics company Xiaomi claimed record sales across platforms during the Singles Day shopping festival. For a second-straight year, the two online shopping giants declined to share total figures for the Singles Day shopping festival. That's the same figure JD shared for Singles Day results in 2021. The company also claimed first place in different categories of Chinese brands' smartphone sales across other online shopping platforms. In 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Alibaba had said its Singles Day sales were "in line" with the prior year, which had recorded the equivalent of $84.54 billion GMV at the time.

Persons: Xiaomi, JD.com, JD, Alibaba, Tmall Organizations: Getty, Nurphoto, Apple, HSBC, Bain and Company Locations: YICHANG, CHINA, Yichang, Hubei province, China, BEIJING, Hong Kong, Alibaba, 2023e, 2024e

Hundreds of people lined up at a flagship Apple store in Beijing to pick up the new iPhone 15 when deliveries began on Friday. As of 10 a.m. Beijing time on Friday, iPhone 15 sales via JD 's Dada one-hour delivery app surged by 253% versus that of the iPhone 14 last year, Dada said. Zhao said he was planning to upgrade from his Huawei device to buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has a list price of 9,999 yuan ($1,370). Strong iPhone 15 pre-salesApples' iPhone 15 pre-sales in China pointed to robust demand. Counterpoint Research's most optimistic outlook for Apple in China predicts a 4% year-on-year decline in Apple iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Evelyn Cheng, JD, Dada, Zhao, he'd, China Zhao, Will Wong, Alibaba's Tmall, Pro Max, Tarun Pathak Organizations: Apple, CNBC, Huawei, Street Journal, Bloomberg, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDC Apple, Pro, IDC, Counterpoint Technology Market Research Locations: Beijing, Evelyn Cheng BEIJING, China, Sanlitun, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Americas

☆ Disney's top-selling merchandise line in Asia is this under-the-radar fluffy bear
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Duffy and Friends is Disney's top-selling franchise in Asia, having generated $500 million in revenue this year. Duffy, a fluffy bear, was introduced in 2002 with a back story linked to Mickey and Minnie. The revenues include sales from Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, and the Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe back story for the fluffy bear involves Minnie Mouse hand-sewing the stuffed bear to accompany Mickey on a long sea voyage from Cape Cod. Both Duffy and LinaBell can be seen in a Disney video from September 2021, which shows the fluffy bear meeting his new fox friend.

Persons: Duffy, Mickey, Minnie, Mel, LinaBell, there's Organizations: Service, Disney, Shanghai Disney Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Walt Disney World, Shanghai, Shanghai Daily Locations: Asia, China, Wall, Silicon, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Japan, Orlando , Florida, Cape Cod

☆ China's AI applications are coming — where it matters for monetization
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Around the same time, Tencent announced it is integrating its AI model into advertising content creation, and its own Zoom-like video conferencing app. It's also not clear how powerful China's AI applications currently are, beyond demos and select business partnerships. "Overall we see generally Chinese language model[s] still lag behind the most advanced ChatGPT version 4," CLSA's Tony Zhang said in a phone interview in the last week. Now with Beijing's green light, public-facing AI applications such as Baidu's Ernie bot can be widely used in China. Generative AI and large language model-related revenue contributed to 20% of SenseTime' s revenue in the first half of 2023, Nomura analysts said, citing company management.

Persons: Nomura, Tencent, Coffee, Luckin, Joey Wat, It's, Tony Zhang, –, Ernie, Oliver Wyman's David Xie Organizations: Baidu, KFC Locations: Beijing, China, Taobao, TikTok

The iPhone 15 Pro is presented during the 'Wonderlust' event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott Acquire Licensing RightsSept 15 (Reuters) - Buyers of Apple's new iPhone 15 Pro Max in China will need to wait for four to five weeks before receiving the smartphone, the company's website showed on Friday as it started taking pre-orders in an early sign of strong demand. The wait is slightly shorter for iPhone 15 Pro at two to three weeks, while the company said it could deliver iPhone 15 by Sept. 22, the day the phone goes on sale in stores. For the iPhone 15 Plus, the wait in China is eight working days. "The new iPhone 15 series, especially the Pro series, will be a good choice for the installed base who are using iPhone 11/12 and looking for an update replacement," Lam said, while adding that Huawei's Mate 60 series will be a challenge to the iPhone.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Ivan Lam, Lam, Brenda Goh, Yuvraj Malik, Arun Koyyur Organizations: REUTERS, Max, Apple, Huawei Technologies, Huawei, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S, China, Shanghai, Bengaluru

☆ China's livestreaming attracts young hopefuls as competition grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A day in the life of a livestreaming host like Zhang can include more than six hours of talking almost non-stop to camera, time spent on hair, make-up, and on post-broadcast debriefs. I can pick up my phone and I'm livestreaming," Zhang said. The livestreaming industry employed 1.23 million hosts as of 2020, according to iResearch, and a pandemic era boom in livestream sales helped the industry to generate $480 billion in business in China last year. To facilitate an increasingly professional and competitive livestreaming landscape, agencies have sprung up to train stables of young hosts and connect suitable anchors with brands. Indeed, the way brands approach livestreaming in China has also quickly evolved.

Persons: Zhang Jinyu, Zhang, Bytedance's, Shining Li, Shi Jianing, Hugo Boss, Casey Hall, Robert Birsel Organizations: Romomo, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Shanghai

☆ Brands focus on stories in refining China livestreaming to boost profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Livestreaming sessions by Chinese livestreamers Li Jiaqi and Viya, whose real name is Huang Wei, (L) are seen on Alibaba's e-commerce app Taobao displayed on mobile phones in this illustration picture taken December 14, 2021. Stellar growth boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic saw the industry employ more than 1.23 million livestream hosts by 2020, says researcher iResearch, along with numerous accompanying livestream-related training academies and agencies. While Tmall and Li Jiaqi remain powerful, brands moving away from that strategy are cutting reliance on massive discounts and even his famous exhortation, "Oh my god! Liu once thought her brand's price point of about 2,000 yuan ($277) for its dresses made it incompatible with bargain-heavy livestreaming. The dominance of pureplay sales platforms such as Alibaba's Tmall and Taobao, along with JD.com (9618.HK), is increasingly challenged by entertainment and information-led platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

Persons: Li Jiaqi, Huang Wei, Florence Lo, Apple's, William Lau, Clyde, iResearch, Jacob Cooke, Li, Liu, Hugo Boss, superhost Viya, Lexie Moris, Betty, Casey Hall, Miyoung Kim, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Apple Watch, HK, Tmall, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Beijing, Asia, Pacific, Douyin

☆ Spain's Mango plans U.S. expansion after China retreat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Spain, March 14 (Reuters) - Spanish fashion retailer Mango is focusing on U.S. expansion after turning its back on China, Chief Executive Officer Toni Ruiz said. It will target states where online sales are already strong. It maintains four franchise outlets and online sales through Alibaba's Tmall e-commerce platform. Mango reported record sales last year, helped by selling more items at higher prices. Its biggest rival, Inditex-owned label Zara (ITX.MC), is expected to report record sales on Wednesday, partly due to its aggressive U.S. expansion.

☆ Alibaba's Cainiao opens LatAm headquarters in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao has installed lockers in Brazil for local customers to retrieve packages. CainiaoBEIJING — Alibaba' s logistics arm Cainiao announced Monday the opening of its Latin American headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cainiao ships most AliExpress orders from China to Brazil, the company said, claiming it operates eight charter flights a week between the countries. Low-cost drones and bluetooth headphones are among the most popular products for local customers, the company said. Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao has installed lockers in Brazil for local customers to retrieve packages.

☆ Alibaba's Singles Day shopping event set to end with subdued sales and no fanfare
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. The Singles Day shopping festival, which despite its name has evolved into a multi-week event, is a key barometer of Chinese retail demand. But Citi predicts rival e-commerce giant JD.com (9618.HK), which also holds a Singles Day shopping event, to fare somewhat better as it is strong in consumer electronics and home appliance offerings which are expected to remain popular. Singles Day has also had contend with the absence of one its two live-streaming mega sales gurus, Viya, who has been offline since being fined for tax evasion. "Alibaba has tried to make (the event) less about just dropping prices," said Mark Tanner, chief executive of Shanghai-based consultancy, China Skinny.

Search resuls for: "Alibaba's Tmall"

13 mentions found