Telecoms

Mixed signals

Is China making progress on SOE reform?
Mar 29, 2019 (WiC 446)

First the government tried snapping its fingers. Then it tried rapping their knuckles. When that didn’t work out, it decided to break a finger to save the other nine digits. That is according to Liu He, the vice premier tasked with ...

My way or the Huawei

Has Europe become the key battleground for the Chinese giant’s 5G future?
Mar 1, 2019 (WiC 442)

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is still the world’s most important tech fair but for people in the telecoms sector the biggest event on the calendar is the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The gathering is organised by the GSM ...

A higher calling

Vivo adds a new premium phone brand
Mar 1, 2019 (WiC 442)

Wendell Smith introduced the theory of ‘targeted marketing’, writing in a 1956 essay: “Market segmentation involves viewing a heterogeneous market as a number of smaller homogeneous markets, in response to differing preferences, ...

See you in court

US files criminal charges against Huawei
Feb 1, 2019 (WiC 439)

The storm clouds have been gathering above Huawei for months and there was news of two fresh lightning bolts from federal prosecutors in the United States this week, with indictments for financial fraud and more charges for stealing trade ...

Ren’s mission impossible?

Huawei’s battle against ‘the element of doubt’ is a non-stop PR struggle
Jan 25, 2019 (WiC 438)

Is there a Washington masterplan to frustrate Huawei’s 5G future before it even takes shape? The company is firefighting on various fronts, including accusations of sanctions busting in Iran, allegations about technology theft, and warnings ...

Patent paralysis

Court in Fuzhou stops sales of iPhones
Dec 14, 2018 (WiC 435)

In October 2010, Motorola Mobility went after Apple, claiming that it had infringed 18 of the company’s patents. Apple quickly returned the favour, suing Motorola for infringing on its iPhone patents. At one point, according to The Verge, a US ...

A towering offer

Is China Tower’s IPO a good buy amid tougher market conditions?
Jul 13, 2018 (WiC 417)

It is the stock market flotation which, to some, seems to come from another era. For if the 2000s were punctuated by the listing of one after another major state-owned enterprises from China, then the 2010s have been all about the private sector, ...

Patents pending

Coolpad sues Xiaomi ahead of its jumbo IPO
May 25, 2018 (WiC 410)

The expression lanluhu, means literally ‘the tiger that stands in the way’, and is often associated with robbery. That connotation was likely inspired by Moon Prayer Pavilion, one of the major dramas of the early Ming ...

A sour note

Samsung’s market share in China plummets
May 4, 2018 (WiC 407)

Xi’an may be best known internationally as home to the Terracotta Warriors, but it’s less well known that the city is also home to some of Samsung’s biggest overseas investments. In late March the South Korean tech giant broke ground on its ...

The fifth generation

Huawei’s rare board reshuffle stokes succession rumours
Apr 6, 2018 (WiC 403)

How long does it take to breed a wolf into a domesticated dog? The answer is many millennia if the results of recent scientific experiments are to be believed. All efforts to turn wolf pups into loyal companions by hand rearing them from birth ...