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News feed
Bite-sized news updates on China’s tech world
Thursday, May 19
- Elon Musk praised WeChat as “really an excellent app” and labeled it “a good model” during the All-In Summit 2022 on Tuesday, as the Tesla owner discussed his stalled takeover of Twitter. “We don’t have anything like that,” Musk told the Summit, as he complimented the Tencent super app’s offering of services like Twitter, PayPal and more “all rolled into one.” Musk went on to say that “such an app would be really useful” in markets outside of China, speculating that it could be created by converting Twitter to something more all-encompassing or by starting a new app from scratch. Musk’s comments quickly went viral in China, with the hashtag “Musk praises WeChat” amassing more than three million views within a few hours on the microblogging platform Weibo. [All-In Podcast]
- Tencent has missed market expectations after effectively reporting flat revenue growth for the first quarter of this year. The Chinese tech giant reported RMB 135.5 billion ($21.2 billion) revenue for the first quarter of 2022, compared with RMB 135.3 billion in the same period last year. The company’s profit for the period was RMB 26.3 billion, a decrease of 24% year-on-year, while net margins decreased to 19% from 26% last year. Tencent’s worst performance since its IPO in 2014 is mainly attributed to clients’ shrinking ad budgets and intensified rivalry from competitors like TikTok owner ByteDance. In a Wednesday conference call, Tencent president Martin Lau warned that the impact of regulatory crackdowns will linger despite the state signaling a releasing pressure on tech majors because it will “take time for specific regulators to translate direction into real action.” The company’s shares slid 8% in Hong Kong today. [Tencent release]
- Shanghai will open “green channels” for the semiconductor, biotech, and auto industries, in an effort to simplify administrative procedures during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, as announced by the local government at a press conference on Wednesday. For key semiconductor companies, the government will temporarily cancel sample tests of photoresists, which will speed up import procedures. Shanghai also plans to accelerate import and export procedures for whitelisted auto manufacturers like Tesla and FAW Group. [Economic View]
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Chinese tech giant Tencent has sued major Chinese phone maker Vivo for blocking users from downloading Tencent’s app store Yingyongbao. Tencent accused Vivo of restricting users from downloading Yingyongbao and guiding them to use Vivo’s app store instead. Chinese phone makers using the Android ecosystem often develop their own built-in app stores while offering several additional third-party app stores, as it is often difficult to obtain all apps from any single app store. According to the court’s announcement, the case will be heard in Shandong province on Friday. [Forbes, in Chinese]
Friday, May 20
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ByteDance’s TikTok is testing in-app gaming features in Vietnam, which it hopes will boost its advertising revenue, according to Reuters. The firm has been testing web-based games from third-party developers in its app, a TikTok representative told Reuters. The report also cites sources as saying that TikTok plans to expand its gaming services in Southeast Asia, possibly making a big push in the sector in the third quarter of this year. Douyin, the Chinese sister app to TikTok, has offered such services since 2019. [Reuters]
- Apple supplier Quanta is considering relocating production of the MacBook Pro from Shanghai to Chongqing due to affected supply chains, Digitimes reported on Thursday. While the Shanghai government is currently assisting key industries in resuming production, most of the city remains in lockdown. Quanta has seven subsidiaries in Shanghai, Changshu, and Chongqing for computer manufacturing, according to the firm’s official website. In an earnings call last month, its primary client, Apple, said that supply constraints caused by Covid 19-related disruptions and industry-wide silicon shortages are expected to have a $4 billion to $8 billion impact on revenue. [DigiTimes]
- Three major Chinese phone manufacturers, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, informed their suppliers that their order volume from July will be 20% less than expected, Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday. The report cites sources who said that Xiaomi initially planned to ship 200 million smartphone units in 2022, but the company has since cut that number to 160-180 million. Vivo and Oppo reportedly informed suppliers that orders for the second and third quarters of 2022 will be 20% lower than expected. As the Shanghai lockdown continues, the report states that disrupted supply chains and weakened demand are considerations for supply reduction. [Nikkei Asia]
- YouTube-like video platform Bilibili updated its memorial function, offering more options for users to arrange their accounts in advance before they die. Users can opt for their profile to become a “memorial account” with all information preserved or delete the entirety of their digital footprint on the platform, including comments. Bilibili also allows users’ relatives to delete an account upon receipt of a death certificate. Since 2021, the platform has allowed relatives to apply for the account of a deceased family member to be converted into a “memorial account” that can not be logged into and cannot receive any money from other users. [ITHome, in Chinese]
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