DealBook: Concern Over Alibabaâs I.P.O. Pricing
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Alibaba.com is seeking to raise as much as $1.49 billion in an initial public offering after raising the price range to between 12 Hong Kong dollars and 13.50 Hong Kong dollars ($1.55 to $1.74) a share. The Chinese Web site is selling 858.9 million shares, or 17 percent of its enlarged share capital, in the biggest [...].
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Alibaba Group, the Chinese Internet  firm, will seek a stronger voice for its management team in  Microsoft's talks to acquire Yahoo , Alibaba's largest  shareholder, a source said on Monday.
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China's biggest computer maker said Tuesday it is in acquisition talks with a major international technology company, a disclosure which comes amid reports it might buy IBM Corp.'s personal computer business.
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Rumors of an Apple-TiVo deal may be overdone.
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The stark sell-off that sent global stock prices plummeting  brought renewed concern that the equity markets in China and India might be overvalued.
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One major shareholder says it won't touch Oracle's latest offer. Another says it likes the price. Who'll prevail?
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Doubts over charges against a US firm underscore concerns about the legal system and foreign investment.
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Here's one China-themed stock that's not doing so well.
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idril writes &quot;According to The New York Times (free registration required), China&#39;s largest PC maker is reportedly in talks to buy IBM&#39;s PC business.
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Is it too late to dial into profits with the leading Chinese telecom?
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More bad news out of Asia weighed on investors Monday.
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China Mobile and Focus Media: Domestic titans selling at knock-down prices.
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(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard and itsÂ Watergate re-enactmentÂ now own the tech scandal headlines, but during the summer our attention focused on other alleged malfeasance, by the company with the normally shiny image: Apple Computer. A British newspaper claimed that one of Apple's contract manufacturers in China, Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., wasÂ mistreating its workers, through low pay, long hours, and poor living conditions. What went unreported from this saga was that we so rarely see headlines that contain the words "Apple" and "China." Microsoft, Intel, GoogleÂ -- their ongoing conflicts with the Chinese government and the Chinese consumer are bread and butter for business and technology reporters in China. But Apple? In Beijing, the best evidence that Apple exists is an iPod billboard that faces one of the city's main arteries, and advertising during televised English soccer matches. There are quite a few iPods peeking out of people's pockets, but when it comes to which laptops are being tapped upon at Starbucks, it's HP, it's Dell, it's Sony, but except for foreigners, no Apple. The fact is, when it comes to China, Apple as a computer manufacturer and retailer is nowhere. The simple reason for this is that Apple is asking too much of Chinese consumers. The biggest factor is price. Service, quality, prestige, satisfaction -- these are extremely secondary concerns to the Chinese consumer. People bringing home $400-$600 per month are considered middle class in this country. They can afford to buy computers, and for them, price is the singular issue. An Apple machine in China costs between double and four times as much as a competing Wintel box. The computer whiz kid down the street can build you a generic box with a pirated copy of XP for about $400. An entry-level Lenovo computer probably costs about 20 to 25 percent more, followed by foreign name brands. Apple is at least double the no-name box. So, one month's salary to give your kid a computer and access to the Internet, or two months'? What would you choose? The second reason is availability of software. In China, if you're using Apple and you need software, you have to buy the legitimate product. For Apple, that means that their system is rejected, except by high-end graphic designers and die-hards. The cost of ownership of an Apple machine plus legit software to run on it is just too high for most people to consider. Third is service. Until recently, having your machine break down was the thing that every Apple user in China prayed to avoid. Repairs are much more accessible now, but still there are only one or two authorized service centers in Beijing, whereas fixing a Windows box is far simpler. Apple's China strategy for its computers seems entirely different than for the iPod. While its music player is accessible, affordable, and increasingly ubiquitous, for desktop hardware it seems to be following Vertu, the luxury phone maker, instead of Nokia. Unless Apple chooses to address this market on its own terms, there won't be any harvest for it here.
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(InfoWorld) - One of Jack Ma's companies has 27 million registered users, but the Alibaba.com chief executive officer can only think of the people not using his site. "We want to show how big the China market is," Ma said Saturday in an interview in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered. The group's auction site, Taobao.com, claims 27 million registered users and about 70 percent of China's consumer auction market. "I want the Taobao team to focus on getting more and more people and more and more transactions," Ma said, adding that "110 million [Chinese Internet] users are not using the site." To encourage use, Ma announced in 2005 that Taobao would not charge for transactions or listings. "Last year we said three years. Maybe next year we'll think about starting to charge," he said. He also projected that the auction company will account for 30 percent of Alibaba's revenue by 2010. Ma, whose Chinese name is Ma Yun, said he still has no timetable for the company to go public. "It is a golden time for Alibaba to get ready for the next wave of e-commerce in China." He sees that next wave as the large-scale adoption of e-commerce by small and medium-sized businesses. SMBs will be "the engine for the next five to 10 years of the Chinese economy," he said. E-commerce is the Internet's "third wave" in China, Ma said, having been preceded by revenue generated from short messaging service (SMS), which provided a way for Web portals to collect subscription fees, and then from online and mobile gaming. There is no rush for Alibaba to go public, Ma said. "We spent $750 million to buy out all the small investors and let our long-time employees cash out. This is why it's not urgent for us to go public," he said, referring to money gained from a $1 billionÂ investment in AlibabaÂ last year by Yahoo, which took a 40 percent stake in the company and handed over control of its China unit as part of the deal. Of Yahoo China's first year under Alibaba management, he said, "We're happy with the first year results. Yahoo survived." Headcount doubled from 400 to 800, he said. "I want to lower expectations for Yahoo China," Ma said, adding that he wanted to do something "new and fresh" with it. The site's new search technology would be ready at the end of September or early October, with which Ma said, "We can compete" with Baidu and Google's sites. "Next year, we want to make Yahoo China healthy. Then the next year, we make it a top-tier company, top three [in China]," he said. Yahoo shareholders are getting a good return on their investment, according to Ma. "Even if Alipay [Alibaba's online payment company] is zero, Taobao is zero, and Yahoo is losing money, Alibaba.com is already profitable." The group has over $250 million in the bank, and is cash-flow positive, Ma said. Speaking earlier in the day at the company's Alifest company event in Hangshou, Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang said "We are extremely satisfied with our cooperation with Ma Yun." He added that when Yahoo was re-examining its presence in China, "we looked for the most suitable partner, and we invested in Alibaba."
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There is intense competition among the world&#39;s stock exchange markets to attract companies to list with them, as exchanges make money by charging fees on listed firms.
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Is the market really overvalued? ALL of it?!? There are 6,000-plus listed companies -- at least one is a bargain.
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Is this deal picture-perfect for investors?