Internet

Breakdown: Fintech steps towards maturity

21 Dec 2016

Blockchain, robo advice and other technologies once hyped as the most disruptive to finance will take a back seat in 2017. The payments battle will step up a gear. Alternative lenders will hunt for deposits. And resurgent earnings may give U.S. banks a timely war chest.

Fintech’s transformation into banking draws closer

9 Dec 2016

UK regulators are mulling tougher rules for crowdfunding firms that would require greater risk disclosure and wind-down plans. Stricter regulation is good for investors. Yet it also means more loan-based platforms might follow peer-to-peer group Zopa in seeking a banking licence.

Cyber Monday confidence overshadows Black Friday

30 Nov 2016

Five days of U.S. holiday e-commerce totaled nearly $13 bln, up 15 pct from last year. That matches a surge in consumer optimism coinciding with Donald Trump's election win. It mostly didn't rub off on bricks-and-mortar sales, though. Traditional retailers need new ideas.

U.S. visa pain could be ugly for Indian IT firms

23 Nov 2016

President-elect Trump is stacking his cabinet with immigration sceptics. It heralds a serious crackdown on visas for skilled foreign workers at a time when growth for Indian giants like TCS and Infosys is weak. Cash piles and fat margins provide only limited room to adapt.

Viewsroom: Should Facebook root out fake news?

17 Nov 2016

The social network is under fire for allowing erroneous and downright misleading media reports on its platform that may have swayed the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico prepare for a Donald Trump presidency. And Warren Buffett eats his words on airlines.

Russia’s fight with LinkedIn may see it LeftOut

11 Nov 2016

A court backed the blocking of the U.S. networking site, just as antitrust watchdogs opened a probe into Microsoft at the behest of antivirus provider Kaspersky Lab. Western tech companies won't want to abandon Russia, but if necessary, they can. The country will suffer for it.

Hong Kong can stand up to Jack Ma

4 Nov 2016

Jack Ma has threatened to list the $60 bln Ant Financial elsewhere if Hong Kong won't innovate. That sounds like code for allowing something like the special sway he enjoys over Alibaba. Conceding to Ma won't fix the exchange's problems. Nor does Ant have someplace better to go.

Alibaba’s big data ambitions become an easier sell

2 Nov 2016

Cloud, media and things other than online retail now make up almost a fifth of the e-commerce giant's total revenue. Alibaba's shift from being a shopping platform to a data and content firm is still a work in progress, but boss Jack Ma's vision is looking increasingly plausible.

Verizon can save itself more than $1 bln on Yahoo

7 Oct 2016

That's how much the telecom titan wants to lop off the $4.8 bln deal price because of email hacks and scans. The financial impact on the merger is not clear, though the associated reputational damage is. Yahoo may accept a lower figure, but Verizon might be wise to go to zero.

Viewsroom: Twitter’s takeover meltdown

7 Oct 2016

The social network's stalled user and revenue growth is sending shareholders of Salesforce and other potential bidders running for cover. Meanwhile, Yahoo's email scans for U.S. authorities have rattled buyer Verizon. Plus: Is John Stumpf's time as Wells Fargo CEO nearing an end?

Twitter sale tweetstorm comes with direct message

6 Oct 2016

After soaring on the back of possible bids, the $15 bln social network's shares have tumbled back down as suitors fall away. Salesforce.com's stock also has bounced around as it flirts with an offer. The flurries make clear that investors are finding any deal hard to stack up.

Dutch food IPO has a German fly in the soup

27 Sep 2016

Meal delivery website Takeaway.com is seeking 350 million euros in an IPO. Revenue is growing rapidly, but so too are losses. Investor appetite for a sales valuation in line with profitable Just Eat rests on whether it can dominate the tough German market.

Indonesia’s e-commerce riches will be elusive

22 Sep 2016

Capital is pouring into Southeast Asia's most promising e-commerce market. Alibaba's $1 bln stake in Lazada gives it a head start. But competition is fierce. Issues like logistics and payments will make it costly to replicate the dominance the Chinese group enjoys at home.

China’s startups have few good options left

20 Sep 2016

A slowdown in venture capital is squeezing smaller tech hopefuls. Many have flocked to the "New Third Board" but it's hard to raise new equity on this moribund over-the-counter market. Some cash-strapped groups may sell out to larger rivals, or cut costs and hope for the best.

Tech giants don’t grow on European soil

16 Sep 2016

The region hasn't produced its own answers to tech disruptors like Facebook and Alibaba. That leaves the EU open to accusations of sour grapes when foreign companies like Apple are targeted for unpaid taxes. Regulation and fragmented markets explain Europe's failure to launch.

Telecoms and Brussels connect, for once

14 Sep 2016

The EU’s proposed new telecom rules will encourage investment in superfast broadband and coordinate spectrum auctions. The likes of WhatsApp will be subjected to tighter rules, though nothing they can’t handle. The snag is that it may take years for the rules to take effect.

China’s Netflix-to-Tesla is spread painfully thin

16 Aug 2016

Jia Yueting's LeEco is pushing into TVs, mobile handsets, electric vehicles and video-streaming. That poses huge financial and strategic challenges for his mostly private group. These are fast-moving, capital-intensive industries with very well-resourced competitors.  

Wal-Mart has long unicorn ride in Amazon chase

3 Aug 2016

The $220 bln retail titan is reportedly in talks to buy Jet, a fledgling online-shopping site. Wal-Mart has been accelerating acquisitions of tech startups in a bid to beef up digital efforts. Amazon, however, keeps moving ahead with efforts like one-day shipping and groceries.

Review: Iran cyber hack opened a Pandora’s box

29 Jul 2016

The documentary "Zero Days" takes a thriller-style look at the unprecedented attack on the country's nuclear facilities using the Stuxnet virus. It shows the lack of norms in this new kind of war. What’s left unexplored is how companies have become fair game in cyber battles.

Alphabet may need to crank up spinoff machine

28 Jul 2016

Google's parent delivered another solid quarter thanks to its search and digital-advertising ubiquity. Such success may make outsiders wary of cooperating with the $525 bln firm's many side projects. Carving these out may be the answer, as it did with the maker of Pokemon GO.