Social Media

WeChat makes bigger brick in anti-China firewall

3 Aug 2020

Tencent’s app is next in line for a White House ban after TikTok. Blocking WeChat, crucial to life and business in the People’s Republic, would protect overseas Chinese from Beijing’s spies, but cut them off from home. That would hasten and deepen the decoupling of the internet.

TikTok learns old lesson about U.S. art of deal

2 Aug 2020

President Trump had significant influence on conversations between Microsoft and TikTok after owner ByteDance’s proposed minority stake in earlier talks posed concerns. On M&A that raises national security worries, Chinese firms will find Uncle Sam is the new poison pill.

Corona Capital: Pinterest, Tech heaven

31 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pinterest offers a window into advertisers’ souls, while tech giants’ valuations soar.

Alphabet’s moonshots are falling back to earth

30 Jul 2020

The $1 trln Google parent is struggling more than rivals. Second-quarter revenue fell by 2% while Facebook's sales increased. The maturing business faces more ad competition. And the non-core projects that were once intriguing these days look more like dead weights.

Viewsroom: Silicon Valley spotlight

30 Jul 2020

The CEOs of Big Tech companies faced off against U.S. lawmakers during an antitrust hearing that raised new evidence about past acquisitions. Meanwhile, Japan’s Ootoya and Colowide engage in a food M&A fight. And: SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s next steps.

Big Tech bosses face hot air and hard truths

29 Jul 2020

Bosses of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google faced a predictable array of silly questions during their Washington hearing. But they also faced some pointed examples of their firms throwing their weight around. Cook, Bezos, Zuckerberg and Pichai have some self-examination to do.

Ad problem shifts from newspapers to Facebook

29 Jul 2020

News organizations struggled as ads shifted to digital platforms like Facebook – which benefits from journalism but doesn’t pay for it. A new law could change that, helping newspapers but leaving the social network with a growing dependence on the one source proving tenuous.

TikTok deal depends on how, not how much

29 Jul 2020

Some of the social network’s investors have proposed buying it at $50 bln, or 50 times sales. That would suggest growth that vastly outpaces rivals like Snap. It’s possible, but with bans in places like India, TikTok’s worth depends on how cleanly it can cut ties with China.

Bezos’s D.C. delivery hangs on lawmaker wish lists

28 Jul 2020

Amazon’s CEO faces his first congressional hearing, joining peers from Apple, Google and Facebook who have sat in the hot seat before. Those grillings were mostly grandstanding by ill-prepared politicians. If they have upped their game, Bezos and Co face more of a challenge.

Twitter user growth trumps ad slide in long term

23 Jul 2020

Lockdowns have encouraged people to try the $29 bln social network. Users were up 34% year-on-year in the second quarter. Advertisers have pulled back. But Twitter’s problem has always been attracting more devotees. After the pandemic, newcomers will remain – and ads will return.

Corona Capital: Thanksgiving shopping, Airlines

22 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Walmart gives thanks to employees; Airlines’ relative winners emerge.

ByteDance will bust a softer groove without TikTok

21 Jul 2020

Political pressure from Washington could prompt a sale of the video app, curtailing the global ambitions of $140 bln Chinese parent ByteDance and erasing a fifth or more of its value. TikTok’s local equivalent, plus news, music and other apps, will help it retain viral appeal.

Twitter hack is a nightmare not just for Twitter

15 Jul 2020

A wave of fake tweets from figures like Elon Musk and Joe Biden soliciting bitcoin mean Twitter’s security costs will have to rise. But the social network has the power to move markets, or worse. The risk is that high-profile users change their habits – or regulators step in.

U.S. buyer can take advantage of TikTok’s problems

13 Jul 2020

Donald Trump is considering a ban on the video-sharing app because of its Chinese roots. Selling to an American suitor, whether it’s Disney, Twitter or another firm, would normally trigger regulatory watchdogs. They may turn a blind eye, though, leaving an open door.

Twitter and Walmart show signs of subscriber envy

8 Jul 2020

Both the social network and the $360 bln retailer are considering offering users extra bells and whistles in return for subscriptions. After all, that has worked for companies like Spotify, Netflix and the New York Times. But it’s not only customers who could end up paying.

Facebook’s new best friends are a weakening link

8 Jul 2020

Small firms account for a large chunk of the social network’s ad revenue. The pandemic has also made them more dependent on the platform just as big companies from Ford to Unilever boycott it. But a Covid-19 surge may hurt the minnows when CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs them most.

China’s firewall casts shadow over Hong Kong

7 Jul 2020

Twitter, Google and Facebook suspended cooperation with local courts as new rules allow police to seize assets and force sites to delete seditious content. Others such as Netflix stand to be affected, and blockages seem likely. That can only accelerate the exodus of talent.

Sina’s terrible governance comes home to roost

7 Jul 2020

Less than three years after the Chinese web outfit inexplicably handed control to boss Charles Chao, he wants to take it private. The $2.7 bln offer is at a 20% discount to Sina’s stake in microblog Weibo. Supervoting stock and a weak board put minority holders in a tight spot.

Corporate boycotts expose an inconvenient truth

26 Jun 2020

Brands like Ben & Jerry’s and Verizon are pulling ad spending from Facebook because of racist content. It’s as if capitalism sprouted a conscience. But much as some might claim otherwise, companies just aren’t wired to drive social change. The possible exception: Facebook itself.

Silicon Valley VCs perform balancing act in China

18 Jun 2020

Covid-19 has boosted delivery, robotics and e-commerce technology. U.S. investors want to back Chinese startups capitalizing on those trends. But firms investing in the People’s Republic risk Washington's ire. The trick is to pair high potential ROIs with a low profile.