Technology

Tricky startup key may unlock empty Chinese rooms

17 Jan 2018

Warburg Pincus expanded its shared-economy suite by leading a fresh $620 mln investment into Ziroom. The unicorn capitalizes on China's housing-boom crackdown by flipping fallow flats into rentals. It's a clever strategy, but one that will depend on lifting dismal profit margins.

Siemens’ $48 bln health IPO has recovery potential

16 Jan 2018

The German industrial group is floating medical-tech unit Healthineers. Ageing rich-world populations should boost demand for scanning equipment and the like. If the group can sort out its sickly diagnostics division, the mooted price tag could even look cheap.

Alibaba rival’s switch in logistics stacks up

16 Jan 2018

Chinese web retailer JD is raising $2 billion from investors to fund its warehousing and delivery unit, Reuters says. This sensible burden-sharing brings JD and Alibaba’s business models closer together. The trade-off is diluting existing shareholders in a promising venture.

Shareholders leave Autos 2.0 on the hard shoulder

15 Jan 2018

Ford is more than doubling its electric-battery investment to $11 bln, and GM is pushing its driverless car. But as industry gathers for its annual Detroit confab, investors still seem to doubt carmakers can turn new technology into dollars. Tesla remains the exception.

Chinese web giant Tencent gets U.S. tax bonus

15 Jan 2018

U.S. investors snapped up more than half of a $5 billion bond sale by Tencent. That's partly thanks to Republican tax cuts, which may result in fewer bonds from American tech stalwarts. That helps the gaming and social media outfit to lock in cheap overseas funding.

Telecoms IPO would be a smart step for SoftBank

15 Jan 2018

Floating a Japanese cash-cow subsidiary could unlock $18 bln, which boss Masayoshi Son could use for yet more bold bets on new technology. The move might help lift the unit’s performance. It could also help address the persistent discount the market applies to SoftBank shares.

Cobalt tax grab will send carmakers on a diversion

12 Jan 2018

The Democratic Republic of Congo, supplier of two-thirds of the world's cobalt, aims to more than double royalty charges. That's bad news for electric cars: the metal is a key battery ingredient. The move could backfire, however, by accelerating exploration of alternatives.

Jack Ma opens floodgate on Hong Kong tech listings

10 Jan 2018

The Alibaba founder could list parts of his e-commerce firm in Hong Kong. That suggests the exchange’s proposals to permit dual-class shares and more secondary listings are having their desired effect. The implications for local corporate governance will be ugly.

Chancellor: Bitcoin will never be real money

9 Jan 2018

The leading crypto-currency has monetary characteristics. But without state backing and a means for circulating credit in the capitalist economy it lacks the nature of money and is destined to fail. That’s why some more modest bitcoin alternatives, like ripple, look more promising.

Samsung ends a stellar year on worrisome note

9 Jan 2018

Forecast quarterly sales and operating profit from South Korea's $327 bln tech behemoth have fallen short of expectations. A strong currency and one-off costs may be to blame. That, and growing concerns of falling memory chip prices, hints at a tougher year ahead.

GoPro’s genius discount grows larger

8 Jan 2018

The wearable-camera maker styled itself a media company, but even its hardware business is suffering job cuts as sales fall short. Success is even harder than usual when – as at Snap, which fancied itself a camera company – the boss wastes time and resources chasing whims.

Tech backlash catches up to Apple

8 Jan 2018

Jana Partners and pension giant CalSTRS want the company to give parents better controls over their kids’ iPhones. It’s an unusual issue for an activist, and apps from Facebook and Snap would make better targets. But focusing on Apple shows how much technology has lost its halo.

Mobike veers cautiously into Didi’s taxi lane

8 Jan 2018

The Chinese bike-sharing unicorn has secured an investment from carmaker FAW as part of a wider push to expand into shared automobiles. It's an effort to rattle rival Ofo's alliance with $56 bln ride-hailing giant Didi. Catching up will be a slog, but may be worth the effort.

Electric cars will catch up with gas guzzlers

5 Jan 2018

Plans to ban dirty vehicles are stoking investment in clean transport, driving down costs. Consumers could find battery power as cheap as combustion engines for the first time in 2018. But it will be harder to drive up profitability. Automakers will struggle as margins tighten.

Elon Musk plays chicken with his own investors

4 Jan 2018

Tesla is missing output targets for its mass-market Model 3 yet again. Repeated delays risk denting the electric-vehicle brand and guzzling cash faster than expected. The combination could test shareholders’ loyalty just when Musk needs more capital for trucks and other projects.

Viewsroom: Debt markets set for wild ride

4 Jan 2018

More government borrowing and less central bank buying will force bondholders to fend for themselves, Breakingviews predicts. Plus, passive funds will force out a CEO, electric vehicles give gasoline cars a run for their money and soccer clubs’ spending splurge will intensify.

Intel flaws hint at tech “too big to fail” risk

4 Jan 2018

Researchers revealed bugs in the firm’s processors, as well as those of AMD and ARM, potentially making most computing devices vulnerable to hacks. Chipmakers need massive scale to justify huge investments, but a concentrated market means problems can become systemic.

Didi provides glimpse into its global playbook

4 Jan 2018

In its first big step abroad, the Chinese ride-hailing powerhouse is paying $600 mln for control of Brazilian peer 99. The buddy-up first and buy later approach could mean Grab, Lyft or Ola will be next. It also suggests Didi-backer SoftBank may have a master plan, after all.

Hong Kong will start atoning for missing Alibaba

4 Jan 2018

The city lost many Chinese tech listings to New York. But it is building a critical mass of stocks, analysts and investors, and is poised to weaken governance rules in favour of founders. That sets the stage for the IPOs of rising stars Didi, Toutiao and Meituan-Dianping.

Voice-tech shouting match could end with a whisper

3 Jan 2018

The market for voice-controlled assistants and smart speakers is getting more competitive as Apple and others prepare to roll out gadgets or cut prices on those already available. Each is chasing a different kind of promised land. The reality may disappoint.