Good Sunday afternoon. This is Xiaochun.
After the US banned American companies from selling components to ZTE, the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer said last week that the company is in a “state of shock”.
Previously in 2017, ZTE pledged guilty for shipping US equipment to Iran and North Korea and agreed to pay $1.19 billion in penalties. But the US government said ZTE made false statements regarding reprimanding employees involved.
The US ban triggered a discussion in China about lowering dependence on US parts suppliers. Under the circumstances, Alibaba announced on Friday it has fully acquired C-SKY, a Chinese company that claims to be the country’s only chip maker that mass-produces integrated CPU IP cores.
While ZTE is struggling to survive, DJI, the world’s largest consumer drone maker, is boldly ditching the traditional way of fundraising. Instead of employing a financial advisor, the company is selecting investors through a bidding process for its $1 billion round at a $15 billion valuation.
Over 100 investors have propelled the total sum for the round to over 30 times oversubscribed. Investors have high expectations for the company’s future growth, in part because of its excellent profit-making performance. In the past three consecutive years, the company’s net profit surged 200% from RMB 1.42 billion (around US$225.6 million) in 2015 to RMB 4.3 billion (around US$683.1 million) in 2017, according to local media All Weather TMT.
With the fresh funds, DJI is likely to expand to the drone market that targets enterprise clients, making its future even more brighter.
Here are some stories and ideas from last week that you shouldn’t miss.
CHINA
World’s Largest Commercial Drone Maker DJI Boldly Let Enthusiastic Investors Bid for Financing
Alibaba Acquires Chinese Chip Maker to Lower Dependence on Outside Suppliers
Tencent Invests $98M in News Video App to Compete with Toutiao’s Video App Matrix
China’s Ofo plans to take over running of Hong Kong’s GoBee Bike
ZTE chairman appeals for calm amid US ban ‘crisis’
Tesla Gets Edge Under China’s Relaxed Rules for Foreign Automakers
Tencent Launches Google Docs-Like Tool to Rival Alibaba and Toutiao in Enterprise Services
Southeast Asia
Is Ofo Backing up Singapore’s GSELab Just a Rumour?
Alibaba Invests $352M in Thailand to Brace for Upcoming Competition with Tencent and JD.com
Singapore ComfortDelGro Acquires London Taxi Operator for UK Expedition
Singapore’s competition watchdog sets interim terms for Uber-Grab deal
Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears
Singapore’s Temasek expresses interest in buying HNA’s Hong Kong airlines stake
Xiaomi Just Made the Third Attempt at Blockchain
Baidu Ties up with Meituan on Driverless Food Delivery in Xiong’an New Area
UOB Setting up Fintech JV to Tackle SEA Unbanked Market
Noteworthy Startups
Ant Financial Invests in Gadget Rental Startup Neisha’s Tens of Millions of Yuan Financing Round
Tencent Invests $4.8M in Gaming Influencer Agency, Completing its Game-Streaming Matrix
