This week’s focus on the company: Tencent, Huawei, Fighting more, WeWork, Softbank, Tesla
“Selected Headlines” is a weekly column to sort out the company and business news that deserves attention that week. The “Featured Headlines” consists of a number of short news items, all from the subscription column “Daily Business Collection.”
The following is a noteworthy company and business news this week (October 21-October 25):
WeChat says no to “cut a knife”, social e-commerce needs to find new ways to play
I believe many people have received the bargain link from friends in WeChat. In the future, the bargaining and spelling links like “helping to cut a knife” will be “blocked” by WeChat. WeChat official recently released a revised version of “WeChat External Link Content Management Specification”, which regulates some illegal content, including: non-violation of user avatars; non-inducible, misleading download/jump; no friend help, acceleration, Bargaining, task collection and other violations; not breaking the rules and so on. The revised specification will be officially implemented on October 28.
Social fission through WeChat platform is an important means for social e-commerce to obtain users at low cost. Today’s WeChat specifications are strict, which will lead to a significant increase in the cost of acquiring social e-commerce. However, in an interview with the Daily Economic News, Tang Xingtong, a digital transformation strategy consultant, believes that in the long run, the reason for the rise of social e-commerce is because it subverts the centralized sales channel under the traditional dealer model, and the core is decentralization. New supply chain relationship. Therefore, social e-commerce still has room for development.
Extended reading: “Cut a knife” and “Accelerate” WeChat said no, social e-commerce has to change day?
Softbank’s $5 billion to save WeWork, is the money thrown back?
This week, shared office giant WeWork announced a $9.5 billion financing agreement with Softbank, including $5 billion in new funding, up to $3 billion in existing shareholder takeover bids, and a previously committed $1.5 billion Injection. Upon completion of the transaction, Softbank will hold approximately 80% of WeWork’s shares but will not gain control. According to Reuters statistics, as of now, Softbank has invested more than $13 billion in WeWork. However, since the beginning of 2019, WeWork’s valuation has shrunk from $48.7 billion to $8 billion.
Informed people told the New York Times that in the past few weeks, Softbank executives have been developing new business plans for WeWork, including layoffs, selling and closing non-profitable sectors, and exiting cities that could not be profitable in three years. Increase office space rents in cities with good income (such as New York and London). It can be foreseen that from the personnel management to the business changes, the adjustment period that WeWork will go through will not be short, and whether Softbank can finally recover the investment is still unknown.
Extended reading:
Forefront | After the removal of founder Neumann, Sun Justice has sent $5 billion to WeWork
Forefront | WeWork “Lifeline”, Softbank or its “Lifeline”
Huawei released Mate X in a low-key manner, and the folding screen mobile phone in the future is expected to be
On October 23, Huawei released the first folding mobile phone Mate X, which supports 5G dual-mode, and the national bank version sells for up to 16,999 yuan. This folding screen mobile phone was originally scheduled to be released in the middle of the year, but after the Samsung folding screen mobile phone has successive problems, Huawei’s folding mobile phone Mate X began to adjust a lot, and the release time was postponed until now. At present, the price of folding screen mobile phones is relatively high, and the main consumer groups are industry professionals and technology enthusiasts. In order to go to the public, folding screen mobile phones must not only solve the technical problems, but also meet the needs of portable and cheap market.
Folding screen phones are very technically difficult. First of all, the OLED structure of the folding screen is complicated in design, and the material requirements are high, which directly leads to the product yield climbing. The service life of the hinge is estimated to be only about 20,000 times (reported by CITIC Securities), which cannot meet the normal needs of users. Second, the flexible OLED used in folding mobile phones makes packaging more difficult. In addition, the application of ecological construction is also a problem. If the ecology is not complete, the folding screen mobile phone has a cool appearance and cannot enhance the user experience. However, the industry is more optimistic about the prospect of folding screens. The folding screen not only has a screen that is twice as large as the current mainstream full-screen mobile phone, but also can obtain a novel interactive experience such as “mobile phone + tablet” and split screen operation.
Extended reading: Focus Analysis | Huawei Folding Mobile has been released, but the spring of the folding machine has not come yet
Too many market values surpass Jingdong, and the second place in e-commerce is more intense
The double eleven e-commerce war has not yet started, and the fight has been the first to get the boost of the capital market. On October 24th, the share price of the company increased by 12.56%, and the total market value of 46.4 billion US dollars made it more than the Jingdong, becoming the fourth-highest Internet listed company in China. Starting from the sinking market, I have been working hard to enter the “five rings.” Huang Wei said at the Q2 financial report that half of the GMV in June (48%) came from first- and second-tier cities. At the same time of active expansion,