Musk denies Tesla Model 3 will be produced in China
Tesla CEO Elon Musk refuted erroneous reports coming out of his comments at the Tsinghua Management Global Forum in Beijing that Tesla aims to produce the Model 3 in China in two years. Musk tweeted that his comments “weren’t transcribed correctly. Tesla will keep making cars & batteries in CA & NV as far into future as I can imagine.” He also tweeted that a factory in China to meet local demand won’t be running until at least a year after the Model 3’s release.
Sohu’s 2015 third quarter report shows USD 522 million revenue
According to Sohu’s 2015 third quarter report, the company saw a total revenue of USD 522 million in the last quarter, up 21% year-on-year. In comparison, in the second quarter of 2015, the company saw an operating profit of USD 18M, while in 2014, the company operated on a loss of USD 41 million. Sohu’s CEO Zhang Chaoyang said the company may still produce one or two movies next year.
China’s Netflix, LeTV’s revenue for first three quarters increases 76.5%
LeTV’s operating profit totaled USD 1.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2015, a year-on-year increase of 76.5%, according to the company’s report. State-owned Chinese investment company Huijin Holdings became LeTV’s fifth-largest shareholder, with 1.51% of the company’s stocks. LeTV recently invested in Uber and Didi’s rival Yidao Yongche, with aims to develop an electric Supercar.
Baidu wins $78 000 from Sogou over search engine tiff
Courts in Beijing have granted Baidu a USD 78 000 settlement in its case against Sogou for unfair competition. Sogou, a language input tool for Windows operating systems developed by Sohu, got in hot water with Baidu over the strange behaviour of its input tool. When users used Sogou to input text on Baidu’s search engine, the user would be automatically redirected to Sogou’s own search engine when they clicked the search button. The court has ordered Sogou to cease this action.
Oppo-affiliated OnePlus releases new smartphone for USD 251
The new OnePlus smartphone has not been officially released yet, but it is already being sold online by Chinese retailer Suning. The phone has a price tag of 1559 RMB, which may be seen as overpriced by consumers, based on the phone’s unremarkable hardware features. Chinese smartphone makers compete fiercely to attract customers. The market leader Xiaomi has seen a decline in sales of low-end smartphones with a price tag of USD100. Analysts say there’s much more potential for growth for mid and high-range smartphones above USD 200.
(Top photo from sxdaily.com.cn)