The ACT team hand-picks the most watchable news of the day from China’s booming tech industry. Don’t miss out on these headlines:
Guangzhou becomes Uber’s biggest business operation worldwide
Uber’s China North and West region general manager Zhang Yanqi said today that Guangzhou has surpassed Chengdu as Uber’s biggest business operation in the world. Uber now covers 21 cities in China, with plans to expand and eventually go public. 30% of Uber’s fares are from China, and its business volume in China is expected to surpass that in the US by the end of the year.
3rd generation YotaPhone will launch next year for USD 550
Yota Devices will release its third generation YotaPhone next year for around USD 550. The dual-screen YotaPhone 2 was supposed to pose a threat for Apple when it launched this year. The company estimates that over half of Yota Device’s revenue will be from China in the future, and Yota Devices plans to partner with Chinese companies to make lower-end products.
Suning transfers PPTV’s shares for the video site running USD 60.5m deficit
Great Universe, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suning, has transferred all of its 68.08% stock in video site PPTV to Suning Culture and its subsidiaries for RMB 2.587 billion (USD 408 million). PPTV is running a RMB 384 million (USD 60.5 million) deficit. As of June 30, 2015, PPTV’s net assets totaled RMB -6.5 billion compared to RMB -2.6 billion last year.
iPhone 6s sales slower than iPhone 6? Shanghai shuts down an assembly line
A factory in Pudong, Shanghai that produces Apple products has laid off staffers and shut down its iPhone 6s assembly line, TechWeb reports. Pegatron Corp. was scheduled to recruit until the end of October but stopped hiring in mid October. Dealers from Buynow.com.cn and PConline.com.cn said sales of the iPhone 6s has been lower than iPhone 6. Despite the fact that Apple’s revenue has grown 84% in Greater China since last year as Tencent Tech reported, the overall demand for iPhones has slowed down.
ID verification measures for China parcel delivery begins
Name and ID verification measures were launched on Sunday along with a number of other postal regulations following a spate of parcel bombings in Guangxi at the end of September. Measures include the verification of the sender’s telephone number and ID before packages are accepted. According to an online poll conducted by Sina, users are most concerned about their personal information being compromised, with 70% reluctant to give couriers their ID information.
Gaming market leader Giant Interactive returns to China’s main board, supported by Jack Ma
China’s largest video game company Giant Interactive Group’s returning plan to China’s main board was published last Sunday. The game company will go public by taking the shell of a formerly listed company using RMB 13.1 billion (USD 2 billion). Among the shareholders are Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital, Lenovo’s chairman Liu Chuanzhi’s Hony Venture Capital and leading private equity manager CDH Fund. Giant Interactive Group withdrew from the U.S. stock market last July.
CMC Holdings founded on Saturday, backed by Alibaba & Tencent
Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Tencent took the lead in founding CMC Holdings in Suzhou industrial park, with the scale of the investment exceeding RMB ten billion (USD 1.58 billion). Alibaba and Tencent will combine their strength to advance the development of a batch of emerging industries, covering three major areas including media and entertainment, internet and mobile communications, and lifestyle. The new company may also inject great momentum for China to increase its cultural soft power.