Cars - an industry at bay ?
The confidence of buy-and-hold investors in Tesla’s ability to grow its leading position in the EV market might ultimately rest on the lack of credibility of the established car manufacturers’ effort to catch up
China
PSA & FCAU - a one-way bet ?
For all the talk about a car titan, the merger between Peugeot and Fiat-Chrysler faces complex trade-offs in industrial reorganization, in brand building and in research on electrification...It is best not to oversell promises on the deal
Fou Ts'ong - an obituary
Fou Ts'ong witnessed some of China's darkest pages . Standing his ground and honouring the values of his parents with discretion and fortitude, Mr. Fou's life must be remembered
Rebounding? - U.S. and China Retail
Expected to gain the upper hand in short order, China's domestic consumer market is not (yet) living up to its promises while America sticks to the self-assigned mission of gobbling up more foreign goods than ever...aggravating tensions
Healthcare meets the Internet age
Healthcare demand in China is an overwhelming challenge - stretched to the limit by the expectations of a newly empowered middle class and pressured by desperate, impoverished and indebted families
High stakes to ensure China's healthcare needs
Already the largest drugs market after the US, with an aging population, more demanding patients and more combative families, China remains a tumultuous market place
Uncomfortable truths
Confronted with unsatiable demand for milk, New Zealand's fragile ecosystem is front-running environmental risks exposing much larger economies worldwide, glad to supply in the short term, but at what cost ?
Land of milk and honey
Ratcheting up milk supply, New Zealand is now coping with the environmental fallout. Too much of a good thing or, more probably, a warning shot the major global agriculture exporters would discount at their peril
Apple Cars - a convoluted and telling story
Ready for show time? Partnership with car subcontractor Magna adds urgency to the research of outstanding features - credibility in a crowded field and highly effective use of data collected from the driving experience promise to be an uphill battle
Tesla - Why were sales so great in the first quarter ?
"On fire", "upgraded after a 'paradigm changer'" and other superlatives are greeting Tesla's latest quarterly sales but how about regional uncertainties, competition heating up and China's meteoric sales ? Prepare for a bumpy ride
Imbalances
Plunging again since early 2020, the U.S. trade deficit looks unhinged with consumer demand favoring imported goods and an economic cycle out of step with resurgent Asian countries, China leading the pack
Gambling chips in trade wars
China is betting the house on semiconductor design and advanced technologies but for the US the complexity of the strategic choices impacting the industry, as they relate to technological advance and to national security, is hard to understate
Withering digital wallets ?
Mobile payments have become a defining feature of Chinese society and the two Internet majors, Aibaba and Tencent, dominate digital consumer transactions at the expense of traditional banking. The Chinese Central Bank is seeking a way out...
Navigating maturing markets
Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, and Tencent, the videogame behemoth, are seeking ways to extend their strong presence in markets roiled by fickle consumer expectations and under competitive pressure. Profits will suffer...
VIEs – the good, the bad and the …
VIEs, an acronym standing for Variable Interest Entity, take pride of place in the gallery of business regulations with Chinese characteristics
Tackling the Chinese offensive
The semi-conductor industry is at the nexus of the most critical issues overshadowing US-China relations, from the protection of intellectual property to fair competition to national security
China's Silicon Hearts
Whoever controls the production of advanced Integrated Circuits commands the terms of trade between nations...With US and Asian semi-conductor majors protective of their Chinese market shares, it is for the US government to confront new reality