AllThingsD » Laurie Burkitt

Nokia to Sell High-End Lumia in China

Laurie Burkitt — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:30:19 +0000

Finnish phone maker Nokia Corp. is launching sales of its high-end Lumia smartphones in China in a move to gain market share in the world’s largest smartphone market and to push forward the troubled company’s turnaround.

Nokia will begin selling its Lumia 800C, which runs with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone operating system and is supported by mobile carrier China Telecom Corp., in April for 3,599 yuan, or about $570, roughly within the range for a high-end phone in China. In the second quarter, the company will launch the introductory smartphone Lumia 610C to target younger audiences, said Stephen Elop, chief executive of Nokia, on at a press event Wednesday in Beijing.

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Wal-Mart Ups Stake in China E-Commerce

Laurie Burkitt — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:17:56 +0000

BEIJING — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it plans to buy a majority stake in Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian, a move to boost its online efforts as consumers there flock to the Internet to shop.

The Bentonville, Ark., company will buy 51% of closely held Yihaodian, increasing its investment from 18%, Wal-Mart spokesman Anthony Rose said Monday. The transaction is subject to the Chinese government’s approval.

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The Biggest IPO You Haven't Heard Of

Loretta Chao and Laurie Burkitt — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:00:16 +0000

A Chinese company few Americans have heard of is gearing up for what could be the largest Internet IPO in U.S. history.

The company, Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co., runs 360buy.com, a fast-growing online-shopping site that sells a broad range of goods, mostly direct to consumers, much like Amazon.com Inc. This business-to-consumer part of China’s online shopping market is expected to expand more than fivefold to 650 billion yuan ($100 billion) over the next three years, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Jingdong hopes to raise as much as $4 billion to $5 billion from an initial public offering in the first half of 2012, people familiar with the situation said last week. If it succeeds, it would overtake Google Inc., whose $1.9 billion IPO in 2004 makes it the current record holder for Internet companies.

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Made in China: Fake Stores

Laurie Burkitt and Loretta Chao — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:30:16 +0000

In China’s “fake world,” consumers can shop for furniture at an imitation IKEA store, eat a six-inch sandwich at an outlet strikingly similar to Subway, and then grab dessert at “Dairy Fairy”— where they might knock back an Oreo-flavored “Ice Storm” whose, thick, creamy texture takes unabashed inspiration from the famous Dairy Queen “Blizzard.”

Welcome to the modern era of copying in China, in which sophisticated proprietors of knockoff stores and chains are targeting increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers with store experiences and customer service extremely similar to the real thing, down to the helpful store maps, coupons, shopping bags and employee uniforms.

The imitation retailers and restaurants go beyond the simple fakes of consumer goods that have long been abundant in China.

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