May 20, 2009 –
If a pink sheet company, let’s say, signs an agreement to supply China with all of its energy needs for the next 50 years, the press release can be read anywhere. On the other hand, if there is an adverse story concerning a pink sheet corporation you have to ferret out the news. [more]
May 19, 2009 –
China Yida Holding Company is a firm that operates a tourist business in the Fujian province of China, and also sells advertising. Total revenue is small, 10m USD per year. [more]
May 15, 2009 –
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RELATED TICKERS: BYDDY.PK
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I enjoyed rationalwalk’s blog http://caps.fool.com/blogs/viewpost.aspx?bpid=192991&t=01000869835024491718Concerning the Chairman of BYD Corporation. The performance of the stock BYDDY recently has been outstanding. But reading rationalwalk’s blog, some of the descriptions don’t quite ring true“Wang Chuanfu is all work and no play – and proud of it.In the rare moments when not at the office, Mr. Wang lives in a modest penthouse flat in the “workers’ village” with his wife and daughter.Mr. Wang spurns the trappings enjoyed by many of his western peers, such as corporate jets and expensive clothes”Walter Cronkite said similar things about Premier Nguyen Cao Ky in 1965, and the Saigon government proved to be a very poor investment. I was interested to see what the Chinese press was saying about BYD, and its chairman. I found this article on china.com.cn full text, including incriminating photos can be seen here. The author is Wang Dao of the Guangzhou News. It seems that a prophet is not without honor except in his homeland.The Chinese word Shanzhai has special meaning, and I’m not sure how to translate it . Literally it means mountain house, the slang meaning is a “fake”. Think of a Rolex watch with the brand name, Rolex spelled with two l’s. Think of a peasant dressed in fine clothes that are in fact copies of designer clothes. Google the word Shanzhai you get eight million matches, I only checked the first 10000, but they were all selling imitation cell phones at low prices.It may be ironic that I’m plagiarizing an article that is so critical of copying, but hopefully Mr Wang, if he ever reads this, appreciates that I am bringing his thoughts to a wider audience.Shanzhai BYD's Imitating Path to Innovation"Stock God" Warren Buffet invests 1.8 billion HK dollars in BYD.Amid the tempestuous investment market, Buffet is still astonishing. One must admire Brother Ba's courage. Berkshire Hathaway Corporation chairman Buffet has indicated that he will cooperate with BYD. They feel extremely excited. Mid American Fuel Company Chairman David i Sokol commented, "BYD's technological innovation and future products rule the the environmental protection arena, if we had the opportunity we would invest even more in BYD.” Hearing the high approval of such heavyweights, is music that opens the heart of BYD chairman Wang Zhuanfu. But I must ask, is BYD as sublime as Brother Ba says.The "iron battery" battery isn't iron. BYD Chairman Wang Zhuanfu at the 2008 General Manager Forum of the Chinese Automobile Manufacturers on the 10 Year Future had to admit his "iron batteries" have no patent. The "iron battery's" actual scientific name is phosphorous lithium cell. As everyone knows the well-known phosphorous lithium battery is the subject of an increasingly intense international dispute, so what can be said of BYD's "iron battery" patent? Are they innovators or dedicated imitators? In fact, what is BYD's critical component? According to some expert analysts, this type of battery is just a lithium battery, the phosphorous and iron are merely part of the composition. Right now lithium batteries come in three types, llithium-phosphoric acid, lithium-cobalt acid, and lithium manganese acid.Experts say that right now lithium-manganese is the mature technology, the tried and trued battery to use in electric motor cars. The lithium cobalt battery is mainly used in cell phones, notebook computers, and digital cameras. Compared to manganese lithium batteries, lithium-phosphoric-iron batteries are safe with high stability, the components are non-toxic, and the price is cheap. But the fatal weakness is its electrical conductivity, inner resistance, and heat production, which is comparatively high, just short of a perfect battery system. There are related experts who say, lithium-phosphoric-iron although they have been used in small applications, have not been used in comparatively large power automotive applications-- achieving large-scale industrial applications will be extremely difficult.Must we go this way as BYD adopts what is called "iron battery" in this careless and irresponsible way to automobiles? Even beyond is BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu in 2008 at Beijing Car (the industry meeting mentioned above) brazenly said, regarding "iron battery", its a little bit of a misnomer, but in regards the struggle of patents, whoever wins, I will buy the rights. One can't help but think, does this allow us at this time to take pride in our national ability to independently bring forth new ventures.F3 sells only 10000 In 2007 BYD F3 official propaganda always claims monthly sales over 10000. But government license plate records show, in the first half of 2007, BYD F3 license plate registrations are only 30902, according to Car Use Joint Conference, differing by more than 20856! More shocking is that in March, April, May, etc. BYD asserts F3 sales surpassed the 10000 car quota, in fact plate registrations were 4835, 4747, and 3750! The sales far outstrip the reported license registrations. In September, 2009 (maybe they mean the 2009 model in the 2008 year?) the BYD F0 hit the market, it's first month sales exploded to 10059. But according to the license plate registration criterion, it's a different picture. The September F0 registrations in the entire country were 829, October registrations 1550, November registrations 1550, and December registrations amounted to 3367. Could it be BYD cars are all a "black car addiction" (refers to unlicensed cars, driven without valid license or inspection)? If things go on like this, the contradiction between final market statistics and company propaganda will no doubt cause marketability and trustworthiness to crumble. "Outward Worry Inner Turmoil" BYD is always copying, from F1 copied to F6. From BYD's 1.8 liter BIVT motor to Haima's (another Chinese make) independently developed 1.8 liter engine, in either internal parameters or outward appearance, there's not a single difference. In reality, BYD's 1.8 liter BIVT engine clearly came from Haima's technology. At the same time, because of high indifference, BYD motor research team one after another departed. Why are so many “without heart" research and development team-members walking away? BYD’s MasqueradeBYD's F6 exterior design plan uses for reference Lexus' new LS460 design features. The headlight design origin is Lexus' new LS460. The F6's body more resembles Honda's car body lines. Interior designs entirely duplicated Honda's 2.4 sumptuous color schemes. Thus it can be seen, the F6 is completely hobbled together from other designs. Thus it can be seen, BYD Corporation truly has many, many issues. It's worth bringing up BYD Corporation’s 5.1 Billion HK,dollar lawsuit with Foxconn. Details of the case reveal that BYD used any means to plagiarize secret documents to gain huge profits. In this society which is increasingly conscious of intellectual property rights, how far can BYD's imitating strategy go? If in each BYD automobile every internal component as well as every outward design feature, like a Shanzhai cell phone, is copied. In the conventional use of the word, BYD is the biggest Shanzhai. How long can "Shanzhai China" persist. Shanzhai is China's greatest mistake. Many enterprises have died in this pursuit. Chinese enterprises must achieve genuinely independent progress. We must break through and Shanzhai must go. I don’t want to support or refute any of Mr. Wang’s assertions, I am merely a translator. I will say that I once heard an engineer from Mercedes say that innovation in automobile design isn’t always desirable. Everybody copies from everyone else. “Ja, Ford was original when the made the Pinto,” he said. “They put the gas tank where the bumper goes.” [more]
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