Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun could soon be pushing his phones in 1000 mainland stores
Xiaomi, the Chinese phone maker that built its reputation via online-only sales, may give a boost to physical retail by opening 1,000 new shops on the mainland. Also in the news, GIC and CPPIB could lead the bidding for a Bengalaru mall, while Singapore home prices dip again in August. Read on for all these stories and more.
Xiaomi Plans 1,000 Mainland Stores
In a major U-turn to its way of doing business, Xiaomi is set to open hundreds of retail stores per year across China. CEO Lei Jun yesterday announced the struggling phone and gadget maker “will open 1,000 stores by 2020,” reports the Shanghai Daily today.
The move is in stark contrast to Xiaomi’s focus on online sales ever since its first phone was released in 2011. Read more>>
GIC, CPPIB Said to Bid on India Mall Project
Singapore government sovereign fund GIC and Canadian pension fund manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have bid for 50 per cent stake in Phoenix Mills-owned mixed-use project Marketcity in Bengaluru, said a source in the know. The project is valued at about Rs 1,000 crore, sources said.
“Both GIC and CPPIB have put in bids and Phoenix Mills is yet to take a call,” said the source. Phoenix Mills Marketcity in Bengaluru has a mall of 1 million sq. ft and residential properties. Read more>>
No Upturn Yet as Singapore Home Prices Slide Again in August
Prices of completed condominium units and private apartments dropped 0.6 per cent in August from the previous month, reversing a 0.3 per cent increase in July, according to a National University of Singapore study.
Prices of small units of up to 506 square feet slipped 0.1 per cent in August after staying flat in July, the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) by NUS’s Institute of Real Estate Studies also showed. Read more>>
China to Restrict Bond Sales by Developers
China is considering tightening measures on bond issuance by property developers, the latest effort to cool the country’s overheating housing market and limit the inflating of a real estate bubble.
Shanghai Stock Exchange is working on tighter rules that would only allow developers rated AA or higher to sell exchange-traded notes, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing an anonymous source. Read more>>
Chinese Investors Pay A$88.88m for Sydney Property
Business sense suggests you try to buy property at the lowest possible price, but that was not the case for one property in Sydney, Australia. It was just bought by Chinese buyers for A$88,888,888.88.
The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese as it sounds like the word for “prosperity”. That luck might come in handy – the deal comes just as Sydney was awarded the fourth spot on UBS’s global housing bubble index. Read more>>
Shenzhen Economy Fosters Faith in Property Market
Last year Steve Guo, an engineer in his 40s living in Shenzhen, China’s hub for technology innovation, sold two small units and bought a four-bedroom apartment through mortgage loans.
The two old properties sold for a total of about 7 million yuan while the new one cost almost 12 million yuan. But Guo and his wife, each earning a salary of about 15,000 yuan per month, are not worried about the gap because they believe home prices in Shenzhen will keep soaring for years to come as the city continues to be the country’s fastest growing metropolis – even eventually overtaking China’s other first-tier cities. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.
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