Weibo net revenues totaled $377.4 million in Q4 2017, an increase of 77% year-over-year, exceeding the company’s guidance between $355 million and $365 million.

• Advertising and marketing revenues were $332.3 million in Q4, an increase of 77% year-over-year; and $996.7 million in 2017, an increase of 75% year-over-year
• Value-added service (“VAS”) revenues were $45.1 million, an increase of 81% year-over-year
• Net revenues totaled $1.15 billion in 2017, an increase of 75% year-over-year.

Weibo achieved an important milestone as its total revenues for full-year 2017 surpassed $1 billion. Revenues from SMEs, key accounts and non-advertising all saw robust growth, while its profit and user base reached new highs.

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Net income attributable to Weibo was $131.0 million, an increase of 205% year-over-year, and diluted net income per share was $0.58, compared to $0.19 for the same period last year.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo was $146.0 million, an increase of 90% year-over-year, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.64, compared to $0.34 for the same period last year.

Weibo’s monthly active users (“MAUs”) had a net addition of approximately 79 million users year over year and reached 392 million in December 2017. Mobile MAUs represented 93% of MAUs. Average daily active users (“DAUs”) had a net addition of approximately 33 million users year over year and reached 172 million in December 2017.

More than 70% of new TV dramas partnered with Weibo in the first half of 2017. The top 30 TV dramas accounted for 93% of all TV drama-related Weibo impressions. Huge Weibo fan bases also unlocked more revenue opportunities for TV dramas according to Kantar. Weibo has become the most important marketing platform for video contents.

China digital marketing trend 2018; 18% increase in budget

China smartphone market declined 15.7% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 2017 and 4.9% for the whole of 2017 according to IDC.

Apple’s share increased YoY and QoQ in Q4 2017. Although the iPhone X was available in short supply initially at launch in early November 2017, the supply constraints for this model eased towards the end of the quarter. Apple’s ASP increased by 23.9% YoY in 2017Q4 largely due to the shipments of the iPhone X. Apple alone made up 85% of the overall shipments in >US$600 premium segment.

Huawei appears on the radar to compete with Apple in the >US$600 premium segment. Huawei grew in Q4 2017 largely due to the strong shipment for both its Honor and Huawei branded phones in the US$600 premium segment still remains low, it has grown from making up 2% of the shipments in this segment in 2016Q4 to 8% in Q4 2017. With its Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro series being quite popular, Huawei will be a potential competitor to Apple in the >US$600 premium segment in China.

With Samsung’s continued troubles in the China market, Huawei has successfully managed to break into the high-end Android vendor space, although price points of the flagship Huawei phones are carefully priced lower than the iPhone prices at launch.

OPPO and vivo are focusing more on the mid-range segment, with a higher share of their portfolio focused on the mid-range segment compared to a year ago. The reduction in the number of OPPO and vivo models in the low-end segment also contributed to their YoY decline in Q4 2017.

While focusing more on the mid-range segment has hurt its overall shipment growth, OPPO and Vivo’s overall ASPs have increased YoY. In terms of revenue, OPPO ranked second to Apple and was above Huawei. vivo follows at fourth place. Thus, while OPPO’s shipments may have declined, it is growing in terms of its overall revenue.

China smartphone users: iPhone vs Android

Net revenues of JD.com for Q4 2017 were RMB110.2 billion (US$216.9 billion), an increase of 38.7% from Q4 2016. Revenues from services and others for Q4 2017 were RMB10.0 billion (US$1.5 billion), an increase of 54.7% from Q4 2016. Net revenues for the full year of 2017 were RMB362.3 billion (US$55.7 billion), an increase of 40.3% from the full year of 2016. Revenues from services and others increased by 49.9% in 2017.

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 was RMB14.4 billion (US$2.2 billion), compared to RMB10.8 billion in Q4 2016. Gross profit for the full year of 2017 was RMB50.8 billion (US$7.8 billion), an increase of 43.7% from the full year of 2016. Non-GAAP gross profit4 for the full year of 2017 was RMB50.0 billion (US$7.7 billion), an increase of 44.7% from the full year of 2016.

Net loss from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders for the fourth quarter of 2017 was RMB909.2 million (US$139.7 million), a decrease of 27.9% from RMB1,261.4 million net loss for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders5 for the fourth quarter of 2017 was RMB449.3 million (US$69.1 million), compared to RMB779.7 million for the same period last year.

Net income from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders for the full year of 2017 was RMB116.8 million (US$18.0 million), compared to a net loss from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders of RMB2.0 billion for the full year of 2016. Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders for the full year of 2017 was RMB5.0 billion (US$0.8 billion), an increase of 140% from the full year of 2016.

Diluted EPS and Non-GAAP Diluted EPS. Diluted net loss per ADS from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2017 was RMB0.64 (US$0.10), compared to RMB0.89 for the fourth quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP diluted net income per ADS from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was RMB0.31 (US$0.05), compared to RMB0.54 for the same quarter last year.

Diluted net income per ADS from continuing operations for the full year of 2017 was RMB0.08 (US$0.01), compared to diluted net loss per ADS from continuing operations of RMB1.43 for the full year of 2016. Non-GAAP diluted net income per ADS from continuing operations for the full year of 2017 was RMB3.41 (US$0.52), as compared to RMB1.45 in the full year of 2016.

Operating cash flow from continuing operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 increased to RMB27.3 billion (US$4.2 billion) from RMB10.0 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2016. Free cash flow from continuing operations, which excludes the impact from JD Finance related credit products included in the operating cash flow, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 increased to RMB15.7 billion (US$2.4 billion) from RMB13.5 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2016.

Annual active customer accounts increased by 29.1% to 292.5 million in the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 from 226.6 million in the twelve months ended December 31, 2016.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, JD.com continued to expand its fashion offering on the JD platform with Bebe, an American contemporary fashion brand, and Cambridge Satchel, an iconic British handbag brand. TOPLIFE, JD.com’s independent online luxury platform which was launched during the quarter, also expanded its range of high-end brand partnerships through agreements with several well-known international luxury brands, including Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Derek Lam. TOPLIFE’s customized inventory facilities, premium delivery service and abundant product selections combine the best of offline luxury shopping with the convenience and precision of online shopping.

JD.com had over 170,000 merchants on its online marketplace, and a total of 157,831 full-time employees as of December 31, 2017.

In December 2017, JD.com launched its second-hand goods business, Paipai, expanding JD.com’s ecosystem into China’s second-hand goods market. Combining advanced technologies such as blockchain-based traceability, AI-enabled automated online product verification and valuation, identity verification and credit rankings alongside JD’s anti-counterfeit controls, JD is well positioned to solve key “pain points” in the second-hand goods market, namely, quality, authenticity and security, providing a trustworthy second-hand goods platform for Chinese consumers.

As of January 31, 2018, JD.com’s joint venture, New Dada, had partnered with 163 Walmart stores and 388 Yonghui stores, among numerous other supermarkets and grocery stores, to provide a premium online fresh grocery shopping experience with one-hour home delivery service. New Dada is the largest crowdsourcing logistics provider and O2O grocery platform in China.

In January 2018, JD.com and Meili Inc. agreed to form a joint venture to explore social-commerce opportunities. The new venture will build and operate a social e-commerce platform leveraging resources on JD’s level-1 Weixin entry point, bringing innovative and interactive social-commerce features to shoppers, and helping small businesses reach a broader consumer base at lower cost.

In February 2018, JD.com and Tencent announced a joint minority investment in Better Life, a leading multi-format regional retailer in southwest China. Combining Tencent’s massive social media traffic, JD’s e-commerce know-how and logistics capabilities, and Better Life’s offline retail chain, the three parties have established a strategic partnership to pursue “Boundaryless Retail Solutions” and to provide customers with integrated online and offline shopping experiences.

Cross-border online shopping trends in China 2018

China online food delivery market totaled 67.73 billion yuan in Q4 2017 with an increase of 16.2% QoQ or 81.8% YoY according to data from Analysis.

The largest segment of China’s online food delivery market is the white-collar business market with 82.7% market share, followed by family community market and campus market.

Ele.me and Baidu Waimai have a combined market share of 49.8%, followed by Meituan (43.5%).

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China online retail market totaled 1,974.59 billion yuan (US$311.69 billion) with an increase of 41% YoY in Q4 2017 according to data from Analysis. China’s B2C online retail market reached 1,189.35 billion yuan (US$187.74 billion) with an increase of 43.2%.

Total transactions on Tmall grew by 45% in Q4 2017, accounting for 60.9% of the total B2C market in China. JD grew by 35% to 25.6% market share, followed by Suning and Vipshop.

China’s FMCG spending grew by 4.3% in 2017