China-based gaming company and Web portal NetEase (NTES) announced Wednesday that its wholly-owned e-commerce subsidiary has agreed to form a joint venture focused on Internet crowdfunding and other Internet finance businesses. NetEase said that its Ujia E-commerce Co. subsidiary will form a joint venture with Everbright Securities and HNA Group. Shanghai-based Everbright Securities is a state-controlled brokerage, one of the largest securities
The number of people subscribing to Amazon.com ‘s (AMZN) Amazon Prime service rose to 41 million as of March 31, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated Wednesday. Amazon Prime has added about 1 million new subscribers since the end of December. CIRP estimates that 42% of Amazon’s U.S. customers are Prime members. And those customers spend much more than nonmembers. Prime members spend an average of $1,100 a year at Amazon compared with about $700 a year for nonmembers, CIRP said. For its latest report, CIRP surveyed 500 U.S. consumers who made a purchase at Amazon.com in the March quarter. Amazon does not disclose how many Prime members it has, but adding ever more such members has always been a main focus. Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping on millions of products, plus an Internet television service that rivals Netflix (NFLX). Prime members also get access to a streaming music service…
Cheetah Mobile (CMCM) got price target hikes Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings Tuesday and Cheetah stock leaped to a new high for the third time in the past four trading days. “We remain positive on Cheetah Mobile, considering the early traction of its international monetization, growth potential of mobile Internet space, and alliance support from leading China Internet companies,” Summit Research Partners