Corporate China | Weibo: Smartisan hammered, Qihoo hints of shakeup

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A screenshot from an live online video debate between Smartisan founder Luo Yonghao and tech reviewer Wang Ziru. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 2:43pm, 1 Sep 2014Updated: 2:44pm, 1 Sep 2014

It's rare that one issue dominates the blogosphere among the many tech executives who like to tweet about their companies on their microblog accounts. But the past week saw one such debate occur around a spat between 2 old friends in the smartphone space. In one corner was Luo Yonghao, a celebrity English teacher who in the last few years moved into the highly competitive smartphone space. In the other was Wang Ziru, a self-styled gadget critic who has become quite influential. As many might guess, the debate centred on a recent critical review by Wang for Luo's newly launched smartphone model under his Smartisan brand.

While the Luo-Wang spat kept the blogosphere well supplied with musings from a wide range of tech executives, a few other tidbits also provided some intriguing hints of things to come at other leading tech names. A couple of posts from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi suggested that a major restructuring could be on the way; and separate musings from an executive at e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) also hinted at potential similar moves.

Let's begin our weekly round-up with the Luo-Wang spat, which became a sparring match between the older, more established Luo and up-and-comer Wang. Luo is a household name for many in China who have used his English language instruction materials over the years, whereas Wang's rise as a tech critic has been much more recent.

Seeking to expand his horizons, Luo ventured into the competitive smartphone business with the launch in May of his Smartisan brand. Banking on his academic reputation and street cred as an influential online commentator, Luo sought to differentiate his phones from the many cheap models flooding the market by positioning them as a higher-quality, highbrow brand. That was reflected in the derivation of the company's English name, which came from the combination of the words "smart" and "artisan", and in the company's logo as a craftsman's hammer.

It seems that Wang wasn't too impressed by Smartisan's maiden model, the T1, and published a video review that was critical of the smartphone's hardware and performance. Needless to say, Luo wasn't too happy and fired off a series of microblog posts expressing his displeasure. In one of the latest of those, he tells others who receive similar reviews to come and talk with him, and also hints that Wang may be accepting money in exchange for writing positive reviews.

The list of tech executives who weighed in on the matter is quite long, and most didn't take sides but instead made relatively neutral observations. That list included Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM) CEO Fu Sheng (post); LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) vice president Lin Jiashu (post); Qihoo CEO Zhou Hongyi (post) and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) vice president Xu Lei (post).