Meet the Founders of "China's YouTube" Tudou.com

Interview with Gary Wang and Marc Van der Chijs, founders of Tudou.com - China's most popular video sharing site. (Tipped off by Startupplay.com)

According to Gary Wang Tudou.com is already streaming more minutes of video content every month than YouTube (15 billion minutes per month vs. 3.5 billion). As Wang says, "those numbers are never accurate", but considering the fact that Chinese video sharing sites have become magnets for full-lenght movies from around the world (Read: "Chinese sharing movies for the world"), I can imagine that they are streaming many, many minutes of video content.

China's Leading Internet Companies

Due to Baidu's flying shares, the interest in Chinese Internet companies has increased a lot in the last few weeks.
As a consequence many visitors have come to my weblog to find information about other promising web companies from Middle Kingdom. So I've decided to make a short overview on China's leading internet companies for those not yet familiar with China's online sector.

Portals, Search, Online Media

Baidu.com (BIDU)





Baidu is the leading Chinese search engine with a market share of almost 70% (Google 23%, Yahoo 3%). Besides the search engine Baidu also operates very popular search query-activated message boards (Baidu Post Bar), a social question & answers service (Baidu Knows) and an online collaboratively-built encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia (Baidu Baike).


Sina.com (SINA)





Sina is the leading internet portal in China. Most of China’s netizens go and check Sina for breaking news at least once a day, giving Sina a similar position in the news market like CNN and MSNBC in the US.
Sina is also one of the biggest blogging service providers in China(Blog Sina) and together with China Telecom they are operating the fast growing video sharing platform Sina-Vnet Podcast.


Sohu.com (SOHU)





Sohu.com is a well established online brand in China and Sina's archrival. Sohu’s most important web properties are Sohu.com (portal); Sogou.com (search engine - market share 2%); Chinaren.com, an online alumni club; 17173.com, a games information portal and Focus.cn, a real estate website. In an attempt to gain an edge over its competitors, Sohu bought the right to create the official 2008 Beijing Olympic Games website and to use the logo in marketing.


Tencent QQ (SEHK:700 Hong Kong; not traded on Nasdaq)





Tencent is China’s instant messaging (IM) king. Its flagship product Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free instant messaging service in China with a market share of almost 80% (over 250 million subscribers). Tencent is quickly leveraging its IM leadership into other business lines, including online media (QQ.com Portal), mobile & telecommunications value-added services , online gaming, e-commerce (Paipai.com C2C auctions; Tenpai.com online payment ) and online advertising services.


Tom.com (TOMOY.PK)





Tom Online is a leading mobile Internet company in China that offers an array of wireless internet services such as SMS, MMS, WAP, wireless IVR (interactive voice response) services, content channels, search and classified information. Tom Online is also operating the quite popular Internet portal Tom.com. In 2005 Tom Online partnered with Skype to provide Skype Voice over IP (VOIP) communications services in China. Tom Online also holds a 51% stake in Eachnet.com (formerly known as EbayEachnet) - a joint venture created with eBay in 2006.


Tudou.com




Tudou.com, known as "the YouTube of China", is the leading video sharing website in China. As of August 2007, Tudou had 28.84 million weekly unique visitors and 360 million weekly clip views according to Nielson/NetRatings.

However, it is not clear yet if Tudou can keep its leading position in the future as China’s internet giants Sina and Tencent have launched their own video sharing sites – and not to forget the fact that there are already at least 150 similar services available in China.


E-Commerce

The Alibaba Group






The Alibaba Group is the largest e-commerce company in China and operates the world's largest online business-to-business marketplace.

As of September 2007, the Alibaba Group is made up of 5 companies:

1.) Alibaba.com: Alibaba International is now the world's largest online business-to-business marketplace, with more than 500,000 people visiting the site every day and 3 million registered users from more than 200 countries.
Alibaba China is the largest B2B marketplace for domestic China trade. As of June 30, 2007, it had nearly 21 million registered users across China.

2) Taobao.com: Within three years Taobao has dethroned eBay as China’s auction king and is now the largest C2C online auctions platform in China with a market share of between 70% and 80%.

3) Yahoo! China: In October 2005, the Alibaba Group acquired Yahoo! China and formed a long-term strategic partnership with Yahoo! Inc.. Under the agreement, Alibaba owns and operates Yahoo! China, with exclusive rights to use the Yahoo! brand and technologies in China. (In exchange, Yahoo took a 40 percent stake in Alibaba.)

4) Alipay: A service similar to PayPal and now one of the leading Chinese online payment systems.

5) Alisoft: Alisoft provides web-based business software services for SMEs in China.


Ctrip.com (CTRP)





Ctrip is the leading online travel service company in China with a market share of almost 50% (Zacks Equity Research). Ctrip provides all kinds of travel related services including hotel reservation, air-ticketing and packaged tour services. Other activities include Internet-related advertising services and hotel management operations in China.


Dangdang.com





Dangdang.com is China's version of Amazon.com. They are the biggest online bookstore with a market share of around 27%, slightly ahead of Amazon’s Chinese subsidiary, Joyo.com, which the Americans purchased in 2004.


Online Gaming

Shanda Interactive Entertainment (SNDA)




Shanda is one of the leading operators of online games, especially massively multiplayer online role-playing games ( MMORPGs), in China. They were the first company in China to license and operate online games from abroad.
Shanda has recently aquired Chengdu Aurora Technology Development, a Chinese developer of 3D online role-playing games and also increased its stake in Korea's MMORPG developer Actoz Soft Company to 50.1%.
The most important MMORPGs that Shanda operates at the moment are The Legend of Mir II, Dungeons & Dragons Online and The World of Legend.


NetEase.com (NTES)




NetEase online games business focuses on offering massively multi-player online role-playing games to the Chinese market, known as MMORPGs. Unlike its main competitors Shanda and The9, Netease has developed most of its games in-house. Netease’ flagship product Fantasy Westward Journey is the most popular online game in China.

Besides its online gaming business NetEase also operates 163.com, the third most popular web portal in China.


The9 (NCTY)





The9 Limited is a Shanghai-based online game operator with the exclusive license to operate and distribute World of Warcraft in mainland China. Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft is the world's largest MMORPG in terms of monthly subscribers. As of June 30, 2007, approximately 8.3 million accounts have been registered and activated for the World of Warcraft game in Mainland China.
The9 has also obtained exclusive licenses to operate additional MMORPGs in China, including Granado Espada, Guild Wars, Soul of the Ultimate Nation and Ragnarok Online 2.

China Tech Roundup - September 05, 2007

China Internet and Technology Roundup provided by Chinamemes.com:


MSN's China Partner Wants out of Joint Venture
The state-owned Chinese partner of MSN, Microsoft's online services group, is looking to sell its 50 percent stake in MSN China due to its dissatisfaction with MSN China's revenue model.

CDC Games Launches U.S. Operations
CDC Games a pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay for merchandise" model for online games in China, has launched operations in the U.S. under a new business unit called CDC Games USA.

Chinese Military Hacked into Pentagon
The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials.

Novoking: A New 3D Virtual Community in China
A new virtual 3D world akin to "Second Life" will start its private test in coming September.

China Puts Cartoon Cops on The Internet
Cartoon police officers are to appear in "pop-up" warnings on the internet every half hour to warn Chinese users that they must steer clear of unapproved websites.

Alipay Takes World to Chinese Shoppers
China's leading online payment service Alipay on Tuesday launched a new international service that will allow consumers in mainland China to buy directly online from global retailers.

China Tech Roundup - August 28, 2007

China Internet and Technology Roundup provided by Chinamemes.com:


The9 Announces September Launch for "Burning Crusades" World Of Warcraft Expansion
The9 announced today its plans to release the expansion pack "The Burning Crusade" for its licensed MMORPG World of Warcraft's in September.

Acer Takes on Lenovo with $710m Gateway Buy
After the $710m Gateway Buy, Acer replaces China-based Lenovo as the world's number three PC vendor.

eBay's Market Share in China Falls Below 10%
EBay China's market share fell from 16 per cent to 7.2 per cent during the first six months of this year. eBay's Chinese competitor Taobao increased its share from 74% to 83%.

Chinese Seek to Buy an American Maker of Disk Drives
The CEO of Seagate Technology, one of the two remaining U.S. drive makers, disclosed that a Chinese technology company has expressed interest in buying a U.S. maker of computer disk drives.

Chinese Hackers Target German Government Computers
German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that Chinese hackers have infiltrated German government computers with spy programmes.

Yahoo!, Microsoft Agree to Strict Blogging Rules in China
At least 20 blogging services, including Yahoo!.cn and MSN.cn, have agreed to the new "self-discipline pact" laid down by the Internet Society of China, a spin-off from the Information Industry Ministry. Under the pact, the services are encouraged to store the real names and contact details of Chinese bloggers and delete "illegal and bad" information from user comments.

BBC Learning English launches on Chinese portal Sina
Visitors to Chinese web portal, sina.com.cn, can now learn English with the BBC. The site offers its users direct access to the BBC Learning English content specially tailored for Chinese-speakers.

8 Quick Tips to optimize your site for Baidu
Tips to improve your site optimization for Baidu and Chinese search engines in general.

New Social News Aggregator for Chinese Hi-Tech and Internet Sector

Chinamemes.com is a social news aggregator dedicated to the Chinese technology sector. The website allows you to submit an article that will be reviewed by all and will be promoted, based on popularity, to the main page. When a user submits a news article it will be placed in the "unpublished" area until it gains sufficient votes to be promoted to the main page.

China Tech Roundup - August 23, 2007

China Internet and Technology Roundup provided by Chinamemes.com:


Baidu Spanks Google in China's Online Ad Market
Baidu retained its position as ad sales leader in the last quarter with 23.5 per cent of the market. Google ranks only fourth with about 10 per cent of the country's total online ad revenues.

Alibaba Prepares its own "AdSense" Advertising Distribution Network
Alibaba has recently begun a beta test on its new online advertising distribution website Alimama (www.alimama.com), which is scheduled to be formally launched in the second half of this year.

Google China Blog Search Goes Live
Google China now has a blog search engine among its array of sites.

China Mobile gets even bigger
China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone operator by number of subscribers, grew by more than 20 per cent in the first half of 2007.

The company claimed that it signed up more than 31 million new customers to bring its total to 332 million.

Google Rolls Out Laiba, Competing With Baidu Postbar
Google China Rolls Out "Laiba" - a product similar to Baidu Postbar, which enters or generates discussion board based on search keywords.

Sina Obtains Broadcasting Rights for European Soccer
Sina.com has obtained online broadcasting rights in China for soccer matches of the English Premier League and Italian Series A.

Google-powered Questions & Answers for China
Google rolled out a free Q&A service in China in cooperation with Tianya.cn, a popular Chinese net forum.

Google reveals stake in Chinese social Web Tianya
Google revealed on Monday that it had acquired a stake in Chinese community Web site Tianya.cn, indicating a foray by the global search leader into social networking in China.


Chinamemes.com - Observing China's Digital Revolution

China Tech Roundup - February 24, 2007

China Internet and Technology Roundup provided by Chinamemes.com:

Dell Grows in China, Lenovo Losing Steam
In the fiscal third quarter of 2006, Dell reported a 33% growth in the number of computers it made and sold in China - roughly double the pace of China's overall market growth. In China, Dell is the fastest-growing player and in less than a decade it has grown to be third-largest PC vendor with a 10% share, behind home-grown Lenovo, which has more than a third of the domestic market, and Founder Technology.

Looking at Tencent
Travis Johnson from the "One Guy's Investments" Blog analyzes China's Instant Messaging services King Tencent.

Report: China will not issue 3G licenses before 2008
The Chinese government will not issue licenses for 3G (third-generation) mobile services until the first quarter of 2008, according to a Chinese report. Delaying the release of the 3G licenses will give China's homegrown 3G technology TD-SCDMA and its backers additional time to close the gap with more mature 3G technologies, WCDMA (wideband CDMA) and CDMA2000 EV-DO (evolution data optimized).

Can Baidu Survive Google's Ferocious Uppercut?
Google vs. Baidu - with the hometown hero decisively winning the first few skirmishes with the global godzilla waking up from its slumber and getting down and dirty, real fast.

QQ - China IM Service Goes Web 2.0
Tencent is now recognized as the leading provider of Internet, mobile & telecommunications value-added services in China. QQ, Tencent's instant messaging service platform, officially launched in Feb 1999 and announced in its 2006 Q3 report that it has 221.4 million active users. What's more, the total registered user accounts has climbed to 572.3 million!

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