Why Does WeChat Block Competitors, While Facebook Doesn’t?

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

On Tuesday 15th of January, WeChat blocked 3 competing Apps on their launch day: Liantianbao (聊天宝) – formerly called Bullet Messenger, Duoshan (多闪) – launched by Tencent’s archenemy ByteDance, and Matong MT (马桶MT) – launched by Ringo.AI. Is this approach to competition specific to WeChat? To the Chinese market? And how do Chinese and Western companies differ in their growth strategies? …

Weimob IPO – a peek into the biggest WeChat 3rd party solution provider

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

With a reported 15.3% market share, Weimob is the largest provider of WeChat solutions for small and medium companies in China. The Tencent-backed company filed for its Hong Kong IPO on the 31st of December 2018. The data disclosed provides an interesting outlook into the world of WeChat 3rd party solution providers. Weimob performance Weimob has shown very positive performance …

WeChat Mini-programs Attracted 4.3 billion RMB of Funding in 2018

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

According to a recently released Newrank.cn report, from the 1st of January to the 14th of December 2018, WeChat Mini-programs attracted 4.3 billion RMB of funding, as part of 130 different funding rounds. This is 6 times more than the amount in 2017. Let’s have a closer look at this Mini-program investment boom. Investment focused on e-commerce and services Most …

Tencent Q3 earnings releases show a changing company

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

Tencent released their Q3 2018 earnings, and they show a transformation into a new company: away from gaming, and toward online payments. But why is this change happening? Tencent Quarterly results Tencent earnings reflected a healthy growth of revenue (with a 24% increase YOY). Profits grew at a slightly slower pace of 22% YOY. Although this performance appears as reasonably …

2018 Double 11 data: Alibaba, WeChat, Pinduoduo and more

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

It’s the 10th anniversary of Alibaba’s biggest invention: the Single’s Day (Double 11). It marked another record-breaking sales figure, but the growth is shifting to other platforms. The Double 11 is a cross-platform e-commerce phenomenon. The total Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) of all platforms reaches 314.3 billion RMB, a 23.8% year-over-year increase.  Tmall holds 68% of the market share. Yet …

Chinese mobile ebook market is booming

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

With almost 300 million Monthly Active Users, online reading might be the biggest Chinese digital market that you’ve never heard about. Let’s look into the main players and trends of this slightly nerdy industry. The ever-growing mobile reading market The mobile reading market has been growing to more than 300 million monthly active users in 2017. In the meantime, transaction …

Pinduoduo: a Close Look at the Fastest Growing E-commerce App in China

Thomas GrazianiNew WeChat features

Chinese “dama” (literally, big mamas) are budget-savvy shoppers most eager to snap up a good deal. They do most of the shopping for the family, and fortunately, they know just the place to score bargain-basement prices on everyday items, with discounts as deep as 90% off (look for overripe fruits that don’t last another day). On one condition: whip up …