Tag Archives: 2020

2014: the Year of Monetization for WeChat

The VALUE2020 predicts that year 2014 will be the Year of Monetization for Chinese mobile application WeChat.

In addition to exclusive sales on WeChat like the operation for Xiaomi smartphones, WeChat added in 2013 a store to buy stickers, and above a payment system which open the door to mobile commerce as expected by VALUE2020 back in 2011.

Last year, we predicted the introduction of mobile payment and continuous growth. Almost all the predictions are reality today and next year will be fascinating as well.

What to expect in 2014:

  • Development of micro-payments, Tencent great strength
  • Additional applications within the WeChat app
  • Partnerships with big names (We cannot talk today ;-))

EXCLUSIVE MAP – The Successful Wine Mobile App Vivino, a Hit in the World but not in China

Released on iOS in January 2011, Vivino is a Wine App offering an easy way to remember wines you tasted as well as to discover new favorites.

To find the wine in the database, you use the app to scan the label. It’s backed by a database of more than a million wines, so you can expect to get a match after scanning a wine label to add to your virtual cellar.

The Vivino app includes the following features:

  • Get personalized wine recommendations based on your taste (the more ratings the better suggestions)
  • Follow the featured users: chosen to provide you with inspiration, knowledge and better wines
  • Find more friends via address book, Gmail, Twitter or Facebook
  • Drinking window: know when to drink your wines
  • Add wines to your Wish List, for next occasion
  • Organize your wines: filter your wine list by date, price or ratings
  • Add your Bio and let others know who you are

The free app offers a $4.99 Pro in-app upgrade that unlocks several premium features. With Vivino Pro, you can keep track of your wine collection, find wines using text search, and get in the fast track for manual matching.

The mobile app experiments a growing traffic with an estimated 6 million scans for December 2013.  Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands love the application but not China. There is no version in Mandarin Chinese therefore it explains the very low number of downloads and usage in Mainland China. In addition, content cannot be shared with Weibo followers or WeChat contacts.

Below is an EXCLUSIVE MAP:

Vivino in the World

etao, the other social discovery of Alibaba Group

Weibo is not the only social tool of e-commerce group Alibaba, they have also etao.

etao.com, Alibaba Group’s social shopping platform, is 58th website in China according to Alexa. It is a place dedicated to discovery through images.

Social shopping websites allow users to post photos of items on virtual pin boards, which others can comment on. Some sites allow users to purchase some of the items by clicking on the photos.

Unlike other U.S. social shopping websites like Pinterest, all the items on etao can be purchased through its two main e-commerce websites, Taobao Mall and Taobao Marketplace.

etao-alibaba-pic-based

In China,  social shopping websites, such as Mogujie, LinkChic  have been launched but are not successful like etao. Meilishuo is doing better being ranked 220th website in China.

Over the long run, social commerce in China will be bigger than the United States.

We don’t know yet how successful the service will be on smartphones in the years to come. Chat app called Wemeet was launched by Sina to get more smartphone users in Alibaba world.

The Fight for Smartphone Users: Global App for Free Communication

6 months after a post called Messaging App: The War for Users on Mobile Goes On!  Chat applications are still fighting for users.

Whatsapp is the winning currently the race even though WeChat and Line are very powerful. We should see a fight mostly between Whatsapp and WeChat as of now.

The app called Facebook Messenger has lost some ground since May 2013 compared to Whatsapp.

WeChat launched a French version in October.

Click on the map to zoom / enlarge

2013-11----worldmap-current-trend-downloads-chat-app

WeChat in French / WeChat en français

wechat-social-tab--VALUE2020

Since the last version 5.0.3.17, the French speaking community, lovers of Twitter, are now able to use WeChat in French. The potential is huge in France, the country of Minitel, bip bop, Concorde… Believe it or not French people love technology and innovation. The Chinese app has 500 million users of which half active. The chat app is ranked second after Line (this ranking does not includes Facebook).

wechat-update-French--VALUE2020

Depuis la version 5.0.3.17 mise en ligne le 24 octobre 2013, la communauté française, adepte de Twitter, est maintenant capable d’utiliser l’application mobile WeChat qui connait un succès phénoménal en Asie. L’application de messagerie instantanée a une base de 500 millions d’utilisateurs dont la moitié active, elle se place juste derrière Whatsapp et devant Line.

French-wechat-language---VALUE2020

 

Laiwang, New Chat Application by Alibaba

Laiwang is a new mobile application now launched and will compete with wechat, whatsapp, wemeet, line, twitter, sinaweibo, and facebook. It is very similar to WeChat.

iphone-app-chat-alibaba-VALUE2020iphone-VALUE2020

 

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China: Market Share of Search Engines by Revenue for Q3 2013

china market share feb 2013

EXCLUSIF: Facebook et Twitter autorisés dans la zone spéciale de Shanghai?

Facebook et Twitter ont été interdits en Chine continentale depuis 2009. Les réseaux sociaux influencent la population et pourraient jouer un rôle important dans les mouvements politiques. Au cours des dernières années, le gouvernement de la Chine a été préoccupé par l’impact de ces nouveaux médias sur la stabilité sociale.

Les nouveaux médias comme Facebook et Twitter, mais aussi le site du journal américain New York Times sont considérés comme des sites politiquement sensibles par le gouvernement chinois.

Recemment, la responsable des opérations de Facebook Sheryl Sandberg a rencontré Cai Mingzhao, le responsable du State Council Information Office à Beijing.

essai boule à lignes

Les hauts dirigeants chinois, y compris le premier ministre Li Keqiang sont désireux d’utiliser les zones de libre-échange comme un terrain d’essai en matière de réformes économiques et financières importantes.

Selon South China Morning Post, le gouvernement de la Chine aurait pris la décision historique de lever l’interdiction d’accès à Internet à des sites américains au sein de la nouvelle zone de libre-échange de Shanghai. Les motifs de la décision seraient expliqués par la volonté de laisser les étrangers vivre, travailler et se sentir comme chez eux mais aussi d’attirer davantage d’investissements étrangers. A confirmer tant cette nouvelle serait un changement important.

La zone de libre-échange s’ouvrirait aussi aux offres étrangères de sociétés de télécommunications pour fournir des services Internet au sein de la nouvelle zone économique spéciale.

Pour rappel, fin août, le Conseil d’Etat chinois, a approuvé le lancement d’une zone de libre-échange à Shanghai, qui s’étend sur 28,78 kilomètres carrés à Pudong New Area de la ville, y compris la zone franche de Waigaoqiao, Yangshan, et la zone de l’aéroport international.

article hong kong mag wechat sina

EXCLUSIVE: Facebook & Twitter approved in China within Shanghai free-trade zone?

Facebook and Twitter have been banned in mainland China since 2009. Those American services influence people and could play important roles in political movements. In recent years, the government of China is concerned about the impact of new media on social stability.

New media like Facebook and Twitter but also US newspaper website of The New York Times are considered politically sensitive sites by the Chinese government.

Recently, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg met Cai Mingzhao, the head of the State Council Information Office in Beijing.

essai boule à lignes

Top Chinese leaders including Premier Li Keqiang are keen to make the free-trade zones a key proving ground for significant financial and economic reforms.

According to South China Morning Post, the government of China would have made the landmark decision to lift a ban on Internet access to American websites within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone. The reasons of the move would be explained by the willingness to let foreigners live, work and feel like at home but also attract more foreign investments.

The free-trade zone would also welcome bids from foreign telecommunications companies for licenses to provide Internet services within the new special economic zone.

As a reminder, end of August, the Chinese State Council, approved the launch of the free-trade zone in Shanghai, which spans 28.78 square kilometers in the city’s Pudong New Area, including the Waigaoqiao duty-free zone, Yangshan deepwater port, and the international airport area.

article hong kong mag wechat sina