China Digital
Alibaba’s Plan to Take Over Wireless
Alibaba is doing all it can to further develop its wireless sector. The company’s messaging tool, Laiwang, which is similar to WeChat, is expected to reach 30% market share. The way in which Laiwang differentiates itself from other similar competitors is that the app is targeted purely toward interaction amongst friends. It does so through features such as “burn after reading” and the right to form groups with up to 500 members. Alibaba has launched large-scale promotion activities for the mobile app, both internally and externally. The company is also working on Mobile Taobao, Ali OS, and an upcoming O2O service.
Source: Tech Node
China Digital
The Struggles of Internet TV in China
Internet TV in China is currently facing three bottlenecks: High bandwidth costs, similar content, and lack of core competitiveness. HD broadcasting is the standard for internet TV, and thus, will mostly likely continue to boost bandwidth costs for the next few years. The range of content across different platforms is too similar. Online video streaming needs solid content to bring in customers. Furthermore, content becomes “dated” because streaming regulations do not allow movies to be streamed until after they have been released in theaters. Competition-wise, Internet TV pales in comparison to tradition TV. Companies will really need to use innovation and creative thinking to separate themselves from the pack.
Source: Want China Times
China Digital
Alibaba Will Acquire Social Shopping Service Mogujie for $200 million
Alibaba is on the cusp of acquiring Mogujie, which is a Pinterest-esque social shopping service, for $200 million. Alibaba had unsuccessfully released a social shopping platform in the past, so this is a smart move for the company to delve deeper into the social realm.
Source: Tech Node