Tencent Holdings

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Tencent Holdings Limited
腾讯控股有限公司
Type Public
Traded as SEHK: 700
Industry Media, Internet
Founded 1998
Headquarters Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Area served China
Key people Ma Huateng, Chairman
Products Social networks, mass media, web portals, e-commerce, and multiplayer online games
Services Online services
Revenue Increase CN¥ 28,496 million (2011)[1]
Operating income Increase CN¥ 12,099 million (2011)[1]
Net income Increase CN¥ 10,225 million (2011)[1]
Total assets Increase CN¥ 56,804 million (2011)[1]
Total equity Increase CN¥ 29,088 million (2011)[1]
Employees 20,000 (2011)[1]
Website tencent.com
This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Tencent Holdings Limited (Chinese: 腾讯控股有限公司，SEHK: 700) is a Chinese investment holding company whose subsidiaries provide mass media, entertainment, Internet and mobile phone value-added services and operate online advertising services in the People's Republic of China.[2] Its headquarters are in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

Tencent's diverse services include social networks, web portals, e-commerce, and multiplayer online games.[3] It operates the well-known instant messenger Tencent QQ[4][5] and runs one of the largest web portals in China, QQ.com.[6]

As of December 31, 2010, there were 647.6 million active Tencent QQ IM user accounts,[1] making Tencent QQ the world's largest online community at the time. The number of simultaneously online QQ accounts has sometimes exceeded 100 million.[7]

As of November 2010 the company is the third largest Internet company in the world behind Google and Amazon with a market capitalization of US$38 billion.[8] Other big, Chinese Internet companies include Sina and Baidu.

Contents

History [edit]

Tencent was founded by Ma Huateng and Zhang Zhidong in November 1998[9] as Tencent Inc.[10] Incorporated in the Cayman Islands,[11] initial funding was provided to it by venture capitalists.[2] The company remained unprofitable for the first three years.[9]

South African Naspers purchased a 46% share of Tencent in 2001. (As of 2010, it owns 35%.[12]) During these early years Tencent's iconic messenger product had its name changed from OICQ to QQ; this was said to be due to a (apocryphal[citation needed]) lawsuit from ICQ itself.[9] Others say American Internet company AOL, not ICQ, requested the name change.[13] Tencent Holding Ltd was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 16 June 2004,[10] and it was added as a Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock in 2008.[14]

The company originally derived income solely from advertising and premium users of QQ, who pay monthly fees to receive added extras.[9] But by 2005, charging for use of QQ mobile, its cellular value-added service, and licensing its iconic penguin character, which can be found on snack food[15] and clothing,[9] had also become income generators.[9] And c. 2008 Tencent was seeing profit growth from the sale of virtual goods.[16]

While Tencent's services have included online gaming since 2004, around 2007-2008 it rapidly increased its offerings by licensing South Korean games.[17] At least two, CrossFire and Dungeon and Fighter, were originally produced by South Korean game developers, but Tencent now makes its own games.[17]

Virtual goods [edit]

Tencent sells virtual goods[18] for use in their MMOs,[19] IM client, social networking sites,[20] and for mobile phones.[21] Income from the sale of virtual goods was a large proportion of Tencent's revenue in 2009.[6] The sort of games Tencent made as of 2010 were on track to remain popular and spin profits until 2012, at least.[22]

Tencent's online currency, Q Coins, can be used to purchase virtual goods.[23] These range from the offbeat, such as virtual pets[24] and the virtual clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics needed to customize online-game avatars,[25] to the more mundane, such as more storage space, wallpapers, bigger photo albums,[20] and ring tones.[21]

Locations [edit]

Tencent's headquarters are located at the Tencent Building (腾讯大厦 téngxùndàshà) in the Southern Hi-Tech Park District (新科技园 xīnkējìyuán) in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.[26][27] Other sites include a 48,000 square meter compound that houses an R&D center in the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone,[28] a data and R&D center in Tianjin's Binhai Service Outsourcing Industry Park that is expected to be finished by June 2013,[29] and also some 17,646 square meters of Shanghai office space purchased through a subsidiary, Tencent Cyber (Tianjin), and located in the Shanghai Modern Technology Services Community Zone.[30]

The above list of locations is not exhaustive.

Products and services [edit]

Tencent headquarters

Tencent offers a diverse mix of services and counts both consumers and businesses as customers.

QQ instant messenger [edit]

Main article: Tencent QQ

Launched in February 1999,[26] and Tencent's most notable product,[4][5] QQ is one of the most popular instant messaging platforms in its home market.[23][31] While the IM service is free, a fee is charged for mobile messaging.[32]

QQ International [edit]

An English version of QQ that allows communication with mainland accounts, QQi is available for Window and Mac OSX.[33]

iTQQ [edit]

China's first "smart interactive television service" and a joint effort with TCL.[23]

Multiplayer online games [edit]

Tencent offers a number of online, multiplayer games through its game portal QQ Games.

These massively multiplayer online games include Dungeon & Fighter, a side-scrolling online fighting game; QQ Fantasy, a 2D online game that incorporates elements from Chinese mythology; Xunxian, a 3D, online RPG; QQ Three Kingdoms, an online casual role playing game set during the historical three kingdoms period; QQ Huaxia, an online RPG; QQ Dancer, an online musical dancing game that offers QQ IM interactivity; QQ Nanaimo, an online game set on a desert island where players maintain houses and pets; QQ Speed, a casual online racing game; QQ R2Beat, an online in-line skating game; QQ Tang, an "advanced casual game" with gameplay derived from Chinese literature; QQ PET, a QQ IM-based desktop virtual pet game and two online first-person shooters; CrossFire and AVA.[34]

PaiPai.com [edit]

Launched on March 13, 2006,[35] it is a C2C auction site.[23]

QQLive [edit]

Main article: QQLive

A peer-to-peer distribution platform for streaming media.[36]

QQ Show [edit]

An avatar-based social platform like Cyworld,[6] QQ Show allows purchase of virtual goods to outfit avatars, which can also be used with QQ IM.[37]

QQ Player [edit]

In 2008, Tencent released a media player, available for free download, under the name QQ Player.[38]

Qzone [edit]

Main article: Qzone

A social networking service[5] and, as of 2008, the largest in China.[11]

SOSO [edit]

Main article: Soso.com

Launched in March 2006,[39] this search engine's name sounds like "搜搜", or "search search" in Chinese.[40] It was a Chinese partner of Google, using AdWords.[8]

Tencent Traveler [edit]

Abbreviated "TT" (TencentTraveler), this web browser developed by Tencent[41] is based on the Trident[42] and was the third most-used browser in China c. 2008.[42]

Tencent Weibo [edit]

Main article: Tencent Weibo

A Chinese microblogging service, Tencent Weibo competes with Sina Weibo.

TenPay [edit]

An online payment system similar to PayPal,[23] it supports B2B, B2C, and C2C payments.[35] In some Chinese cities individuals can use TenPay for utility payments and to refill their public transport cards.[43] Co-branded credit cards are available, and credit card bills can also be paid using the service.[44] Offline recharging of your TenPay account is possible, as the company sends employees to collect customer money in person.[45]

WeChat [edit]

WeChat[46] is a social mobile application with voice and text messaging, timeline,[47] and several social features like drift a bottle. It is very popular in China and is likely to expand abroad.[48]

Subsidiaries [edit]

Tencent has at least four wholly foreign owned enterprises and nearly twenty subsidiaries in all.[11]

Epic Games [edit]

Tencent acquired a minority stake in Epic Games, developer of franchises like Gears of War and Infinity Blade in June 2012.[49]

Riot Games [edit]

Tencent invested in Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, for $400 million USD in 2011.[50]

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co Ltd [edit]

A software development unit that has created, among others, Tencent Traveler and later versions of QQ IM,[51] as well as some mobile software.[52] This subsidiary is located at the Southern District of Hi-Tech Park, Shenzhen.[51] It also holds a number of patents related to instant messaging and massively multiplayer online game gaming.[53]

Copying claims [edit]

Many of Tencent's software and services are remarkably similar to those of competitors. The founder and chairman, Huateng "Pony Ma" Ma, famously said, "[To] copy is not evil." A former CEO and President of SINA.com, Wang Zhidong, said, "Pony Ma is a notorious king of copying." Jack Ma of Alibaba Group stated, "the problem in Tencent is no innovation; all things are copies."[54]

As of 2009, the company held 400 patents.[55]

See also [edit]

Portal icon People's Republic of China portal
Portal icon Companies portal
Portal icon Internet portal


References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "2011 Annual Report". Tencent.com. Retrieved 2012-09-04. 
  2. ^ a b Biographical Dictionary of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, Pg. 111-112 Ilan Alon and Wenxian Zhang. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009. Google Book Search.
  3. ^ Tencent, More Than QQ Instant Messaging In China thechinaobserver.com, undated but posted prior to February 12, 2009
  4. ^ a b Tencent Set Up china-business-daily.blogspot.com, November 7, 2008
  5. ^ a b c Tencent: The Largest Internet Portal In China technologygear.net, Wednesday, February 25th 2009
  6. ^ a b c For Chinese IM Portal Tencent, The Money Is In Micro-Transactions techcrunch.com, March 27, 2008
  7. ^ "腾讯QQ最新24小时在线数据". Im.qq.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
  8. ^ a b What Valley Companies Should Know about Tencent techcrunch.com, Jun 20, 2010
  9. ^ a b c d e f Investing in China: The Emerging Venture Capital Industry Jonsson Yinya Li, Google Book Search
  10. ^ a b Tencent Tencent official site
  11. ^ a b c 2008 Annual Report Tencent Official Site
  12. ^ Tencent 腾讯 Naspers
  13. ^ "Tencent: March of the Penguins". Businessweek. August 4, 2011. pp. 4/7. Retrieved 8 Aug. 2011. 
  14. ^ HANG SENG INDEXES ANNOUNCES INDEX REVIEW RESULTS
  15. ^ QQ Games on AIM: Another Penguin Aims for the Casual Market gotgame.com, January 13, 2009
  16. ^ A Chinese Web Giant's Sizzling Success businessweek.com, November 26, 2008, 9:11AM EST
  17. ^ a b "Tencent: March of the Penguins". Businessweek. August 4, 2011. pp. 5/7. Retrieved 8 Aug. 2011. 
  18. ^ "Cashing in on virtual goods - Techland". 
  19. ^ TenCent Reaches New Heights in Virtual Goods Sales insidesocialgames.com, March 31st, 2009
  20. ^ a b Tencent Tells its Story at Virtual Goods Summit 3pointd.com, Friday, June 22nd, 2007, at 1:45 pm Eastern
  21. ^ a b Ericsson Mobility World partner profile: Tencent ericsson.com
  22. ^ China Web game market to hit $750 mln in 3 yrs-report reuters.com, ue Nov 16, 2010 3:48am EST
  23. ^ a b c d e Meet China's Google trouncer 14 May 2007, 1917 hrs IST, The Times Group
  24. ^ Lucrative Alternatives to Online Advertising businessweek.com, October 23, 2008, 5:00PM EST
  25. ^ The world's most lucrative social network? China's Tencent beats $1 billion revenue mark venturebeat.com, March 19, 2009
  26. ^ a b Investor Fact Sheet Tencent Official Site
  27. ^ "Contact Us." Tencent. Retrieved on September 28, 2011. "Tencent Building, Kejizhongyi Avenue, Hi-techPark,Nanshan District,Shenzhen." Address in Chinese: "深圳市南山区高新科技园中区一路腾讯大厦"
  28. ^ Tencent Opens Chengdu R&D Center JLM Pacific Epoch, Apr 09, 2009
  29. ^ Tencent's Tianjin R&D Center Ready in 2013 JLM Pacific Epoch, Mar 13, 2009
  30. ^ DI SCLOSEABLE TRANSACTI ON PURCHASE OF PROPERTY 1 5 Ma y 2 0 0 8
  31. ^ About Tencent Tencent Official Site
  32. ^ The party, the people and the power of cyber-talk economist.com, Apr 27th 2006
  33. ^ "QQ International". Tencent. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  34. ^ Products and Services > Interactive Entertainment Service Tencent official Site
  35. ^ a b Products and Services > E-commerce Tencent Official Site
  36. ^ Products and Services > Internet Value-added Service Tencent Official Site
  37. ^ Products and Services > Internet Value-added Service Tencent Official Site
  38. ^ Tencent releases QQ Player
  39. ^ Products and Services > Online Media Tencent Official Site
  40. ^ Tencent to Build 3000-person Search Army to Power Search Engine cnreviews.com, 14 APR 2008
  41. ^ Products & Services > Instant Messaging Service Tencent Official Site
  42. ^ a b Mozilla Takes on Microsoft in China businessweek.com, January 11, 2008, 7:21AM EST
  43. ^ Tenpay Expands Into Online Utility Payment JLM Pacific Epoch, Jul 20, 2009
  44. ^ Tenpay Releases Credit Card Payment Service JLM Pacific Epoch, Apr 15, 2009
  45. ^ Knock, Knock: TenPay To Offer Door-To-Door Recharging Service J:M Pacific Epoch, Nov 14, 2008
  46. ^ "WeChat website". 
  47. ^ "Social features of WeChat". Value2020. Retrieved 2013-01-23. 
  48. ^ "Here’s a Heatmap of WeChat Users Around the World". TechinAsia, Steven Millward & VALUE2020. Retrieved 2013-01-18. 
  49. ^ "Gears of War studio sells minority stake to Chinese Internet company". Gamespot. 
  50. ^ "Tencent Acquires Riot Games (and League of Legends) for $400M". PCWorld. 
  51. ^ a b Company Snapshot: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. businessweek.com
  52. ^ China Developers Bring Mobile Widgets to Market nokia.com, 2008
  53. ^ IPEXL Search > Patent Directory > "TENCENT TECHNOLOGY SHENZHEN COMPANY LIMITED" ipexl.com
  54. ^ Tencent's innovation is copied... Machine translation xinhuanet.com, April 13, 2007
  55. ^ Tencent Holds 400 Patents JLM Pacific Epoch, Jul 29, 2009

External links [edit]

Tencent Holdings
Co-founder
Products & Services
Instant Messaging
Online Media
Games
Online Games
Game Platform
Value-added Service
E-commerce
Related
  • Annual revenue Increase CNY￥ 28,496 million (2011)
  • Employees 19,130 (2012)
  • Stock symbol SEHK: 700
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