TECH CRUNCH - Tencent has cut as many as 4K jobs over the past year amid economic headwinds, a slowdown after years of growth, and increased regulatory scrutiny. The company's CEO Pony Ma has said cost-cutting would continue to be a priority. Tencent's new strategy of frugality appears to be paying off as the company reported that profit from Q4 grew 12% YoY, and its net margin increased to 74% from 66% last year. However, Tencent recorded a drop in annual revenues for the first time on record due to China's new gaming regulations, including restrictions on underage players.
46 posts categorized "Tencent"
Tencent Profit Grows After a Year of Aggressive Cuts
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Tencent Pulls the Plug on Its VR Hardware Plans
GIZMO CHINA - Tencent was originally planning on building VR-based products through its XR unit last year. But now it has seemingly asked its staff to "seek other opportunities" after the hype behind Metaverse died down. As per a new report, the company faced "Difficulties in achieving quick profitability". This decision was also made following a lack of compelling games and non-gaming apps.
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Tencent's QQ Tests New Social Interaction Function for Close Friends
PANDAILY - QQ, a 23-year-old social networking platform operated by Tencent, is now trying out a new social function among close friends, allowing users to adopt virtual products and make them grow through chatting. This function has been tested and promoted within QQ, which has already launched a "Small World" video product focusing on short videos and live streaming.
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Tencent Reports First Revenue Drop as Gaming Regulations and COVID-19 Bite
BUSINESS WORLD - Tencent's revenue declined 3% to $19.78B for the three months ended June 30 from $20.3B a year earlier. It is hurt by a government clampdown on game approvals and playing time as well as COVID-19 lockdowns and a weakening economy that squeezed ad sales. Tencent plans to sell all or bulk of its $24B stake in food delivery firm Meituan to placate domestic regulators.
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Tencent Joins Metaverse Race With 'Extended Reality' Division
TECH MONITOR - Tencent has created an 'extended reality' division that will develop hardware and services for the metaverse. Tencent's extended reality division was set up last year, insiders said, but has so far been "shrouded in secrecy". The unit will eventually have 300 staff despite an ongoing cost-cutting drive at the company. Tencent's extended reality division is working on a headset, marking its first venture into hardware, as well as software. The division is a "passion project" of Tencent founder Pony Ma, who has described the metaverse as an "all-real internet".
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Tencent-Backed Soulgate Drops Plans for U.S. IPO
MARKETWATCH - Soulgate Inc., the Chinese social-networking app backed by Tencent has pulled the plug on its planned U.S. IPO. Soulgate, which last June said it was looking to raise ~$250M in the IPO, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw its registration statement, saying it has determined not to proceed at this time with the proposed offering.
by Colin Kellaher
See full article at MarketWatch
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Tencent Revenues Fail to Grow for First Time Since 2004 IPO
NIKKEI ASIA - Tencent's quarterly revenues have failed to grow for the first time since the company's 2004 initial public offering. Tencent saw its revenue slow dramatically about a year ago as Beijing regulators tightened their grip on gaming and other sectors that had advertised heavily on company platforms, such as online tutoring. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected Tencent's January-March revenues to grow about 4% from a year earlier. But they were flat instead, at $20.06B.
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China's Tech Giants Push Toward an $8T Metaverse Opportunity
CNBC - According to Morgan Stanley, China's technology giants, from Tencent to Alibaba and ByteDance, are investing in the metaverse, a market that could be worth $8T in the future. While U.S. firms are going all-in on the metaverse concept, Chinese companies take a more cautious approach amid tighter regulation.
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Tencent Just Made Its Biggest Metaverse Move Yet
THE MOTLEY FOOL - Tencent would be acquiring Black Shark. Started in 2017 and funded by Xiaomi, Black Shark currently makes gaming-oriented mobile phones and accessories. However, according to a report, Black Shark will be changing its business model to invest in AR/VR headsets after Tencent buys them. According to sources, Tencent pays between $410M to $425M.
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China Isn't Letting Tencent Update Apps
PCMAG - Tencent is reportedly suspended from updating more than 170 apps and games. Chinese government hasn't released additional information about the ban, but Tencent indirectly confirmed the situation by saying in a statement that it was complying with an investigation into its software.
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Tencent Shares Its Metaverse Vision for the First Time
TECH CRUNCH - Tencent's CEO Pony Ma unveiled the firm's musings on metaverse for the first time. The firm's executives agreed on three general "pathways" to reach "the metaverse" such as video games, a social network that is "gamified and supports much more programmable experiences," and real-world experience but augmented by AR and VR.
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Tencent Backs Indian Social Media Lokal
TECH CRUNCH - Indian hyperlocal social media Lokal has raised $12M in a new round of financing led by Tencent. Lokal says on its website that it has amassed ~10M downloads and is popular in several states in South India.
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Tencent Lifts Q2 Revenues by 20%, Games Revenue Grows 12%
TELECOMPAPER - Aug 19 - Tencent reported revenues for Q2 rose 20% from the year before to $21.4B. VAS revenues increased 11% to $10.7M. Games revenue grew 12% $6.6B. Social network revenues climbed 9% to$4.4B, mainly due to digital content services growth and in-game virtual item sales. Revenues from online advertising went up by 23% to CNY 22.8 billion.
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Chinese Apps Among World's Top-earning Apps in 1H of 2021
SCMP - June 30 - Chinese apps, led by TikTok, made up five of the world's top-10 earners of app store revenue in 1H of 2021. Consumers are estimated to have spent ~$920M on TikTok and Douyin over the six-month period. Tencent Video and iQiyi came in fourth and fifth among the top app store revenue earners. For overall revenue, they were sixth and eighth, respectively. Youku and QQ Music were among the top 10 app store revenue earners at eighth and 10th place, respectively.
by Tracy Qu
See full article at SCMP
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China's VCs Join Startups in Rush to Build a Homegrown Clubhouse
BLOOMBERG - Mar 22 - Tencent and Alibaba Group have begun testing audio-only chats on their platforms. The dominance of Alibaba and Tencent has also meant a sizable proportion of VC funds flow to the startups they back. The odds are against the country's upstarts as better-capitalized tech giants like Xiaomi and Kuaishou Technology roll out their own Clubhouse-like products. Like Clubhouse, these up-and-coming apps face the risk of Beijing cracking down at any moment.
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