A lot of things went down this week; so many, in fact, that we’ve compiled them into a list. Granted, that’s something we do every week, but in our defense, lots of interesting stuff happens every week. In any event, here’s all the latest:
Steven’s pick: Tencent: Mobile Gaming Platform For WeChat to Begin Testing Soon
Tencent is both China’s biggest gaming and social company, so the addition of a social gaming platform within WeChat was always a matter of “when” not “if”. Now we have a close answer for when it’s going to be happening. It’ll likely bring WeChat on par with Line and KakaoTalk, both of which have benefitted enormously from their social gaming integration – especially in Asia.
Minh’s pick: IG9, Vietnam’s First Crowdfunding Platform, Launches Today
This is big news for Vietnam’s creative communities, so much so that I already got several emails from readers asking to be introduced to IG9. I do hope that someone else in Vietnam comes along and copies them so we’ll be getting some interesting innovation in this space. Either way, it’s looking like 2013 will be the year for Vietnam to start releasing lots of new startups as the scene is maturing considerably.
Minghao’s pick: MNC and Rakuten: Why the Sudden Break Up?
The breakup of Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten and Indonesia’s media giant, MNC Group is big news. Both companies have yet to officially announce this, but it has garnered a lot of interest and speculation already. Will Rakuten shut down its Indonesia operation completely? Are there underlying problems with Rakuten itself or did they see something about Indonesia that many others did not? I mirror Enricko’s perspective. Rakuten is a highly data driven company; they run the company based on real hard numbers. As such, they might have concluded that they are not performing up to their expectations and pulled the plug.
Charlie’s pick: Xiaomi to Stat Selling Smart Shoes
I don’t think smart shoes are likely to become a huge trend, but wearable tech in general is, and Xiaomi’s smart shoes may be China’s first real taste of the future if the company can get them out soon enough. This is definitely one to watch.
Youshen’s pick: 6 Chinese Social Sites Will Turn Off the Lights Tomorrow for ‘Earth Hour’
Earth Hour is about taking action and making a difference towards a more sustainable future. Personally, I will agree that it is a strong message for Earth Hour 2013 to have Renren, Youku, QQ, Ushi, 139, and Kaixin to go dark on their interfaces. Last week, Steven covered an infographic overview of social media prevalence across China. With 600 million social media users and 91% penetration amongst netizens, I am certain that China will help contribute significant involvement alongside the millions of global Earth Hour 2013 participants.
Fini’s pick: MNC and Rakuten: Why The Sudden Break Up?
Seems like MNC not serious about running an e-commerce business, and it may be because of their lack of experience in the B2C segment. I don’t think its a money issue since MNC’s owner is famous for throwing money on whatever he likes. Rakuten don’t have enough back up from MNC especially in marketing and advertising. MNC is a media giant, but I never saw any advertisement of RBO.
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