Sina to Spin-Off, Then Invest In, Its Product Search Engine in 2012

The Chinese web portal Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) has confirmed that in February 2012 it will spin-off its product and real-estate search engine, Yiqisoo, and then invest in it.

The input of cash will reportedly total 10 million RMB (US$1.58 million), and coincide with the site focusing only on home electronics and personal gadgets, which are termed ‘3C’ items.

2012 looks set to see a product search engine war, as Alibaba’s Etao – which has proved controversial this year – faces off against Netease’s (NASDAQ:NTES) planned spin-off from Youdao.com, which will also focus on just 3C. And Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) might need to zero in on this area if its growing market share is not going to dip all of a sudden.

But with Alibaba having announced it’ll spend one billion RMB on marketing Etao, Sina’s sum to be spent on pivoting Yiqisoo looks rather small.

Sina’s Cui Xing-long took the opportunity of the announcement to put some voodoo on Etao, saying that a product search engine that’s independent from any e-commerce site – like Yiqisoo will become – is a safer bet for consumers. Netease will likely use the same argument when its own effort launches next year as well.

[Source: Techweb – article in Chinese]