We’re heading into March with big news from social media all around Asia – Sina Weibo, LinkedIn, Line, and Facebook – along with major smartphone updates and a very sad loss in the startup community. Here’s our staff’s top picks for the week.
Paul’s pick: Sina posts big profits ahead of potential Weibo IPO, but we wouldn’t invest in it
Sina Weibo is preparing to list on the stock market, but don’t be fooled by its latest earnings report. I’m betting its IPO would be less like Twitter’s and more like Facebook’s.
Steven’s pick Sina Weibo adds 2.5 million daily active users, but growth cut in half
Sticking with Sina Weibo, the parent company’s newest financial report shows that growth on Weibo has cut in half. How far away are we from Weibo going into decline – even before its much-vaunted IPO?
Josh’s pick: LinkedIn launches beta in mainland China, but many social features missing
Expect this to be huge. WeChat QR codes are already a near-ubiquitous on Chinese business cards, so LinkedIn’s tight integration with China’s leading messaging app ought to ensure that the job searching portal receives some strong traction in China.
Saiyai’s and Andre’s pick: Now you can create your own sticker sets on Line, and earn money from them too
Saiyai: This is so awesome! I can already imagine a wider range of stickers available. This means more choice for Line users and allowing independent artists to generate income.
Andre: It finally comes to this! Line will become a lucrative platform for graphic designers, and also a marketing opportunity for startups . I’m curious though, how will other messaging apps respond to Line’s strategy?
Phoebe’s pick: Zuckerberg says Philippine telco’s initiative is a model for more connected communities
Philippine telco Globe Telco’s offering of free Facebook seems to be working well for its subscribers and is much aligned to how Zuckerberg envisioned more connected communities. It can be interesting to see more of this in other Asian countries, too.
Terence’s pick: Samsung Galaxy S5 arrives with refinements, but still full of bloatware
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