Here Are 10 Things You Didn't Know About Tencent
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Tencent's First Messaging Service Is Still Active
Tencent's first major venture was the messaging service QQ, which has the recognizable winking penguin with a red scarf for a logo. It was first released as OICQ, but it was renamed due to a lawsuit threat from ICQ.
It was released in 1999, but it is still going strong with over 800 million monthly users as of 2017. It is currently available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
Tencent has not ignored its first messaging platform in spite of releasing other wildly successful messaging apps and even expanded it further. QQ now offers services such as music, microblogging, shopping, online games, and more.
Tencent's First Messaging Service Is Still Active
Tencent's first major venture was the messaging service QQ, which has the recognizable winking penguin with a red scarf for a logo. It was first released as OICQ, but it was renamed due to a lawsuit threat from ICQ.
It was released in 1999, but it is still going strong with over 800 million monthly users as of 2017. It is currently available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
Tencent has not ignored its first messaging platform in spite of releasing other wildly successful messaging apps and even expanded it further. QQ now offers services such as music, microblogging, shopping, online games, and more.
Despite Its Success With QQ, Tencent Was Unprofitable For Years
Despite the fact that the release of QQ was well-received, it wasn't by any means a money maker for Tencent. The company remained unprofitable for about three years before a breakthrough.
For a while, Tencent genereated income solely from the popular instant messaging service QQ, that charged monthly fees from users in exchange for some extras. Then Tencent stopped the free registration in 2002, forcing all new users to pay a membership fee. The following year, the company had to reinstate free membership, however, due to increased competition that began offering free instant messaging services.
The projects that launched Tencent into a huge global corporation are WeChat and the acquisition of mobile companies such as Riot Games.
Tencent Is One Of the Biggest Revenue Makers For iOS App Store In China
Tencent dominated China's iOS App Store in 2014 in terms of revenue, with its games contributing to most downloads. However, the biggest driving factor is attributed to WeChat.
The app not only drives downloads but also usage. Because of its commerce feature, it urges people to buy stuff. When people use it as a payment gateway, China's iOS App Store takes a cut as well.
WeChat also has in-app games including Candy Crush for China that offer in-game upgrades. Because of this, the success can be credited to the casual gamers as well. Due to the ease of use of smartphones, people now play more games and use more apps that encourage them to make purchases easily.
Xiaomi Flagship Sells Out In WeChat In Under 10 Minutes
In 2013, Xiaomi partnered with WeChat for the launch of its flagship that year, the Mi 3. It was a part of an experiment wherein 150,000 units of the new phone were to be sold via the messaging app.
WeChat, just a few months old at the time, allowed customers to order and pay for the phone inside the app. It was seen as one of the first dabs of a social media platform in e-commerce, and it was hugely successful.
The Xiaomi Mi 3 sold out in WeChat in nine minutes and 55 seconds. Today, the mobile maker is using the app as its customer service platform.
Tencent Was The Most Valuable Brand In Asia In 2016
Tencent was hailed the most valuable brand in Asia in 2016 and became one of the top 10 globally by market capitalization. It took the title from Samsung, the South Korean mobile and electronics maker. It was the time when it had to recall the Galaxy Note 7 due to battery issues while Tencent's stocks continued to surge.
With a valuation of $255 billion, it overtook Alibaba by a close margin at $250 billion. At the time, it played in the same field as Apple, Google, Facebook, and some of the biggest U.S. tech companies. Its success was mostly due to China's consumer spending coupled with its major investments in the venture capital scene.
WeChat Is Not Just A Messaging App
WeChat is more than a messaging app nowadays. Beyond its playful stickers, the app offers mobile banking, stock trading, and even buying movie tickets.
It also integrates a feature like Uber, allowing its users to hail a cab and pay it within the app. It also uses the network of the taxi-hailing app Didi in China that controls the majority of the market, which Uber tried and failed to enter.
After the success of Xiaomi on the platform, WeChat also now fully supports selling and buying things through the app with easy online payment options. Today, companies like Sephora and ONLY are selling through the app.
Tencent Has Its Own Digital Personal Assistant - Xiaowei
Tencent released a personal voice assistant in 2017 dubbed Xiaowei, which was intended to take on Siri and Alexa. At launch, it was capable of relaying weather reports, news pieces, and traffic updates. Users can also request to play music but it is nothing out of the ordinary.
There are voice recognition and facial recognition, but Xiaowei still has limited capabilities compared to the dominating AI assistants today.
Nonetheless, Mao Hua, the head of Xiaowei, has promised that the system is improving. Like other Tencent-owned brands, it may dominate China as well. It may even compete in the same space as Siri and Alexa one day.
You Probably Have Played Games Owned By Tencent
Although Tencent is not as much as a household name in the United States as, for example, Amazon, it still has a fairly huge presence in the west. Currently, Tencent owns Riot Games and Supercell, which consumers might recognize as the makers of League of Legends and Clash of Clans respectively.
Tencent also has invested in Blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, and Epic Games, maker of Gears of War. Aside from mobile games, Tencent now has stakes in Snapchat.
Industry experts foresee Tencent as a tough challenger Google and Facebook may face in the future. It won't be long before it becomes widely recognized in the United States as well.
Tencent Has A Chinese Twitter Version - Weibo
Twitter is banned in China, so is Facebook, and other popular social media websites. This opens up the social media space to local developers. Tencent took the opportunity and introduced the microblogging site Weibo, which acts as the region's version of Twitter. It's not to be confused with Sina Weibo, which the media often refers to when saying Weibo.
Like Twitter, Weibo has a 140-character limit and a retweeting function. It also allows users to share pictures, videos, and songs via QQ Music. It is not actually meant to overtake its competitors. Rather, it only intends to curb the competition by preventing users to use other platforms.
WeChat Users Can Use It As A Booty Call App
WeChat brings an interesting service that no other popular social media platforms can offer: the "Shake" function. Users simply shake their phone while in the app to search for other users within their vicinity. From there, they can send a greeting to any of the users they see.
It is meant to be a way to make new friends. However, consumers have another use for it. After all, it presents an easy way to find dates and contact anyone who might be looking for a good time. For that reason, the app sets a minimum age requirement of 17, making it the only app to have such a rule.
