Tencent Sends Out Mixed Video Signals 腾讯若持股优酷有助进军视频业

By newsdoug on August 30, 2011

Tencent waffles on video direction As I glanced over today’s headlines, I couldn’t help wondering what is going on with Chinese Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700), which is sending out mixed signals about its intent in the hot online video sharing space. A top company executive told Chinese media that Tencent has spent some 100 million yuan, or more than $15 million, in recent months to build up its video sharing infrastructure (English article), following word earlier this year that it had budgeted $100 million to enter a space dominated by industry leaders Youku (NYSE: YOKU) and Tudou (Nasdaq: TUDO). (previous post) That’s all fine and good, except that just two weeks ago reports emerged that Tencent was in talks to take an equity stake in Youku itself. (previous post) Tencent clearly wants to get into the video space, and I applaud this decision as online video fits in well with its demographic base, made up of young people, mostly 25 years old and younger, who are the main users for its wildly popular QQ instant messaging service and online games. But it needs to make up its mind soon on which direction it will take, or end up spending lots of unnecessary cash and upsetting potential allies in the market, including members of a video alliance it helped to establish earlier this year. (previous post). My personal choice would be for a tie-up with Youku, preferably through a major equity stake, as this well-managed company is making lots of smart moves lately in its road to profitability, which could come by the end of the year. In the latest of those moves, the company announced a deal giving it first-of-its-kind online video rights to Dreamworks Animation’s (NYSE: DWA) “KungFu Panda” series, which has been hugely popular in China. That deal follows similar recent ones with Warner Brothers (NYSE: TWX) and Philips Electronics (Amsterdam: PHG) (previous post), and shows that Youku is clearly looking for a road to sustainable profits.

Bottom line: Tencent’s move into video is a smart one, catering to its demographic base, but it needs to quickly decide which path it will take, with a Youku equity tie-up looking most attractive.

我浏览了一下今天的头条新闻，不禁猜想腾讯(0700.HK)会有何动作，腾讯对其进军视频分享领域的意图发出不同信号。该公司一名高管告诉中国媒体，腾讯近几个月斥资约一亿元，打造视频分享基础设施，而今年早些时候有传言称，腾讯拨出预算1亿美元，进军优酷网(YOKU.N)和土豆网主导的视频分享领域。这些消息都还不错，除了两周前有报导称，腾讯正在谈判持股优酷网。腾讯显然想进入视频行业，我很赞赏这一决定，因为该服务与腾讯用户结构契合度很好，该公司的QQ即时通讯和在线游戏用户多为25岁以下的年轻人。但腾讯应尽快决定发展方向，以停止耗费大量不必要的资金，令潜在的市场盟友失望，包括今年稍早协助成立的视频版权联盟。我个人观点是腾讯应与优酷网结盟，最好是成为优酷网较大股东的方式，因为优酷网近期采取多项明智之举，年底前即有望实现盈利。优酷网最新举措是，宣布与美国梦工厂(DWA.O)签署《功夫熊猫》系列版权协议。此前，优酷还与华纳兄弟(TWX.N)和飞利浦(PHG.AS)签署类似协议，这表明，优酷显然正在探索持续盈利的途径。

一句话：腾讯进军视频业是明智之举，适合其较年轻的用户结构，但腾讯需迅速决定发展方向，以持股优酷网的方式与其结盟看似最具吸引力。