Tencent Takes on Video Sharing in New Alliance 腾讯觊觎视频霸主地位

There’s a new video sharing alliance that smells suspiciously of Tencent (HKEx: 700) trying to throw its weight around in this new Web space it has yet to dominate. Chinese media are reporting that a so-called “group” of operators of video-sharing sites, including Tencent, Xunlei, PPLive, Baofeng and Joy.cn, have formed an alliance to share rights to TV or movie content obtained by any single alliance member. (English article) Given Tencent’s own fledgling video-sharing ambitions and its direct investment in Xunlei, this one looks to me like an initiative by China’s biggest Web firm as it tries to muscle in on and eventually dominate the space, which has yet to produce a clear leader, the same way it did in the online gaming space. Given Tencent’s success in its past endeavors, I’d say this one could also stand a good chance of success, to the detriment of other pioneers like Youku (Nasdaq: YOKU), Tudou, and even search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).

Bottom line: Tencent is once again using its weight and connections to try and dominate video-sharing, an Internet space with no clear leader, and stands a good chance of success.

中国媒体报导，门户巨头腾讯<0700.HK>与视频网站迅雷、PPLive，暴风影音和激动网结成了一个新的视频版权联盟，任何一家成员拥有版权的电视电影内容都可互相分享。在我看来，这就是腾讯向自己尚未独霸的一个领域伸出了手。

腾讯在视频分享方面的野心尽人皆知，再加上它已经直接投资迅雷，联盟之举不过就是它建立自己在这个领域霸主地位的第一步。毕竟，视频分享尚未出现明显的行业老大。

考虑腾讯过往的战绩，我觉得这次它成功的机会也很大。面临挑战的就是优酷、土豆、甚至包括百度。

一句话：庞然大物腾讯向视频霸主地位进军了，大家好自为之吧。