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Case
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Reference no. 314-051-1
Published by: Amity Research Centers
Published in: 2014

Abstract

Weibo.com was the leading microblogging site of Sina Corp. in China with nearly 500 million active users. The website launched in 2009 by media giant Sina.com was popularly known as the ‘Twitter of China’. Sina Weibo offered services similar to that of Twitter and allowed the users to post messages up to 140 characters. Besides, the site also enabled the users to post videos, photos, and facilitated easy insertion of comments while re-posting friend’s messages etc. Analysts said that the advertising revenue from Sina Weibo had increased by almost 125% year-on-year to $43.7 million in 2013. The huge Internet base of China coupled with the stringent policy of blocking popular websites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offered a favourable environment for Sina Weibo and the other Chinese players to en-cash the growing microblogging market in the country. In 2013, Sina Weibo also introduced a web payment platform in association with Alibaba.com and tried to expand its horizon in the growing e-Commerce market of China. However, its rival Tencent also offered various additional services like payment facilities, a games centre and a sticker store through its WeChat to increase its user base. Even the Chinese Government started a new drive to control the microblogging culture in the country by closing the accounts of the influential bloggers and writers. Amidst such a situation, it remained to be seen whether Sina Weibo would be able to establish its business like Twitter in a strictly regulated environment in China and sustain its business in the long run.
Location:
Industry:
Other setting(s):
2013-2014

About

Abstract

Weibo.com was the leading microblogging site of Sina Corp. in China with nearly 500 million active users. The website launched in 2009 by media giant Sina.com was popularly known as the ‘Twitter of China’. Sina Weibo offered services similar to that of Twitter and allowed the users to post messages up to 140 characters. Besides, the site also enabled the users to post videos, photos, and facilitated easy insertion of comments while re-posting friend’s messages etc. Analysts said that the advertising revenue from Sina Weibo had increased by almost 125% year-on-year to $43.7 million in 2013. The huge Internet base of China coupled with the stringent policy of blocking popular websites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offered a favourable environment for Sina Weibo and the other Chinese players to en-cash the growing microblogging market in the country. In 2013, Sina Weibo also introduced a web payment platform in association with Alibaba.com and tried to expand its horizon in the growing e-Commerce market of China. However, its rival Tencent also offered various additional services like payment facilities, a games centre and a sticker store through its WeChat to increase its user base. Even the Chinese Government started a new drive to control the microblogging culture in the country by closing the accounts of the influential bloggers and writers. Amidst such a situation, it remained to be seen whether Sina Weibo would be able to establish its business like Twitter in a strictly regulated environment in China and sustain its business in the long run.

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Location:
Industry:
Other setting(s):
2013-2014

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