| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Traded as | SEHK: 700 |
| Industry | Online service provider |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
| Area served | People's Republic of China |
| Key people | Chairman: Mr. Ma Huateng |
| Revenue | CNY￥ 19,646 million (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | CNY￥9,913 million (2010)[1] |
| Net income | CNY￥8,115 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | CNY￥ 35,830 million (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | CNY￥ 21,841 million (2010)[1] |
| Website | tencent.com |
Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK: 700) is a publicly owned holding company whose subsidiaries provide Internet and mobile phone value-added services and operate online advertising services in the People's Republic of China.[2] Its headquarters are in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
Tencent's diverse services include social networks, web portals, e-commerce, and multiplayer online games.[3] It operates the well-known instant messenger Tencent QQ[4][5] and runs one of the largest web portals in China, QQ.com.[6]
As of December 31, 2010, there were 647.6 million active Tencent QQ IM user accounts,[1] making Tencent QQ the world's largest online community. The number of simultaneously online QQ accounts has sometimes exceeded 100 million.[7]
As of November 2010, the company is the third largest Internet company in the world behind Google and Amazon with a market capitalization of US$38 billion.[8] Other big, Chinese Internet companies include Sina and Baidu.
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Tencent was founded by Ma Huateng and Zhang Zhidong in November 1998[9] as Tencent Inc,[10] with money from venture capitalists.[2] It remained unprofitable for the first three years.[9]
South African Naspers purchased a 46% share of the company in 2001 (as of 2010, they own 35%[11]). It was during these early years that Tencent's messenger product had its name changed from OICQ to QQ; this was said to be due to a (apocryphal) lawsuit from ICQ itself.[9] Others say American Internet company AOL, not ICQ, requested the name change.[12] Tencent Holding Ltd was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 16 June 2004,[10] and was added as a Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock in 2008.[13]
The company originally derived income solely from advertising and premium users of QQ, who pay monthly fees to receive added extras.[9] But by 2005, charging for use of QQ mobile, its cellular value-added service, and licensing its iconic penguin character, which can be found on snack food[14] and clothing,[9] had also become income generators.[9] And, more recently, Tencent has seen profit from sale of virtual goods.[15]
While Tencent's services have included online gaming since 2004, around 2007-2008 it rapidly increased its offerings by licensing South Korean games.[16] At least two, Cross Fire and Dungeon and Fighter, were originally produced for Tencent by South Korean game developers, but the company now makes its own games.[16] Games have expanded the number of outlets for virtual good sales.[16]
Tencent Holdings Ltd is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.[17]
The name "Tencent" is derived from the Chinese phrase "十分" (Pinyin: shí fēn). The first character 十 (shí) is the number 10. The second character 分 (fēn) is a measurement that can be used to represent one cent, where one 分 (fēn) is a one-hundredth subdivision of one yuan. The word 分 (fēn) traditionally refers to 1/10 of something, and is used in common Chinese phrases like "十分" to describe 100%, perfection, or "very". For example, "十分强大" (shí fēn qiáng dà) would translate to "very powerful".
However, the Chinese name for the company is not "十分" (Pinyin: shí fēn). Instead, it is a loose transliteration of "Tencent": 腾讯 (Pinyin: téng xùn). In Chinese it means, roughly, "galloping message".[12]
Tencent sells virtual goods[18] for use in their MMOs,[19] IM client, social networking sites,[20] and for mobile phones.[21] Income from the sale of virtual goods was a large proportion of Tencent's revenue in 2009.[6] And the sort of games Tencent makes will see increasing popularity throughout the next few years.[22]
Tencent's online currency, Q Coins, can be used to purchase virtual goods.[23] These range from the offbeat, such as virtual pets[24] and the virtual clothing, jewelry and cosmetics needed to customize online-game avatars,[25] to the more mundane, such as more storage space, wallpapers, bigger photo albums[20] and ring tones.[21]
Tencent offers a diverse mix of services and includes both consumers and businesses as customers.
Many of Tencent's software and services are remarkably similar to those of competitors. The founder and chairman, Huateng "Pony Ma" Ma, has famously said, "[To] copy is not evil." Competitors are quick to denigrate. A former CEO and President of SINA.com, Wang Zhidong, has said, "Pony Ma is a notorious king of copying." Jack Ma of Alibaba Group, has stated, "The problem in Tencent is no innovation. All things are copies."[26]
As of 2009, the company held 400 patents.[27]
Launched in February 1999,[28] and Tencent's most notable product,[4][5] QQ is one of the most popular instant messaging platforms in its home market.[23][29] While the IM service is free, a fee is charged for mobile messaging.[30]
The first English version of QQ is launched in 2009. QQ International is available in 6 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Korean and Japanese. QQ international is fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Mac OSX and iPhone.
China's first "smart interactive television service" and a joint effort with TCL.[23]
A joint effort with Globe7 HK Ltd, a subsidiary of India's Northgate Technologies, Longhaier is a student-oriented social networking site for the Chinese market.[31] The site includes forums, campus information, games and other interactive Web applications, as well as information on study abroad, job placement and scholarship opportunities.[31]
Tencent offers a number of online, multiplayer games through its game portal QQ Games.
These massively multiplayer online games include Dungeon & Fighter, a side-scrolling online fighting game; QQ Fantasy, a 2D online game that incorporates elements from Chinese mythology; Xunxian, a 3D, online RPG; QQ Three Kingdoms, an online casual role playing game set during the historical three kingdoms period; QQ Huaxia, an online RPG; QQ Dancer, an online musical dancing game that offers QQ IM interactivity; QQ Nanaimo, an online game set on a desert island where players maintain houses and pets; QQ Speed, a casual online racing game; QQ R2Beat, an online in-line skating game; QQ Tang, an "advanced casual game" with gameplay derived from Chinese literature; QQ PET, a QQ IM-based desktop virtual pet game and two online first-person shooters; Cross Fire and AVA.[32]
Launched on March 13, 2006,[33] it is a C2C auction site.[23]
A peer-to-peer distribution platform for streaming media.[34]
An avatar-based social platform like Cyworld,[6] QQ show's avatar design system allows purchase of virtual goods to outfit avatars, which can also be used with QQ IM.[35]
In 2008, Tencent released a media player, available for free download, under the name QQ Player.[36]
A social networking service[5] and, as of 2008, the largest in China.[17]
Launched in March 2006,[37] this search engine's name sounds like "搜搜", or "search search" in Chinese.[38] It was a Chinese partner of Google, using AdWords.[8]
Abbreviated "TT", this web browser developed by Tencent[39] is based on the Trident[40] and was the third most-used browser in China.[40]
A Chinese microblogging service, Tencent Weibo competes with Sina Weibo.
An online payment system similar to PayPal,[23] it supports B2B, B2C and C2C payments.[33] In some Chinese cities individuals can use TenPay for utility payments and to refill their public transport cards.[41] Co-branded credit cards are available, and credit card bills can also be paid using the service.[42] Offline recharging of your TenPay account is possible, as the company sends employees to collect customer money in person.[43]
Tencent has at least four wholly foreign owned enterprises, and nearly twenty subsidiaries in all.[17]
A software development company that has created, among others, Tencent Traveler and later versions of QQ IM,[44] as well as mobile software.[45] This subsidiary is located at the Southern District of Hi-tech Park, Shenzhen.[44] It also holds a number of patents related to instant messaging and massively multiplayer online game gaming.[46]
Tencent's headquarters are located in the Tencent Building (腾讯大厦 Téngxùn Dàshà) in the Southern District of Hi-techPark (新科技园 Xīn Kējì Yuán) in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.[28][47] Other sites include a 48,000 square meter compound that houses an R&D center in the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone,[48] a data and R&D center in Tianjin's Binhai Service Outsourcing Industry Park that is expected to be finished by June 2013,[49] and also some 17,646 square meters of Shanghai office space purchased through a subsidiary, Tencent Cyber (Tianjin), and located in the Shanghai Modern Technology Services Community Zone.[50]
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