Update #3 - NetEase, Alibaba Influencers, and One Championship
Update #3 - NetEase, Alibaba Influencers, and One Championship
Welcome to East West Hurricane! 🌪
We update you on the most essential news from Asia in tech, media, and business—the things you need to know that you probably haven’t heard in Western media.
Follow us on Twitter!
NetEase Does Secondary Listing in Hong Kong
NetEase is the second largest gaming company in China (right behind Tencent) and does about $9 Billion in annual revenue. Following the recent trend of other major Chinese companies, NetEase completed their secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday, in addition being a publicly listed company on the NASDAQ since 2000.
The secondary listing helped the company raise $2.7 Billion and was 360 times oversubscribed. Alibaba, JD.com and likely many more Chinese companies in the near future will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as big China tech responds to increasing scrutiny from US lawmakers.
Alibaba Goes Global with Livestreaming
Alibaba plans to recruit 100,000 global influencers to help promote merchants and brands on AliExpress through Western social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram.
China is arguably the world’s leading market in sophisticated e-commerce livestreaming and Alibaba is one of the biggest players. With this aggressive push to expand the brand of AliExpress outside of China through more foreign livestreaming influencers, Alibaba is building a more robust global footprint.
Alibaba has gone so far as to create new products for foreign merchants and fund influencer recruitment efforts. It remains to be seen whether Alibaba can successfully navigate the cultural complexities of e-commerce livestreaming in other countries around the world.
One Championship has Global Ambitions
One Championship is probably the most impressive sports brand in Asia. They are a 9-year-old company; the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) company in the Asia and the biggest global competitor to the UFC.
Check out this Tech in Asia fireside chat with One Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who holds very sophisticated views on the future of his industry. He describes the inherent advantages of his business, their approach towards digital products, and plans for global expansion.
You could think of One Championship as kind of the UFC/DAZN of Asia. Despite the Coronavirus, they have seen huge growth in viewers and online merchandise sales. It’s worth keeping an eye on this company.
