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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.
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Pinduoduo’s Latest Adventures in Livestreaming, Real Estate 🏘
E-Commerce livestreaming in China is a wild beast that has been growing steadily over the past couple of years and accelerating because of the coronavirus. Many people don’t realise that the realm of products that are sold over livestreams in China is incredibly broad. Let’s take a look at some of the latest things sold on Chinese social commerce platform Pinduoduo.
On July 13, 600 apartments in the Chinese city of Zhongshan were sold over a four hour livestream, marking Pinduoduo’s first venture into selling real estate on their e-commerce platform. The event got 720,000 views and featured special discounts that viewers could claim if they made the purchase during the livestream. Viewers were able to place refundable deposits and then have two weeks after the livestream to visit the apartments in person. Real estate agents and property developers have been using Chinese livestreaming platforms to sell apartments since the beginning of this year and this will likely continue.
Indian Fantasy Sports Startup Dream11 Restarts $200 Million Fundraise 🏏
Dream 11, an Indian Fantasy Sports Startup, has announced their intention to raise $200 Million on a $2 Billion valuation. The company had initially suspended the fundraise for a few weeks due to the coronavirus but has now found a new set of investors to reach their target. Dream11 is in the final stages of their restarted talks with the original investors and a set of new investors, including US private equity firm TPG, Indian private equity firm Kedaara Capital, and James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems.
Many people are speculating how the coronavirus will change the startup funding landscape in both the short and medium term. This latest investment, after a period of pause, should inspire more confidence in the startups currently looking for investors. Also—fantasy sports, compared to many other verticals, is something that will benefit from the changes in consumer behaviour thanks to the coronavirus. The Indian online gaming industry, under which fantasy sports would be categorised, is expected to nearly triple in size over the next four years.
Positive Updates for China’s Film Industry 🎬
The film industry has been hit pretty hard by the coronavirus. As I wrote in a previous update, 13,000 Chinese film and TV companies have gone out of business this year. Cinemas were briefly reopened in March, but then shut down again when cases started rising. There may be a silver lining, however. The China Film Association has just announced that cinemas in “low-risk” areas could now begin reopening as of this week.
Under the “low-risk” definition, the vast majority of cities in China would qualify as fitting within this criteria. There are additional requirements to the reopening, as theatres can only operate at around 30% seating capacity. Customers will have their temperatures taken before entering and wearing masks will be mandatory for anyone in the theatre. Perhaps the most devastating new rule is that food and drink is not allowed to be served.
Charging people for concessions is the highest margin, most profitable part of a theatre. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this would drastically change the entire business model of a movie theatre. We should look out to see how Chinese cinemas are able to adapt and figure out other ways to monetise their customer base. What the Chinese cinemas experiment with may end up being adopted by other traditional theatre chains across the world.
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