As China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba prepares for an IPO in the U.S, other Chinese internet heavyweights are also considering IPO destinations, with America remaining a hot spot.
The titans of the world’s biggest Internet markets are lining up to take their battles to the U.S. Alibaba Group, JD.com, Weibo. Here in China you can’t get away from them.
JD.com. started as they go to place for electronics but now sells just about everything. It’s China’s second largest online retailer and has market leader, Alibaba, in its sights.
JD.com is investing in a massive logistics network, so its biggest challenge in the near-term may be profitability.
The Internet giant hitched its wagon to WeChat -- China’s most popular mobile messaging app. WeChat is owned by Tencent, which is already listed in Hong Kong. There’s talk that Tencent is considering an IPO for WeChat too.
WeChat started as a straight messaging service like WhatsApp but is quickly morphing into a one-stop mobile Internet shop.
Moments: it’s like a Facebook for sharing. Bank Card: link it to WeChat and spend away, even pay cab drivers. Games. It’s missing a good map app.
But it’s unclear how many of these innovations can actually make money. Tencent’s ad revenues are weak compared to international peers. Weibo is owned by New York-listed Sina and Alibaba’s also scooped up a stake. It’s been the microblog to beat and a force for change in China with hundreds of millions of users trading news and views.
So do these firms hold long-term promise for investors?
"2014 is going to be a year of mobile land grabs. So you’re a little bit more aggressive in terms of fighting for the users. After two years when China’s smartphone penetration reaches 70-80 percent, I think the market competition will be relatively more stabilized and we’ll see better revenue and earning growth for these companies," CLSA head of telecom and internet research Elinor Leung said.
All of China’s big Internet players are likely to benefit as the market’s blistering growth continues.
But expect some blood -- and red ink -- to be shed as the companies move into each others’ territory.