Written by: Roshan Dwivedi
Chinese internet consultants iResearch earlier reported that the Chinese online video market would reach a whopping RMB 36.8 billion (US$5.8 billion) in 2015 marking a 50 percent jump from 2014. About RMB 15.2 billion off that total value is coming from online video ads while the rest are from purchases and subscriptions..
Despite the mighty looking figures, the online video industry still lags behind being a minor part of a RMB 209 billion (US$32.9 billion) ecosystem that Chinese web users are most likely to spend on. As of June 2015, every connected Chinese user spends about 33 percent of time on online videos followed by social networking at 10.6 percent and online gaming was only 5.9 percent. Despite the demand, online video has not brought in requisite revenue.
The race to tap in to the 650 million Chinese internet users base is on. The race is now heating up because of the arrival of the domestic giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. They have recently launched their own video on demand streaming services which includes Baidu’s iQIYI, Alibaba’s Tmall Box Office and Tencent’s QQ. Backed by their popular internet services like social networks, search engines and chat apps, these three players have made the Chinese online video space look mightier than before.
However, it is still a question how they will be able to convert the demand in to revenue in times to come.
Source : The Epoch Times
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