An introduction about the variety of social networks out there (like cheese and wine, they come in many styles). This was an introduction to a panel on social networking in China at the China Internet Forum in November 2009. Some data is included, notably on gaming.

1. Social Networking(s)
Benjamin Joffe | CEO, Plus Eight Star
China Internet Forum, Beijing | 2009.11

2. Introduction

3. Benjamin Joffe
本杰明
ベンジャミン
벤자민

5. 4 years
1 year
4 years

6. Consulting | Startups | Community

7. | Plus Eight Star
• “Innovation Arbitrage”
• Internet & Mobile Digital strategy
• Best practices from China, Japan & Korea
• Published reports
• Inside Cyworld (2007)
• Inside Tencent (2009)
• Inside Alibaba (upcoming)
• Contact
• info@plus8star.com

8. References
EUROPE USA
ASIA

9. References
EUROPE USA
ASIA

10. Work With Startups: Cmune
• Making the 3D Web happen
– fbFund winner
– First 3D FPS game on Facebook
– #1 Widget on Apple.com
– Virtual Goods
• Check it out!
– www.cmune.com

11. Most Advanced 3D Game on Facebook
Paradise Paintball by Cmune
http://apps.facebook.com/paradisepaintball/
Disclosure: I am an investor & partner of Cmune

12. Mobile Monday Beijing
31 events
111 speakers
3,500 members
1,500 companies

13. Mobile Monday Beijing
31 events
111 speakers
3,500 members
1,500 companies

14. Social Networking(s)

15. Quiz! Who is on…
• Facebook
• QQ / Q Zone
• RenRen / Xiaonei
• Kaixin001
• Twitter
• A matchmaking site?

16. What is a social network?

19. Social Networking(s)
• Users Demographics / Geography
• Identity Real-name / Nickname
• Openness Closed / Walled Garden / Open
• Platform Web / Mobile / Cross-platform
• Revenue mix Ads / Virtual Goods / Games
• Results Profitability

20. Confused? It’s ok!
• Everything is converging!
– Social Networks
– Blogs
– Online Media
– Games
– Virtual Worlds

21. I don’t know what is a SNS but…
• There are numerous best practices to leverage
– From each service category
– From each specific service
• Who do you benchmark?

22. Ideas from Japan

23. Revenue vs. Profit (2008)
70%
60%
50%
Profit Margin
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Million USD

24. Mobile Game Town

25. Source: DeNA

26. Gree

27. Advertising
Gree Home Advertising &
Affiliates | 25%
Avatars & items
B2C virtual
Games goods | 75%
60% avatars
40% games

31. Mixi

32. Mobile Open Platforms
Mixi: Oct 27, 2009
– 39 mobile applications released – mostly games
City Building Harvest Moon Shopkeeper Furauni
By Liveware By Liveware By Geisha Tokyo By Konami

33. Some Numbers

34. Sharks with Laser Beams vs. Irritated Sea Bass
Asia’s Virtual Goods Market Estimate for 2009
Asia: 7 Billion Dollars!
USA: $1 bln (Source: Inside Virtual Goods, Oct 2009)

35. Chinese Online Games Companies
• Listed on NASDAQ
• NETEASE NTES $4.82B
• SHANDA SNDA $3.11B
• SHANDA GAMES GAME $2.75B
• PERFECT WORLD PWRD $2.25B
• CHANGYOU CYOU $1.65B
• GIANT INTERACTIVE GA $1.71B
• Listed on HKSE
• TENCENT 3888 $34.3B
• NET DRAGON 0777 $0.34B
• KINGSOFT 0700 $1.07B

36. Chinese Online Games vs. ROW
• And the total is…
• 8 Gaming Companies $17.7 B
• Tencent $34.3B
• TOTAL $52.0B
• Comparables
• Activision Blizzard $14.1B
• Electronic Arts $6.05B
• Ubisoft $1.56B
• Take Two $0.94B
• TOTAL $22.6B

37. Chinese Online Games vs. ROW
• And the total is…
• 8 Gaming Companies $17.7 B
• Tencent $34.3B
• TOTAL $52.0B
• Comparables
• Activision Blizzard $14.1B
• Electronic Arts $6.05B
• Ubisoft $1.56B
• Take Two $0.94B
• TOTAL $22.6B

38. Chinese Online Games vs. ROW
• And the total is…
• 8 Gaming Companies $17.7 B
• Tencent $34.3B
• TOTAL $52.0B
• Comparables
eBay Time-Warner Yahoo
$31B $38B $23B

39. Japanese SNS
• Mixi $1.1 billion
• DeNA $2.0 billion
• GREE $2.2 billion

40. EA acquires Playfish

41. ($300 mln + $100 mln option)

42. Social Games Going West
• Facebook Developers: Low Entry Barrier!
Rank Company Apps Location
#7 6 Waves 104 apps Hong Kong
#30 Rekoo 2 apps Beijing
#36 Elex 7 apps Beijing
#229 Tyler Projects 1 app Singapore
• Strong in China & entering Russia, Japan, etc.

43. Social Games Going East Too?

44. Quotes from Elex
• High productivity
– “Anyone is able to develop social games at
Playfish level”
• 12 languages versions
– “We can localize our game in different language
versions in 1 day”

45. Evolutions?

46. Evolutions
3D Social Games? Cross-Platform Games?
Artist’s view of
3D Farming Game

47. Virtual Currencies in any
Online Media
• HoopChina
PORTAL ONLINE STORE
– Basket-Ball vertical
– 90% UGC
– E-commerce
– Virtual currency
“CA” (for “calorie”) WEB GAMES
earned via activity
– Web games

48. Panel Discussion

49. Panel Discussion
• Panelists
– Allen WANG CEO BabyTree
– Yu Wang Founder P1.CN
– Allen ZHU Partner GSR Ventures
– Qian LIU VP of BD KaiXin001
– Felix YANG President Beijing IWOM
Marketing & Planning
• Moderator
– Benjamin Joffe CEO Plus Eight Star

50. Thanks!
More about “Innovation Arbitrage”
www.plus8star.com
benjamin@plus8star.com
+81 | Japan
benjamin0123 +82 | Korea
+86 | China
http://twitter.com/plus8star
Telecom & Internet
www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjoffe + Added Value
* High quality
www.slideshare.net/plus8star