Chinese authorities are reportedly considering roping WeChat Pay into the spin-off, which may further complicate regulatory matters for Tencent.

Tencent reportedly faces a record fine over rule violations; Paytm was allegedly banned from onboarding new users for similar reasons.

China’s tech giants are racing to own the technology of the metaverse: Tencent, Baidu, Oppo, and Huawei are beating US counterparts to the AR/VR patent punch.

However, titles from major game developers Tencent and NetEase were conspicuously absent from the list of approvals. In 2017, China approved a record-high 9,000 new games. In 2020, 1,411 games got the greenlight, and in 2021, that number dropped to 755 games.

For many years, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (the so-called BATs) dominated China’s digital ad revenue rankings. But ByteDance’s Douyin has soared past Baidu and Tencent and will pull in $20.02 billion this year, leaving it second only to Alibaba, with $36.23 billion. The old triopoly is no more. What’s Inside. This report contains our latest forecasts for ad spending in China through 2026.

These users are unavailable to the global streaming majors, but China’s iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video will reap the benefits of the country’s 10.3% user growth rate. International services will need to make do with the huge potential markets in places like Indonesia and India, where consumers are finally beginning to embrace sub OTT.

Tencent. Between January and October 2021, Tencent invested in 67 domestic and international gaming companies, including Roblox, based on a tally by tech-focused media zhidx.com. Tencent also owns 40% of Fortnite owner Epic Games, which is presumed to be a big player in the metaverse race. The gaming giant invested in VR content creator Original Force in 2017.

Tencent reported weaker quarterly revenue growth, citing moves it took to comply with the government rules. Ecommerce giant Alibaba posted its slowest quarterly revenue increase since it went public for Q3 2022.

Southeast Asia is home to a plethora of panregional shopping platforms, including Alibaba’s Lazada and Tencent-backed Shopee, whose retail media businesses have reaped rewards from the uptick in ecommerce engagement, such as for restaurant delivery and groceries. Another example is the ad business of food delivery and ride-hailing giant Grab, which sells placements in its super app and cars.

Brand interest in video games is rising, especially with the buzz around the metaverse. This report will look at the different ways developers monetize video games, and which of those methods are the most useful for marketers.

Companies like Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent have participated in a wave of trademarks filings and investments in the metaverse space, after Mark Zuckerberg touted it as “the next chapter for the internet” at the October Facebook Connect conference.

This has put immense scrutiny on both Ant Group and Tencent: Government officials temporarily ceased new user registrations on WeChat, forced spinoffs of services like Ant’s Jiebei short-term lending and Huabei credit products, mandated increased data sharing, and begun requiring interoperability between Alibaba and Tencent.

Last May, China’s central bank reportedly ordered Tencent and other major tech players to offload all financial services unrelated to payments. The government was concerned that it was difficult to determine how much money flowed through the complex structure of their financial products.

Tencent. Between January and October 2021, Tencent invested in 67 domestic and international gaming companies, including Roblox, based on a tally by tech-focused media zhidx.com. Tencent also owns 40% of Fortnite-owner Epic Games, which is presumed to be a big player in the metaverse race. The gaming giant invested in VR content-creator Original Force in 2017.

Gaming and tech conglomerate Tencent, which also owns messaging app WeChat, has pointed to the metaverse as an opportunity to expand its gaming business, per TechCrunch. TikTok owner Bytedance has followed in Meta and Microsoft’s footsteps and acquired VR headset company Pico, and Alibaba has plans to release AR glasses.

Tencent posted 23.1% growth in online ad revenues during H1. But in Q3, that dropped to 5.4%, and the company reported a 12.7% YoY decline in Q4. An executive from ByteDance’s Douyin told Chinese media outlet Jiemian News that Douyin’s advertising business had not grown at all in H2 2021.

The Cyberspace Administration of China is set to meet tech giants including Tencent and Meituan, ostensibly to loosen regulations, allowing the companies to generate profits. China’s Politburo said on Friday that coronavirus spikes and uncertainty stemming from the Ukraine crisis have increased risks and challenges facing the economy, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.