China Digest: Rising apps usage, Renren co-operates with MSN, and more

Here are some interesting startup news from China, not only in its capital, Beijing, but also other startup hubs such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, and many more.

(1) UMeng, an Innovation Works affiliate which raised tens of millions in US dollars from venture capital firm Matrix, just released its latest Android usage report which highlighted the accelerating usage of the app. This points to an increased prominence of mobile internet in China in the second quarter of this year.

(2) Reuters reported that Renren, one of China’s dominant social networks, signed an agreement of co-operation with Microsoft’s MSN messenger.The co-operation centers on enhancing the integration between the two services. Both platforms will have a universal login and share photos and status updates.

(3) Currently, the Tencent QQ Penguin is crushing the instant messaging market in China with over 800 million active users. But now, Qihoo 360, better known for its free anti-virus software, is entering the IM arena with a mobile messenger.

(4) Due to the stock market wobbles in the past few weeks, not only has the market lost ground, but damage has been done to some US-listed Chinese companies. Mecox Lane Limited, China’s leading online retailer of apparel and accessories (M18.com), which got listed on NASDAQ for less than a year, has dropped from $17.26 to less than $ 2 now, resulting in Mecox Lane investors Sina and China Dongxiang Group losing more than US$69 million.

(5) According to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom’s latest release of operating data, 3G users in China now account for 9.5% of all mobile users, with 37.597 million 3G subscribers of China Mobile, 25.819 million of China Unicom and 23.56 million of China Telecom.

(6) IDC, a market research firm has revealed that for the first time, China became the world’s biggest PC market during the second quarter of this year.

(7) According to iResearch, the total revenue generated on mobile application advertising platforms was around rmb70 million (around US$11m) in 2010, but by end of 2011 the figure is expected to reach rmb310 millions (US$48.7m), with around 342.9% market growth.

(8) NOKIA and LBS service Jiepang are leading NFC technology adoption in China. NOKIA launched 3 brand-new NFC smartphones, the NOKIA 600, NOKIA 700, and NOKIA 701 that use the Symbian Belle system last night. At the same time, Jiepang is also releasing new stickers that support NFC check-ins to replace the old ones.

(9) Lenovo, China’s largest PC maker by market share, will open more than 1,200 new stores in tier 1 and 2 cities across China to strengthen its position as the world’s biggest market.

(10) According to people familiar with the matter, Gaopeng, the joint-venture between Groupon and Tencent in China, has fired one-thirds of its Chinese staff (including both execs and rank-and-file employees) while shutting down nearly 50% to 80% of its China branch offices. Gaopeng’s general manager pointed out that the significant downsize was the result of Tencent’s delay in funding the joint-venture.

(11) Sina Weibo wants to be not only a gaming platform, but also an eCommerce platform. 360buy announced its strategic partnership with Sina Weibo, become the first eCommerce partner who can sell products directly on its official Weibo account page.

(12) Kabam, the leading developer of hardcore social games, announced it is teaming up with Paramount Digital Entertainment to bring the massively popular and critically acclaimed The Godfather movie franchise to social gaming in The Godfather: Five Families.

(13) According to Cloudary’s latest filing with the SEC, the online literary service belonging to gaming powerhouse Shanda lost US$ 2.19 million on revenue of US$48.18 million in the first half of this year. For Q2 of this year, Cloudary lost US$ 1.64 million on revenue of US$27 million.

(14) Pan Haidong, CEO of Hudong.com, announced on Weibo that the company has recently raised RMB100 million (US$15.6 million) in its third round of financing. The company intends to use the funding to accelerate monetization and to enhance its presence in the mobile Internet sector.

(15) China Daily reported that China’s Ministry of Culture has ordered domestic online websites to stop allowing users to play and download over a 100 songs that have failed to go through “official approval procedures.”

(16) Punchbox, the game vendor behind hit iOS game Fishing Joy, has just raised over US$14 million in Series B from Sequoia China and Steamboat Ventures with a total funding of over US$15.6 million to date, according to its founder and CEO Chen Haozi.

(17) Tencent is reportedly spending hundreds of millions of RMB to strengthen and expand its online video node infrastructure network.

(18) China’s telecom giants are building up a war-chest of patents to help give them an edge in the legal battles raging between the world’s smartphone makers, aided by Beijing’s push to transform the country from workshop to innovator.

We thank nordicfactory for the flag image.

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