Event Report | Mobile Social Networks + Slides + Q&A transcript
Posted on: October 28, 2008 – Filed under: Beijing
Is mobile SNS a popular topic? OrangeLabs’ Innovation Gardens were packed with a dynamic audience (Q&A were half of the session!) to learn about China and Asia’s mobile SNS scene.
We got clearance from all presenters, get ready for lots of information! The Q&A transcript is mentioned below the presentations.
+8* | Mobile SNS Best Practices from Asia
TX.com.cn | Mobile SNS in China
Q&A with TX.com.cn
Q: How do you gather users? Do you have an invitation system?
TX: We consider ourselves an entertainment site therefore we don’t really have first degree friends system, it is more for strangers to meet each other. We have not spent a penny yet on promotional work but they will soon. 50% of our first logins will recommend a friend. Our vision is to have an interactive portal, same interests among users is important.
Q: What is the thing that attracts most to the site?
TX: 30% of new users could play this dice game, simple applications attracts users. Fun, easy applications are the main thing. We also have a nice matching engine for dating purposes.
Q: How about data usage?
TX: Users have GPRS but not all have a GPRS data plan.
Q: Do you see ad model selling inventory?
TX: We hope so. We tested different application methods, direct sales etc. Now before 3G comes out, I don’t think advertising will be so big.
Q: how many users have you acquired from these different methods?
TX: Almost all of our 30 million accounts are from word of mouth, or through cross marketing with other mobile properties. We actually tested small marketing initiatives but that is still small.
Q: How is the relationship between mobile operators and TX? Your site is virtual community, how do you implement stickiness?
TX: Operator relationship is tough. TX is mobile Internet (off-deck), so we do not need to have direct relationships with any operators. We use only China Mobile network infrastructure and directly target end users. For stickiness, creativity is one important thing, creative apps. Other sites are copying us, which we see as a sign that we are leading.
Q: What are your payment systems?
TX: We have 6 different mechanisms. Third party channels, SMS, WAP direct charges to get virtual currency, some internet based payments, but very few users seem to trust Internet payment. However we believe in direct deposits through banks such as Agricultural Bank of China.
Hozom | Phonebook with SNS
Q&A with Hozom
Q: How do you invite new users?
Hozom: there is a link to DL page, we have a simple PC site but for functionality. Link is to WAP site.
Q: Which handsets are you compatible with?
Hozom: Windows mobile, Nokia, will extend to Android, Blackberry etc. Features have to be kept simple for easy portability.
Q: You can tag other users with keywords. What if they don’t like the tags?
Hozom: The phonebook is special and private, that’s why we don’t connect people with strangers, all connections have trust. For tags, you can accept or reject them in one click.
Q: Do you look at people’s group SMS to create ad-hoc groups (“Xobni-like”)?
Hozom: We are doing basic features, grouping features are manual. But it’s a great idea.
Q: You do online backup of phonebook, basically an online phonebook service. Many phones will have this by default. So what is your strategy?
Hozom: We want to be friendly to carriers and device manufacturers. We are open and would like to partner with them.
Q: China Mobile should have this kind of service, but not a success. How can people trust carrier? It’s easy to synch PC and mobile.
Hozom: Most of our features attract offline users. We see two ways to attract users: by innovating with great apps, or by making the service keep simple and beautiful, this is the way iPod succeeded.
Q: What is your revenue model, do you have ads?
Hozom: Revenue model is a pain for mobile community in China. Not many companies know how to get money. You can either get revenues from third parties or from users. We plan to get paid from users at first. Our service is to solve real business problems that they are willing to pay for and we will charge directly for some features. Pricing strategy will be complex but eventually from users.
Q: Nobody has talked about LinkedIn.
Hozom: In fact I’m heavy users of LinkedIn. We would like to partner with SNS like this. If they extend their users to mobile, we would like to work with them.
Q: How did you do porting?
Hozom: It is a great tech challenge for us. Every day we have headache with this problem. For the information layer we will use Hozom base, for porting it is “just” an engineering problem.
Q: Do you have LBS features?
Hozom: Users don’t understand LBS and I don’t want to educate users. I expect China Mobile or someone to educate users, after this I will introduce this plug in.
Q: How are you funded?
Hozom: Currently it is private, no VC.
Q: When did you start and how many users have you gathered?
Hozom: We started at the beginning of this year and launched the service two months ago. We have about 30,000 users, but active rate is not that high.