Tough Journey Ahead For Alibaba’s Entertainment Segment, With or Without Yu Yongfu
Yesterday, Tencent Tech reported that Alibaba Pictures’ CEO Yu Yongfu was going to step down from management, which was denied later by both Alibaba and Yu Yongfu. Despite the rumor, it’s evident that Alibaba’s entertainment arm is facing various challenges, with or without Yu Yongfu. If Yu departs from Alibaba Pictures, more uncertainty will be added to the future of the company. Up to now, Alibaba has managed to set up an entertainment ecosystem that covers film, music, sports, online literature, streaming, games, and online ticketing, etc. Yet, only its streaming arm Youku is considered a top player in its sector. Meanwhile, Tencent is leading the race in various areas, including online streaming, online literature, online ticketing, and gaming. According to this analysis by WeChat media account “yuleguan001,” internet company Tencent’s bottom-up management provides a better environment for creative ideas to grow and manifest, while e-commerce giant Alibaba’s overall top-down management style isn’t quite applicable in terms of growing its entertainment business. Read more on yuleguan001
Online Ticketing Platform: Movie Theater’s Friend or Foe?
Although the relationship between online ticketing platforms and movie theaters is more of a collaborative one, the reality may be more complicated than many think. This past year sees more and more Chinese cinema chains starting to develop their own ticketing apps in order to enhance user stickiness and alleviate manipulation from online ticketing platforms. A few years ago, when online ticketing platforms started to flourish, movie theaters benefited hugely from ticketing platforms’ various ticket subsidy campaigns. But today, top online ticketing platforms have large numbers of users, and prefer less but more strategic ticket subsidy campaigns, movie theaters start to realize that large ticket firms now have more power in deciding various things, such as scheduling and revenue sharing model. Read more on San Sheng
China Will be the World’s Biggest VR Market by 2021 Says Industry Experts
China Qingdao VR International Exhibition took place from November 9-11 this year with more than 100 participating exhibitors from all around the world. Industry experts from Chinese Academy of Engineering tell the reporter that Chinese VR sector has been growing rapidly over the past three decades. In addition to the level of technical advancement, VR technology in China has also been applied in a wide range of activities, which lays foundation for future growth of the sector. Admittedly, China still has catching up to do in creating VR content and improving the quality of core VR hardwares, such as CPU. But the future looks bright, and industry experts expect China to become the world’s largest VR market by 2021. Read more on Ent Group
’47 Meters Down’ Set for December 8 China Release
’47 Meters Down,’ a British survival horror film directed by Johannes Roberts and starring Claire Holt and Mandy Moore, has been set to release in China on December 8, according to the film’s official Chinese poster released on November 14 (Beijing Time). The film is based on true story of two sisters who go on holiday in Mexico being trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. Read more on Mtime
