Some worry that the criticism of Tencent in a CPC paper marks the beggining of a backlash against Tencent and Alibaba, which have been so successful that they have gained enormous influence on Chinese culture and business.
July 19, 2017
‘Several months ago, Sequoia Capital China, a venture capital firm, noted that traffic had dropped dramatically on Chinese websites in which it had invested, including Toutiao, a news provider, Sina Weibo, a news and microblogging site, and online education courses. “Every business has been affected,” complained one venture capitalist. “It’s about competing for time.”
The reason for the sudden drop in viewership was the soaring popularity of Honor of Kings, the latest online game launched by Tencent Holdings, a Chinese internet colossus, which had attracted more than 100 million players — at least half of whom were playing every day. Sequoia was not alone in noticing the game’s unprecedented popularity and staying power. Zhuhai-based Meizu, a mobile phone manufacturer, plans to roll out a line of cell phones designed with the game in mind, according to Li Nan, its senior vice president.’