Yesterday, in connection with the deal between Baidu and Netdragon Websoft, we contacted Evgeny Kosolapov, Executive director of i-Free Asia, and asked him about the situation in the Chinese market.
What has been happening in the Chinese mobile app market in recent months (how is it changing)?This is too general a question.
It is either better not to answer it at all, or you will have to answer it with text for several pages. The market situation is changing very rapidly. But to understand where it is coming from and where it is going, you need to be inside this market. Because the background, the initial situation, is fundamentally different from the global market. She is, let’s say, standing on other whales.
Isn’t it too late for new players to enter it?Do you mean foreign players, probably?
Because Chinese new players are constantly appearing, they believe that it is never too late. If we talk about foreign players, the question is how to get out. If you go through a publisher, again, it’s never too late. Publishers will always be happy to accept them. If you go out on your own, then it’s probably too late. To be an independent player distributing content in China, you need to go through more organizational challenges, starting from the selection of the right employees, ending with obtaining all the necessary licenses and permits. It took us several years.
Should we expect Chinese expansion into Western markets in the near future?It’s kind of already happening.
Look at the tops of the Russian Google Play, you will see the company tap4fun with several games. This is a team from Chengdu City. They are doing well both in Germany and in the USA. Or, for example, all GO products, such as Go Launcher, are made in Beijing, a ten-minute walk from our office. I can name a dozen or two more similar companies right off the bat.
As a rule, Chinese developers are divided into two categories – those who are immediately focused on foreign markets, and those who believe in the home market. And, as a rule, these categories almost do not overlap. Because these are two different ways of organizing a team, fundamentally different approaches.
Is CocoaChina’s forecast fair that the revenue of the mobile gaming industry in China by the end of 2013 will be about $1.3 billion?A very real forecast.
But a lot depends on the position of operators, since operator billing is now the most effective. And Chinese operators are still just feeling their way in this incomprehensible world of apps and games for them. The fact is that in the era of java products, the Chinese market was shaking from scandals and fraud. Operators do not want to repeat this in the smartphone era, as more complex systems can lead to more severe consequences. Therefore, the policy of Chinese operators is now very cautious. Allow. Ban it again. Allow again. Etc. Suffice it to say that now each game is approved by the operator individually, and consideration can take from two weeks to two months.
How much will the deal between Baidu and Netdragon Websoft affect the Chinese mobile app market?From the point of view of the publisher and the developer, the change of the appstore owner is unlikely to have any effect in the coming months, or even a year, on the effectiveness of distributing games through these appstores.
It should be noted that Baidu has its own appstore. Not the biggest, but not bad. Well, generally speaking, there are several dozen appstores in China. None of them is dominant. Therefore, mergers and acquisitions between three or four of them do not change the weather. That’s when they merge to a dozen, then it will be interesting. But with such budgets as stated in this deal, this is unlikely to happen soon.