Video-Streaming Platform Turned Mobile-Gaming Operator Bilibili Sets

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Video-Streaming Platform Turned Mobile-Gaming Operator Bilibili Sets Publication date: 06 Mar 2018 Author: Chenyu Cui Senior Research Analyst, Games Video-streaming platform turned mobile- gaming operator Bilibili sets sights on $400million IPO Brought to you by Informa Tech Video-streaming platform turned mobile- 1 gaming operator Bilibili sets sights on $400million IPO Bilibili sets sights on $400 million IPO According to a prospectus filed on 2 March, Bilibili, the online entertainment platform covering video, live broadcasting and mobile games, plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Bilibili business was initially centered on the Anime, Comic and Games (ACG) industry and has developed into a comprehensive content platform. ACG content has become very popular in China and is influenced by Japanese anime and video games. Our analysis Bilibili started out as a video-streaming platform that went on to establish a large userbase interested in ACG content, and then moved into aggressive monetization through a variety of approaches: film production, membership subscription as well as involvement in sponsorship of sports championships, i.e. the Chinese Basketball Association. However, only its game operation has brought a scalable revenue stream and contributed to its IPO progress. In 2017, revenue from mobile games accounted for 83.4% of its total revenue compared to the rest from live broadcasting and advertising. The prospectus indicates that the platform has average MAUs of 67 million and generated revenue of $379.3 million in 2017. Mobile games are key to Bilibili's recent performance but sustaining this performance will be a challenge Among the eight exclusively distributed mobile games and 63 games under joint operation, Fate/Grand Order was the driver for revenue growth in 2017. The game is a turn-based fantasy strategy game with PVP or PVE battles adapted from the original Fate PC game. Its adapted anime series has achieved great popularity in China. As such, the game’s potential players are in line with Bilibili’s existing user base resulting in a cheap and effective network marketing effect through its platform. Also the game implements loot boxes to encourage in-game spending. However, relying simply on mobile games operation might pose a challenge for the portal, in terms of maintaining stable revenue growth. While mobile games are the high growth sector of the China games market, IHS Markit expects competition from established publishers to become increasingly fierce. Major players such as Tencent and NetEase are well positioned to acquire well-known anime IP for games development, as well as utilize their very dominant positions for distribution of content. Realizing the potential growth of the ACG industry in China, a large number of companies have rushed into the market including big publishers such as Tencent, Kalends and NetEase, and mid-tier distributors such as eWan, 7659, and JPAPP Game. ACG video sharing site AcFun, which is partially owned by Alibaba’s Youku, announced the closing of its operations recently suggesting the difficulties of maintaining a position in this fast moving market. We predict that this competitive climate will result in Bilibili finding user retention to be a challenge. Advertising remains an important revenue stream and is growing strongly As Bilibili has concentrated its business on mobile games, advertising share of the company’s total revenues has dropped. Share of advertising of total revenues dropped from 14.4% in 2015 to 11.6% in 2016 and then 6.4% in 2017, however Bilibili reported rapid advertising growth of 220.9% in 2016 and 162.1% in 2017. In the long run, IHS Markit expects Bilibili to gear up its advertising capability in order to contribute more to © 2020 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Video-streaming platform turned mobile- 2 gaming operator Bilibili sets sights on $400million IPO growth. Bilibili generates advertising revenue from targeted displays and in-programme advertising. Besides the well-defined young user base, the demographic data it collects from its users is attractive to advertisers. By utilizing the growing user traffic and data generated on the platform, Bilibili is expected to further its ad monetisation potential by increasing the frequency of targeted in-programme ads. © 2020 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Video-streaming platform turned mobile- 3 gaming operator Bilibili sets sights on $400million IPO Citation policy Request external citation and usage of Omdia research and data via [email protected]. Omdia consulting We hope that this analysis will help you make informed and imaginative business decisions. If you have further requirements, Omdia’s consulting team may be able to help you. For more information about Omdia’s consulting capabilities, please contact us directly at [email protected]. Copyright notice and disclaimer The Omdia research, data and information referenced herein (the “Omdia Materials”) are the copyrighted property of Informa Tech and its subsidiaries or affiliates (together “Informa Tech”) and represent data, research, opinions or viewpoints published by Informa Tech, and are not representations of fact. The Omdia Materials reflect information and opinions from the original publication date and not from the date of this document. The information and opinions expressed in the Omdia Materials are subject to change without notice and Informa Tech does not have any duty or responsibility to update the Omdia Materials or this publication as a result. Omdia Materials are delivered on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information, opinions and conclusions contained in Omdia Materials. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Informa Tech and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees and agents, disclaim any liability (including, without limitation, any liability arising from fault or negligence) as to the accuracy or completeness or use of the Omdia Materials. Informa Tech will not, under any circumstance whatsoever, be liable for any trading, investment, commercial or other decisions based on or made in reliance of the Omdia Materials. CONTACT US omdia.com [email protected] © 2020 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited..
Recommended publications
  • Joint Action Against Online Video Piracy in China
    November 13, 2013 Joint Action Against Online Video Piracy in China Lawsuits Seeking RMB300 Million in Damages Filed Against Baidu and QVOD on Claims of Spreading Pirated Videos and Engaging in Hotlinking BEIJING, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Youku Tudou, Sohu Video, Tencent Video, LeTV, MPA, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), CODA, Wanda Films, Enlight Media, Letv Films announce a joint declaration today in Beijing to fight online video infringement and piracy both on PC and mobile Internet in China. Meanwhile, the joint action announces legal action has been taken against Baidu and QVOD for compensation as high as RMB300 million. Representatives from more than a dozen Chinese and international film and television production companies attended the joint action announcement in Beijing. International attendees included the Motion Picture Association of America, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Disney and Paramount. Chinese attendees included the Capital Copyright Industry Alliance Capital Protection Division, the China Radio and Television Association of the Television Production Committee, and many Chinese production companies. "Since 2009, the video industry is facing a more severe anti-piracy situation," Sohu Group Chairman and CEO Charles Zhang said. "Especially when those big Internet companies with resource advantages participate in large-scale piracy. We cannot keep competing because where thieves and robbers are having their way, law-abiding companies cannot survive. We may even have to exit online video industry if such practices continue. Nobody will invest in content, and China's online video industry will face the sad situation as the music industry, which has already been destroyed by piracy, had faced before.
    [Show full text]
  • Birth and Evolution of Korean Reality Show Formats
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Film, Media & Theatre Dissertations School of Film, Media & Theatre Spring 5-6-2019 Dynamics of a Periphery TV Industry: Birth and Evolution of Korean Reality Show Formats Soo keung Jung [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/fmt_dissertations Recommended Citation Jung, Soo keung, "Dynamics of a Periphery TV Industry: Birth and Evolution of Korean Reality Show Formats." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/fmt_dissertations/7 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Film, Media & Theatre at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Film, Media & Theatre Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DYNAMICS OF A PERIPHERY TV INDUSTRY: BIRTH AND EVOLUTION OF KOREAN REALITY SHOW FORMATS by SOOKEUNG JUNG Under the Direction of Ethan Tussey and Sharon Shahaf, PhD ABSTRACT Television format, a tradable program package, has allowed Korean television the new opportunity to be recognized globally. The booming transnational production of Korean reality formats have transformed the production culture, aesthetics and structure of the local television. This study, using a historical and practical approach to the evolution of the Korean reality formats, examines the dynamic relations between producer, industry and text in the
    [Show full text]
  • Huya (HUYA): Winner Takes All
    JAGUAR MEDIA AUG 3RD, 2020 UPDATED AUG 6TH, 2020 (see end of research note) “CHINESE TECH DEMYSTIFIED” SERIES – EPISODE 2 DouYu (DOYU) & Huya (HUYA): Winner Takes All Often referred to as China’s Twitch equivalents, DouYu and Huya are the providers of China’s biggest game livestreaming platforms. In Chinese, DouYu means “fighting fish”, while Huya is a nonsensical phrase where “Hu” means “tiger” and “ya” means “tooth”. Hence why the latter’s logo is a tiger with teeth. As a company, Huya was a late-2014 spinoff from JOYY (previously known as YY), with the latter as the new entity’s biggest shareholder. However, in 2018, Tencent acquired a 35% stake in Huya with an option to boost its control to 50.1% within the period March 8th, 2020 and March 8th, 2021. Then in April 2020, Tencent proceeded to exercise that option, effectively becoming Huya’s biggest controlling shareholder as JOYY's stake was reduced to 43% from 56%. Meanwhile, DouYu began as a livestreaming sub-segment of AcFun, a video hosting platform geared towards animation and games. But due to constant ownership issues and former employees leaving to start up their own competing businesses, a lot of spinoffs resulted from AcFun (including Bilibili, which we’ll cover another time). And not liking the direction AcFun was headed, DouYu founder Chen Shaojie decided in 2014 to sever ties with the parent company and run DouYu as its own entity. Then in 2018, Tencent invested ¥4B in DouYu in exchange for a controlling stake, on the very same day it acquired its 35% stake in Huya (see above).
    [Show full text]
  • Eone Annual Report 2019
    2019 Annual Report and Accounts Unlocking the power & value of creativity We are focused on building the leading talent-driven, platform- agnostic entertainment company in the world. Through our deep creative relationships we are able to produce the highest quality content for the world’s markets. We are powered by global reach, scale and local market knowledge to generate maximum value for this content. Strategic Report SR Governance G Financial Statements FS Unlocking the Unlocking the value of originality power & value p.10 of creativity Unlocking the power of creativity p.12 Strategic report Governance 02 At a glance 66 Corporate governance 04 Chairman’s statement 68 Board of Directors 06 Chief Executive Officer’s review 70 Corporate governance report 10 Unlocking the power 78 Audit Committee report & value of creativity Unlocking the 86 Nomination Committee report value of direction 20 Market Review 90 Directors’ Remuneration report p.14 22 Business Model 118 Directors’ report: 24 Strategy additional information 26 Key performance indicators Financial statements Business review 122 Independent auditor’s report 28 Family & Brands 127 Consolidated financial statements 36 Film, Television & Music 131 Notes to the consolidated financial statements Unlocking the 46 Finance review power of storytelling 51 Principal risks and uncertainties Visit our website: entertainmentone.com p.16 58 Corporate responsibility Unlocking the value of talent p.18 entertainmentone.com 1 AT A GLANCE Performance highlights Strong growth in underlying EBITDA
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis and Discussion on the Network Self Made Drama Under the Network Platform
    Analysis and Discussion on the Network Self Made Drama under the Network Platform Xiaoxia LI Zibo Vocational Institute Abstract: In recent years, with the continuous deepening of the integration of Internet and film and television creation, China has entered the online drama world spawned by the “Internet”. In the development trend of online drama, self-made content has become the foundation of every major platform. In 2020, the network self-made drama will be stable and new. Under the benign situation of stable development, it will move towards higher quality and broader stage. Keywords: Network; Platform; Homemade drama; Film and television DOI: 10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252708.20200409 1. The Rise of Self-made Drama in the Network Video Platform (1) The characteristics of network communication and the platform advantage of mastering the front market data, the network self-made drama has high interaction and market sensitivity. (2) Behind the rise of the network self-made drama is the network video platform that is eager for more control. n the increasingly fierce and cruel competition of “film and television winter”, Ithe network self-made drama makes these online video platforms escape the copyright purchase cost of the sky price, and change from passive content competition to active participation in content production, and become the core of platform differentiation competition. At the same time, this benign change also contains the vision of the film and television industry to reshape the content ecology. About the author: Xiaoxia LI (1978-02), female, from Zibo City, Shandong Province, master, lecturer, engaged in computer applications, network big data and artificial intelli- gence.
    [Show full text]
  • From Western TV Sets to Chinese Online Streaming Services: English-Language TV Series in Mainland China
    . Volume 16, Issue 2 November 2019 From Western TV sets to Chinese online streaming services: English-language TV series in mainland China Xiaoran Zhang, University of Nottingham, UK Abstract: In the age of multiple screens, online streaming has in the 2010s become the most significant way of consuming overseas television programs in Mainland China. Due to rather strict government policy and censorship, foreign television series are presently only legally distributed and circulated on licensed online streaming services. Focusing on the streaming of US/UK TV series, this paper examines online streaming services’ distribution activities in order to understand both streaming websites’ business practices surrounding transnational TV and the features they employ to cater to online audiences for these series. To grasp how the online distribution of English-language TV series operates in China, I begin by looking at China’s five major video streaming services, analyzing the design of their interfaces, scheduling of programs, and accessibility for different tiers of users. I then examine how streaming services use social media as a major tool to promote their US and UK TV series. Through this analysis, I argue that transnational TV flow has had to be localized to achieve distribution and marketing goals in a Chinese context, resulting in the uniqueness of these streaming practices. This article concludes that, with the development of online streaming technologies, distinctive modes of audience consumption in China have informed the localization of this specific transnational TV content. Keywords: Online streaming, streaming consumption, television distribution, transnational TV, Tencent Video, HBO, Game of Thrones Introduction As one of HBO’s most successful high-end shows, Game of Thrones (2011-) has earned a worldwide reputation that includes the fandom of Chinese viewers.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Boost the Impact of Scientific Conferences
    ABSTRACT We can maximize the impact of scientific conferences by uploading all conference presentations, posters, and abstracts to highly-trafficked public repositories for each content type. Talks can be hosted on sites like YouTube and Youku, posters can be published on Figshare, and papers/abstracts can become Open Access PrePrints. How to boost the impact of scientific conferences. Mike Morrison Kelsey Merlo Zach Woessner Michigan State University University of South Florida Michigan State University [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] (corresponding author) Thanks to the heroic efforts of conference administrators across science, most academic conferences scheduled for 2020 have been at least partially translated into a virtual format. Now, it is time to figure out what role online content should have in the future, and how to maximize its engagement and impact. First, to get in the right mindset, it will help to stop thinking of annual scientific conferences as only updating a subset of attending scientists on what is happening in a field, and start thinking of conferences as being able to update the entire world on what is happening in a field of study — especially all relevant scientists, whether they pay dues for that conference or not. Figure 1 places the “classic 3” scientific conference content types — Presentations, Posters, and Conference abstracts — on a continuum ranging from ‘easy to produce’ to ‘hard to produce’, and from ‘small impact’ (on just a few people) to ‘big impact’ (reaching tens or hundreds of thousands of people). Figure 1. The effort-impact continuum. Most traditional scientific conference content takes a lot of effort to create, and has a relatively small reach and impact (relative to the total population of people potentially interested in it).
    [Show full text]
  • System: Pipeline Performance Enhancement
    Cross Cultural Analysis System Improvements Guandong Liu Yiyang Zeng Columbia University Columbia University [email protected] [email protected] 1 Introduction Cross-cultural analysis investigates the new task of determining which textual tags are preferred by different affinity groups for news and related videos. We use this knowledge to assign new group-specific tags to other videos of the same event that have arisen elsewhere. We map visual and multilingual textual features into a joint latent space using reliable visual cues, and determine tag relationships through deep canonical correlation analysis (DCCA). We are interested in any international events such as epidemics and transportation disasters and detect country-specific tags from different countries’ news coverage [1]. Our current pipeline is able to collect data, preprocess data, and analyze data. This semester, we investigated and improved system performances in different aspects to make it more reliable and flexible. This report consists of two parts: the first part gives a thorough overview to the whole pipeline and the second part talks about several bug fixes and performance improvements of the current system. 2 Pipeline User Manual This section gives a thorough overview to the whole pipeline and goes through each step with AlphaGo in Chinese and English task as an example. 2.1 Get Video Metadata The pipeline starts from getting video metadata from various sources. In our experiments, we got video metadata about AlphaGo from Chinese sources (Tencent, Iqiyi, Youku, BiliBili) and English source (YouTube). Note that to get video metadata from YouTube, one must first enable YouTube Data API and get own API credentials (key.txt is the API credentials).
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief Genealogy of Hanmai
    China Perspectives 2019-3 | 2019 Sinophone Musical Worlds (1) A Brief Genealogy of Hanmai Ge Zhang and Jian Xu Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/9528 DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.9528 ISSN: 1996-4617 Publisher Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine Printed version Date of publication: 1 September 2019 Number of pages: 63-68 ISSN: 2070-3449 Electronic reference Ge Zhang and Jian Xu, « A Brief Genealogy of Hanmai », China Perspectives [Online], 2019-3 | 2019, Online since 01 September 2019, connection on 22 December 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/9528 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives. 9528 © All rights reserved Current affairs china perspectives a Brief Genealogy of hanmai Ge ZhaNG aND JIaN XU Introduction Discotheques and revitalised Dongbei folk culture anmai 喊麥, literally “shouting [at] a microphone,” first came to public Hanmai’s musical origin can be traced back to China’s discotheques attention and scrutiny as a distinct sound gaining both popularity and dance halls of the late 1990s in the context of China’s “revolution of and notoriety in 2015, when livestreaming platforms such as YY consumption” (Davis 2000). The history of disco dance clubs from the 1990s H 1 (which launched as a voice chat client in 2008) were growing exponentially. to 2000s in Shanghai is well documented by Andrew Field (2008) and James Contemporary hanmai is therefore predominantly associated with Farrer (2000). Shanghai discotheques (disike 迪斯科) emerged as “large, livestreaming media.2 However, its origin can be traced much further back. cavernous, dark, and simply decorated” (Field 2008: 21) “free-flowing zones The sound culture can be linked to the broader context of market reform of interaction among clubbers from different backgrounds” (Field and Farrer and the emergence of disco music in the 1990s, as well as to the evolution 2018: 128).
    [Show full text]
  • Applications: A
    Applications: A This chapter contains the following sections: • ABC, on page 8 • Abonti, on page 9 • About.com, on page 10 • ABS-CBN, on page 11 • ACA Services, on page 12 • ACAP, on page 13 • Access Network, on page 14 • AccessBuilder, on page 15 • AccuWeather, on page 16 • Ace Hardware Corporation, on page 17 • Acer, on page 18 • AcFun, on page 19 • Achetez Facile, on page 20 • ACI, on page 21 • Acoon.de, on page 22 • ACR-NEMA, on page 23 • Acrobat.com, on page 24 • Active Networks, on page 25 • ActiveSync, on page 26 • Ad Advisor, on page 27 • AD Backup, on page 28 • AD DRS, on page 29 • AD DSAOP, on page 30 • AD DSROL, on page 31 • AD File Replication Service, on page 32 • Ad Marvel, on page 33 • Ad Master, on page 34 • Ad Mob, on page 35 • Ad Nexus, on page 36 • AD NSP, on page 37 • Ad Redirector, on page 38 • AD Restore, on page 39 Applications: A 1 Applications: A • Ad Tech, on page 40 • AD XDS, on page 41 • AD-X Tracking, on page 42 • Ad4mat, on page 43 • Adap.tv, on page 44 • Adaptive Receive Node Scheduling, on page 45 • Adblade, on page 46 • Adcash, on page 47 • Adconion Media Group, on page 48 • Addicting Games, on page 49 • Addictive Mobility, on page 50 • AddThis, on page 51 • AddThis Bot, on page 52 • AddToAny, on page 53 • AdF.ly, on page 54 • AdGear, on page 55 • Adify, on page 56 • AdJuggler, on page 57 • Admasters, on page 58 • Admeld, on page 59 • ADMETA, on page 60 • Admin5, on page 61 • AdNetwork.net, on page 62 • ADNStream, on page 63 • Ado Tube, on page 64 • Adobe Analytics, on page 65 • Adobe Connect, on page 66
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Grocery's Age of Empires
    CHINESE GROCERY’S AGE OF EMPIRES TWO GIANT GROUPINGS ARE CARVING UP THE MARKET CHINESE GROCERY’S AGE OF EMPIRES Chinese retail is evolving into two rival empires, each dominated by competing e-commerce giants. One realm is centered on Alibaba, which owns two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, Taobao and TMall, as well as an electronic payments system, AliPay. The other is an alliance between JD, a leading online retailer, and Tencent, an internet and digital-technology conglomerate that owns WeChat, China’s most popular social-media app. These two empires already own the digital lives of Chinese consumers today, where the average Chinese spends over 60% of their mobile app usage on either ecosystem. Now Alibaba and Tencent/JD have set their sights on physical retail, including acquiring stakes in six of China’s top 10 hypermarkets, the country’s biggest electronics retailer, one of the largest department stores and the largest commercial property and entertainment conglomerate. Exhibit 1: Empire of JD/Tencent and Alibaba Experiece Online Physical Online Offline Social retail retail influence influence JD/ Mobike, QQ Vip.com, Little Walmart, Tencent Video, WeChat Pay, WeChat, QQ, Tencent University, Red Book, Yonghui, Dianping, JD logistics, LY.com, Qzone, Tencent Cloud, YHD.com, Wanda, Sogou, QQ Meituan Pengyou.com QQ Gaming, Zhuanzhuan Carrefour Music, WeChat DiDi ChuXing Pay Alibaba Ali Health, Taobao Etao, Taobao, Intime Retail, MGTV, YTO express, Sina Weibo, Group Education, Hema, Tmall, New Huadu, Yicai.com, 36Kr, Cainiao, Alipay, Momo, Amap.com, Suning.com Bailian, SCMP, Alipay Ali LST, Koubei Qyer.com, Xiami, Eleme, Century Mart, AcFun, Youku DiDi ChuXing, Sanjiang, Sun Ali Cloud Art, Hema Source: Oliver Wyman analysis Underlying their growing dominance is Chinese consumers’ enthusiasm for online shopping: In 2006, just 11 percent of the population enjoyed internet access; today, more than 460 million Chinese – one-third of the population – regularly shop online.
    [Show full text]
  • Bilibili (BILI): a Leader in ACG with Room to Grow
    JAGUAR MEDIA SEPT 8TH, 2020 “CHINESE TECH DEMYSTIFIED” SERIES – EPISODE 5 Bilibili (BILI): A leader in ACG with room to grow Bilibili is often labeled as China’s version of YouTube, but that comparison is only half-accurate. Fundamentally, it is a video sharing and vlogging platform. But if we dig a little deeper, we will find that it caters almost exclusively to a dedicated under-30’s crowd while shunning older audiences, and the video content is overwhelmingly focused on animation, comics, and games (or ACG in short), fashion, pop culture, and music. No news, no politics, no academic discourse, no finance, none of that mundane stuff. Bilibili was founded in 2009 with the intention of being a worthy ACG competitor to AcFun (recall AcFun is the former parent company of DouYu). Bilibili’s founder Xu Yi was formerly a top user with a huge following on AcFun, but grew increasingly frustrated over time with community and website-related issues. And following a series of high-profile disagreements with AcFun management, he decided to sever ties and create Bilibili on the back of funding from now-CEO Chen Rui, a games/animation-loving billionaire investor who currently owns over 20% of the company. Before long, Bilibili saw significant traffic, enough to challenge AcFun’s. Due to this rivalry and history, Bilibili is commonly referred to by the Chinese internet community as “B Site” or “Station B”, while AcFun is nicknamed “A Site” or “Station A”. Fun fact: The word “Bilibili” doesn’t have any literal meaning. Rather, it is a playful reference to a main character from A Certain Scientific Railgun, a popular comic/animation series at the time, whereby “Bilibili” is the sound she makes when firing her weapon.
    [Show full text]