Thanks to its diverse reading channels and development, Shanda Literature earned 173 million RMB net revenue in the second quarter this year (+24% y-o-y) according to its latest financial statement, for a total of 311 million RMB net revenue in the first half year (+111% y-o-y). At present, Shanda Literature has six original literature webs [...]
Archive for the ‘mobile media’ category
Digital copyright protection research projects initiated in China
31/08/2011On August 26th, the “Research and Application of Mobile Publication Copyright Protection” project to protect digital copyright during the distribution process of mobile publications and the “e-Reader Application Demonstration” project to establish a digital copyright protection technology system compatible with different ebook readers were launched. China Publishing Group and Hanwang Technology participate in these projects, [...]
Telecoms deemed in dominating position for mobile reading in China
30/08/2011With Shengda Literature’s founding in 2008, the real commercial operation of online literature began, and the company became the biggest winner in the mobile market. Literature websites continue to develop rapidly due to mobile reading offers such as China Mobile Reading Base [see previous post "Mobile phones in China – competition for e-readers"], and they [...]
Mobile reading revenue growth in China slowing down
30/08/2011In the second quarter of 2011, mobile reading revenue growth slowed down to 3.43% q-o-q for a turnover of 1.12 billion RMB, according to data provided by Analysis International. One reason are unsubscriptions of mobile newspapers and their unauthorized offers in Apple and Android app stores. Mobile newspapers showed negative growth and only contributed 628 [...]
“Red Comic Book Series” iPad edition launched in China
26/08/2011China Publishing Group Digital Media Co. issued the “Red Comic Book Series” iPad edition, which includes hundreds of classic “red” (communist) comic works since the founding of China. This comic book series is divided into 5 parts, with one part issued each week. Source: “Red Comic Book Series” iPad edition launched (in Chinese) Also see [...]
Chongqing Daily launched iPad app (China)
26/08/2011The Chongqing Daily launched it’s iPad app which includes both the “original (paper) edition” as well as the “real-time update edition” offering the latest information. Users can download the application from Apple’s App Store for free to read the latest six issues Chongqing Daily. Source: Chongqing Daily launched iPad application (in Chinese)
Mobile phones in China – competition for e-readers
25/08/2011More and more readers in China choose mobile phones as their device for e-reading [note: causing headaches for Hanvon and others, see post "E-readers in China encountering bottlenecks"], while authors and publishing houses try to cooperate with “mobile reading base” providers. China Mobile Reading Base: paying great attention to content quality Zhong Tianhua, Board Chairman [...]
E-readers in China encountering bottlenecks
24/08/2011With the reduction of revenue, China’s domestic e-reader market has been experiencing a tough period in the recent months. Some of the reasons are: E-reader industry enters the “platform development stage” Compared with the good situationin overseas markets, industry experts think that the development of e-readers in China is still in an initial stage, and [...]
Publishing houses in China to receive larger share of mobile reading cake?
17/08/2011Recently, the “Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation on the Mutual Promotion of Digital Publishing Industry Development” was signed by GAPP and China Mobile. China Mobile has it’s own standard for selecting books and setting prices, so publishing houses have less decision-making rights and receive only 40% of the revenue, which they consider insufficient. To deal with [...]
Mobile bookstore launched by Zhejiang Xinhua and China Mobile
15/08/2011On August 8th, the revised Bookuu Web and Mobile Book Store were launched under a cooperation between Zhejiang Xinhua Book Store Group and China Mobile Zhejiang Branch. On the Mobile Bookstore, Zhejiang Xinhua will offer bibliographic information, China Mobile Zhejiang Branch will offer information query and ordering services and Bookuu Web will distribute the books [...]
Three models for digital publishing transformation in China
09/08/2011Traditional publishing units in China are currently carrying out digital transformation using three different approaches: 1. Establishing digital publishing platforms With Dajia Net of China Publishing Group Digital Media Corp. as an example, establishing a digital publishing platform has become the inevitable choice for most digital media companies. Targeting all kinds of customer groups, such [...]
Shanghai will strive for 70 billion RMB annual output in Digital Publishing (China)
08/08/2011In 2010, Shanghai’s digital industry achieved sales of more than 22 billion RMB, accounting for 19.9% of the country. As the first national digital publishing base set up three years ago, Shanghai’s Zhangjiang National Digital Publishing Base has attracted 280 enterprises and about 3 billion RMB investment generating total sales revenue of 11 billion RMB. [...]
Yet another National Digital Publishing Base in China – and the first for packaging
04/08/2011At a July 29th Press Conference of Shaanxi Province it was announced that Xian will build two national press and publishing bases: National Printing & Packaging Industrial Base The only one in the country focusing on the printing and packaging industry in China. National Digital Publishing Base Focusing on mobile publishing, e-books, digitalization of traditional [...]
China’s e-reader giant: How can Hanvon regain past glory?
04/08/2011As the “giant” in China’s e-reader industry, Hanvon Technology enjoyed a rapid and positive development during 2009-2010. However, the pattern has changed gradually as more and more enterprises entered the market. However, the fundamental reason for Hanvon’s decline is its weakness in internal competitiveness according to Yu Ren of Beijing University’s School of Journalism and [...]
Key tasks of China’s digital publishing industry
01/08/2011In April, GAPP launched the Press and Publishing Industry Development Plan for the 12th-Five Year Plan mentioning seven key tasks which are to be finished in this time period, including “meeting the needs of digitization, informatization and network trends to promote the reform and upgrade of the press and publishing industry”. Since digitalization is the [...]
Industry experts’ analysis of Digital Publishing Report (China)
22/07/2011The recently released “2010-2011 Annual China Digital Publishing Report” stated that the total output value of China’s publishing industry in 2010 reached 105.179 billion RMB, (+31.97%), with mobile publishing, online games and internet advertising each constituting a bit more than 30% of digital publishing’s annual output value. Industry experts made a detailed analysis and say [...]
China already global new media superpower, says “China New Media Development Report (2011)”
18/07/2011The “China New Media Development Report (2011)” was released on July 12th as the first blue book on new media. With 450 million Internet users and 900 million mobile phone users, China has already become the country with the largest number of new media users in the world. The report pays great attention to hot [...]
Liu Binjie(GAPP): Digital publishing integration and business models remain problems (China)
13/07/2011Liu Binjie, Director of GAPP, attended the 4th China Digital Publishing Fair on July 8, focusing on digital publishing issues, such us the integration of satellite digital communication platforms and rural book houses, the current situation of digital content distribution platforms, the development of mobile reading and the digital transformation of traditional publishing institutions. Liu [...]
More than 100 publishers join Apabi’s Cloud Computing Publishing Platform (China)
11/07/2011At the recent 2011 Founder Digital Publishing Industry Summit held in Beijing, Apabi Technology Ltd. of the Founder Group announced the launch of a cloud computing platform for publishing services. This platform allows publishers to exchange their digital resources while maintaining their copyright. The platform thus offers an opportunity to conduct a new business in [...]
600,000 new media talents needed to fill gap (China)
08/07/2011According to a forecast by experts, 600,000-800,000 talents will be needed in China’s new media industry within the next 3-5 years. Apart from the rapid increase in the need for mobile-media talents, persons engaged in technology development and marketing are also badly needed. There are a number of reasons for the shortage: In addition to [...]
GAPP establishes strategic cooperation with China Mobile for digital publishing
07/07/2011On July 5th, GAPP and China Mobile signed a “Memorandum of Cooperation on Strategic Development in Digital Publishing”. According to the document, GAPP will cooperate with China Mobile in offering internet technology services and operation control of digital products to publishing houses. A cooperation in digital copyright is also intended in order to launch digital [...]
Wake-up call for traditional publishers: Appeal in China’s first digital copyright case turned down – industry voices
06/07/2011On July 4th, China’s so-called “first digital copyright case” [see post "First digital copyright case decided in China"] came to an end with the court dismissing Zhonghua Book Company’s appeal. Voices of publishing insiders on this case: Bi Yu of Light Industry (Beijing) Web Press Ltd.: Publishing houses should increase competitiveness in digital copyright and [...]
China’s Times Publishing Group enters digital publishing business with “Times E-Blog”
01/07/2011Times E-Blog, an omni-media digital publishing platform of Times Publishing Group developed by its subsidiary Anhui Higher Education Press, was officially launched on June 28th, meaning its digital publishing business is entering the operational phase. The platform belongs to a list of key reform and development projects during the 12th Five-year plan. Its operation model [...]
First digital copyright case decided in China
28/06/2011In October, 2009, Zhonghua Book Company accused Hanvon Technology of infringing its copyright. Last week, the verdict on China’s “first digital copyright case” came down: Zhonghua Book Company lost the lawsuit. The case reflects the disorder in the digital copyright trading market, therefore, establishing a fair digital copyright sharing platform becomes very necessary and urgent. [...]
Beijing Youth Daily Group launches Beiqing Pad (China)
27/06/2011The new media Beiqing Pad, developed by Beijing Youth Daily Group, was featured at the Party Newspaper and Magazine Career Development Achievement Exhibition for the 90th Anniversary of the CPC. With the self-developed Beiqing OS the tablet computer allows newspaper reading, videos, games, online interaction and a large number of apps. Source:Beiqing Pad launched in [...]
Shanda Literature’s six acquisitions in 2010 (China)
27/06/2011This article provides tables on the five online literature websites and one offline book distribution company Shengda Literature acquired last year for 140 million RMB, as well as data such as investment and revenue as submitted in the SEC prospectus: Rongshuxia (榕树下) — http://www.rongshuxia.com/ Beijing Zhongzhibowen Book Distribution Company (中智博文) — http://www.zzbwbook.com/ Tianfang Audiobook Net [...]
Xinhua News Agency releases “China Net Matter” app
23/06/2011“China Net Matter”, a news information app integrating text, photography, video and microblog, was officially launched by Xinhua News Agency recently. As an innovative measure to promote transformation from the traditional news-oriented format to modern multimedia news, the app will focus on Xinhua News Agency’s multimedia news column “China Net Matter” (launched in 2010) on [...]
Digital popularization project for China’s public libraries
10/06/2011In order to promote the establishment of digital libraries further, the related departments intend to carry out a popularization project during the 12th Five-year Plan period. The core of the project is to establish interconnected digital library platforms and distributed resource databases, so as to provide services via mobile phone, digital TV and mobile TV. [...]
Digital Copyright Identifier: Pilot project of China’s Copyright Protection Center
07/06/2011Recently, China’s Copyright Protection Center signed an agreement with China Mobile Zhejiang Reading Base for a mobile reading Comic Project. It is the first demonstration application for the Digital Copyright Identifier (DCI) – a new public service model of digital copyright established by the center. The DCI system can replace the content providers’ internal audit [...]
Hanvon cuts e-reader prices by up to 40% in China
25/05/2011Hanvon stated that in order to cope with market competition and to activate the e-reader consumer market, the company intends to reduce the price for more than a third of its product line by 15% – 40%. Hanvon believes that consumers will buy e-readers once their price is down to 500 – 600 RMB. Source: [...]
iPad in China shocks hardware makers but promotes digital content
24/05/2011Since May 6th, Apple’s iPad 2 is being sold China, resulting in a rapid drop in sales for many Chinese e-readers. As an example, hardware make Hanvon suffered a loss of more than 46 million RMB in the first quarter. [Also see previous posts: "Hanvon Technology: a closer look at its challenges."] On the other [...]
Three statements on Internet copyright protection of digital publishing in China
18/05/2011Internet copyright piracy has a big impact on the development of digital publishing. Measures to stop online copyright infringement and piracy were a hot topic at the 7th China International Cultural Industry Fair. The managers of online platforms should set a good example of copyright protection A series of digital copyright infringement cases threatens the [...]
Baidu beaten in landmark copyright case, must compensate Shanda Literature
12/05/2011The article in Global Times reports: “A Shanghai district court has ordered search engine giant Baidu to pay half a million yuan ($75,700) in compensation to Shanda Literature, an original content provider website, in a major copyright lawsuit case.” The reason stated is that Baidu ” did not remove unauthorized literary works from its website [...]
China Daily’s iPhone app: a brief test
05/05/2011Of course I downloaded China Daily’s updated iPhone News App (available in the App Store) but denied access to my location, causing a string of error messages – avoidable. Little red “new” buttons lead to a brief intro of a particular new function and disappear afterwards, a useful idea especially for updates. The user can [...]
China Daily’s updated iPhone News App
05/05/2011China Daily’s upgraded iPhone News App went online May 2, providing additional services to readers. [Note: Take a look at my post China Daily's iPhone app: a brief test.] Improved audio-video experience and rich information The new version supports multi-media, offering readers a new audio-video experience. Personal customized services Personalized information news options and location-based [...]
120 million Chinese read e-books, generating 610 million RMB sales volume on mobile phones
03/05/2011In 2010, more than 120 million Chinese read e-books, leading to 610 million RMB in sales volume on mobile phones alone (+203% y-o-y). This is also due to “mobile phone reading bases” set up by the three major telecoms operators which attracted many new mobile phone readers. Source: China’s e-book reading population exceeded 120 million [...]
2010 China Media Industry Development Report: industrial structure changing
03/05/2011During the 2010 Media Development Annual Meeting, the 2010 China Media Industry Development Report was published, analyzing the industrial structure and traditional media’s development. Current situation: Newspapers Currently, China has 1937 kinds of newspapers (-0.31% y-o-y), with 208.371 million average copies (-1.5% y-o-y) and a total print run of 43.911 billion (+0.86% y-o-y). The actual [...]
China National Reading Survey released; 23% had read on mobile phone
27/04/2011The result of the 8th China National Reading Survey was released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication on April 21st. The result show that: In 2010, the Comprehensive Reading Rate (including books, newspapers, periodicals and digital publications) of Chinese citizens 18-70 years old reached 77.1%, +5.1% y-o-y. Book Reading Rate reached 52.3%, +2.2% [...]
China’s e-reader market: already in crisis?
23/04/2011Probably not only investors were surprised, when Hanwang Technology posted a loss for this year’s first quarter, as reported in Caixin‘s article “Closer Look: Crisis Looms for E-Book Reader Market“. Declining sales volume and prices for its e-readers are mentioned as main cause – but if that is the case, then investors shouldn’t be “stunned”, [...]
China’s media international expansion: Xinhua mobile newspaper in Kenya
21/04/2011Xinhua Mobile Newspaper, the first-ever mobile newspaper in sub-Saharan Africa, was soft-launched in Kenya on Tuesday. The cooperation of mobile service provider Safaricom with Xinhua News Agency as contents provider and China’s telecommunications company Huawei as technology partner “enables about 17 million Kenyan mobile subscribers to receive news from China’s Xinhua News Agency via Multimedia [...]
China’s global media expansion: control instead of credibility – and maybe still welcome?
21/04/2011In the article “China Makes Global Media Push, But Skeptics Abound“, MediaShift takes a closer look at the spreading of Chinese media abroad as a key part of China’s soft power strategy, stating that in spite of the huge investments, the “problem with China’s increasingly international media giants is that they suffer from a lack of [...]
30th anniversary of “Reader”: Creating a Digital Age legend in China
19/04/2011China’s story magazine Reader is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month and now accounts for 3.3% of China’s magazine market. In the Digital Age, Reader continues to create its own legend. Focusing on marketing strategies: Reader carries out the strategies of low price as well as high quality. 23 distribution sites have been set up [...]
Alibaba enters digital publishing with iPhone client and Taobao Bookstore
18/04/2011After Baidu and Shanda, Chinese e-business giant Alibaba, revealed its digital publishing plan. An iphone client named Taobao Bookstore is launched, representing the first such e-book platform with copyrighted works in China. Relying on the high traffic volume on its Taobao online e-commerce website, Alibaba aims for users who want to download copyrighted works, of [...]
WSJ interview with Susan Shirk, author of ‘Changing Media, Changing China’
31/03/2011Susan Shirk, the author of “Changing Media, Changing China“, was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal’s blog China Realtime Report. In one answer she stated that the most fundamental change to happen to media in China is “[a]llowing media to go to the market”, with competition being “a stimulus for a lot of interesting subsequent [...]
