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Skype, Tom Online Form Joint Venture in ChinaBy TED GLANZER
TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist
Seeking to further capitalize on the fertile online communication market in
The joint venture, according to the companies' news release, "will leverage Tom Online's mobile and Skype's Internet communications expertise to further develop advanced communication and community features for mobile Internet platforms."
The agreement represents an extension of the two companies' existing relationship, which dates back to October 2004 with the development of a simplified Chinese version of Skype. The solution now has about 3.4 million users, making one of Skype's top markets.
"Tom Online have already been a wonderful partner to Skype and we're delighted to now take our relationship to the next level through the formation of this joint venture," said Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom in a prepared statement.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Tom Online will own a 51 percent controlling interest in the joint venture.
The new venture, the terms of which were not disclosed, certainly makes sense upon examining the market numbers.
According to the companies' joint press release, is the world's largest mobile phone market by users with more than 360 million subscribers at the end of June 2005. Furthermore, the number of Internet users in is expected to grow to approximately 154 million by 2007.
"In less than a year since beginning our cooperation with Skype, we have seen robust growth in user numbers," said TOM Online CEO Wang Lei Lei. "It indicates Chinese Internet users' readiness to take advantage of the latest communications technologies available. The signing of this joint venture agreement is a testament to both companies' confidence in the tremendous business potential of the joint venture, given Skype's unrivalled technology strength and TOM Online's unique knowledge of the Chinese market."
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Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit:
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