Stimulated by Youku and Tudou’s IPO-dream coming true, Ms. Zhang Juan, founder of 56.com, the Guangzhou-based third largest video-sharing site in China finally said to the media, the company is planning to be listed within next 2 years. And Ms. Zhang also said that the company has breakeven in past two quarters.
Launched in April 2005, 56.com now has over 60million registered users, over 120million average daily PV, 42 millions average daily unique visitors and total video play times have reached 1billions.
Unlike Youku which follows Hulu+Netflix model, Ms. Zhang emphasized that 56.com wants to be the Chinese YouTube focus on user generated content (UGC). ‘We believe the essence of Internet is to share and everyone can be engaged’ Zhang said, ‘Hulu’s model can work in states where the copyright market is much more mature. But in China, the copyright market is not well regulated at all, companies are burning too much money on it.’
Focusing on users’ interactivity and UGC, 56 does differentiate itself from other video sites. Comparing the main page of three sites, Youku, Tudou and 56, you can easily tell the difference. On Youku, Tudou, the top navigation menu are Movie, Music, TV Programs and Video, but on 56, you see the menus like Video, User Homepage, Album and Game. Furthermore, 56’s entertainment-centric video content also attracts millions of young people which are favorite target audience for brands and advertisers.
Till today, 56 only raised $30million fund which sounds quite impressive. So are we expecting the first profitable Chinese video site being listed in near future?
