I am not sure if this is true or not, or whether there is enough demand for QQ services on the Mac. I would like to hope, however, that they can first get QQ to work properly on an English version of Windows XP before starting to work on the MacOS.
Last August we noted the partnership between payment terminal supplier Blue Bamboo and payment provider Kpay/Kuaipay to establish a payment network for Beijing's popular Yikatong contactless transit card (also sometimes called "SuperPass").
Uptake of Yikatong cards in the last several years has been excellent; last September, the authority in charge of Yikatong, the Beijing Municipal Administration & Communications Card Co. Ltd. (BMAC), announced that over 13 million cards had been issued and approximately 15,000 new cards were being issued every single day. As penetration approaches 100% among Beijing's nearly 18 million residents, this growth pace will decline, but we do believe the number of Yikatong cards has already surpassed 15 million to date.
Whatever the exact number is, it's clear just how great the potential is for an Octopus-like network in Beijing. But so far in 2008, only three new merchant partners have been added--Weiduomei bakeries, Jia He Yi Pin Congee, and Jack Hut drink shops--bringing the total number to seventeen. And with new subway lines scheduled to open in time for this summer's Olympics, not to mention a long overdue pay-by-distance system for subway tickets, we expect it to be a while before the merchant network reaches a critical mass and Beijingers start using their Yikatong cards for food and other small purchases. Signing up a well known, heavyweight merchant partner or two--McDonald's, KFC, or supermarket chain Jingkelong, perhaps--wouldn't hurt, either.
We recently made a presentation about mobile payments in China at a forum hosted by our friends at TRP and KPMG. We'd like to offer a special thanks to Peter Lovelock and his team for organizing! A copy of our presentation is available below.
Please feel free to contact us for questions or comments.
The drop in fixed-line subscribers has slowed down somewhat since January 2008 and after a nosedive in December 2007. China Telecom reported a net loss of 1.02 million subscribers, down from 1.22 million last month. China Netcom reported a net loss of 450,000 subs, down from 765,000 in the previous month.
Kung Fu legend Jet Li has recently visited Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou for the 6th anniversary of Alibaba's instant messenger, Chengxintong. Jack Ma gave Jet Li a personal tour of the premises and speculation has risen for the visit's purpose.
Some sites such as www.20ju.com and www.qihoo.com are speculating that Jet Li may be talking about a partnership between his charity fund (the One Foundation ) and Alipay. Jet Li has already partnered with Tenpay, Tencent's payment subsidiary. Tenpay's users, however, are mostly young and fashionable teens who use Tencent's QQ services, while Alipay, in contrast, may bring in older users with higher expendable incomes who are more likely to donate, as some forums posters suggest.
However, these are still all rumors and speculations at this stage.
