Rumor: Kingsoft's iCiba to Shift to Community
Tencent Tech, 7/16/10
Chinese software developer Kingsoft (3888.HK) will reportedly transform its iCiba English-learning service into a bilingual Chinese-English online community, according to an anonymous senior executive. The executive said that current operations are in good shape, and Kingsoft will not sell the business to a third party.
According to the executive, iCiba has three primary revenue streams: software installation revenue, advertising revenue and value-added service (VAS) revenue. Advertising accounted for 50% of total revenues in 2009.
The executive added that there are currently approximately 47 mln installations of iCiba in total. The majority of users are white-collar professionals predominantly between 26 to 33 years old.
VAS revenues are mainly from iPhone and iPad client applications as well as vendor pre-installation. For example, iCiba's application costs USD 3.5 per download in Apple's App Store.
Sales of the 2010 edition of iCiba have been excellent, according to the source, up more than 50% compared to 2009. The executive did not disclose specific operational data, but said iCiba earned enough to support itself.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Rumor: Kingsoft Restructures iCiba Business" MD 7/15/10 issue.
Keywords: business model Kingsoft Internet revenue software online community iCiba 3888.HK
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