Following its recent entry into the instant messaging market, Chinese search engine giant Baidu.com is now secretly brewing plans to enter the computer games market.
According to Chinese media reports, Baidu will soon launch several types of computer games to be operated exclusively by its own departments. Baidu will make use of its own online platform and online game channel to run the games and may source games from other partners.
Baidu's entry into the games industry will bring a great change to the industry. Other Chinese Internet companies like Tencent and Alibaba have started game divisions probably because of the potential real income to be earned from the sector.
While companies like Sohu.com and Netease.com have struggled over the past couple of years to legally earn good income from wireless channels, their gaming channels have continued to do well. China's online games market was worth RMB12.8 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2007 and is expected to grow by more than 20 percent over the next few years, to reach RMB40.1 billion (US$5.7 billion) by 2011.
Net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 increased by 34 percent quarter-over-quarter and by 50 percent year-over-year to RMB423.7 million (US$60.5 million) for Chinese online gaming firm The9, while rival Shanda said net revenues increased 51.8 percent year-over-year for all of 2007.
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