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Tencent’s Set For Fastest Growth Since 2018 After Virus Outbreak

By Bloomberg / Mar 16, 2020 11:12 AM / Business & Tech

Photo: Bloomberg

Photo: Bloomberg

Tencent picked up millions of new gamers during the global coronavirus outbreak -- yet that surge in mobile play may be slowing as the world’s No. 2 economy goes back to work.

The quest for entertainment among millions confined to home translated into a big boost for Tencent’s marquee games, Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite. That helped the company gain $25 billion of market value up to March 5, before a global market rout torpedoed the stock along with the rest of the market. WeChat operator Tencent is now expected to report its fastest pace of revenue growth since 2018 when it unveils quarterly results on Wednesday, and investors will look to executives for reassurances it can sustain that pace of topline expansion.

But the March quarter outlook may be less clear-cut than anticipated. While the bread-and-butter Peacekeeper Elite showed strong growth in revenue for February, sales from other major games dwindled sequentially and overall revenue actually fell, according to Sensor Tower data. Tencent’s social and video ad businesses are also expected to take a hit this quarter when merchants and brands tighten their budgets. And any blow to China’s economy will of course pummel the consumer and marketing spending Tencent relies on.

In the longer term, the bigger problem may be ByteDance Inc. The world’s largest startup has been luring users and advertisers away to its addictive apps like news aggregator Toutiao and video platform Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese twin. Now, ByteDance is trying to diversify its revenue stream into arenas such as paid music services and full-fledged video games, posing potential threats to Tencent’s online content empire.

“With Bytedance’s combined user base approaching Tencent’s, media buyers aren’t just keen to hear what new apps or functions Tencent has in the pipeline, but how it’s making digital ad spend go further,” said Michael Norris, research and strategy manager with consultancy AgencyChina.

Related: Tencent Gets Green Light to Publish Two Nintendo Switch Games in China


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