APTnovel Chapter 220 WeChat Offers Cooperation
Chapter 220 WeChat Offers Cooperation
"Feed?"
"Hello, Mr. Wang." A gentle male voice came from the other end of the phone, with professional politeness. "This is Chen Mo from WeChat's Strategic Cooperation Department. I apologize for bothering you, but I'd like to discuss a collaboration with you."
Wang Huabing was stunned for a moment.
WeChat?
That WeChat with 700 million monthly active users?
What is the purpose of his collaboration with me?
From a certain perspective, the two sides can even be considered competitors, but because of their different website models, the competition is not very intense.
"Hello, Mr. Chen." He suppressed his doubts and decided to sound him out first. "What kind of cooperation do you want?"
"It might be difficult to explain over the phone," Chen Mo said calmly. "I'm heading to Beijing on a business trip this afternoon. If it's convenient, how about we meet for dinner tonight?"
Wang Huabing glanced at the time; it was only 1 a.m.
"Convenient. Mr. Chen, please choose the location, and I'll be there anytime."
"Okay, then I'll book a table for 7 PM at 'Guanyun Pavilion' in the Guomao area and send it to you."
After hanging up the phone, Wang Huabing stared at his phone screen, his mind racing.
WeChat is seeking cooperation with me?
What are we cooperating on?
TUTU Game Center just launched today, and WeChat already came knocking on our door...
He suddenly remembered a phrase: "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits."
Does WeChat want to be the one who reaps the benefits?
...
7 PM, Guanyun Pavilion, Guomao.
When Wang Huabing arrived, Chen Mo was already waiting in the private room.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two sat down and ordered food. Only after the waiter left the private room did Chen Mo get down to business.
"Mr. Wang, you must know that TUTU Game Center launched today, right?"
Wang Huabing nodded without saying anything.
"Since that's the case, then I'll get straight to the point." Chen Mo put down his teacup. "WeChat wants to cooperate with Weibo to deal with TUTU."
Wang Huabing's eyelid twitched.
"Mr. Chen, if I may be so blunt, with 700 million WeChat users, why bother targeting a small platform with less than 20 million daily active users?"
Hearing Wang Huabing's words, Chen Mo smiled.
"Mr. Wang is a sensible person, so I won't hide anything from you." He paused, "WeChat does have 700 million users, but having many users doesn't mean everything is fine. In the past few months, TUTU has poached many of our young users by relying on interest groups and games."
"Although the total number is not large, this trend is dangerous. As you know, the biggest fear for social products is not user churn, but the loss of young people. Once the young people leave, the platform becomes old."
Wang Huabing nodded. He understood this principle.
Weibo is facing the same problem – its young users are being diverted by TUTU.
"Furthermore," Chen Mo continued, "you saw the game center that TUTU launched today. Thirty games, far exceeding the quality of Weibo's game center. This isn't just about stealing social media users; it's about stealing game users."
He paused, then his tone became serious: "Mr. Wang should know that the parent company behind WeChat started out making games."
Wang Huabing was stunned for a moment.
Tencent, the parent company behind WeChat.
The largest game company in China.
The kind that makes a fortune every day.
"You mean...?"
"What I mean is that TUTU's gaming business has already affected Tencent's interests," Chen Mo said. "Before, when they made 'Happy Farm,' Tencent didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a small game. But today, with the launch of these thirty games, Tencent has held an internal meeting to evaluate them—if this continues, TUTU will become a gaming platform."
"Mr. Wang should understand what a game platform that relies on social relationships means to Tencent."
Wang Huabing remained silent for a few seconds.
Of course he knew.
Tencent's core businesses are social networking and gaming.
WeChat handles social interaction, while Tencent Games handles monetization.
Now TUTU wants to do both social networking and gaming—it's trying to snatch meat from the tiger's mouth.
"So how does WeChat want to cooperate?" he asked.
Chen Mo took a document out of his briefcase and pushed it in front of Wang Huabing.
"This is our draft cooperation proposal."
Wang Huabing opened the document; the first page had several large characters written on it:
[WeChat & Weibo Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement]
He continued scrolling down.
Page 2, Cooperation Model: WeChat Game Center and Weibo Game Center will merge to form a joint venture, with WeChat holding 51% of the shares and Weibo holding 49%.
Page 3, Resource Support: WeChat nine-grid entry, Moments sharing permission, official account traffic redirection; Weibo splash screen, trending search position, celebrity resources.
Page 4, Content Sharing: WeChat will open up some game copyrights for Weibo Game Center to operate; Weibo will be responsible for introducing high-quality external games, and the two parties will share the revenue.
Page 5, Technical Cooperation: WeChat provides server resources and cloud computing support, while Weibo provides user data and user profile analysis.
Page 6...
Wang Huabing flipped through the documents page by page, his brows never relaxing. He looked up at Chen Mo.
"Mr. Chen, how long have you been preparing this plan?"
Chen Mo smiled and said, "To be honest, we started preparing from the day the TUTU Game Center project was launched."
Wang Huabing's heart sank.
In other words, WeChat had a keen sense of smell and regarded TUTU as its competitor from the very beginning.
WeChat did this premeditatedly, waiting for TUTU to make a move, waiting for Weibo to be hurt, and then taking advantage of the situation to tie the two companies together.
"Mr. Wang, I know what you're thinking." Chen Mo's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Weibo and WeChat have always been competitors. Now, suddenly wanting to cooperate, you must have some doubts. But please think about it: TUTU, starting from scratch, has skyrocketed to nearly 20 million in just a few months. What did they rely on?"
"They're relying on a combination of social media and gaming. They use games to attract users, communities to retain them, and pets to lock in customers. This combination is difficult for Weibo or WeChat to handle. If we go it alone, we might win, but we'll definitely pay a price. But what if we join forces?"
He paused, then emphasized:
"Weibo's celebrity resources + WeChat's user base + Tencent's game copyrights—with these three combined, what can TUTU possibly use to stop them?"
Wang Hua picked up his teacup and took a sip.
The tea has gone cold.
Chen Mo's words were not without reason; there are more than just those two large companies in the market now.
With the backing of Baidu, TUTU has become incredibly powerful, and no one dares to say they can easily take it down.
And judging from WeChat's attitude, they intend to go all out from the start.
When a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength.
While the success rate of cooperating with such a company is certainly high, you also need to be wary of them. If you're not careful, you could end up getting yourself into trouble.
"Mr. Chen, I need to get approval from headquarters for this plan."
"Of course." Chen Mo nodded. "I'll wait for your news. But Mr. Wang, time waits for no one. TUTU Game Center just launched today, and its daily active users have already exploded. If we delay any longer, and they establish themselves, even if we join forces, we won't be able to catch up."
Wang Huabing took a deep breath and stood up.
"I'll go back to headquarters tonight and ask for instructions. I'll give you an answer by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
"Okay." Chen Mo stood up and extended his hand. "President Wang, I look forward to us becoming teammates."
Wang Huabing grasped his hand.
"I'm looking forward to it too."
...