Companies in the GBA｜Navigating turbulent waters, how has Tencent kept its feet?

2023-09-26 10:29:00 - 21世纪经济报道

南方财经全媒体见习记者杨雨莱广州报道

TheriseofShenzhen,China'stechhub,stemsfromadowntownneighborhoodcalled“HuaQiangBei”.HometoAsia’slargestelectronicsmarket,HuaQiangBeihasnotonlyrealizedcountlesscommercialmiraclesbutalsowitnessedthebirthandgrowthofmanytechfirms.

Turningtheclockbackto1998,inHuaQiangBei'sSegSciencePark,Tencentwasborninasmalloffice.Atthetime,noonecouldhavepredictedthatastartupwithonlyfivepeoplewouldhavesetoutfromHuaQiangBeiandbecomeaninternationaltechbehemothtoday.

SinceitsHongKongIPOin2004,Tencenthasbroughtsubstantialreturnstoinvestors,asitsmarketvalueskyrocketedfromamodestHKD7billiontoastaggeringHKD3.1trillion,ballooningover400times.Yet,thepathforwardwasfarfromsmoothsailing.Theendoftheeraoftheinternetindustrygrowingwildly,togetherwiththesuspensionofgaminglicenses,havetakenTencentonthehip.Butitssoundfinancialresultsinrecentyearsseemtopointtothefactthatthe25-year-oldTencentisnavigatingsteadilyintumultuouswaters.

IfTencentisatree,thentheinstantmessagingbusinessisitsunshakableroot.AsofJune30,Tencent’sWeChathad1.33billionmonthlyactiveusers,whichisvirtuallytheentireChinesepopulation.TencentisliterallyunrivaledininstantmessaginginChina.

Tencent's2023Q2financialreportshowedthatItscorebusinessesincludingdigitaleconomy,gaming,andonlineadvertising,aremuchlikestrongbranches,extendinginalldirections.StrategicpositioningishowTencentremainsaspowerfulasever.Holdingontothetwinkeystosuccess-Internettrafficandcapital,Tencentisalmostaninvestmentcompany.Today,Tencent'sinvestmentportfoliospansacrossgaming,entertainment,enterpriseservices,finance,andothersectors.ThesuccessofMeituan,Pinduoduo,Bilibili,andKuaishouisbackedbyTencent.

In2022,Tencentcontinuedtoinvestintechnologicalinnovationandempowertherealeconomy.Itsinvestmentsinadvancedmanufacturingsurgedto15%,underscoringTencent'scommitmenttobepartofthecountry'sindustrialupgradeinmanufacturing.Whilesteadilybolsteringitsinternationalpresence,Tencentholdstechnologicalprowessasitssolidcore.

Overthepastfiveyears,TencenthasspentoverCNY220billiononR&D.Asoftheendof2022,Tencent'sR&Dpersonnelaccountedfor74%ofitsworkforce.ThisimpliesthatoutofeveryfourTencentemployees,threeareengagedinR&Dwork.TherobustandcontinuedinvestmentinR&Dbearsfruitfulresults.AsofDecember2022,Tencenthadover62,000publiclydisclosedpatentapplicationsinmajorcountriesandregionsintheworld,withthenumberofpatentsgrantedsurpassing30,000,rankingonlysecondtoGoogleamongallglobalinternetfirms.

Tencent'sforaysintotherealmoftechnologyhavealsoyieldedsignificantprogress.Inthefieldofaudioandvideo,Tencent'sCodecssweptall15worldchampionshipsintheMSUWorldContest.InSeptember2023,Tencent'sindependentlydevelopedlargelanguagemodel"Hunyuan"officiallydebutedforenterpriseuse.

Tencent'sdevelopmentfromanobscurestartuptothetechgiantitistoday,reliesonasturdyfoundationcombinedwithceaselessinnovation,whichmightjustbethekeytakeawaysofitssuccessstory.

出品：南财国际传播中心21新媒体中心创意互动中心

策划统筹：于晓娜丁青云

内容统筹：谭婷叶映橙

责任编辑：吴桂兴

执行统筹：黄欣然

设计统筹：林军明

视频统筹：白宇航

监制：施诗

英文翻译&配音：李莹亮

海外运营监制:黄燕淑

海外运营内容统筹:张然

运营支持：曾静娇