|
Japan's hugely popular online social networking site Mixi said
Wednesday it planned to expand into China, whose growing number of
Internet users are already being courted by Rupert Murdoch's MySpace.
Mixi Inc., which has quickly developed into a
top social outlet for Japanese young people since its creation in
2004, said it would set up a subsidiary in Shanghai in April or May.
"We see China as a market that has huge
potential for the Internet, including in mobile wireless Internet
services," a Mixi statement said.
"In terms of the future growth of our
business, overseas expansion provides an important opportunity to
expand revenue," it said.
Mixi Shanghai Inc. will have initial capital of
2.7 million dollars and decide later on which services to launch in
China and when.
MySpace and rival Facebook in a short time have
become international phenomena linking millions of people around the
world.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought
MySpace in 2005 for 580 million dollars.
MySpace Inc. and other investors last year
launched MySpace China which seeks to tap into a rapid increase in
online activity in the country of 210 million Internet users.
A Japanese version of MySpace was also launched
in 2006 in a joint venture with Internet conglomerate Softbank Corp.
aimed at winning over some of Mixi's business in the Internet-savvy
country.
But Mixi has continued to grow. It says it
currently has 13.3 million members, up from 8.01 million a year ago.
Mixi's share price nearly doubled within a day
of being listed in September 2006.
-- AFP
|
