Social Media: The
Future of Media Internet: 1.3 billion
Insights From Asia’s
Most Advanced Markets
Benjamin Joffe, CEO | +8* | www.plus8star.com
AVCJ Forum| Hong Kong | November 2008
Mobile: 3.3 billion

Innovation Arbitrage
Telecom & Internet
China | Japan | South Korea

Overview

Internet Mobile
1.3 billion 3.3 billion
Source: Morgan Stanley, 2007

100%
80%
USA
60%
3G users
40%
Chin Japa
20% a n
0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
% of Internet connections measured above 5Mbps
(Source: Akamai, 1Q08)

#2 economy, #1 mobile society
#1 mobile & Internet population
#1 digital society

General assumption #1
Everything from USA is great

General assumption #2
Everything from Asia is weird
(and sometimes funny)

Quick Facts

Koreans (already) spend more time
on the Internet than watching TV

In China & Korea, Music (already)
sells more “online” than “offline”
In Japan, 90% is sold via mobile
(and is a billion USD business)

UGC Media Site Breaking Even?

Profitable Video Sharing Site?

Online/Offline mass media?

BJ = Broadcasting Jockey
“Broadizen”
(Broadcast + Netizen)

Don’t forget to turn off your webcam…

Mobile TV
penetration in
Japan and Korea
is over 30%
(already)

Japan’s m-commerce
=
2x mobile content
=
10x mobile advertising
=
China’s e-commerce

One full bookshelf
for mobile novels
at Kinokuniya,
Japan’s largest
bookstore chain!

Best-seller “Koi Zora” sold over
2 million volumes (10 USD / book)

Social Networks

Quick survey

Investment?

“Social Networking
Is Not a Business”
MIT Technology Review
July/August 2008

SNS on the stock market?

Market-listed SNS
2006.12 2004.06 2006.09 2005.02
76 mln EUR 100 bln HKD 87 bln JPY 104 bln JPY
100 mln USD 13 bln USD 890 mln USD 1.1 bln EUR

Market-listed SNS
100 mln USD 13 bln USD 890 mln USD 1.1 bln USD

Internet users
60 mln 500 mln 20 mln 14 mln n.a.
200 mln 220 mln 35 mln 90 mln 90 mln

Mobile users
3 mln 50 mln 6 mln 10 mln 10 mln
255 mln 580 mln 45 mln 100 mln 100 mln

Revenues 2007 (USD)
150 mln 520 mln ~200 mln 100 mln 150 mln

Profit 2007 (USD)
(50 mln) 225 mln ~100 mln 35 mln ~60 mln

Main business models
Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads
Brand pages Brand pages Brand pages Brand pages Brand pages
Digital goods Digital goods Digital goods Freemium Digital goods
Paid Games Music
Mobile VAS Mobile VAS Mobile VAS
Jobs Affiliates
Source: +8* | www.plus8star.com

Build communities
with matching games
Attract user
with free games
Chat Avatars
BBS Journal Clubs
Get new users with
Word-of-mouth

Average Revenue From Users
~0% 87% 80% 5% 50%

Estimates for this year
• QQ makes 1 billion USD with its IM-based SNS
– 500 million USD profit?
• Mobile Game Town sales top 200 million USD
– 100 million USD profit?
• And…

About +8*

There are more ideas
outside your country
than inside
Tom Kelley
CEO, IDEO
The 10 faces of Innovation

“Innovation Arbitrage”
• About us
– +8* | Plus Eight Star is the leading Telecom & Internet cross-market and cross-cultural
consultancy in Asia.
– We provide local expertise & global perspective on mobile and Internet innovation from
China, Japan and South Korea to add value to and accelerate the development of our
clients’ businesses.
• Our services
– Analysis of proven best practices and business models from Asia
– Other services: executive study trips, market entry strategy, M&A advisory, partners
identification, negotiation support.
• Founder & CEO: Benjamin Joffe
– 9 years experience with mobile & Internet in Asia
– Selected among “China’s Top 100 mobile industry influencers” in 2007
– Regular speaker at events on mobile and Internet in Asia
– Fluent in English, Japanese, French with working knowledge of Mandarin, Korean and
Spanish

Selected References
• Adidas | E-commerce strategy for China, Japan & Korea
• Bouygues Telecom | Cases studies of leading Asian Web 2.0 services
and virtual worlds
• Deutsche Telekom / T-Online | Benchmark of Korean mobile & Internet
convergence strategies
• Hemisphere | Analysis of mobile marketing best practices in Japan and
South Korea (Hemisphere is a leading digital advertising agency),
analysis of leading social platforms (SNS, virtual worlds, online games).
• Microsoft | Analysis of Japan’s key players and market catalysts for
mobile commerce market positioning in China
• DeNA | Case studies of the best practices of leading social networks in
China and South Korea (DeNA operates Mobile Game Town, Japan’s
leading mobile SNS service)
• China Mobile | Benchmark of Korean leading online communities
• Sands Capital Management | Evaluation of China’s investment
opportunities in social networks in China

Social Work
• Mobile Monday
– Founder of the Mobile Monday forum in Beijing since 2006 (3,000+
members, 23 events, over 80 presentations).
• Media
– Monthly column on Asian innovation for Asian Business Leaders (one of
the leading Chinese business magazines), numerous interviews in
international media.
• Events
– Regular keynote speaker and moderator at Internet, Telecom, Media and
Investment events
e.g. ITU Asia, Asia Venture Capital Forum, Ad-Tech, China Mobility International
Summit, O’Reilly’s Graphing Social Patterns, Red Herring Asia, Media 08
Conference, Wireless Developer Forum, Open Web Asia, XMediaLab, Mobile
Monday Global Summit, etc.)

Contact Us
www.plus8star.com
benjamin@plus8star.com
benjamin0123 +81 | Japan
+82 | Korea
http://twitter.com/plus8star +86 | China
Telecom & Internet
www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjoffe + Added Value
* High quality
www.slideshare.net/plus8star