Growth in usage of mobile internet devices
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) witnessed an increase in total unique mobile visitors to 300 million in the first quarter of 2013, which was 200 million in December 2012. The rise in mobile visitors was due to the revamp of ”Yahoo! Mail” and ”Flickr” on mobile devices. This revamp includes a new look for the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Mail homepage, which made it 25% more interactive to users, and one terabyte data storage capacity for Flickr users.
The mobile platform is one of the main drivers of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s revenue because the number of mobile internet users around the world is increasing drastically. The weather, email, and finance applications, which are mostly powered by Yahoo! for iPhones and iPads were also a crucial factor for the increasing number of Yahoo! users. With this, the company is expecting to attain a considerable portion of the global mobile advertising market, which is expected to be $26.6 billion by 2016, according to the research by eMarketers.
China’s Alibaba Group, in which Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) holds 24% stake, posted a profit of $642 million, which was $236 million in the last quarter of 2012. Alibaba is a Chinese e-commerce giant that operates websites like Alibaba.com, Taobao, and Tmall. It claims that two sites, Taobao and Tmall, crossed the $160 billion mark in terms of total transaction of products sold online in 2012. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is expecting a fair amount of profit from Alibaba as the market for online retail sales in China is expected to be $328 billion by the end of 2014.
Conclusion
Youku Tudou Inc (ADR) (NYSE:YOKU) has an excellent opportunity to grow, looking at the huge upsurge in mobile video views and the agreement with TVB. The company is likely to increase its customer base with context to the rise in the number of mobile internet users.
The Pinyin product is expected be a big hit for Sohu.com Inc (NASDAQ:SOHU), especially with its new upgrade. Customers will prefer the product over its competitors, which will result in an increase in the user base and revenue for the company.
With the increase in people using mobile devices, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has a good opportunity to make profit. Returns from the investment in Alibaba is also expected to increase because of the boom in the China’s online retail market.
Looking at the prospects of these companies, I see an uptrend in their performance, which will benefit them and investors going forward.
The article A Few Ways to Make Money From Chinese Internet originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Madhu Dube.
Madhu Dube has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Sohu.com. Madhu is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
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