Alibaba and Wasu Officially Announce JV
eNET, 6/29/10
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group and Hangzhou-based DTV and IPTV network operator Wasu Digital Television Media Group have officially announced plans to combine resources from Alibaba's B2C and C2C e-commerce subsidiary Taobao and Wasu's "Zhejiang Wasu Media Network Company" to establish "Wasu Taobao Digital Technology Co., Ltd."
Wasu Taobao will initially span two major platforms: a TV-based Taobao Mall and an online "Taohua Net."
The "Taohua Net" platform will cover every major type of digital product, including videos, music, e-books, online literature, educational materials, software and mini-games, and will be hosted on a new channel on Taobao's front page in addition to its own independent website. Both the new "Taohua Net" channel and site will use the same transaction and payment models and workflows as Taobao's existing platform, while the new Wasu Taobao joint venture will be responsible for operation.
Lu Liang, general manager of Wasu Taobao, said that video will be the first major product to appear on "Taohua Net," including over 4,000 movies, 20,000 TV drama episodes, and thousands of other general-interest programs. Video will be provided by more than 10 content partners including online video sites Joy.cn, Youku, and Ku6. "Later, other digital products will successively be brought online, including documents, education, and music," said Lu. "Ninety percent of these products will be made available for free use, while the rest will be made available for purchase."
Editor's Note: Alibaba and Wasu will jointly invest RMB 100 mln to establish the new joint venture. For more background on formation of the JV and "TV Taobao," please see "Alibaba, Wasu to Launch Taobao TV by May," MD 3/22/10 issue.
Keywords: Wasu Taobao Taohua Lu Liang online music e-commerce Taobao Internet online video online literature Alibaba JV Wasu online education television e-book
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