Boom Time for Apps Offering Answers for All.doc

1、1Boom Time for Apps Offering Answers for AllIt was only pocket change for the son of Chinas richest man， but Wang Sicong was pleased to rake in more than 268，000 yuan through an app that lets users pose questions to celebrities. Listeners heard Wangs confident voice reply to up to 32 questions inclu

2、ding， “Whats your relationship with your ex-girlfriend？” and “How can you tell whether your girlfriend really likes you， or only likes your money？” Each listener paid 1 yuan per 60-second answer through the Fenda app， one of a growing number of knowledge and pop information-focused， one- and two-way

3、 voice communication apps that in recent months have become hugely popu- lar in China. And they flocked to hear Wang， whose father Wang Jialin is a famous property and entertainment tycoon. Fenda， an app called Zaihang through which users speak personally with consultants with specialties in career

4、development， education and personal investment， and the Zhihu Live app that hosts seminars with topics ranging from flower arranging to data analysis are among the successful players in 2a growing family of communication apps. Chinas search giant Baidu is also in the game， having launched a consulta

5、nt ser-vice called Wenka in April. Some online market analysts have raised questions about whether this new market niche is sustainable， or simply a flash in the pan. Although Fenda attracted about 10 million users within two months of its May startup， according to the apps operator G， some analysts

6、 have criticized its business model for generating celebrity buzz without offering a long-term plan for future profits. Zhu Xiaohu， managing director of venture capital fund GSR Ventures Management Co. Ltd.， warned that Fenda could stumble if celebrity fans run out of questions. Wang， on the other h

7、and， is obviously upbeat about the growing niche. In addition to starring in one of the debut questionanswer sessions， Fenda officials recently announced Wang contributed an undisclosed amount toward a fundraiser for the app operator through his private equity fund Prometheus Capital. Beijing-based

8、Prometheus， the Hangzhou-based private equity fund Vision Plus Capital， the U.S.-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capitals China office， and the Beijingbased company that runs an online talk show called 3Luogic Show injected a combined US$ 25 million into Fenda. The fundraiser， which lasted from A

9、pril to May， and cash on hand increased Fendas value to more than US$ 100 million， said G founder Ji Xiaohua. Ji， who is also a writer known by the pen name Ji Shisan， said his company is now riding winds of change as Internet users who formerly refused to pay for online content have started buying

10、information through apps. The trend is spurring start-ups， with G among the leaders and many more to come. “There will be hundreds of thousands of mobile applications by the second half of this year” in this niche， Ji predicted. Home Start-up A team of app developers led by Ji built the Fenda platfo

11、rm over the course of 10 days while they huddled together in a rented courtyard home in Beijing. It was the latest creative experience for Ji， a science writer with a doctorate in neurobiology who launched the G website in 2010 to support a community of scientists， academics and students by offering

12、 publications and online learning programs. Celebrities and anyone with valuable information can solicit questions through the Fenda platform， and then demand 4as little as 1 yuan and up to 20，000 yuan for each 60-second， recorded-voice answer. Under Fendas rules， the person who answers a question a

13、nd the questioner each get 45 percent of the fees paid by listeners to that particular question-and-answer exchange. The app company pockets 10 percent. The app was an immediate hit， with 1 million registered users and 18 million questions asked within the first six weeks. Ji said Fendas popularity

14、exceeded his expectations. “I only realized that this was something big three days after its debut， ” he said. Ji attributed Fendas instant success to its lineup of celebrities such as Wang， “Crouching Tiger， Hidden Dragon”film star Zhang Ziyi， and businessman Jia Yueting， the CEO and founder of LeE

15、co， an online video company. At the same time， though， Ji said he recognizes celebrity dependence as a possible weakness. “Celebrities can make money in many ways， ” he said.“Why should they stick with Fenda？” Content Attraction In fact， other new conversation-oriented apps that offer 5users special

16、 information started appearing around the same time as Fenda， and are still cropping up. The website operator Z， for example， launched a product called Zhihu Live in May. Through Zhihu Live， anyone with a special skill or knowledge can make money by hosting live seminars online. Seminar-goers buy ti

17、ckets for between 10 yuan and hundreds of yuan and can ask ques-tions during the event. The seminar host selects questions and gives answer in the form of voice and/or text messages， sometimes with images. Z CEO Zhou Yuan said the service was a hit from the start. “It surprised us that tickets for s

18、eminars hosted by a lot of ordinary people ?C not celebrities ?C were sold out， ” he said. For now， a seminar host pockets all of the Zhihu Live user fees， since the app developers initial goal is to build customer loyalty. As of June 24， the company said， the app was sponsoring groups arranged by 9

19、4 seminar hosts. Some 34，000 people were participating in the groups， each spending an average of about 23 yuan. Zhous assessment of the emerging business niche is more cautious than Jis. Although he agrees that more people are showing a willingness to pay for online content， that number 6is still r

20、elatively small. Zhous company is not trying to attract users by putting celebrities on its platform. But he said Zhihu will eventually“accept various kinds of users and embrace different means of disseminating information.” “Only after we try everything， will we see what users really want， ” Zhou s

21、aid. Fendas critics say the apps main attraction is celebrity gossip. But Ji said the app is in fact designed to encourage learning as well as “individualized” services. The platforms parent G built a following by debunking the kinds of superstitious stories， rumors and phony news that used to appear on the Internet in China. Now Fenda is taking that commitment to truth to another level， Ji said， as anyone with special knowledge including intellectuals can build a fan base as well as make a little money. An intellectuals words “can generate more value when a person has fans， ” he said.