China Telecom and Netease have announced the upcoming release of Yixin, a new mobile messaging and social networking platform. The joint venture will be operated by Zhejiang Yixin Technology, with China Telecom as majority stakeholder.
The Yixin app will be available for iOS and Android devices, but users will also be able to send free text and voice messages to any mobile phone in China, with or without the application installed.
“Therefore Yixin has natural advantages over rivals in the first place, and can offer differentiated services,” said Yang Jie, China Telecom’s GM.
Operator OTT revenues have been strongly affected by the growing popularity of mobile messaging platforms like Tencent’s Weixin (WeChat), and the joint venture between China Telecom, a telecommunications operator and Netease, an Internet company, will be a first in the country.
NetEase CEO William Ding added in a statement, “Both users and the market need more choice. The younger generation in particular want trendy and personalised communication methods, and that is the opportunity for Yixin.”
China Telecom also said that its existing IM services will be rolled over to Yixin, and Netease will be integrating related messaging services into the new jointly owned platform as well.
According to Zhang Zheng, Zhejiang Yixin Technology’s newly appointed GM, the partners hope to acquire more than 100 million registered users and an active user base of over 50 million within the first six months of operation in China.
