Some Chinese tech companies see a surge in customers amid coronavirus outbreak
- Sinolinks predicted that Honor of Kings would reach between 120 million and 150 million daily active users during the holiday season
- In the six days to January 29, Tencent’s Trusted Doctors platform handled 1.21 million online consultations nationwide
The millions of Chinese in Wuhan and surrounding areas confined to their homes during the coronavirus outbreak have turned to the internet to alleviate boredom and do their work from home, boosting the fortunes of tech companies that offer services like mobile games, work conferencing and online health services.
While nobody knows how and when the health crisis will end, the business and tech landscape is likely to change by the time the crisis is over, creating a new set of winners and losers in China’s increasingly digitalised economy.
“Online gaming will likely be the biggest beneficiary of the coronavirus-triggered disruption,” Nomura analyst Jialong Shi said in a report, noting that most of China’s existing blockbuster gaming titles have seen a surge in play time and in-game purchases since January, which was further fuelled by the release of new titles.
Tencent’s Honor of Kings led the charts with daily active users surpassing 100 million over the Lunar New Year holiday, compared with the usual level of around 60 million to 70 million, according to Nomura.
“The momentum will likely continue as most Chinese colleges have postponed the start of the new school year to mid- or late-February,” Shi said. “College students are one of the top user groups for online and mobile games.”
Sinolinks Securities echoed the view, saying, “the gaming companies are the biggest beneficiaries of the coronavirus outbreak.” Its more bullish forecast predicted that Honor of Kings would reach between 120 million and 150 million daily active users during the holiday season, the highest ever.
