It is one of the world's largest internet and technology companies, and the first company in Asia to exceed the $500 billion (Dh1.84 trillion) valuation mark.
But unless you’re Chinese or a gamer, this company’s name might not be as well known to you as, say, Facebook or Amazon.
In its native China, Tencent is a household name responsible for an app that has become a part of daily life – it's called WeChat ("Weixin" in Mandarin).
“It’s the universal connector in China,” says Matthew Brennan, who is writing a book on the history of WeChat, and regularly gives presentations about the app. “It’s the pipework for information. Everyone uses it, and people open WeChat around 40 to 50 times a day.”
WeChat has more than a billion users and has features such as messaging, video conferencing, a social news feed, e-commerce, payment functions, smart city apps and transport booking, and much more.
Mr Brennan believes it's a common misconception – reported recently in the likes of The Guardian newspaper in the UK for example – that WeChat came to dominate in China because of state censorship of Western social media like Facebook and Instagram.
“If you look at Line in Japan, or Kakao in South Korea, or Zalo in Vietnam, it’s been strong local competitors in Asia that have won,” Mr Brennan says, referencing the dominant messaging apps used in different Asian countries.
“It’s winner takes all, and WeChat won [in China],” he says.
Tencent is the world’s fifth-largest tech company by market capitalisation, overtaking Facebook this year and sitting behind only Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon. It has flourished, mostly domestically, through the likes of WeChat, its app store and content provision with Tencent Video and Music, but in another important domain it has become a powerful player on a global scale.
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Read more:
Tencent surges 7% after Q1 profit tops estimates
Google leads technology giants topping world’s most valuable brands list, says WPP
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“Tencent is behind three of the biggest games companies,” says Eric Chou, a longtime games industry observer with a focus on China.
“Because of the games, they’re already a global company.”
Tencent’s profits more than doubled in 2017 to 21.6 billion yuan (Dh12.39bn). It reported 10.5bn yuan for the previous year. This exceeded analyst earning estimates with adjusted net profits of 20.8bn yuan in the last quarter to end December, a year-on-year increase of 98 per cent.
Tencent derives much of its revenue from gaming, which it dominates domestically with the vastly profitable Honor of Kings (also known as Arena of Valor), but also globally through companies it has invested in or acquired, such as Riot Games and Supercell.
And the profits are substantial. Finland's Supercell, maker of mobile game Clash of Clans, made a profit of $810 million (Dh2.97bn) in 2017, despite not releasing any new games globally.
Riot's League of Legends is another hugely popular and profitable game, and a major feature in the rapidly growing e-sports scene. Tencent has stakes in two of the biggest current phenomenons in gaming: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (developed by PUBG Corporation) and Fortnite (developed by Epic).
Tencent also has stakes in Activision Blizzard, whose stable includes Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush Saga. It acquired a 5 per cent stake in French games giant Ubisoft in March. In the $109bn global video game market, it is the world's largest games company, yet many people have never heard of it.
But gaming is not the only jewel in its crown (even if it is the biggest).
The aforementioned WeChat gives Tencent enormous leverage in China, the world’s largest internet market.
Bhavtosh Vajpayee, senior Asian internet research analyst at Sanford Bernstein, believes Tencent is perhaps one of the great consumer companies.
“It’s understanding of consumer preferences is nuanced and has repeatedly proven handy in the way it has approached business expansion – be it music, video, news, social, payments or gaming,” he says.
"The other thing unique about Tencent is that WeChat is fast becoming an operating system, to which all manner of service providers, brands and platforms want to bolt on their offerings."
The ubiquity of WeChat has allowed Tencent to gain a 40 per cent market share of China's $4.7 trillion mobile payment market, according to Beijing consultancy Analysys International. Tencent's rival in this market is the older Alipay, from China's other internet and tech giant, Alibaba, which has a larger share of 53 per cent. But analysts say Tencent's mobile payments have more potential for growth.
Tencent Music, which is far bigger than Spotify and Apple Music in China, is expected to make a US stock listing that could exceed $25bn later this year. Tencent owns 7.5 per cent of Spotify, while Spotify has a 9 per cent stake in Tencent Music in a swap deal from late 2017.
Tencent Video, which has over 62 million paying subscribers, is the country's equivalent to Netflix, with exclusive content such as Game of Thrones.
But the company has had setbacks.
Co-founder Ma Huateng, 46, also known as Pony Ma, lost out to Facebook in the purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. The acquisition of the messaging app could have made Tencent a global internet power, but Mark Zuckerberg swooped in with a gargantuan offer of $19bn, more than double what Mr Ma had offered.
Tencent has gone on to gain a wide portfolio, owning stakes in Tesla (5 per cent) and Snapchat (12 per cent).
It led a round of funding in April last year, along with Microsoft and eBay, for FlipKart, an e-commerce company in India, and has another interest in that country via Hike, a messaging service.
It has invested in Didi, China’s equivalent of Uber, and has stakes in JD.com, one of China’s biggest e-tailers.
The latter is a major competitor to Alibaba-backed Tmall.
Alibaba is China's biggest e-commerce company and was the second Asian company to reach a valuation of over $500bn.
It has started its own games division to compete with its major rival.
Another player in this sector is NetEase, a smaller company that is responsible for many popular mobile and PC games in China.
With the bulk of Tencent’s profits derived from gaming, can it sustain itself in China’s gaming market?
"We think mobile games probably has the largest growth potential among all content types, including drama, movie, music, etc," says Liu Zhijing, an analyst of China media and internet at UBS Securities.
“This is because of mobile games’ interactive features and deeper player engagement.”
Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners, a market research and consultancy company focused on Asia's games market, estimates that China's mobile gaming revenue will surpass PC online gaming revenue this year.
“Mobile gaming revenue will in fact double from 2017 to 2022,” she says. “Our forecast for mobile gaming revenue in 2022 is $24.7bn, and our forecast for PC online gaming revenue in 2022 is $17.4bn.”
She attributes this growth to the increase in smartphone users, declines in the price of mobile data, the widening range of mobile games to attract more diverse users and the rise of mobile e-sports.
Of Tencent’s future, Ms Hanson says: “They have more than 40 per cent market share in China for PC and mobile games, they are constantly investing in more platforms and genres, including serious games and educational games, and they have invested in at least 50 companies globally, ranging from small ownership to 100 per cent ownership.”
“The company will certainly sustain profitability in gaming, though I suspect there will be variance in the profit margin from year to year.”But in one way, Tencent still has a way to go: “Tencent is global in its investments, but its brand recall is not yet global in the way Google or Facebook is known, which is a shame. This will change over time, I am sure,” says Mr Vajpayee.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Results
UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets
Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey
7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Company%20Profile
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Results
2pm Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,800m
Winner AF Al Baher, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner Davy Lamp, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly.
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 1,400m
Winner Ode To Autumn, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner Arch Gold, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
4.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,800m
Winner Meqdam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
5pm Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner Native Appeal, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
5.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner Amani Pico, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
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