China accounts for two of the six companies with the highest online media revenues and four of the 10 fastest-growing, according to the latest Digital Media Index from global research and advisory firm Strategy Analytics which analyses revenue trends across 44 public digital media companies.
Google tops the list with $31.4 billion in digital media revenues in the first half of 2014 (up 12% year-on-year), over three times that of nearest rival Amazon at $10.3bn (up 9% y-o-y). Facebook is third with $5.4bn (up 66%), narrowly ahead of Chinese internet service portal Tencent at $5.4bn (up 43%). Web services company Baidu ($3.4bn, up 56%) is the other Chinese firm in the world’s top six, behind Apple’s iTunes ($5.2bn).
Yahoo is the only one of the world’s top 10 to see digital media revenues decline year-on-year (down 3%).
E.g. Google’s online media revenues was $31.4 billion in first half of 2014
Qihoo and Twitter fastest growers
Between them, the 44 companies generated $85.9 billion in digital media revenues in the first half of 2014 – 17% more than the same period in 2013. Among the 44, Chinese internet security software firm Qihoo saw the largest year-on-year rise in revenues (up 123% to $582 million), just ahead of Twitter (up 122% to $562m). Facebook (up 66%) grew third fastest.
Alongside Baidu and Tencent, online media company Sina (up 36%) is the fourth Chinese company among the 10 fastest-growers. US companies Pandora, Blizzard Entertainment, Disney and LinkedIn complete the 10.
“A red-hot Chinese Internet market is challenging the historical dominance of US companies,” said Michael Goodman, Director, Digital Media for Strategy Analytics. “The fact that there are about 2.5x more Chinese than Americans online is a big factor so they’ve been able to hit such heights solely in a domestic market. The big question, and the key threat to US global dominance, is whether they can translate this success outside China.”
Advertising dominates media revenues
Among the 44 companies that publicly provide revenues by category, advertising accounts for 77% of digital media revenues, followed by online games (15%) and video (5%). Music and content delivery networks (the latter such as Akamai and Limelight who serve content on behalf of publishers) split the remaining 3%.
Games experienced the largest year-on-year revenue growth (up 26%) followed by advertising and video (both 24%) and content delivery networks (21%). Music experienced least growth at 9%.
E.g. Advertising revenues grew 24% year-on-year in the first half of 2014 to account for 77% of online media revenues
Revenue splits between the companies differ dramatically; 100% of Baidu’s and Microsoft’s Online Services revenue comes from advertising, compared to 91% for Facebook, 90% for Google, 80% for Yahoo and 60% for Yahoo Japan. In contrast, 100% of Netflix revenue is from online video while 90% of Tencent’s is from online games. Music streamer Pandora also relies heavily on advertising (accounting for over three-quarters (77%) of revenues) whilst user subscriptions, its original business model, accounts for just 23%.
“The Chinese companies have been particularly adept at generating revenues across a variety of services. The fastest mover, Qihoo, for example has done well in both advertising and Internet value-added services, driven by expansion into search and mobile. Ultimately, this increases revenue per customer, a vital component of sustained growth – Baidu, for instance, has upped ARPU 50% over the last year.” said Goodman.
Methodology
Strategy Analytics’ Digital Media Index aggregates and analyzes revenue growth trends across advertising, video, music, games, social media and content delivery networks from the quarterly financial filings of 44 digital media companies.