Behind the stranded listing: Singba and National Karaoke’s online karaoke are now alive and well | big wins online slots, big pot slot, buffalo chief jackpot

In May of this year, Changba finally completed nearly one and a half years of listing guidance work. There is news on the Internet that Changba will officially submit a prospectus to the China Securities Regulatory Commission in one month and embark on the journey to be listed on the A-share GEM. But as 2018 is coming to an end, there is still no news about the listing of Singba. In this regard, Chen Hua, the founder of Changba, said in an interview with the media that he did not want to talk more about the listing of Changba. The implication is that Changba may not seek to be listed in the near future. This sudden change left people puzzled. Why is Changba unwilling to go public after completing more than a year of long listing guidance period? What exactly is his "calculation"?

The listing of Changba was stranded, why?

Since Changba was launched in 2012, it has enjoyed great success. It had more than 100,000 registered users on the first day it was launched, and it topped the App Store rankings within 5 days. Analysys data shows that until the third quarter of 2016, Changba ranked first in the mobile karaoke field with a user penetration rate of 53.6%. At that time, Changba was at its peak, and choosing to go public was undoubtedly the right move. However, things are unpredictable. After a long coaching period of nearly one and a half years, the domestic online karaoke market has already changed. Changba has missed the best opportunity to go public.

First, National K-pop has stolen the limelight from Sing Bar. As we all know, National Karaoke is backed by Tencent, and it can be said that it was born with a "golden key". National Karaoke not only has two major traffic entrances, WeChat and QQ, but also shares rich music copyrights with QQ Music. It has natural advantages in terms of traffic and music copyrights, and is the strongest rival of Singba. It is understood that the number of active users of National Karaoke has been increasing rapidly since it was launched in 2014. In 2016, it successfully surpassed Singba and gradually widened the gap. According to Analysys, in the third quarter of 2018, there were 65.6 million active users of Changba, while the number of active users of National Karaoke was 207.05 million, three times that of Changba. Faced with the "conquering cities and territories" of national karaoke, Changba is obviously at a disadvantage. The catch-up of National K-Sing may have disrupted Changba’s listing plan.

Second, the rise of short video platforms has impacted the entire Internet entertainment market. In recent years, due to the rise of short video platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin, the entire Internet entertainment market has become more "crowded", and Changba's karaoke business and live broadcast business have all been affected to a certain extent. QuestMobile data shows that in July 2018, the number of monthly active users in the short video APP industry was 508 million, and the total usage time of the short video APP industry accounted for an astonishing 9.2% of the mobile Internet. You must know that even online videos only account for 9.5%. It can be seen that the short video APP industry has seized a large number of Internet users’ online time, and Changba cannot turn a blind eye. Coupled with the existence of national karaoke, it is not easy for Changba to consolidate its position, and it is currently difficult to have gorgeous data to support it., if it is listed at this time, the valuation of Changba may not be ideal.

Thirdly, the Internet stock market is turbulent. Recently, many domestic Internet companies that have been listed have not been "satisfied". Companies such as Xiaomi, Pinduoduo, and Meituan have all experienced sharp declines in market value. Even established Internet companies such as Tencent and Alibaba have not been able to avoid it. Affected by this, Changba may be wise to choose not to go public at this time.

On the one hand, under the unfavorable conditions of the domestic Internet stock market, Changba's listing at this time is undoubtedly sailing against the current, with the risk of "bleeding and breaking"; on the other hand, domestic Internet companies have applied for listing this year, forming a "listing wave", such as BabyTree, Inke, Xiaomi and Pinduoduo. So many companies have come together to go public, attracting a lot of capital injections, leading to a tightening of the capital market, which means that investors' money is getting tighter. This may make it difficult for Changba to obtain financing and obtain the ideal amount of financing.

Affected by these problems, it may be a good choice for Changba to temporarily shelve its listing plan and wait for a better time to go public. However, in addition to the above three reasons, some people in the industry speculate that the reason why Changba has to shelve its listing may be that it wants to abandon the A-share GEM and choose to list in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong stock market is booming, has Changba been shaken?

The speculation that Changba will be listed in Hong Kong is not unfounded. As early as 2015, Changba wanted to go public in the United States. However, due to the lack of products comparable to Changba in the United States, its valuation was too low, which made Changba worried. In comparison, the domestic A-share market was doing better at that time, and domestic capital was increasingly favoring Internet technology stocks. So after thinking again and again, Changba resolutely dismantled the VIE structure and chose to return to China to rush to the A-share market.

Today, with the reform of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's listing mechanism, it has accepted the listing of companies with different voting rights for the same shares for the first time, opening a door for Internet companies. Many star companies, including Xiaomi, Meituan-Dianping, Ping An Good Doctor and BabyTree, have chosen to list on the Hong Kong stock market. At this time, Changba may be facing a similar multiple-choice question as three years ago: A-shares or Hong Kong stocks?

It is understood that the requirements for listing A-shares are relatively strict. In addition to being profitable for three years before applying for an IPO, the same shares must have the same rights. The current Hong Kong stock market, in addition to supporting the listing of companies with different rights for the same shares, its regulatory agencies are also more independent, transparent and efficient. Companies can generally complete the listing process in 6 to 12 months, which can help companies better grasp the timing of listing.

In addition, A-shares implement a "T+1" trading system. Stocks purchased by investors cannot be sold on the same day, and there are price limits. Hong Kong stocks adopt a "T+0" trading system. During the trading period of the day, relevant institutions and investors can buy and sell freely. There are no restrictions on the number of transactions and the increase or decrease. This method can not only increase the market's trading volume, but also help investors stop losses in time. Therefore, comparing the two, the rules of the Hong Kong stock market seem to be more flexible and rational, which can help companies develop better.

Fundamentally speaking, companies going public are nothing more than hoping to achieve better and faster development with the help of capital. With the reform of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hong Kong stocks have become the first choice for many Internet companies to go public. Under these conditions, it is not impossible for Changba to choose to "follow the trend" and list on the Hong Kong stock market.

HoweverFrom the current point of view, under the influence of intensified market competition, stock market turbulence and other issues, it is not safe for Changba to go public at this time. Therefore, putting the listing plan on hold for the time being and continuing to practice "internal strength" is the best choice for Changba.

Recharge your batteries and accumulate strength

Currently, looking at the entire mobile karaoke market, it is already dominated by Changba and National Karaoke. Karaoke products such as Tianlai Karaoke, Kmi and Kugou Singing can hardly pose a threat to National Karaoke and National Karaoke. It can be seen that Changba still has a very obvious leading advantage in the field of mobile karaoke. As long as it can improve itself and strengthen functional innovation, it may be able to get rid of the competitive pressure brought by national karaoke, go further in the Internet entertainment market, and its road to listing will become smoother. In this regard, Singba can start from the following three aspects.

First of all, enrich the music library resources and improve the quality of music. Music copyright is an urgent need for the mobile karaoke industry. Without corresponding music copyright, users will not be able to get the ideal karaoke experience. For example, when users sing in karaoke, they will definitely choose their favorite music to record and sing. However, if users cannot find the songs they want to sing in the singing bar, they will have no choice but to use other karaoke software to record and sing, which will eventually lead to the loss of singing bar users. Therefore, if Changba wants to narrow the gap with National Karaoke, it needs to cooperate with relevant music copyright companies to enrich its music library resources. At the same time, Changba should continue to improve the quality of music such as accompaniment, recording and editing in the APP, and strive to provide users with a better karaoke experience, so as to retain and attract more users.

Secondly, strengthen online and offline integration to enrich users’ karaoke experience. Nowadays, Changba is vigorously deploying the offline market. It has not only spent tens of millions of yuan on strategic investment in Maisong KTV, and has achieved cooperation with Maisong KTV in social networking, services and other aspects, it has also vigorously deployed offline mobile mini KTV business and achieved good results. It is understood that Changba not only has more than 400 Maisong KTV stores across the country, but also has more than 20,000 mini karaoke booths in public places such as shopping malls, supermarkets and airports. However, although Changba has a very extensive offline presence, its offline resources have not yet been effectively integrated with online. Currently, Changba only provides common functions such as KTV private room reservations, online song requesting, and online song switching in the APP. There is still a lot of room for improvement.

In this regard, Changba can add interesting functions such as game song request, karaoke competition and karaoke challenge in the APP to strengthen the interaction between offline and online users. At the same time, it is best for the songs that users sing in Maisong KTV to be saved in Changba APP, so that users can publish and share the songs they sang in Maisong KTV in Changba APP. This not only satisfies users' desire to share, but also strengthens the integration of online and offline. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Finally, go overseas and compete for a larger mobile karaoke market. Nowadays, Changba has achieved good results in China, and its popularity and influence have reached a certain high point. Therefore, it is not easy for Changba to make another breakthrough. Under this circumstance, it may be an option for Changba to launch an impact on overseas markets. On the one hand, many overseas countries currently lack karaoke products like Changba, which is still a blue ocean. This presents good development opportunities for Changba; on the other hand, under the influence of national karaoke, Douyin, Kuaishou and other platforms, the domestic Internet entertainment market space has narrowed, and Changba will be greatly hindered if it wants to continue to develop in this environment.

In general, although listing will bring new development opportunities to Changba, in the face of intensified market competition and turbulent stock market,Affected by such problems, going public at this time will pose greater risks to Changba. Therefore, only if Changba continues to refine its operations, strengthen online and offline integration, and wait for the time to mature before listing, will it usher in better development.