Chapter 412 Future
Chapter 412 Future
"I can sense your ambition, President An," Robert said after a long silence. "In your eyes, MSN and Myspace are not NGN's competitors. I mean, from a long-term perspective."
Needless to say, MSN is the strongest rival of NGN in the instant messaging software market. However, as mentioned before, as the owner of MSN, Microsoft seems to be somewhat slow in dealing with market issues. In the past few months, even in the face of the increasingly obvious challenges and threats from NGN, Microsoft has not made any major adjustments or improvements to the MSN software itself.
Insufficient product functions and poor user experience are two characteristics that are like inherent labels on MSN. Before the birth and launch of NGN, MSN might have been able to maintain its dominance, considering that there were too few similar software in the world and Internet users had a lack of choices.
However, with the rapid development of NGN, especially the increasing number of functions designed to enhance user experience, especially the emergence of "Photo Wall", the trend of NGN replacing MSN has become increasingly obvious. Today, the reason why MSN users are still as strong as before is that, on the one hand, NGN has only been around for a short time, and on the other hand, MSN users have formed a certain social circle on the software. It is not so realistic to expect them to abandon their social circle and quickly change software.
But it is foreseeable that if MSN does not make improvements, or even if it does, the effect of its improvements cannot keep up with the updates of NGN, then it is only a matter of time before it is eliminated from the market.
Today, the most obvious market feedback on the issue of MSN is that since the first quarter of this year, the growth of MSN's registered users has stagnated, while on the other hand, the growth of NGN's registered users has continued to surge.
The other software Robert mentioned, the so-called "Myspace", is a software similar to "Facebook" in the international market. It can even be said that the market share of "Myspace" far exceeds that of "Facebook", but the latter has been continuously challenging the former.
After NGN launched the "Photo Wall" function, a "big shot" with a good heart came up with a small application, which enabled the "Photo Wall" function of NGN to be introduced into the "Myspace" application. This small application was widely praised by "Myspace" users.
That is, after this small application appeared, the technical staff of NGN company once made a suggestion to An Rusong, suggesting that a new patch be inserted into the NGN software so that the "Photo Wall" function could no longer be introduced into the "Myspace" application.
The reason why the technical staff made such a suggestion is to encourage those users of "Myspace" who like the "Photo Wall" function to abandon "Myspace" and turn to NGN.
But at that time, An Rushong rejected the technicians' suggestions and retained the connection between this small application and the NGN "Photo Wall".
As a result, at the beginning of March, the operating company of "Myspace" issued an announcement and, at the same time, in the form of a patch, isolated the vulnerability of using the "Photo Wall" function link in the "Myspace" application.
As a result, this decision of "Myspace" aroused dissatisfaction among a large number of "Myspace" users and caused a big disturbance. Until today, this disturbance has not been completely settled.
"Mr. Robert, you are right. I really don't think MSN, Myspace, or Facebook can become NGN's rival in the field of instant messaging software." After going through the information about "Myspace" in his mind, An Rusong smiled confidently, "I have reason to believe that before October this year, that is, before NGN launches its B round of financing, NGN's registered users are expected to exceed Myspace. As for MSN, haha."
"President An is indeed very confident," Robert said with a smile, "However, I do have a little news to share with you. I wonder if President An's confidence will still be so strong after learning this news."
"Oh?" An Rushong raised his eyebrows and looked at the other person with some doubt in his eyes.
Robert did not directly tell the gossip. He reached into the cigar box on the coffee table and pinched out a cigar with two fingers. Then he said, "According to the information we have received, Microsoft is contacting the Estonians with the aim of acquiring the Skype project and integrating it with MSN."
At this point, he looked at the expression on An Rusong's face, trying to observe something from the subtle changes in his expression. Unfortunately, after hearing the news, An Rusong's expression did not change at all, as if he had known about it for a long time.
"Chairman An should know what the technical core of Skype is. Once Microsoft integrates it with MSN, will MSN, which has voice call function, pose a new challenge to NGN?" Robert continued.
At this time, Robert was really curious about what An Rusong was thinking, because he was sure that An Rusong could not have known this news in advance. The reality was that Skype's developers and operators had already rejected Microsoft's first round of offers. Compared to selling the entire software package to Microsoft, Skype's operators preferred to cooperate with Nokia and embed Skype into Nokia's application store.
An Rushong indeed didn't know that Microsoft was trying to acquire Skype, but he knew very well what Skype was and what the fate of this software was in his previous life.
Skype is a piece of software similar to YY. Well, that's not quite accurate. It is a tool for Internet calls, through which users can make free calls around the world. As a relatively alternative instant messaging software, Skype's functions are actually quite powerful, but powerful functions are different from rich functions. Users can't use it to make free Internet calls, and nothing else.
Therefore, from this point of view, although Skype has its own advantages when facing NGN, its disadvantages are also obvious.
The most important point is that Skype did not accurately grasp the pulse of the evolution of the times. It did not predict that the era of mobile terminals was about to come, nor did it accurately predict the situation in the era of smart phones. Therefore, when choosing partners, Skype abandoned Microsoft and did not seize the opportunity of Google's explosion. It did not even take a second look at Apple, but chose to cooperate with Nokia.
As a reborn person, An Rushong is very clear about where Nokia will go in the future. To put it bluntly, Nokia has made mistakes in choosing its main path, and Skype insists on being tied to Nokia, so its future seems to be clearly visible.
In An Rushong's previous life, the cooperation between Skype and Nokia eventually fell into the abyss with the rapid promotion of smartphones. Until 2010, it was forced to sell the entire software to Microsoft. Finally, Skype and MSN were integrated into one to become MSN.
Today, the real advantage that An Rushong holds is not NGN’s current market share, nor its booming momentum, but the layout that An Rushong had already started on the mobile side based on what he knew in his previous life.
At present, NGN's Apple mobile terminal has been launched and has considerable downloads and registered users. At the same time, the Android mobile terminal APP based on HTC G1 will also be fully launched as the HTC G1 mobile phone is launched into the market.
Compared with the NGN software on the PC, the NGN software on the mobile terminal is more powerful. It can even be said to be a brand new thing. If you have to make a comparison, the NGN on the mobile terminal is more like an early version of WeChat. To be frank, the NGN on the mobile terminal is a complete dimensionality reduction compared to today's MSN.
So why did An Rusong insist on pushing NGN's Series B round of financing in October? In addition to various reasons, there was one major factor, which was the launch of the HTC G1 mobile phone, which was scheduled for September this year.
An Rushong hopes to start promoting the company's Series B financing after the HTC G1 phone is launched on the market and the functions of the NGN Android mobile terminal are demonstrated in the market.
By that time, the sensitive financial market will be able to see the infinite possibilities of NGN's future from the new NGN Android mobile terminal, and accordingly, the valuation of NGN companies will be placed in a fairer position.
"Mr. Robert, tell me the truth, do you think the cooperation between Skype and Microsoft can really succeed?" After taking a puff of cigarette, An Rushong looked at Robert beside him and asked with a smile.
"Whether it will succeed depends on whether Microsoft can offer a price high enough to get Skype to take action," Robert said vaguely, instead of answering his question directly.
"That makes sense," An Rusong didn't mind. He nodded and said, "Then, Mr. Robert, what do you think of the cooperation between Skype and Nokia?"
Robert was stunned. He stared at An Rusong for a few seconds before saying, "Chairman An, you really surprise me. I'm curious, how did you get the news that Skype is in contact with Nokia? As far as I know, neither Skype nor Nokia has announced any news. On the contrary, in order to avoid attracting the attention of competitors, the two companies have remained absolutely silent on the issue of cooperation."
"There is a Chinese saying, 'There is no impenetrable wall in the world.'" An Rusong smiled and said, "Of course, this is not the key point. The key point is, do you think the cooperation between Skype and Nokia can be successful?"
"Is it impossible?" Robert said with a smile. "Skype currently has 1.7 million registered users, and Nokia has 3.3 million mobile phone customers. The cooperation between the two is undoubtedly a strong cooperation. I think the people who are not optimistic about them should be a minority, right?"
"It seems that I am in the minority," An Rusong smiled, flicked the ash from his cigarette, and said, "Because compared with Nokia's current platform, I am more optimistic about the smartphone platform supported by Apple and Android systems. Nokia has fallen behind."
(End of this chapter)