Social Networks, china, facebook, li ka-shing, masayoshi son, oak pacific interactive, softbank...

Chinese Facebook clone Xiaonei raises more funding than Facebook

Masayoshi Son is the kingmaker of the Asian Internet. His latest coronation: Xiaonei, a Chinese social network whose name translates to "on campus" and whose look and feel closely mirrors Facebook's. Son's Softbank and other investors have put $430 million into Xiaonei's parent, Oak Pacific Interactive, in a deal which values OPI at more than $1 billion. This has to worry executives at Facebook, which has raised less money — albeit while selling far less of the company to investors than Xiaonei has.

No, the problem for Facebook is the appearance of a well-funded competitor in a market Facebook has yet to crack. Entering the China market is a key reason why Facebook took money from Hong Kong telecom mogul Li Ka-Shing. (Ironically, Accel Partners, an early backer of Facebook, also invested in Oak Pacific.)

It would be foolish for Facebook to go out and raise more money simply to match Xiaonei's bankroll; equally foolish to entertain thoughts of buying the company at such a high valuation. No, Facebook's only reasonable choice here is to redouble its efforts to expand into the Chinese market. Engineers who speak Mandarin but have been rebuffed on previous attempts to get into Facebook might find its recruiters more hospitable now.

5:00 PM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Owen Thomas
1,026 views
12 comments

Comments

Michael Arrington at 07:12 PM on 04/30/08
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If you think this is bad news, you should see that Malaysian TechCrunch clone. I wake up in cold sweat.
Fake Jimbo Wales at 07:25 PM on 04/30/08
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@Michael Arrington: You pansies need to relax. I don't let the Russian knockoff of Wikipedia keep me up at night.
pab2k8 at 08:23 PM on 04/30/08
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You have got to be shitting me!!!
Sue that Chinese company for infringing on the design patent and take a nice chunk of that change Facebook!
pab2k8 at 08:23 PM on 04/30/08
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You think they would at least change the front page A LITTLE!!!! Damn that government!
pab2k8 at 08:26 PM on 04/30/08
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Wow and Baidu and Google really irked me!!! Oh and let's not forget Yahoo and AOL. LOL :)
Bornean at 08:32 PM on 04/30/08
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It also has the Chinese "internet police" man at the bottom.

[static.xiaonei.com]
Bornean at 08:35 PM on 04/30/08
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Translation for Xiaonei: [translate.google.com]

Personally, I think this stuff is -better- than facebook. I just need a way to translate it every page.

You can send in information to the Chinese police state here: [translate.google.com]

I don't know if it's a crime to harass Chinese in USA because well, LOL, we don't like them.
pab2k8 at 10:29 PM on 04/30/08
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@bornean: don't like who? also, it is not a crime to criticize China in the US. It is a crime to copy a website layout that is very similar or exactly like another website.

Also, copying the design shows little creativity and can fool the Chinese into thinking that facebook copied them and facebook is just the same as xiaonei. This would result in Chinese users not seeing any value in changing social sites.
WaggingValley at 06:28 AM on 05/01/08
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@pab2k8:
"It is a crime to copy a website layout that is very similar or exactly like another website."

No, it's not.
matto at 08:38 AM on 05/01/08
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Connectedness Index: 186
Brought to you by Acura TSX

@WaggingValley: on the other hand, the comments Boringean and pablum2k8 make should be.
happyfeet at 10:30 AM on 05/01/08
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Someone is going to get sick on all that lead paint used to color the site, no?
Fidel on the Roof at 07:02 PM on 05/01/08
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So what if it is a complete copy. Same crap as it brings the same utility (or lack thereof) to the user.

Not an original idea. Good for them!