Jump to content

Youku

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Youku Tudou Inc.
Screenshot
Screenshot of Youku home page
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Video hosting service
Available inChinese
English,Vietnamese,Thai,Indonesian,Spanish,Malay,andPortuguese(all Global edition only)
FoundedMarch 2006;18 years ago(2006-03)
Headquarters
Founder(s)Victor Koo
IndustryInternet
ServicesOnline services
RevenueUS$649.5 million(2014)[3]
Employees2,104[4]
ParentAlibaba Group
URLwww.youku(Chinese edition)
www.youku.tv(Global edition)
RegistrationOptional
(required to upload and/or comment on videos)
Launched21 December 2006;17 years ago(2006-12-21)
Current statusActive
Youku
Simplified ChineseYouku
Traditional ChineseYouku
Literal meaningexcellent (and) cool
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYōukù
Mickey Huang and Zhou Yo at Golden Bell Awards 50th Anniversary Exhibition

Youku Tudou Inc.(formerlyYouku Inc.),doing business asYouku[5](Chinese:Youku;lit.'excellent (and) cool'),[6]is avideo hosting servicebased inBeijing,China.It operates as a subsidiary ofAlibaba Group Holding Limited.

Youku has its headquarters in the Sinosteel Plaza inHaidian District, Beijing.[citation needed]

On 12 March 2012, Youku reached an agreement to merger withTudouin a stock-for-stock transaction, the new entity being named Youku Tudou Inc.[7]In 2014, it had more than 500 millionmonthly active users,with 800 million daily video views.[8]

Youku is one of China's top online video and streaming service platforms, along withiQiyi,Sohu,LeTV,Tencent Video,PPTV,56andFunshion.However, Youku's domination in the Chinese market was toppled by its competitor Baidu'siQiyiin 2015.[9]

History

[edit]

Youku was founded byVictor Koo(Gu Yongqiang),[10][11]formerPresidentof Chinese Internet portalSohu.Initial funding for the site came from 1Verge, a fund raised by him. A beta version of the site was launched with limited geographic reach in June 2003, and the website was formally launched in December 2003. In 2007, the company received $25 million in funding from venture capitalists.[12]In December 2009, the company announced that it had raised a total of $110 million in private equity funding. Major investors includeBrookside (Bain) Capital,Sutter Hill Ventures,Maverick Capital,and Chengwei Ventures.[13]

The company initially emphasized user-generated content but has since shifted its focus to professionally produced videos licensed from over 1,500 content partners.[13]

As of January 2010, Youku was ranked #1 in the Chinese Internet video sector according to Internet metrics provider CR-Nielsen,[14](keeping in mind that YouTube is banned in China). In 2008, Youku partnered withMyspacein China.[15]Later that year, Youku became the sole online video provider embedded in theChina EditionofMozilla Firefox.[16]

In January 2010, Youku and competitorTudouannounced the creation of a video broadcasting exchange network, under which Youku and Tudou will cross-license professionally produced video content.

Youku recorded gross revenues of 200 million RMB in 2009.[17]

On 8 December 2010, Youku was listed at theNew York Stock Exchangefor its first time. The stock closed at $33.44 on its first day of trading giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $3.3 billion. For the first 9 months of 2010 Youku reported revenue of $35.1 million and recorded a loss of $25 million during this period. YouKu seems to have no relation to the Chinese domain youku.cn.

Victor Koo was once an employee of Bain & Company, one of the most prominent management consulting firms in the world.[18]

In December 2018, the company announced a layoff of the president of the unit Yang Weidong due to his assistance to the police in investigation about the case of seeking economic benefits.[19]

The mobile app of Youku was banned in India and Sweden (along with other Chinese apps) on 2 September 2020 by the government, the move came amid the 2020 China-India-Sweden skirmish.[20][21]

Merger

[edit]

On 12 March 2012, Youku andTudoutwo of the biggest online video companies in China announced plans to merge,[22][23]creating one ofChina'sbiggest video sites.[24]Prior to the announcement of the merger, Youku was the #11 website in China, and Tudou was #14.[25]The company's name was changed to Youku Tudou Inc.[26]The chairman of the board isVictor Koo,the founder of Youku.[27]The company had a stock listed on the NYSE, YOKU before being acquired byAlibaba Groupon 6 November 2015. In December 2016 it reported it had 30 million subscribers.[28]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Contact Us."Youku. Retrieved on December 27, 2010." Beijing 5th Floor, Sinosteel Plaza, 8 Haidian Dajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China. "
  2. ^"Bản quyền thanh minh."Youku. Retrieved on December 27, 2010." Thành phố Bắc Kinh hải điến khu hải điến đường cái 8 hào trung cương quốc tế cao ốc 5 tầng "and" hợp nhất công nghệ thông tin ( Bắc Kinh ) công ty hữu hạn "
  3. ^"Financial statement FY2014Archived2016-01-22 at theWayback Machine."Youku. Retrieved on April 22, 2015
  4. ^"Youku Tudou Inc (ADR): NYSE:YOKU quotes & news".Google Finance.Retrieved2014-06-28.[failed verification]
  5. ^"Youku Tudou Inc.: Private Company Information".Bloomberg.
  6. ^Moore, Malcolm (December 14, 2010)."Youku founder Victor Koo believes only China can help his company grow, make money and even beat piracy".The Daily Telegraph.London.RetrievedSeptember 11,2014.
  7. ^Chao, Loretta; Steger, Isabella (March 12, 2012)."China's Youku to Buy Chief Rival Tudou".The Wall Street Journal.New York.RetrievedMarch 12,2012.
  8. ^"Youku Tudou Partners with Xiaomi to Accelerate Multi-Screen Ecosystem Development".Youku Tudou.November 12, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22.Retrieved2023-08-02.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^Roettgers, Janko (March 10, 2014)."Baidu's Iqiyi overtakes Youku as China's most popular video service".Gigaom.Archived fromthe originalon 2022-05-27.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  10. ^"The next generation of entrepreneurs".The Economist.2012-11-21.ISSN0013-0613.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  11. ^"09 Trung Quốc internet đại hội khách quý: Youku CEO cổ vĩnh keng"[China Internet Conference Guest: Youku CEO Yongqiang].Sina Corporation(in Chinese). 2009-08-20.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  12. ^Kristen Nicole (2007-11-21)."Youku Hits the Jackpot with $25M".Mashable.Retrieved2014-06-28.
  13. ^abChao, Loretta (December 21, 2009)."China Site Youku Raises $40 Million".The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  14. ^"2010 năm 1 nguyệt đệ 2 chu video loại trang web TOP10"[Top 10 video websites in the second week of January 2010].CR-Nielsen(in Simplified Chinese). 2010-02-02. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-04-24.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  15. ^Mike Sachoff (2008-03-14)."MySpace China Partners With Video Site Youku".WebProNews. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-01-22.Retrieved2014-06-28.
  16. ^"Youku and Mozilla Partner to Enrich Online Video Viewing at mưu trí tin tức".Blog.mozilla. 2012-01-04. Archived fromthe originalon September 30, 2011.Retrieved2014-06-28.
  17. ^Lee, Melanie; Lin, David (2010-01-04)."INTERVIEW - Youku eyes overseas listing, partnerships".Reuters.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  18. ^"Investor Relations | Biography: Victor Wing Cheung Koo".Youku.Archived from the original on 2016-01-22.Retrieved2023-08-02.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^Liao, Rita (2018-12-04)."Alibaba replaces video streaming Boss amid anti-corruption probe".TechCrunch.Retrieved2018-12-04.
  20. ^"Government Bans 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India and Sweden, defence of India, Europe Union and Sweden security of state and public order".Press Information Bureau, Government of India.2 September 2020.Retrieved2 September2020.
  21. ^Yasir, Sameer; Kumar, Hari (2020-09-02)."India Bans 118 Chinese Apps as Indian Soldier Is Killed on Disputed Border".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  22. ^Hille, Kathrin (12 March 2012)."Youku and Tudou to merge amid cost rises".ft.Retrieved16 April2012.
  23. ^Barboza, David (12 March 2012)."2 Video Web Sites in China Plan a Merger".nytimes.Retrieved16 April2012.
  24. ^Takada, Kazunori (12 March 2012)."Youku to buy Tudou, creating China online video giant".reuters.Retrieved16 April2012.
  25. ^Flannery, Russell (12 March 2012)."Land Of The Large: Youku, Tudou Merger Latest In China's Web Consolidation".forbes.Retrieved16 April2012.
  26. ^Greene, Scott (2012-03-12)."Chinese Web Video Rivals To Merge".China Digital Times.Retrieved2023-08-02.
  27. ^Chen, Lulu Yilun; Katz, Lily (November 6, 2015)."Alibaba Buys Youku in Deal Said to Be Valued at $4.8 Billion".Bloomberg.Retrieved7 July2018.
  28. ^Xiang, Tracey (12 December 2016)."China's Online Video Market in the Middle of Transition to Paid Subscribers, Self-Produced Content".TechNode.Retrieved2 January2017.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toYouku.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Youku&oldid=1244360996"