【英语科技】腾讯还需小心行事

Wielding the heft of China's state-owned companies, but lacking the government's backing, China's Internet companies need to tread ever more carefully. Instant-messaging giant Tencent Holdings offers the latest illustration.

China's Internet sector has been a rare area of opportunity for privately owned, entrepreneurial companies like Tencent -- the world's third-largest Internet company by market capitalization -- and counterparts Baidu and Alibaba.com. But rapid growth in these companies also means they find themselves more dominant within their fields than many government-backed enterprises. That's exposing them to new legal and public-relations challenges concerning their often monopolistic positions.

Tencent, for example, is currently engaged in a very public scrap with antivirus software firm Qihoo 360. Qihoo recently alleged Tencent was scanning the private data of its users. In retaliation, Tencent has stopped providing instant-messaging services to users who have installed Qihoo 360's software.

The company holds a 76% share of China's instant messaging through its QQ product, and has developed many of China's leading online games. So whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, it's difficult for Tencent to escape accusations of bullying.

That means the company, which built its reputation on knowing how to provide the right services for a mass customer base, is inspiring resentment.

Earlier this year a prominent Chinese computer magazine carried a photo of Tencent's penguin mascot pierced by daggers. One Chinese newspaper this week accused Tencent of taking its customers for granted: Chinese Internet users, a fearsome herd when riled, have turned on both Tencent and Qihoo 360 in online petitions deploring their behavior. Microsoft's MSN Messenger, meanwhile, a competitor to QQ, has seen a spike in new users.

Investors haven't overreacted. Tencent's stock is down 4.5% in the past six days, but it's still up 30% from a year earlier. The company argues it needed to go public in its fight with Qihoo 360 to protect the security of its users, even though it knew the dispute would harm its image. Still, Tencent needs to be careful not to continue alienating its customers. Treading lightly is its best way forward.

Andrew Peaple

手中握有国有企业般的权力，背后却没有政府撑腰，中国的互联网企业今后得谨慎行事。即时通讯巨头腾讯控股有限公司(Tencent Holdings)就是最新的例证。

按市值计算，腾讯是世界上第三大互联网公司。中国互联网行业已经成为腾讯及其同行百度(Baidu)、阿里巴巴(Alibaba.com)等私有创业企业少有的机会乐园。但由于成长迅速，这些公司在所在领域也比很多政府支持企业强大，这就使它们面临着新的法律与公关挑战。

比如目前腾讯就在同杀毒软件公司奇虎360(Qihoo 360)掐架，而且是非常公开地掐架。奇虎最近说腾讯在扫描用户的隐私数据。作为报复，腾讯曾停止为安装了360软件的用户提供即时通讯服务。

腾讯通过QQ软件占据着中国即时通讯市场76%的份额，并开发了中国的很多热门网络游戏。所以不管谁对谁错，腾讯都难以摆脱以强凌弱的指责。

于是它引起了公愤。而这家公司正是因为知道怎样为广大客户提供合适服务而积累了自己的声誉。

今年前段时间，中国一家知名电脑杂志刊登了一张显示腾讯小企鹅身插匕首的图片。本周中国一家报纸指责腾讯无视用户利益。中国网民可不是好惹的，他们在网上请愿活动中对腾讯和360的行为都予以强烈谴责。同时，QQ的竞争对手微软(Microsoft) MSN Messenger获得了大量新用户。

投资者没有做出过度反应。腾讯股价过去六天下跌4.5%，但较上年同期仍有30%的涨幅。腾讯说，为了保护自己用户的安全，它只得与奇虎360公开搏斗，虽然它也知道这场争端将损害自己的形象。但腾讯也得注意不要继续疏远客户。小心地走，才是最好的前进方式。

Andrew Peaple

（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）