Short videos silver lining, says Pony Ma

Karen Ng

Tencent (0700) should focus on developing its short video-feed feature in WeChat as video game licenses will be in tight supply in the long run, said founder and chief executive Pony Ma Huateng.

Ma proposed the idea at an internal company meeting last Thursday. He also plans to launch a shake-up on almost every facet of business in his internet empire, mainland Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported.

Ma said the gaming division must focus on high-quality products and expand overseas amid tightened controls over the gaming industry.

WeChat's short video-feed feature is the "silver lining" for the whole company, said Ma, adding that he regarded it as the most eye-catching business this year.

The rise of short videos is inevitable and has had a tremendous impact on the gaming and e-commerce divisions, he said, adding that he hopes to optimize the feature to form a loop consisting of short video entertainment and e-commerce - similar to lead rival ByteDance's TikTok.

Ma stressed the importance of lowering costs and increasing efficiency, slammed the excessive advertising costs of divisions that have unsatisfactory returns and warned that underperforming businesses may be cut if they failed to reform.

"The internal corruption is really shocking," said Ma, adding that corruption even involves managers.