China’s Facebook-like social network Renren, which floated on Wall Street in May 2011, says over half of its users now access the service through smartphones.
Thirty-five percent of monthly users log in via mobile, CEO Joseph Chen said whilst announcing Q3 earnings. Now the company is preparing to follow up its recent acquisition of user-upload video site 56.com with further acquisitions.
The site which some think Renren imitates is also noticing the same pattern. Facebook’s mobile VP Vaughan Smith this week said: “More than twice as many people login to Facebook from mobiles than desktops, globally” (FT via Dawn). Smith thinks India, which is undergoing a mobile boom, will soon become Facebook’s biggest territory.
Renren’s Chen told Wall Street: “We have surpassed our full-year user growth target set in the beginning of this year, despite intensified competition in China’s social networking and social media sector.”
Net loss slimmed from $7.3 million a year ago to $1.2 million this time on 57.1 percent higher revenue of $34.2 million.