China Unicom, Dianping.com Establish Strategic Cooperation by Launching "Wo" Dianping

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Dec 12, 2011, 10:00 ET

SHANGHAI, Dec. 12, 2011 / PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China Unicom and Dianping.com jointly announced at the "Wo+Win the Future" - China Unicom Mobile Internet Application Industry Summit 2011 on December 8 that they have entered into a strategic partnership, and, at the same time, launched the "Wo" Dianping, Dianping.com's first application that was designed exclusively for China Unicom and contains the unique features of China Unicom's "Wo" Zone. The "Wo" Dianping will allow China Unicom and Dianping.com to take advantage of each other's platforms for the first time to achieve a win-win situation by combining their complementary capabilities, the two companies said. Going forward, they will also explore cooperation on mobile applications with more innovative experiences for users.

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The "Wo" Dianping makes all of Dianping.com's city life guide services available over mobile devices, including searching for merchant information, viewing reviews, downloading e-coupons, check-in via mobile phones and joining in group-buying programs, anytime, anywhere. In addition, the application incorporates the unique features of China Unicom's "Wo" Zone, including being able to quickly look up the details of China Unicom packages that a subscriber has subscribed to, applying for "Wo" packages, instantly logging onto China Unicom's online business hall, and visiting Dianping.com using a China Unicom account number. The "Wo" Dianping fully combines the advantages of mobile devices and the China Unicom platform, and is the first internet application that uses number identification, Take-a-Number on the Net and availability of service information in an open WO+ system.

China Unicom said the open WO+ system has a unique product integrating capability. The carrier plans to select mobile application strategic partners who can deliver innovative, special and premium user experiences, in order to jointly create an open mobile internet platform with positive results for everyone. Dianping.com's platform has unique advantages in terms of local reviews and city life information, and its mobile application has become one of the most popular providers of information services for day to day living. The "Wo" Dianping inherits the premier functionality of Dianping.com's mobile version, while adding China Unicom's unique advantages in the 3G sector. This will provide users with a superior mobile application experience.

Long Wei, director and senior vice president at Dianping.com, gave a keynote speech entitled "Making the Mobile Internet a Wonderful Experience" at the summit. "Dianping.com has been dedicated to providing consumers comprehensive information about merchants and e-coupons, while offering precision and integrated marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. After eight years in development, the site has evolved into a large platform connecting consumers with merchants. With the ever increasing importance of the mobile internet and with the number of unique users of Dianping.com's mobile application increasing exponentially, the advantages of the Dianping.com platform are brought into full play. This is a continuation of Dianping's earlier cooperation with China Unicom. As we enter the 3G era, China Unicom's unique advantage in the 3G sector augments the strategic value of the cooperation. The 'Wo' Dianping takes full advantage of both companies' platforms, to create a mobile application platform with more innovations, better quality and larger room for growth for both consumers and businesses."

Mobile Internet: Opening and Converging

With the increasing popularity of 3G and smartphones, mobile users are expected to soon exceed fixed line users in number, signaling the real dawn of the mobile internet era with operators facing new opportunities and challenges. China Unicom took the lead in proposing the open "Wo" system, in a move to proactively select superior partners open to innovation, and, by doing so, creating a more open mobile application platform integrating various capabilities.

The collaboration between China Unicom and Dianping.com meets China Unicom's 3G subscribers' huge demand for services that help their day to day living. Data shows that as of Q3 2011, with a footprint encompassing more than 2,300 cities across China, Dianping.com had more than 42 million active users, posting 20 million reviews on over 1.2 million member merchants monthly, covering a variety of topics including restaurants, shopping, entertainment, leisure activities, beauty salons, sports fitness, weddings and parenting.

China Unicom's capabilities in number identification, Take-a-Number on the Net, real-time delivery of service information and traffic management, combined with the advantages of Dianping.com's mobile application, will open the way to even more advanced mobile services such as contactless applications and two-dimensional code-based products.

Powerful Alliance Paves the Way for a Promising Future

Over the past two years, Dianping.com has achieved rapid growth in the mobile internet sector, with the increasing popularity of smartphones. Data shows that as of Q3 2011, the application had been downloaded and was being used on more than 13 million mobile devices, and that monthly page views via mobile devices made up over 60 percent of the Dianping.com's total. The number of page views via mobiles continues to grow and is soon expected to equal that via PCs.

At the summit, attendees were of the opinion that the launch of the "Wo" Dianping leaves a broad space for further cooperation between China Unicom and Dianping.com. Senior executives from the two companies said they look forward to an even deeper cooperation in the mobile internet sector going forward.

About Dianping.com

Shanghai, China-based Dianping.com, established in April 2003, is a leading online city life guide and one of the first online independent third-party consumer service rating sites worldwide, committed to providing restaurant, shopping, entertainment, leisure and day to day living services through its interactive platform. The site provides detailed merchant information, featured promotions along with the consumer services ratings. In addition, the firm provides one-stop precision marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, including e-coupons, keyword promotion and group buying. Dianping.com has also successfully expanded into the mobile internet sector with the firm's mobile apps having become indispensable to many of the inhabitants of China's major metropolises.

Some stats:

As of Q3 2011, with a footprint encompassing approximately 2,300 cities across China, Dianping.com had more than 42 million active users posting 20 million reviews monthly on over 1.2 million member merchants.

During Q3 2011, Dianping.com clocked, on average, more than 500 million page views monthly. The site's 13 million unique mobile users accounted for more than 60 per cent of the page views.

To date, Dianping.com has established branches in more than 20 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Qingdao, Shenyang, Dalian, Changsha, Harbin and Fuzhou.