Shanda has long been regarded as the “Microsoft” of the Chinese videogame market. One interesting fact that you may not know is that their shares are down an incredible 63% at the end of 2005! After it released “Legend of Mir II” , a massivley multiplayer online game things were looking up. In fact at the time their profits from sales jumped 58%.
Unfortuately competitors such as NetEase.com and The9 Ltd. are steadily gaining ground on Shanda’s losses. If Shanda does not shape up soon, the giant just might fall. If you are not aware, it was The9 that managed to secure the rights in China for World of Warcraft, the most popular massively multiplayer game outside of China.
Shanda is stepping out even further by allowing a free version of their games “Mir” and “Magical Land” to be downloaded by subscribers, which feature premium addons. I am sure they want to use what muscle they have to try to sway as many people as possible to their side.
Perhaps their desperation is what prodded them to going into food and beverages.
[...] First Shanda was projected to have big earnings and was a hot target for investors. Then, after they failed to meet projected targets, their shares kept slipping until they were forced to close their Beijing office and layoff workers. They were named as one of the “Five Stocks that Tanked” in 2005 by financial Web site The Motley Fool in December. [...]
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