On December 16, NetEase's main blockchain + social application "Netease Circle" issued a suspension notice on its official website, announcing that due to business adjustments, Netease Circle will cease operations on February 1, 2020.
This is NetEase's third blockchain application that has failed after NetEase Odaily reported that the operation team was disbanded and that Toutiao was removed from the APP market.secondary title
Netease blockchain layout: focusing on C-side applications
Blockchain technology is considered to be the most disruptive core technology after Internet technology. As a result, Internet companies that have always been at the forefront have devoted themselves to the development and application of blockchain technology, hoping to seize the opportunity of industrial transformation and upgrading.
NetEase is also a representative of players from Internet giants who have joined the blockchain track. NetEase announced its entry into the blockchain in 2018, and successively launched a variety of blockchain + APPs, NetEase Circle is one of them.
NetEase Circle, officially launched in November 2018, is a social platform based on blockchain technology.image description
Netease Odaily main business/Picture source network
Before the NetEase circle, NetEase launched the value sharing platform "NetEase Odaily" based on the blockchain ecology in February 2018, which is also NetEase's most important blockchain application at present.
Netease Odaily stated that the application can help users manage digital assets such as credit data, attention, and Internet traces through blockchain technology, and discover and guarantee the value of personal information.
NBaaS, another blockchain service of Odaily, is also the main direction of NetEase's efforts. The service mainly includes blockchain main network construction, blockchain smart contract development; providing blockchain solutions for industries such as games, e-commerce, and supply chains.
Netease Odaily performed brilliantly when it was first launched, causing a lot of noise in the market, and reached a scale of one million daily users in less than two months. A large number of users conduct black diamond transactions and settlements in the scene created by Netease Odaily. As of November last year, the cumulative transaction volume exceeded 200 million.
After tasting the sweetness, in June 2018, NetEase released the first blockchain-based information app "Yitoutiao" in the market.In addition to conventional functions, such as integrating various information and making personalized recommendations through algorithms; E-Toutiao also allows users to obtain "physical strength" through continuous login, likes and comments, etc. These "reading power" can be used to invest in content; in addition , the user also owns a digital asset named "Yidao".
In addition to the above three applications, NetEase has also introduced blockchain technology in its core business games. The game props "Fuxi Tongbao" in NetEase's online game "Naishuihan" are generated based on blockchain technology.secondary title
The C-end business failed, and Netease turned to it
Although a series of TOC products launched by Netease have attracted a lot of attention at the beginning of their launch, they almost all ended in a mess.
In March of this year, Netease Odaily was rumored to be disbanded by the operation team. Although NetEase later stated that NetEase Odaily is operating normally. The news of the disbandment is not groundless. Netease Financial Management, the operating entity behind Netease Odaily, has indeed ceased its service in December 2018. Since then, Netease Odaily has been silent.
Before the official announcement of the closure of the NetEase circle, the cash withdrawal entrance had already been closed in March. As for Yitoutiao, it was quickly taken off the shelves after a short run, and no new news came out.
There are many reasons for the successive failures of Netease blockchain C-side applications.On the one hand, at the beginning of their launch, they were questioned whether they were real DAPPs? Some people in the industry believe that APP technologies such as Netease Circle are based on private chains, and many functions such as content investment are only based on the concept of blockchain applications and are not executed through smart contracts, so they cannot take advantage of blockchains to solve any practical problems. question.
On the other hand, NetEase has many products, involving games, music, e-commerce and other aspects.Therefore, the blockchain + APP application scenarios developed by NetEase are often limited to their own products, and this drainage operation compromises the functions of the products.
Furthermore, even though NetEase, as an Internet giant, has advantages in technology and traffic, it is still a novice in blockchain applications. Blockchain technology is indeed facing the challenge of being difficult to implement. Not only NetEase, but every company has a high probability of failure in the exploration stage.
In addition, the best To C scenario of the blockchain has yet to be explored. Since the blockchain products launched by major Internet companies are mainly aimed at C-end users, they need to rely on traffic to maintain their livelihoods.
However, at present, both policy guidance and actual implementation cases have proved that blockchain technology is more suitable for enterprise-side and government-side scenarios.The blockchain landing industry, empowering the real economy, can play its value and help the real economy to transform and upgrade.
After experiencing successive failures of C-end products, Netease has also realized this and has learned from past practice and exploration. Since October this year, the release of favorable policies for the blockchain industry has also given NetEase a chance to re-empower.
After passing the dormant period, NetEase took advantage of the trend and aimed at the enterprise and government affairs markets.
On November 23 this year, NetEase held the "Blockchain + Real Economy Special Forum" in Hangzhou. At the meeting, NetEase revealed that NetEase has accumulated 1 billion transactions on the chain and has zero accidents.Subsequent plans to realize the external output of blockchain technology through the "Odaily blockchain cloud service platform"image description
Blockchain + real economy special forum / Tuyuan Network
Gu Feiyong, head of Netease Odaily, said in an interview with the media after the meeting:Policy support, blockchain To B business will be easier to promote, more companies have shown their trust and interest in the blockchain, so NetEase will negotiate with more companies in the future.
Ruan Liang, general manager of Netease Smart Enterprise Department, once said that Netease has been making continuous efforts on the track of enterprise business, never stopping, and will build a complete set of To B ecology.
Previously, the "NetEase Joint Innovation Center Deyang Industrial Internet Base" was established. The base will use NetEase's existing cloud computing and big data to promote the integration of technologies such as blockchain and industrial manufacturing, and help Deyang enterprises to go to the cloud.These measures have conveyed Netease's determination to make efforts in the enterprise market.
At the same time, NetEase still has not given up on C-end products, and its product matrix will fall in the fields of games, personal data and communities.Gu Feiyong said that Netease Odaily is currently in the stage of re-development and layout, and will build it into a "blockchain + personal data" app, which will be released to the public after it makes a breakthrough.
In addition, NetEase’s mini-program “Putting Flags and Punching Cards” is a “blockchain + community” product, while “Fuxi Tongbao”, which is still in operation, is a “blockchain + game” product.
"Blockchain + game" is a relatively good To C landing scenario, and it is also an area that NetEase will deepen.epilogue
epilogue
It is undeniable that at the moment when the level of blockchain technology does not yet support large-scale applications, enterprise-side and government-side applications are undoubtedly the first choice for blockchain business layout. The industrial blockchain is bound to bring about a wave of innovation and change.
However, regardless of whether NetEase’s lack of blockchain thinking or misjudgment of the development of blockchain technology has led to successive failures of C-end products, NetEase’s spirit of exploring blockchain C-end applications is worthy of recognition. Because only when a "killer" application appears in the blockchain field, can the blockchain enter thousands of homes and achieve widespread popularization.
