Hello, I’m QQ: QQ Speaks English Now

Written by Tangos on January 20, 2009
Tags:, ,

When we are talking about China’s Internet companies, we will definitely talk Tencent, whose IM software QQ is the most popular IM software in China. At the time I’m writing this post, QQ has over 45m concurrent users online. Based on its QQ software, Tencent generated revenue of USD297 million in the quarter ended on Sept 30 2008.

But it is not easy for a foreigner to understand this China’s Internet phenomenon, partly because QQ’s software is all in Chinese. Now Tencent quietly launched an International website I’mQQ.com, which enables you to download an English version QQ and register a QQ id. If you are an iPhone user, you can also try QQ for iPhone. But for Mac or Linux users, QQ for Mac and QQ for Linux haven’t provide English version now.

Actually, it’s not the first time for Tencent to start its internationalization. For example, in 2007, QQ Game partnered with AIM, in early 2008, Tencent invested in an online game operator Outspark.

(tip by Thijs Terlouw)

13 Responses to “Hello, I’m QQ: QQ Speaks English Now”

  1. trevelyan on January 20th, 2009 6:11 pm

    Installing QQ trashed my last laptop. Impossible to uninstall, even manually removing it from msconfig. I had to reinstall the entire OS.

    Companies that produce software that re-installs itself after users remove it should be held criminally liable for unauthorized computer intrusion. Chinese users may not care about this stuff, but foreigners do. Tencent will have a much harder time getting a foreign user base given its legacy of predatory software practices, especially since Chinese-speaking foreigners are generally pretty tech-savvy.

    Good riddance to the entire company.

  2. Thijs (Shenzhen) on January 20th, 2009 8:26 pm

    trevelyan: when is the last time you used QQ? I had some problems with QQ back in 2005 (those were related to the fact that I didnt use a Chinese OS).

    Regarding uninstall: I have never had any problems like you described. Perhaps you were infected by a virus that tries to steal your QQ user account. That would explain why it was hard to remove. Probably not Tencent’s fault. If you are serious about the problems, contact me and I’ll help you to find a solution.

  3. Posts about Web 2.0 as of January 20, 2009 | The Lessnau Lounge on January 20th, 2009 11:38 pm

    [...] web 2.0 and social media.  The ZS Community is now alive, powered by Google Friend Connect Beta Hello, I’m QQ: QQ Speaks English Now – cwrblog.net 01/20/2009 When we are talking about China’s Internet companies, we will definitely [...]

  4. 1986 on January 21st, 2009 12:05 am

    QQ for Mac 是有英文的啊，至少 Preview 版是有的。好像是根据系统语言自动判断的。

  5. China Journal : Best of the China Blogs: January 21 on January 21st, 2009 12:00 pm

    [...] messaging program that’s ubiquitous in China but virtually unknown outside its borders, gets an English version. [China Web2.0 [...]

  6. Best of the China Blogs: January 21 | on January 21st, 2009 1:58 pm

    [...] messaging program that’s ubiquitous in China but virtually unknown outside its borders, gets an English version. [China Web2.0 [...]

  7. Vincent on January 21st, 2009 3:25 pm

    QQ software is just a mess. It’s bloated, it’s got spyware, it screws with your computer. I used Pidgin’s IM software to access the QQ network. I want to be able to send and receive messages, none of this QQ space and Q币 and colors and spyware and assorted BS.

  8. Tencent, More Than QQ Instant Messaging In China on January 27th, 2009 5:49 am

    [...] leader in China, and Tencent even released an English version of QQ last week at IMQQ.com, see here, here, here and here. Since Tencent is made up of so much more than just instant messaging, I [...]

  9. L’Atelier BNP Paribas Asie » Blog Archive » QQ parle désormais anglais on February 12th, 2009 3:12 pm

    [...] [via : China Web2.0 Review] [...]

  10. QQ passe à l’anglais | Emmanuel Bau on February 20th, 2009 8:29 pm

    [...] [via : China Web2.0 Review] [...]

  11. John on February 25th, 2009 4:03 am

    I am from India and I was told by a friend that QQ is a great place to learn Chinese (Mandarin). I decided to try out and I had installed QQ 2009 English version, its working fine with me. However I come to know that QQ English version lack certain important features as compared to QQ Chinese version. You cant have much fun in QQ English version apart from IM messaging, features like QQ space…etc stuff like that are not available in English version of the QQ. So its not fun and interesting! I am a software programmer and I can clearly see through many weaknesses in QQ English version, the software is unstable in some aspects which they need to further develop for a better version in future. Overall, I should say QQ is a good chat program but “THEY STILL CANNOT MASTER THE TECHNOLOGY” work on that!

    Anyway, my purpose of using QQ is to learn “Mandarin” not for anything else and if I am lucky enough then I am expecting to find some foreign language exchange partner (English and Chinese) Wish you all the best! xie xie (*slightly bow and greet*)

    Moral: Please don’t use a strawman against me. The rest of your comment is simple-minded guff.

  12. Vicky on February 25th, 2009 9:42 am

    I like the webQQ (imqq.com) more than the IM software. My computer always broke down when IM was running.

  13. thebarx on June 11th, 2009 1:59 pm

    Ahh . . . . in english . . . But not linux version . . . . wtf?

Post a comment