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Razer summons a big gun as he tries to develop his mobile gaming strategy. The Hong Kong-listed company – which sells laptops, smartphones and gaming peripherals – today announced that it was working with Tencent on a series of initiatives related to smartphone gaming.
The collaboration will cover hardware, software and services. Among the objectives are the optimization of Tencent games (especially megahit PUBG and Fortnite) for Razer. smartphones, mobile controllers and its Android Cortex launcher app. The duo also said that they could "explore other monetization opportunities for mobile games", which could lead Tencent to integrate Razer's services, which include a rewards / loyalty program, into some areas.
The news was announced on the same day as the latest Razer results, whose annual revenues rose 38% to $ 712.4 million. Razer recorded a net loss of $ 97 million for the year, up from $ 164 million in 2017.
The announcement of a large-scale partnership comes at a convenient time for Razer, who has struggled to convince investors of his business. The company was part of a wave of well-defended technology companies that were announced in Hong Kong – Razer's list raised more than $ 500 million by the end of 2017 – but the course of its action experienced difficulties Razer is currently trading at HK $ 1.44, which is a bit off the list price of HK $ 3.88 and HK $ 4.58 at the end of its debut trading day. Razer's CEO, Min Liang Tan, has already lamented the lack of technological know-how in Hong Kong's public markets, despite the proliferation of IPOs, which include names such as local services giant Meituan.
Nabbing Tencent, which is one of (if not the), the largest video game companies in the world, is a coup d'etat, but it remains to be seen what impact the relationship will have at this stage. Subsequent links, and potentially an investor, would be significant developments and could indicate positive signals sought by the market.
Despite this, Razer CEO Min Liang Tan is optimistic about the mobile company's prospects.
The company's Razer smartphones have never been designed to be "iPhone killers" sold to volume, but uncertainty still surrounds unity, with recent information suggesting that the third-generation phone might have been canceled as a result of several layoffs. (Tan refused to comment.)
Mobile is difficult – just ask the giants of the past like LG and HTC about that … – and the focus on Razer's phone and games was quickly copied by others, including a pretty brazen clone of Xiaomi, to make sales particularly difficult. But Liang says that by doing so, Razer has created a mobile gaming market that did not exist before and that ultimately is more important than changing one's own smartphones.
"NOTobody was talking about gaming smartphones [before the Razer phone]without us, the genre would always be seen as a casual game, "Tan told TechCrunch in an interview. "Same from the first day, it was about creating this new category … we do not consider others as competitors. "
Keeping this in mind, he said that this year it was time to focus on the software side of Razer's mobile gaming business.
Tan said that Razer "will never publish" games like Tencent and others do, but that he has focused on helping to discover, creating 39; more immersive experience and integration of other services, including Razer Gold loyalty points.
Outside the games, Razer is also making progress on payment via a service operating in Southeast Asia. Fueled by the acquisition of MOL a year ago, Razer no longer allows individuals to buy OTC credits to launch an electronic wallet in two countries, Malaysia and Singapore, after the boom of fintech in Southeast Asia, which has attracted non-traditional players, including AirAsia, Grab and Go-Jek.
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