Tencent—A "Model" for Vietnam's Digital Service Integration.

💬Vietnam has 70M+ social users—how can platforms like Zalo break through "just chatting" limits? Look at Tencent's evolution: from OICQ in 1998 to 2026's AI giant with surging market cap. Its ecosystem-building tactics are a must-read for Vietnamese enterprises!

📈Tencent's 4 Growth Stages—Vietnam Can Precisely Mirror:

• Start-up (1998-2003): OICQ (later renamed QQ) optimized for Chinese user pain points, hitting 100M users in 3 years—mirroring Vietnam's current digital infancy.
• Expansion (2004-2010): Listed on HKEX, entered gaming, leveraged post-financial crisis diversification; annual revenue jumped from billions to tens of billions—exactly Vietnam's current stage of foreign capital inflow and breakthrough-seeking.
• Maturity (2011-2020): WeChat emerged, upgrading from a chat tool to a "Super App" integrating payments and mini-programs; global investments in Riot, Supercell, with gaming revenue exceeding 50%.
• Transformation (2021-2026): Invested ¥50B in AI, launched Hunyuan foundation model; 2025 revenue surpassed ¥660B, net profit ~¥196.5B; AI revenue to exceed 10% by 2026!

✨Core Competitiveness: The Power of Ecosystem Closed Loop

WeChat + QQ users exceed 1.4B, forming a "social + gaming + fintech + cloud services" closed loop: gaming accounts for 48% of revenue (¥95.8B in Q3 2025), fintech & enterprise services 32%, cloud business grew 25% driven by AI demand. By investing in 800+ companies, it created the "Tencent Ecosystem" with a 38% operating margin!

🎯5 Key Lessons for Vietnamese Enterprises:

1. Upgrade to a Super App: Platforms like Zalo can directly adopt WeChat's "social + payments + mini-programs" model, unlocking value for 70M users and propelling Vietnam's digital economy from 5-7% to 15% of GDP.

2. Bet on AI + Gaming: Vietnam's young population and mobile gaming demand are ripe—learn from Tencent to use AI to optimize game retention, shift from manufacturing OEM, and build local gaming brands.

3. Leverage Policy for Overseas Expansion: Use CPTPP agreements to replicate Tencent's "investment + self-research" globalization path, exporting Vietnamese services to ASEAN.

4. Preempt Risk Mitigation: Tencent faced market volatility due to antitrust and geopolitical issues; Vietnamese firms must balance growth with compliance, avoiding reliance on a single market.

5. Develop Enterprise Services: Mirror Tencent's fintech and cloud growth logic, leveraging Vietnam's manufacturing base to advance B-end digital services.