Here is why Chinese companies might like these domain names.
Among the three letter .com sold in February (as reported by Namebio), I’ve found the following domains interesting from a Chinese perspective.
BTI.com sold for $100,000
The “i” in the domain does not represent any Pinyin word. However, you can still find domains containing “i” associated with Pinyin brands when the “i” is placed at the beginning of the domain. This is because many companies use the rhyming method to associate “i” with Ai (爱 = love). A good example is the Nasdaq-listed video-on-demand site iQiyi.com (爱奇艺=love unusual arts).
An acronym does not have to represent Pinyin words. If you look at BTI.com.cn, it is a PCB manufacturer in China but BTI refers to Broad Technology (“i” for incorporated?). So, an acronym may stand for the English brand of a Chinese company, as evidenced in this example.
In fact, BTI.com could have been a good upgrade for Broad Technology. However, it was bought by Brave Thinking Institute likely as an upgrade for BraveThinkingInstitute.com, a site that helps users transform their life, health, career, and relationships.
VDF.com sold for $21,001
Similar to “i”, “v” does not represent any Pinyin word. However, many entrepreneurs are creative and use the rhyming method to associate “v” with Pinyin words. I have explained this practice in detail in the article “Acronym domains containing “v” have end users in China” so please refer to it.
The similar domain VDF.cn redirects to Huawan.com, a video conferencing platform that enables up to 1,000 guests and an audience of 10,000. Currently, VDF.com does not resolve, so we don’t know the buyer of the domain.
XFK.com sold for $17,305
X can be an acronym for over 1,000 Pinyin words. Similarly, F and K can each be an acronym for about 600 Pinyin words. Because they represent a large number of Pinyin words, when you put them together, you’ll be able to create many Chinese brands for application in a variety of business fields. For example, XFK.com may mean Xing Fu Ke (幸福课=happiness lesson), Xian Fu Kuan (先付款=pay first), and Xiao Feng Kuang (销疯狂=frantic sales). Applications can be life coaching, payment, and product selling, respectively.
HZE.com sold for $14,000
Some domain investors may be surprised, but E actually can represent Pinyin words – though limited. In this specific case, HZE.com may mean He Zu E (合租鹅=geese jointly renting a place), Hou Zi E (猴子饿=hungry monkeys), and Hua Zhong Er (怀中儿=son in womb). Applications can be property rental, food delivery, and maternity care, respectively.
The LLL.com market is going to be in a bad state for a long time in my view. Chinese aren’t going to be buying much.
The 3L .com domains may be hard hit currently, but there is genuine demand from end users in China to (1) shorten their names, and (1) go global.
The upgrade from ZhuBaJie.com to ZBJ.com is a good example. Zhu Ba Jie is simply known as ZBJ (or ZBJ.com) outside China.