Chinese companies upgrade their domains as they go global.
Some Chinese terms are worth knowing because they give you a big picture about domains desired by corporate China. One of them is “Zouchuqu”.
Zouchuqu (走出去) means “going global” or literally “to go out”. Here’s how to pronounce it.
The Zouchuqu initiative was launched by the Chinese government in 1999 to encourage Chinese companies to go out and invest globally. Over the years, many Chinese companies have gone out and are operating in various locations across the globe. In 2017, China (Hong Kong combined) was No. 3 in overseas investment according to Wikipedia.
Going global requires an upgrade to a domain matching the brand and in the .com extension, and Chinese companies are willing to pay spectacular prices for such domains.
The following top 5 acronym LLL (letter-letter-letter) .com domains were sold in 2013 according to Namebio.
Domain | Price |
---|---|
DJI.com | $300,000 |
RSS.com | $135,000 |
LSN.com | $100,000 |
OPS.com | $100,000 |
DOA.com | $74,400 |
DJI.com really stands out. Why? Because China-based drone maker DJI acquired it to upgrade from DJI-Innovations.com (which now forwards to DJI.com).
Let’s look at another example. The following top 5 two-syllable LLLL .com domains were sold in 2016.
Domain | Price |
---|---|
Vivo.com | $2,100,000 |
Kiwi.com | $800,000 |
Veda.com | $100,000 |
Guji.com | $40,001 |
Zeku.com | $37,500 |
The price of Vivo.com is spectacular. Why? Because China-based handset maker Vivo acquired it to upgrade from VivoGlobal.com (which is a simple landing page now).
The lesson is obvious. Capitalize on Zouchuqu and the upgrade opportunity. Do you have a domain that lies in the upgrade path of a well-funded Chinese company? End user research is key. For details, read “Three steps to Chinese end user research“.
Drew Platt says
Do you have a list of Chinese companies using the .co extension when .com is unavailable?
Kassey Lee says
I rarely see .co used by Chinese companies. If they can’t get .com, they usually go after .cn or even .com.cn.
Drew Platt says
Thanks for the message.
Do you have a list of companies using .cn for their brands?
Kassey Lee says
See the list included in the article https://domainnamewire.com/2020/11/25/what-domains-do-chinese-internet-companies-want-to-buy/
thelegendaryjp says
This explains why I see what I see on DIJ.com, for sale, not asking $300k lol
Kassey Lee says
The owner has the freedom to set any price, be it $300k or $3 million. Whether it can sell readily is a different issue.