Pearl Research's new June 2008 report updates digital entertainment, technology, Internet and consumer trends in China. Companies covered include Tencent, Baidu, Kingsoft, Perfect World, Shanda, Sina, Sohu, China Mobile, among others.

It also includes a bonus analysis of Perfect World's ChiBi and Tencent's upcoming Dungeon & Fighter. Please contact us for an excerpt.

Consulting firm Pearl Research today released "The Phoenix Generation: Insights into Chinese Consumers" a comprehensive lifestyle study focused on Chinese consumers ages 16 to 30. Pearl Research's study covers Internet and technology product adoption and trends; lifestyle trends such as the growth of hip-hop, street basketball and the NBA. The study also provides exclusive consumer segmentation and an analysis of the Chinese middle-class.

Consulting firm Pearl Research today released “Xiaonei: The Growth of Social Networking in China” a market brief focused on the growing social networking phenomenon in China. Pearl Research’s analysis examines the appeal of the site based on feedback from Chinese consumers. Pearl Research also provides analysis of the social networking landscape including Myspace China and discussion of potential competitors including Facebook.

In May 2008, Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI) received an investment totaling $430 million from Softbank for approximately 35% stake in the company. The investment will be used to grow OPI's Xiaonei.com, a social networking site that has accrued 23 million registered users in China, with 90% of these being students.

San Francisco, CA, - Consulting firm Pearl Research today released a study detailing Chinese consumer purchase intent for Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone has not been officially released in China, but can be found on store shelves through gray imports. China could be a significant market for Apple with its 565 million mobile phone users and trend-conscious consumers.

China’s online games market raked in an impressive $1.66 billion in 2007, up 60%. These findings are contained in Pearl Research’s new report, “Games Market in China” which can be sampled here: http://www.pearlresearch.com/newsl/PearlChina08.pdf

The biggest gainers were game operators Shanda (up 49% to $338 million), Giant (up 274% to $209 million), The9 (up 30% to $175 million) and Perfect World (up 593% to $95 million). Coinciding with this revenue growth was a wave of initial public offerings (IPOs) by game operators Giant, Perfect World, NetDragon and KingSoft.

Based on interviews with the Chinese youth demographic, Google continues to struggle with lower user awareness, compared to Chinese search engine Baidu. These findings are contained in consulting firm Pearl Research’s new report “Baidu vs. Google: A Study of Search Engine Preferences among Chinese Youth.” A sample of the report can be found here: http://www.redlinechina.com/main/images2/SAMPLE_PearlResearch_Baidu_versus_Google_analysis_0801.pdf