Boston, MA 05/28/2014 (wallstreetpr) – China naturally restricts the use of Internet social services and the environment has turned away several players in the market. However, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) is enjoying business in the country and looks forward to even greater growth after hitting a critical user-number in the latest progress update.
Derek Shen, the Global Vice President and President of LinkedIn China, announced last week in Shanghai that LinkedIn’s user-number in China has surpassed five million.
The development comes just a few months since LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) launched a simplified version of its website in Chinese language. The simplified version was announced on February 25, 2014, and by that time the professional social networking website had about four million users in China.
Hard nut to crack
The Chinese social networking market has been a hard nut to crack for several U.S. tech companies. Inasmuch as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) acknowledge the potential in China they have had a tough time penetrating the government censorship of the social network market.
However, in recent times, U.S. Internet companies can be seen trying to crack the vast but protect Chinese market. Media reports indicate that Facebook Inc seeks to set up a sales office in Beijing.
Playing by the rules
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD)’s penetration into the Chinese social networking market can be seen in the company’s willingness and the ability to play by the rules. The company’s Chinese-language website adheres to the state censorship rules. In playing by the rules, LinkedIn has been able to grow in a country where its U.S. peers have often clashed with the government.
It seems that for LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), pursuit of growth means circumventing political barriers and the company has been good at it in China given its rapid growth in the market.
The professional social networking company saw its 1Q2014 revenue up 46 percent over a year earlier. However, it issued a weaker 2014 revenue forecast compared with Wall Street estimate.
