SINA, once known as a Chinese web portal company, has ballooned into much more over the past few years -- and investors should take note. The company has a diversified package of services including a content portal, micro-blogging website, and online games. Some of these services are growing and building ad revenue while others are falling behind the competition.
Just like U.S. tech companies, SINA is struggling to finds its way in a mobile world. To make things even more difficult, it needs to walk a fine line with China's strict censorship laws.
To help Fools understand the complex interworkings of this company, we've put together a brief slideshow on what SINA does, how it makes its money, and what future prospects the company is working toward.
SINA is still transitioning from a content company to a social, mobile one. In the next few years, it is likely to see its prominence as the former "Yahoo! of China" decline -- and with it, its advertising revenue. But that shouldn't scare investors.
It's likely that all of China's 564 million desktop Internet users and 420 million mobile users know what SINA and its products are. So even if the company hasn't quite figured out how to make money from mobile, it has made the right investments. It is strengthening its Weibo platform and brand by stealing and testing out American ideas in China.
However, Chinese censorship may ruin SINA's American partnerships and business interests outside of China. Luckily, the country has more than 1.3 billion people and SINA has yet to reach them all. By the time it does, we believe SINA won't just be profitable, but will also be a social company at heart.
