Vincent Tan is Friendster's best friend

Well he just bought Friendster for an unconfirmed value

of US$110 million.

In the unlikely case that CHIP reader does not know, Friendster is a global social networking site with over 115 million registered user. That’s roughly 3 4 times the whole population of Malaysia…

Malaysian Firm Buys Friendster (wired.com)

Okay… yah… Friendster is yesterday’s news. It was big 4-6 years ago but has fallen down hard since the arrival of Facebook and Twitter. In fact, the service practically had its funeral in USA.. they say. Check out the graph below (from WSJ) and you can see how its market share in Asia-Pacific has dwindled from 8% in 2008 to 2.9% in 2009.

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But hey… it’s been a long time that we have last heard a Malaysian IT company made a splash in the IT world. Since the slow fizzle of MSC’s glitter the last 5 years, IT has effectively been in a backburner in our economy. Yeah… the usual PR machine by MDeC and ministries still keep churning out grants, new initiatives etc. But let’s face it, we don’t feel it in our gut. The fire is no more there baby… where’s the passion?

Can Vincent Tan’s purchase flare the flame again? Let me see…. MOL (the online micro-payment company that’s the vehicle used in this deal) is not exactly the most exciting company around. What else does Vincent Tan has in his stable….
(affiliated with him – one way or another)

McDonald – he brought this chain to Malaysia in the 80s. It’s doing good business though a way off from KFC that you can find almost any corner of the country
Starbuck – another chain that he brought in. One of the market leaders for coffe bistro
U-Mobile – hmmm…
MiTV – bigger hmmmm…
7-eleven –
Borders
Krispy Kreme
Wendy’s
others…

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Any of the above that inspires? In the IT world, 2 of them U-Mobile and MiTV stand out like two sore thumbs.

But hey.. you never know. I hope the fella managed to get a good CEO that have the juice to salvage Friendster from it’s Sad Fate. It’s a tough market for second stringers out there – so he’ll need someone that can overcome the odds much better than U-Mobile and MiTV. (Or even Thaksin’s purchase of Manc City)

In the spirit of Malaysia Boleh… good luck and hope everything will go well to this US-Malaysian marriage. Maybe all gamers should register for an account with Friendster (and get free MOL points in the process). Hehh… that’s not a bad idea ah. (c) Ash Report 2009