Is .com king in China?
By registration volume? No. But that’s not the only measure.
We often see the expression “.com is king” which usually refers to the situation in the United States. Sometimes I also see this term used inside China. But is .com really No. 1 in China?
Well, it depends on how you interpret the expression. If you look at the number of domain registrations in China, then definitely .com is not No. 1. The following table lists the .cn and .com domain registrations in the last 15 years, as stated by China Statistical Note on Internet Development.
| Year | .cn | .com |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1,096,924 | 1,202,497 |
| 2006 | 1,803,393 | 1,939,343 |
| 2007 | 9,002,000 | 2,436,000 |
| 2008 | 13,572,326 | 2,739,130 |
| 2009 | 13,459,133 | 2,783,652 |
| 2010 | 4,349,524 | 3,713,244 |
| 2011 | 3,644,147 | 3,528,511 |
| 2012 | 7,507,759 | 4,834,690 |
| 2013 | 10,829,480 | 6,311,480 |
| 2014 | 11,089,231 | 7,949,939 |
| 2015 | 16,363,594 | 10,997,941 |
| 2016 | 20,601,491 | 14,345,243 |
| 2017 | 20,845,513 | 11,307,915 |
| 2018 | 21,243,478 | 12,783,290 |
| 2019 | 22,426,900 | 14,924,706 |
By registration volume, .com was No. 1 only in 2005 and 2006. Following that, .cn has always been No. 1 . Right now, .cn is 1.5 times of .com. So, .com is not king by registration volume.
Still, if you look at extensions preferred by corporate China, the situation is the opposite. For example, over 80% of corporate domains of the Top 100 internet firms in China use .com.
| Year | .cn | .com |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 13% | 86% |
| 2019 | 14% | 84% |
Corporate demand is where you get the highest prices for domains. For example, Mi.com was sold to Xiaomi for $3.6 million in 2014 and 360.com to Qihoo 360 for $17 million in 2015. In other words, .com is No. 1 by price.
It’s safe to say that bigger firms in China prefer .com and .com domains command a higher price.
