Buyers of two letter domains — Potential Chinese
Chinese firms with 2-pin names sometimes opt for two-letter domains as brands.
This morning I was thinking regarding a number of two-letter domains used by Chinese firms: JD.com, BL.com, and XC.com. They have one common feature which has implications for investors owning acronym domains.
The three domains are all acronyms for Pinyin names. JD.com is owned by Jing Dong, BL.com by Bai Lian, and XC.com by Xue Cheng. Notice that Jing Dong owns the exact match 2-pin JingDong.com yet has chosen to focus on the shorter 2-letter JD.com. In a way, you can see acronym domains as upgrades.
2-pin is the most popular type of Pinyin names in corporate China. So, as an exercise, I picked 20 2-pin names from the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Firms Note and worked out their matching acronym domains. The result is listed below.
| Firm | Current Domain | Possible Upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Teng Xun (腾讯) | Tencent.com | TX.com |
| Bai Du (百度) | Baidu.com | BD.com |
| Wang Yi (网易) | Netease.com | WY.com |
| Mei Tuan (美团) | Meituan.com | MT.com |
| Xin Lang (新浪) | Sina.com | XL.com |
| Sou Hu (搜狐) | Sohu.com | SH.com |
| Su Ning (苏宁) | Suning.com | SN.com |
| Xiao Mi (小米) | Mi.com | XM.com |
| Xie Cheng (携程) | Ctrip.com | XC.com |
| Yong You (用友) | Yonyou.com | YY.com |
| Lang Chao (浪潮) | Inspur.com | LC.com |
| Wang Su (网宿) | Wangsu.com | WS.com |
| Long Cai (龙采) | Longcai.com | LC.com |
| Xun Lei (迅雷) | Xunlei.com | XL.com |
| Yi Che (易车) | Yiche.com | YC.com |
| Mei Tu (美图) | Meitu.com | MT.com |
| Hui Liang (汇量) | Mobvista.com | HL.com |
| Duo Yi (多益) | Duoyi.com | DY.com |
| You Zu (游族) | Youzu.com | YZ.com |
| Zhen Dao (珍岛) | 71360.com | ZD.com |
If you are the owner of one of the above two-letter domains, don’t get too excited yet. Some of the firms listed may not have the desire to acquire two-letter domains. For example, Baidu.com is so well known that changing to BD.com will require a lot of marketing efforts to promote the fresh brand. Also, Xie Cheng once owned XC.com so it is also unlikely they want to repurchase it again. Therefore, each individual firm must be studied to ascertain their need to acquire a 2L domain.
What is the implication for investors owning acronym domains? As far as China is concerned, acronym domains up to four-letter .coms can serve as an upgrade. If your domain happens to fall into the upgrade path of a well-funded Chinese firm, then your domain may be very valuable.
