The concentration of domain name registration market is relatively high

Domain name is one of the core basic services of the Internet. It plays an irreplaceable role in the development of the Internet, and its registration scale continues to grow. As of June 2018, the global domain name registration market had a size of approximately 348 million, mainly concentrated in five countries: the United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. In the market for generic top-level domain names, the market share of. com domain names consistently ranks first, accounting for 70.0%; In the new top-level domain market,. top domain accounts for 11.9% of the market share, ranking first. The concentration of the global domain name registration market is relatively high.

The number of websites in China continues to grow, with a 9.7% increase in 2017 compared to 2016. Against this backdrop, the scale of domain name registration in China continues to grow. According to the "Feasibility Study Report on China's Domain Name Registration Market from 2018 to 2022" released by the New Frontier Industry Research Center, as of June 2018, the size of China's domain name registration market has reached 48.036 million, accounting for 13.8% of the global market, making it the second largest domain name registration market in the world after the United States. In China's domain name registration market,. cn domain name has the largest market share, accounting for 47.3%, followed by. com domain name with a market share of 26.0%. The concentration of China's domain name registration market is relatively high, but with the introduction of new top-level domains, the number of participants in China's domain name registration industry continues to increase, and the trend of market differentiation is becoming apparent.

From the geographical distribution of domain name registration, the number of domain name registrations in various regions of China is closely related to the level of local economic development, showing an overall development pattern of more in the east and less in the central and western regions. The proportion of domain name registrations in the eastern region of China is 68.9%, the central region is 18.5%, and the western region is 1.6%. The top five provinces and cities in terms of domain registration volume are Fujian, Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, with a combined share of nearly 60%. The problem of uneven development of domain name registration regions in China is particularly prominent.

In China, domain name registrants are mainly enterprises and individuals. Among them, 74% of domain names are registered by enterprises, 22% are registered by individuals, and the remaining 4% are registered by government agencies, public institutions, and social organizations. According to industry distribution, there are more domain name registrations in industries such as wholesale and retail, information technology, manufacturing, and real estate. However, the registration volume in other industries is gradually increasing, and the coverage of domain name registrations is becoming broader.

With the rapid development of the new top-level domain name market, the number of domain name registration service providers in China continues to grow. At present, there are a total of 27 domain name registration management agencies and 104 domain name registration service agencies in China that have obtained licenses from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Among them, the top three registration service providers in the general top-level domain registration market are Alibaba Cloud (including Wanwang), Western Digital (including Western Digital International), and Yiming China, with a total market share of 72.3%; In the new top-level domain registration market, the top three registration service providers are Alibaba Cloud (including Wanwang), Western Digital (including Western Digital International), and Time Internet, with a combined market share of 83.9%. The domain name registration market in China has a high degree of concentration, and the industry is mainly monopolized by giants.

Industry analysts say that the share of China's domain name registration market in the global market is constantly increasing, especially in the field of new top-level domain name registration, where China's domain name registration service providers have performed outstandingly. However, the services provided by China's domain name registration industry are mainly concentrated in traditional business areas such as registration, trading, and website building. The products and services are highly homogenized and lack business characteristics, and there is still a certain gap compared to the United States. In the future development process, continuously improving business models and enhancing service levels are important directions for the development of China's domain name registration industry.