Yahoo is set to launch Flickr across China this year, starting with a version focusing on Hong Kong.
The new Web site will target Hong Kong users and will offer all the core features currently available on the English platform, spokeswoman Pauline Wong said, without elaborating.
While the traditional version of written Chinese is widely used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the simplified version of the script is the standard in mainland China. However, most mainland Chinese are able to read traditional Chinese, and vice versa.
Flickr is of course already available (and uncensored) in China, but this will widen the reach of the site. According to the Reuters report, China will have around 10 million new users sharing photos online, and Yahoo wants to dominate that of course.
The details regarding how the localization is still a bit sketchy, but it sounds like they’ll just do translations for various regions in China. Which makes sense of course, the service is solid by itself.
Originally posted on March 16, 2007 @ 10:17 am