.cn .DE Regains Top ccTLD Position As .CN Regs Fall

[jmcc]

It looks like the .de ccTLD is the top ccTLD as the domain count for .cn domains has fallen considerably since December 2009. The registration figures for .cn domains for December 2009, January 2010 and February 2010 were:

.cn ccTLD Registrations:
December 2009: 13,459,133
January 2010: 12,280,081
February 2010: 9,535,120

.de ccTLD Registrations:
Dec 2009: 13,313,247
January 2010:13,387,668
February 2010: 13,465,456

Some of the loss in .cn may be due to the low cost .cn promotion that was running around the time of the 2008 Olympics.

Regards...jmcc

 

[Jaco]

Do those figures encompass the period of time when the .cn registry jumped headlong off retard-mountain by imposing those new, draconian registrant requirements?
If so, I'm pretty sure that's why their registrations plunged. A lot of people weren't able or willing to play that game... Speaking only for myself, there's absolutely nothing about owning a domain name that would inspire me to fax in my picture ID to the communist Chinese government, just so I could keep it. I'm sure a lot of people just said "F it"

 

[jmcc]

Do those figures encompass the period of time when the .cn registry jumped headlong off retard-mountain by imposing those new, draconian registrant requirements?
If so, I'm pretty sure that's why their registrations plunged. A lot of people weren't able or willing to play that game...

Yes, to an extent. But it may also be the fallout from a low cost .cn offer that was running during the 2008 Olympics. I think that offer ended on 31 December 2008 so some of that loss could be down to those low cost domains being dumped. The .cn grew from 10,108,622 domains in January 2008 to 13,572,326 in December 2008. Moving from a managed registry (where documentary evidence is needed to register a domain) to unmanaged (like .com etc) is easy. Moving back to a managed registry will generally the hit registration figures hard. I don't know if this pattern of falling domains counts in .cn will continue but it may be the start of a trend. It might have a secondary effect on .asia domains (a very slight increase) but I think that .cn could lose another million or two over 2010.

The .cn count in January 2007 was 1,860,716. The .cn count in December 2007 was 9,001,993. That's a steep growth.

Regards...jmcc

 

[snicksnack]

I believe the major impact was the price increase. Before you could register a .CN domain for 1 RMB = about 15 cents. Now you pay around 35 RMB, thus alot of peole didn't renew. The impact from the changes in registration regulations will have an additional impact in 2010.

 

[jmcc]

I believe the major impact was the price increase. Before you could register a .CN domain for 1 RMB = about 15 cents. Now you pay around 35 RMB, thus alot of peole didn't renew. The impact from the changes in registration regulations will have an additional impact in 2010.

I think that the price change took effect on 01/March/2009 (From reading some reports).
The figures for early 2009 show some of these domains being dropped:
February 2009: 14,082,553
March 2009: 13,843,548
April 2009: 13,594,604
May 2009: 12,811,925

What is happening now is a faster drop rate. If it stabilises by June, then .cn will be lucky. The big problem for .cn is the way that Godaddy has so publically dropped .cn coverage. Godaddy has enough domains registered that it is critical for any new gTLD that Godaddy is one of its registrars. Without Godaddy's marketing and visibility, .cn will have problems accessing the US market. Losing Godaddy was bad but going to what is in effect a managed registry is nearly suicidal for .cn ccTLD.

Regards...jmcc

 

[glaxxon]

Very true... Besides the part of becoming a managed registry, godaddy's withdrawal has affected it a lot. Been reading that in many places. Lots of people are fore seeing more problems with owning a cn and don't want to risk it. Plus all this comes in the wake of google's decision. Its just blow after blow. If they dont do anything soon the figures will fall way more than a million...

 

[snicksnack]

GoDaddy only has like 26,000 .CN domains under control. Not really alot when you look at the overall number of .CN domains registered.

 

[glaxxon]

but it does drive away the new guys...

 

[Gerrit]

What are those new requirements and pricing for .CN domains? I knew prices increased but I thought they were still pretty cheap. And what are those new restrictions? Can only those with a Chinese address get them now or what?

 

[snicksnack]

pricing depends on the registrar as usual. Somewhere starting around US$6 and the sky is the limit.

You need to have a business in China and you are required to provide documents as proof.

@glaxxon: well, there are enough chinese domainers, which buy and sell .CN domains.

I would also prefer that they would lift the restriction, but I don't see this happening anytime soon.

 

[glaxxon]

pricing depends on the registrar as usual. Somewhere starting around US$6 and the sky is the limit.

You need to have a business in China and you are required to provide documents as proof.

@glaxxon: well, there are enough chinese domainers, which buy and sell .CN domains.

I would also prefer that they would lift the restriction, but I don't see this happening anytime soon.

I hope so too.

 

[Gerrit]

What happened with those who bought .cn domains prior to the "local presence required" restriction?

That said, I can see why the restriction is there. A country with a target audience of over 1000000000 people has such a huge own market that they don't rely on foreigners to make money from their ccTLD. In a way it surprises me that the likes of .es, .de, .co.uk etc are unrestricted (not that I'd ever consider complaining about it )

 

[lawyerchina]

the price now and chinese rules make the .cn regs reduce.