In its latest step to attract Chinese smartphone users, e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it is planning to launch a mobile gaming service soon.  Alibaba is considering integrating  its new mobile gaming service into its messaging app, Laiwang, as well as its Mobile Taobao app for online shopping, a person familiar with the matter said. It is also planning to launch the gaming service as a standalone app, the person said.  In the world of gaming and other mobile-based services, Alibaba faces powerful competitor Tencent Holdings Ltd., a giant in online gaming and social networking services. Many analysts view Tencent as a leader in mobile-based businesses in China because of its popular WeChat instant-messaging app, which has over 272 million monthly active users worldwide according to the company. Tencent could use WeChat's massive user base to offer additional mobile services such as gaming or e-commerce, analysts say.  Alibaba's push into mobile-based services hasn't always been smooth. It launched Laiwang more than a year ago, but the app, which competes against WeChat, struggled to gain popularity. In September, a person familiar with the situation said Alibaba was in talks with China Telecom Corp., to have the app preinstalled in smartphones sold by the country's third-largest mobile carrier. According to Alibaba, Laiwang had more than 10 million registered users as of November.  Alibaba dominates China's e-commerce market with its Taobao and Tmall shopping sites, but one of the biggest challenges it faces is how to hold onto its vast user base when more Chinese Internet users access online services from smartphones. To meet this challenge, Alibaba has made several acquisitions to strengthen its mobile-based services. Last year, it took an 18% stake  in Sina Corp.'s Twitter-like Weibo service and integrated some of Taobao's e-commerce services with the microblog. It also bought a 28% stake in mobile mapping firm AutoNavi Holdings Ltd., a move that could enable Alibaba to send location-based ads to smartphone users. What can't be concluded from the passage?   _
Tencent is now the largest online gaming and social networking service provider for smartphone users WeChat instant-messaging app has over 272 million active users across the world annually Two famous shopping sites Taobao and Tmall are now in the charge of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Alibaba has ever had successful experiences in cooperating with mobile companies