International Data Group

International Data Group
Formerly
 International Data Corporation
Private
Industry Media Technology
Founded 1964 (1964)
Newtonville, Massachusetts, U.S.
Founders Patrick Joseph McGovern
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Area served
 Worldwide
Owner China Oceanwide Holdings Group
Website www.idg.com

International Data Group, Inc. (IDG) is a Chinese-owned,[1] American-based media, data and marketing services and venture capital organization. IDG evolved from International Data Corporation (IDC) which was founded in 1964 in Newtonville, Massachusetts, by Patrick Joseph McGovern. IDC provides market research and advisory services and is now a subsidiary of IDG.

IDG operates in 97 countries and is headquartered in Boston. IDG's brands include CIO, Computerworld, PCWorld and Macworld. IDG produces these and its other publications on a national level in each country.

Business

IDG's subsidiary IDG World Expo produces large-scale events, such as conventions. These are typically conventions for technology businesses. IDG World Expo runs E for All, Macworld Conference & Expo, and LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.

IDG also has its own international news agency, IDG News Service. It is headquartered in Boston and has bureaus in cities such as New York, Beijing, Amsterdam[2] and Brussels. It provides news, images, video and other editorial content to IDG's web sites and print publications worldwide.

In 2005, several investors, including IDG, attempted to purchase BlogCN.[3]

IDG Books, which was a public company spun off from the privately held IDG, published the popular self-help "...For Dummies" books. The "...For Dummies" range was originally limited to computer related fields, but later expanded to include a much wider variety of topics. The series is now published by John Wiley & Sons. IDG Books/Hungry Minds — as IDG Books was briefly renamed before being sold to Wiley in 2001 — no longer exists as a separate company.

Death of founder and sale

In 2014, the founder and then-owner died, leaving the corporation to the McGovern Foundation, a family corporation.[4]

In 2016, the corporation retained Goldman Sachs to explore a possible sale.[4] On January 19, 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that China Oceanwide Holdings Group was, as part of a Chinese consortium, acquiring International Data Group Inc., at the time known for IDG Ventures. Also at the time, International Data Group published publications such as Computerworld magazine, and according to the Journal, was "one of the first global venture capital investors in China."[5] On March 29, 2017, China Oceanwide Holdings Group announced the close of the acquisition of International Data Group, Inc. (“IDG”).[1]

IDG Editorial layoffs

On May 16, 2017, while no public announcement was made several social media posts from both writers and editors across IDG's editorial division indicated that widespread layoffs had occurred. The exact number is not known, but it is believed to be as many as 90,[6] with claims that the layoffs most often affected senior editorial management and senior writers across all of IDG's consumer and enterprise publications.[7] The layoffs appear to be larger than a previous round of layoffs in 2014 after IDG attempted to regroup following McGovern's passing.

Businesses

IDG Connect

IDG Connect, a division of International Data Group (IDG), produces, publishes and distributes local IT and business information. Founded in 2006, it has offices in Framingham, Massachusetts, and Staines, Middlesex, U.K., and offers lead generation,[8] research,[9] video, mobile apps, "lead nurturing"[10] and content creation.[11]

IDG Ventures

IDG Ventures was founded in 1996. It is an international network of venture capital funds with approximately $3.6 billion under management, and an over 220 companies formed over the last 17 years. The IDG Ventures network comprises five independent partnerships managing funds in North America and Asia. Each partnership makes investments on behalf of its limited partners, including IDG.[12] The latest San Francisco fund, formed in 2007, accepted other institutional investors in addition to IDG, which remains a major investor. Following the successful launch of the San Francisco fund, IDG organized its non-publishing investments in China into venture funds. In 2009, IDG Ventures China renamed itself IDG Capital Partners to reflect the breadth of its half dozen funds encompassing start-up venture through growth investments. In 2000, IDG started a fund in Europe; this fund is now closed. In 2001, IDG started a fund in Boston, also named IDG Ventures. The manager of the Boston fund renamed itself Flybridge Capital Partners in 2008, and is no longer associated with the IDG Ventures funds. In the 2000s, IDG started funds in Vietnam, India, and Korea. As of 2013, there are five countries with IDG funds: China, Vietnam, India, Korea, and the United States (San Francisco).

IDG in Europe

IDG publishes magazines and websites in 21 European countries and multiple languages.

In June 2008, Pat McGovern said that two thirds of IDG's readership in the U.S. were online readers, while in Europe two thirds were print readers. The company has tried to gain more online readers with the launch of UK titles, Techworld and Computerworld UK and the launch of TecChannel in Germany - all three of which are online-only titles.

Computer Sweden, the Swedish edition of Computerworld, is a tabloid size morning newspaper published twice a week. Its turnover is larger than the German Computerwoche and is IDG's largest publication in Europe, according to McGovern.[13] Computer Sweden is printed and circulated in 40,000 copies.[14] IDG also publishes IT Bransjen, a Norwegian trade publication for the IT sales channel in Norway. IT Bransjen is published 11 times a year, circulating 10,000 copies.[15]

IDG in China

IDG has a subsidiary in China engaged exclusively in the venture capital business. This subsidiary was the first investor in prominent Bitcoin business Coinbase, with a sum of $100,000 raised in 2011.[16] One of the ventures of IDG with Trends Media Group and Hearst Media is a men's magazine, Shishang xiansheng, Chinese version of Esquire.[17]

IDG in Australia

IDG has a wholly owned subsidiary based in Sydney, Australia. Employing around 70 staff, IDG Australia was incorporated in 1978 and operates local versions of the brands Computerworld, CIO, PC World, TechWorld, and Australian-specific brands ARN, CMO and GoodGearGuide.

IDG Global Brands

References

  1. 1 2 PRNewswire (March 30, 2017). "China Oceanwide Completes Acquisition of IDG". idg.com. IDG. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Bureaus - IDG.com". IDG.com. IDG. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Sohu.com Technology" (in Chinese). November 21, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Seave, Ava. "Tech Publisher IDG Transforming Itself From Within As It Braces For Sale Or Breakup". forbes.com. Forbes, Inc. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ Carew, Rick (January 19, 2017). "China Oceanwide Consortium Clinches Deal to Buy International Data Group". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 22, 2017. ...one of the first global venture capital investors in China.
  6. ↑ "The Register on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  7. ↑ "Massive Layoffs at IDG this week - post regarding International Data Group layoffs". www.thelayoff.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  8. ↑ "IDG Connect lead generation".
  9. ↑ "iPad for Business Survey".
  10. ↑ "IDG Connect launches Ignite".
  11. ↑ "SonicWALL research".
  12. ↑ "IDG Ventures". IDG Ventures. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-31. Working with great entrepreneurs to build world class companies
  13. ↑ "Unik position : IDGs ordförande talar om CS, tidningar och Kina". June 27, 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  14. ↑ "TS-kontrollerad upplaga", circulation for 2007 verified by Tidningsstatistik AB (www.ts.se).
  15. ↑ "IT-Bransjen". IDG. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  16. ↑ "How Coinbase Became the Top-Funded Bitcoin Startup". Mashable. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  17. ↑ Shuang Li (2011). "The New Generation of Lifestyle Magazine Journalism in China: The Professional Approach" (PhD Thesis). University of Westminster. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  18. ↑ O'Connell, Michael. "IDG to launch JavaWorld on World Wide Web - SunWorld - February 1996". sunsite.uakom.sk. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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