Tencent among top 5 innovation firms

Tencent Holdings Ltd has reached the top five in an annual global listing that tracks companies' performance in business innovation due to the importance it attaches to content.

The Shenzhen-based tech giant was ranked No 4 for how its nearly 1-billion users could generate the colossal content being built around its WeChat app, according to the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2018 released on Tuesday by Fast Company, a New York-based media agency.

Tencent's decisions to spin off its digital reading arm, sign pacts with global music labels, and develop gaming-related franchises have gained traction among industry observers, who liken such scenario with Apple's hypothetical purchase into "Disney and Spotify".