Boom Time for Apps Offering Answers for All.docVIP

Boom Time for Apps Offering Answers for All 　　It was only pocket change for the son of China’s richest man， but Wang Sicong was pleased to rake in more than 268，000 yuan through an app that lets users pose questions to celebrities. 　　Listeners heard Wang’s confident voice reply to up to 32 questions including， “What’s your relationship with your ex-girlfriend？” and “How can you tell whether your girlfriend really likes you， or only likes your money？” 　　Each listener paid 1 yuan per 60-second answer through the Fenda app， one of a growing number of knowledge and pop information-focused， one- and two-way voice communication apps that in recent months have become hugely popu- lar in China. And they flocked to hear Wang， whose father Wang Jialin is a famous property and entertainment tycoon. 　　Fenda， an app called Zaihang through which users speak personally with consultants with specialties in career development， education and personal investment， and the Zhihu Live app that hosts seminars with topics ranging from flower arranging to data analysis are among the successful players in a growing family of communication apps. China’s search giant Baidu is also in the game， having launched a consultant ser-vice called Wenka in April. 　　Some online market analysts have raised questions about whether this new market niche is sustainable， or simply a flash in the pan. Although Fenda attracted about 10 million users within two months of its May startup， according to the app’s operator G， some analysts have criticized its business model for generating celebrity buzz without offering a long-term plan for future profits. 　　Zhu Xiaohu， managing director of venture capital fund GSR Ventures Management Co. Ltd.， warned that Fenda could stumble if celebrity fans run out of questions. Wang， on the other hand， is obviously upbeat about the growing niche. In addition to starring in one of the debut questionanswer sessions， Fenda officials recently announced Wang contributed an