Verisign, the registry operator for the .com top-level domain extension, reported strong earnings last week and in many ways they have China to thank; but the outlook isn't totally positive.
Domain names in the zone for .com and .net together grew 6.3 percent year over year (YoY) in the reported quarter to 139.8 million. Verisign processed 12.2 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net in Q4, an increase from 8.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
Verisign added just 4.6 million net new names in Q4 after deletions and its renewal rate for the fourth quarter was 71.9 percent, down 10 basis points (bps) YoY.
The registry warned that it might have a decrease in the net base in Q4 2016 as the Chinese registrations from last quarter come up for renewal.