This week, taxi app Didi Dache secured funding of more than $700 million, easily the biggest private investment in China’s mobile internet sector; LeTV announced an audacious plan to get into Tesla’s territory; and China’s import and export numbers slowed.
China Roundup: LinkedIn Checks into China; Weibo to List on the NASDAQ; and the Renminbi Slides Further
The week that was: LinkedIn enters China with an innovative model; Sina Weibo plans US listing; the Chinese renminbi depreciates; and banks fight back against internet finance channels. LinkedIn Connects with China Six months ago people were curious why LinkedIn isn’t blocked in China, like Twitter, Facebook and many other networking sites are. Well, […]
Upwardly Mobile: Chinese Mobile Technology Start-ups face an Uphill Battle
Swarms of start-ups in mobile technology are feeling the effects of hyper-competition, illusive investment and fickle consumers. Fu Cong was a stubborn smartphone convert. For years, the 28-year-old Shanghainese communications consultant carried a bare-bones Philips mobile that he favored for its simplicity and immense battery power—it could easily go 72 hours without being charged. Fu […]
Digital Marketing and China’s Expanding Internet: Location-Based Services and the Mobile Internet
In January 2013, China’s internet user base reached 564 million users. China’s smartphone users have also surpassed the 300 million mark, signaling a tectonic shift towards mobile internet usage. Despite strict censorship controls on internet content in China, social media has caught on with unprecedented momentum. Established Twitter-like platforms such as Sina Weibo and Tencent […]
Digital Marketing and China’s Expanding Internet: China’s Exploding Mobile Internet
In January 2013, China’s internet user base reached 564 million users. China’s smartphone users have also surpassed the 300 million mark, signaling a tectonic shift towards mobile internet usage. Despite strict censorship controls on internet content in China, social media has caught on with unprecedented momentum. Established Twitter-like platforms such as Sina Weibo and Tencent […]
Invisible Hand Revealed: Mobile Apps that Move Cabs
In an earlier article I discussed how the regulation of Beijing’s taxi fares had taken taxis off the road. Recently there has been a spate of mobile applications (mobile apps) to address this problem: DiDiDaChe and YaoYaoZhaoChe in Beijing, KuaiDiDaChe in Hangzhou, and DiDi and KuaiDi in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Although varying slightly, these apps […]
Mobile Advertising: Tailor-Made in China
China is the world’s largest smartphone user market and, according to Techweb, by December 2012 the percentage of users in China accessing the internet from mobile platforms reached 74.9%. At 420 million users this is a huge opportunity for advertisers to access their customers constantly and more directly than ever before via mobile advertising. But […]
Follow us