Internet a fast growing phenomenon in China →
Innovation a part of this multi-billion dollar business
Internet users in China were up by an estimated 40 million from the end of last year reaching 338 million users by June 2009. The state-run China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said that its Internet statistics show that the country has achieved a density of 25.5 percent, which is above the global average of 23.8 percent. By the end of June, there were 3,061 million websites registered in China, 16.25 million domain names and 205 million IP addresses. Building into what is now a multi-billion dollar market, the Internet business in China has attracted many players and first movers, among the service providers include companies like Baidu, Alibaba group and Tencent. As China moves to speed up 3G services, consumers can look forward to a new world of experiences that are afforded by the new technology, freeing them from fixed-line to mobile broadband. Eight popular uses of the Net Many of these Internet service companies have carved out niches using their market knowledge to satisfy consumer demand for music, news, instant messaging and search functions with the other four popular services being in way of online gaming, videos, email and blogging. In its report for 1H09, for example, Tencent Holdings achieved a total revenue of CNY 5.38 billion (US$787.9 million), an increase of 77.5 percent increase over the same period last year. It had a cash position of CNY 7.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) at the end of first half 2009. Noted for its instant messaging service, it reportedly has 990 million user accounts of which 448 million are active. Operating various services under the QQ brand, it has Instant Messaging QQ, web portal QQ, QQ game portal, multimedia social networking zone QQ and wireless portal. It services the largest online community in China to fulfill users’ needs for communication, information, entertainment and e-commerce on the Net. Service providers report good tidings Also reporting positive results is China’s leading Internet search provider, Baidu, which attained a turnover of CNY 1.1 billion (US$161 million) for its second quarter in 2009, representing a 36.7 percent increase year-on-year. As for the online auction provider Taobao, the country’s equivalent of eBay, it had a favourable first half year of 2009 recording revenue of CNY 80.9 billion (US$11.8 billion) and it reportedly has set a target of CNY 200 billion (US$29 billion) for the whole year. Taobao is part of the Alibab group which also has interests in online payment and business-to-business platforms in 240 countries. According to the CNNIC, the number of Chinese shopping online grew in the first six months with 14 million more shoppers to reach a total of 87.8 million. Liu Bing, director of CNNIC reportedly was quoted in the media as saying that people realized the advantage of online shopping amid the economic downturn. Online shoppers, however, only account for a quarter of Chinese Internet users, compared to two out of three in South Korea, the United States and Europe, added the CNNIC. Security risks of shopping on the Net may be one withholding factor. Even the founders of the Internet could not have imagined the runaway success of the service and its widespread transformation of the way that we work and live. Yet, as each year passes, we are dramatically impacted as the Internet continues to evolve.
