New Year, new trends…Time to have a look around what’s going on here in China. What’s disappointing and odd however is to write a post about trends and using words like “blocked” and “banned”…Anyway, let’s see what we’ve got here…
E-Books
When a major online game company moves to litterature and sets up an independant e-book unit, there is no doubt about the growth in the e-book sector for 2010. This trend, causing issues of IPR, will also bring up opportunities for technology devices and content – let’s follow the evolution of digital novels and authors. To be followed : the latest Chinese e-book Bambook (in Chinese 连环书) launched by Shanda with 3G and wifi functions.
Cloud Computing
New government policies encourage domestic market growth, banning foreign-funded cloud computing firms from participating in this sector in China (sigh again…). Domestic firms like Kingsoft will continue reinforcing their applications suites as cloud computing services like Salesforce and GoogleDocs are still partially blocked here.
Chinese Search Engines & Mobile search
With Google’s threat of pulling the plug out of China, it is no surprise local rivals positions will be be even more dominating the search market : Baidu, Sogou and other smaller search engines will move to mobile phones with mobile-ready applications for targeting China’s 223 million mobile netizens.
Technology Events
Financial crisis and diminished budgets caused a high percentage of canceled events in 2009. This year should see more technology-related events, conferences and training programs in China and surrounding regions. Shanghai Expo should also be a trigger for top meetings.
Online Video Crackdowns
2008 and 2009 were certainly years of online restrictions, not only for foreign players like Youtube and Facebook, Google’s move but also for local privately-funded companies. Online video sharing websites are certainly the most targeted, hence a possible alliance between giants like Youku, Tudou and Baidu. Foreign investment in that sector is not recommended…
Viral ads
More rules to the online sector will lead to a more structured market and online content providers will look for optimizing their content to strengthen their positions. Meanwhile, booming numbers of China’s netizens will draw the attention of publishers for cost-effective solutions. This is where I’d put my 2010 budget.
What do you think?
