June 10, 2010

What’s Happening in the China Internet and Mobile Sectors

By Philip Ma, Managing Director, MergerTech Advisors

This week I was in Beijing for the TMT China 2010 Internet & Mobile Forum organized by China Entrepreneurs.  The keynote speaker was Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China and now the head of Innovation Works, a seed-stage VC fund/incubator for startups.  He spoke about opportunities in E-commerce and Mobile Internet in China.

Lee noted many differences between Chinese and American Internet users, pointing out how most of the U.S. Internet giants have not succeeded in China because they have not adapted well enough to Chinese tastes and behavior patterns.  Some key differences:

Lee sees a new wave of Internet growth and adoption coming in China, driven by 3 major technology and usage trends:

Some other key takeaways from various panel discussions at the Forum:

I’ll keep you posted on developments out here in the Asia-Pacific region.  Stay tuned for a post on the Shanghai World Expo going on right now until October 31…