Supernova Network Age Briefings - China in the Network Age

Most Western coverage of the Internet focuses on the narrative of censorship and control, but misses the vibrant social nature of what is now the largest internet market of the world. In the West, the internet started in business/academia/government, fulfilling mostly functional & utilitarian needs. But in China, the internet started as a consumer phenomenon, focused on entertainment and communications. Also, like most of the developing world, China’s internet has developed hand-in-hand with the growth of mobile, Internet-connected devices - about 25% of total internet users access the internet NOT on a PC but via a mobile device. Some potential questions we’ll cover: - Tencent - how this Chinese internet company achieved a dominant, $1 billion revenue position and at $207B now exceeds Google in market capitalization - QQ as an example of a mobile, social application - different from the West. - Virtual goods, casual gaming, and the nature of social exchange on QQ and other social networks - The upstarts and the copycats - Xiaonei, Kaixin001, and the rest. Casual gaming and what is powering the growth. - Opportunities in mobile applications - China Mobile’s mobile application ecosystem - The growth of video - Youku, Tudou, 56.com, and segmentation of the video market in China. - Why Facebook and Twitter should forget about China