From Inspiration to Innovation.
Global Consumer Trend Research
Written By Daniel Allen on September 24, 2008 at 7:21 am | In social networking, internet, technology, virtual worlds, China | Please Comment
Chinese netizens looking to go virtual will soon have another cyberworld to choose from - China Telecom and Shenzhou Hengji Network, a subsidiary of EnReach Technology, have teamed up to launch ChinaQ, which will compete with more established worlds such as HiPiHi, Novoking, Entropia and uWorld. ChinaQ is currently in private beta testing mode.
As with other virtual worlds, ChinaQ allows users to edit their avatars, make friends, own land, and create and sell user- generated content. ChinaQ will use a virtual coin, the “CQ coin”, which can be bundled with the user’s ADSL and phone bills. Residents will also be able to earn virtual coins by completing various tasks.
Although the level of China Telecom’s involvement in ChinaQ is not yet clear, the partnership does throw up some interesting possibilities for telco-virtual world interaction. China Telecom already has a very popular value-added service portal called vnet.com which could integrate 3D virtual worlds into its offerings. It could also develop a social network for its service subscribers, reward real-world / virtual customers with virtual / real-world services and products, and lay on in-world VoIP services.
Despite the hype surrounding their launches, all of China’s homegrown virtual worlds are as yet showing limited growth. Although they have attracted a range of corporate partners, both Chinese and foreign, their small user base currently means direct in-world advertising is of limited value. However, some worlds are generating additional interest / revenue through more innovative applications such as training factory workers, conducting online auctions and opening virtual classrooms.
Written By Daniel Allen on at 4:09 am | In internet, consumer, e-commerce, China | Please Comment
Alipay looks to continue its domination of a steadily diversifying e-commerce / m-commerce market.
China’s online payment market is currently dominated by Alibaba’s Alipay – the site had over 100 million registered users by September 2008, which puts it in second position in the global rankings behind PayPal with over 180 million. However, Alipay is expanding rapidly, achieving its current user base in just five years. With a China market share of over 50%, Alipay now facilitates over 1.5 million transactions every day.
Alipay is following an aggressive China-based and overseas expansion program - the company has arecently established partnerships with more than 300 customers in Japan, South Korea, Europe, United States, Australia and Southeast Asia, supporting payment in 12 different overseas currencies. In August, Alipay officially launched a WAP version, aiming to tap into China’s huge mobile user base and drive up m-commerce revenues. The company has also linked up with Amazon, the world’s largest B2C e-commerce company.
Alipay doesn’t have things all its own way in China. The site has healthy competition from Tenpay, an online payment service by Tencent, the China UnionPay online payment service and 99Bill. China’s top search engine Baidu has also recently announced plans to develop its own online payment service called Baifubao, which will service the company’s new e-commerce platform which is currently in private beta stage.
PayPal itself has struggled in China, with a meagre 1.6% market share as of last year, but may be fighting back with recent deals involving CTRIP (China’s leading online travel service provider) and CITS (China International Travel Service). In more general terms, as both e-commerce and m-commerce continue to grow in popularity in China, and digital commerce applications become more sophisticated, it will interesting to see whether ventures such as Baidu’s Baifubao can really compete with Alipay’s well-established services and its push toward PayPal parity and beyond.
Written By Daniel Allen on September 13, 2008 at 2:23 am | In retail, internet, industry, 3G, consumer, technology, mobility, e-commerce, China | Please Comment
A combination of factors underpins rapid growth in the Chinese mobile commerce sector.
Trend Description
China is rapidly emerging as the global capital of m-commerce applications, driven by an increasingly high-tech digital environment, the world’s largest mobile phone subscriber base (nearly 600 million), and the recent launch of the country’s own 3G standard (TD-SCDMA).
Although China currently lacks the advanced mobile applications of Europe, North America, Japan and Korea, many cellular players are now launching sophisticated mobile applications, and analysts predict the country may leapfrog more traditional m-commerce markets in the near future.
UK-based Juniper Research predicts that the global m-commerce market will be worth U$40 billion by 2009, with revenue stream dominated by mobile entertainment products, including ring tones, wallpapers, gambling and games. According to statistics from US-based Analysts International, China’s mobile ecommerce application market will be worth of RMB 30 billion (US$4.2 billion) by 2009, with a forecasted year-on-year increase of over 30%.
Penetration of new markets, including retail, ticket purchases and person-to-person transactions, is predicted to result in increasingly high volumes of small payments to Chinese m-commerce service providers. Because this type of transaction costs businesses far less than retail or other forms of transaction, the demand for m-commerce solutions is expected to grow and result in tremendous opportunities for these SPs.
Cases
UFIDA’s hapigo
The “hapigo” platform developed by UFIDA Mobile is China’s first large-scale, multi-functional m-commerce platform. With a strong focus on mobile internet technology, hapigo provides retailers and consumers with an efficient and effective one-stop m-commerce shop. Last year hapigo became “the first brand of mobile e-commerce in China”, serving 200,000 retailers over 1 million mobile consumers.
UFIDA Mobile is a recently created US$13.42 million joint venture between the Beijing-based Ufida Software Company and Japan-based wireless heavyweight NTT DoCoMo.
Taobao’s WAP Site
Alibaba’s Taobao, the Chinese version of eBay, has recently launched a WAP version of the site at wap.taobao.com., in an effort to expand its reach to China’s huge mobile phone subscriber base, many of whom do not have net access of their own.
More interesting still is the way in which the site is served by a mobile interface for Alipay. Payment for most m-commerce in China so far has been processed by mobile service providers as part of the consumers’ bill. Although China Mobile may not be too happy with Alibaba’s move to cut them out of the loop with its “m-Alipay” service, its hard to imagine they can stop it in the long term.
Trend Potential
While the future for m-commerce in China looks rosy, there are still many obstacles to overcome. China is still largely a cash-based economy, with m-payment support structures only recently being developed. The rate of mobile phone uptake is also very biased toward urban areas, especially when it comes to smartphones / PDAs.
Since voice is still the dominant application, decades-old mobile technologies are still some of the most profitable, and many mobile operators will need to upgrade large parts of their networks to the 2.5G and 3G technologies needed for most m-commerce applications. Still, with m-commerce proving increasingly popular and profitable, the financial incentives will surely continue to drive investment in both infrastructure and applications.
Written By Xuan on August 19, 2008 at 3:23 pm | In 3G, mapping | Please Comment
A snapshot of the latest trends of Location-based Service (LBS) in Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong and Tokyo.
Trend Description:
Many people would agree that LBS is becoming more and more popular worldwide and is opening a host of opportunities for business, but few would agree on the business model that will best monetize the service. Nokia, the mobile market leader, expects to ship 35 million GPS-phones in 2008 and the latest ABI report blueprinted a $ 3.3 billion market value for LBS, but still the way to whip up revenues from existing technology and infrastructure remains unclear. Here we filtered some promising, if not profitable, practices of LBS in Asia to summarize new trends for industrial practitioners and those who may be concerned.
Cases:
GyPSii is a social networking platform headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherland. It has partnered with Shanghai Rannuo and China Unicom to launch its GyPSii service during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and has opened a China Data Center to enhance local user experience. What GyPSii is doing in China is encouraging its network users to send back location information via mobile devices and integrate it into the digital map. Other users (who are also content creators) then, can experience a seamless mobile lifestyle, connecting with friends and communities, searching UGC and viewing maps and directions to points of interest.
Naviblog X is Japan’s first location-based moblog/mobsearch website. With this service, usrs can easily create their mobile diary sites within 60 seconds even if they know little about programming. After the sites are created, they point their mobile phones to the QR Code auto-generated with the sites and transfer them to the mobile phones of their friends or clients to log on the sites. It is also designed to geo-tag users’ information by one-click. Naviblog is said to be used on non-Japan phones soon.
Louis Vuitton Soundwalk
Fashion makers lag behind to none in creativity if not in high-tech. With thousands of foreigners entering China this Olympic year, Louis Vuitton, the French luxury fashion brand entered the mobile space with a unique location-based audio guide, available in six languages, to three major cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The voice is coming from three locally born actresses: Gong Li for Beijing, Joan Chen for Shanghai and Shu Qi for Hong Kong. It directs visitors by mobile phones in real time through the cities and costs 17 USD for for each city in one of the six languages, English, French, Cantonese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
Trend Potential:
The convergence of social networking, user-created content and location is a big trend. Mobile-enabled LBS is important because it links up something missing on the internet. There are some major barriers for business related to mobile internet, such as licensing and sophisticated algorithms, but as some of the global players have discovered, a fast track to enter a local market is to line up with local mobile carriers, technological developers and last but not least the users, who know best what they want.
Written By Daniel Allen on August 17, 2008 at 4:56 am | In mobility, technology, connecting, China | Please Comment
Two new mobile-based translation services are helping out (some) Olympic visitors who may have communication problems. Google recently released a version of its translation service specifically tailored to Apple’s iPhone, and another mobile translation service, from the VoIP company Jajah, was unveiled to coincide with the start of the Games.
Google’s service, which should be made available on other handsets soon, came about as the result of the company’s “20 percent” time policy, which sets aside a day of each employee’s week for work on any new project or idea they may wish to pursue. Because the service works using the iPhone’s Safari browser, a data connection is needed most of the time, although previously searched phrases and words are stored for future access. The service can translate text between 24 languages, including Mandarin, French, and Japanese.
Jajah’s service, called Babel, may also be useful for people visiting Beijing. By calling a special phone number users can leave a voice message that will be translated to Mandarin in just a few seconds. Babel is specifically designed as an on-the-go tool for English speakers who may run into translation issues while getting around.
Written By Daniel Allen on at 4:22 am | In Olympics, sports, retail, consumer, technology, China | Please Comment
Sportswear manufacturer Nike is causing a stir at the Beijing Olympics with its latest innovation, the Flywire track shoes. The company has supplied the US track and field team with two pieces of Flywire footwear - the Zoom Victory Spikes and Zoom Matumbo.
Already creating quite a buzz in the industry with its revolutionary lightweight construction, the Flywire design is said to be inspired by the cables from a suspension bridge. It makes use of a strong Vectran thread arranged in a fan-shaped pattern at anchor points around the shoe, creating a shoe that’s extremely light, yet cheap and easy to manufacture.
Sports shoe technology has developed massively since the first Nike Air’s hit the shelves back in 1987. Shoe manufacturer Brooks has recently released “Trance 8”, a show which features a biodegradable midsole. The sole contains a natural additive that encourages anaerobic microbes to break the shoe down once it hits the garbage.
The footwear company is debuted its midsole in the US$140 Trance 8 last month, with plans to extend the technology to all Brooks performance running shoes by the end of next year.
Written By Daniel Allen on at 3:42 am | In entertainment, Olympics, technology, events, China | Please Comment
More than 2,000 hours of live Beijing Olympic content and 3,000 hours of on-demand video will be made accessible online via NBCOlympics.com during the Games period. NBC had originally chosen to use Adobe’s Flash for streaming, but eventually chose Microsoft’s Silverlight due to its superior reproduction quality.
Microsoft is hoping that its role in the Olympics will both prompt downloads of Silverlight in the short term, as well as help give its video-streaming technology a much-needed boost. However, those that can’t get or don’t want Silverlight will still
be able to watch video from the NBCOlympics site, without access to some of the cooler features - the enhanced player allows picture-in-picture viewing of two events and a “control room” experience where true junkies can watch four events at a time.
Apparently the quality of the Olympic footage relayed on Silverlight is very good, although there have been a few problems getting reliable and relevant commentary. NBC wants bloggers to provide their own commentary, although this has led to mixed results.
The PC isn’t the only innovative ways to view Olympics content – a smaller range of programming is also being offered through cellphones, video-on-demand services, and as “on-the-go” content that can be downloaded to a laptop or bought via Amazon or Microsoft’s Zune service.
To counter the growing threat from Silverlight, Adobe released Adobe AIR last year. The two companies have now entered a steadily intensifting war of attrition - although both may happily co-exist side for some time, history shows that eventually the market will pick a favorite.
Written By Daniel Allen on at 2:29 am | In entertainment, sports, Olympics, technology, China, events, art | Please Comment
The Beijing Olympics have employed cutting-edge technologies in a wide array of areas - including their integration in some stunning presentational displays, where the boundary between technology and art becomes blurred. The opening ceremonies featured what was probably the most stunning mass display of lighting technology ever witnessed. Gizmodo has a selection of images from August 8 viewable here.
Written By Daniel Allen on August 13, 2008 at 2:26 pm | In user generated content, Olympics, media, mobility, technology, experimental, events, China | Please Comment
Innovative ways of applying mobile devices give audience worldwide unique perspectives of the event.
Trend Description:
Not being able to launch 3G does not mean this year’s Olympics keeps the hottest mobile media outside China. A bunch of companies are rolling out their mobile applications for the Games, which, if not becoming popular right away, carry profound meanings for world-level events later on.
Cases:
Twitter’s #080808 Campaign
Twitter’s campaign (pronounced tag 080808) is chalking up good result since the opening ceremony on August 8, 2008. Initiated only two days before the opening of the Games, it claims about 5000 entries coming in on the big day and is updated with an average rate of 1 piece every 0.2 seconds. A secret of its success is the easy way to press the keys of “0″ and “8″ on mobile phones. No matter who are you are and where you are, as long as you think or experience something related to the Olympics, you can tweet a couple of words starting with”#080808″.
Lenovo Olympics 2008 Application
Levono, one of the top sponsors of the Beijing Games and the official PC provider is NOT gonna lag behind those mobile savvy in playing with new technology. It lined up with Zumobi and rolled out the Lenovo Olympic 2008 Application, with which users of microsoft mobile, blackberries and iPhone can follow up the latest sports news, images and comments during the Olympics. It also contains blog posts selected ramdonly from anonymous athletes and is powered by ads of Lenovo and Intel.
Qik:
Located in California, Qik is a video-sharing company that allows Qikkers to stream their mobile captures directly to the website. Users have access to the service when they buy mobile phones installed with the software and will save money if they have signed up for unlimited data plans. Qik is now encouraging its users to send back footages taken on-the-spot of the Games. It will be a great fun for journalists and spectators who use proper telephone plans to point their mobile phones directly to what they are experiencing. Check up the Qikker’s footage of the opening ceremony here.
Trend Potential:
Given the fact that 3G is still to come in China, there is no sweeping success for any mobile application in the Beijing Games so far. However, the experience drawn here and business models initiated will remain good cases for later studies.
Written By Daniel Allen on August 11, 2008 at 12:28 am | In Olympics, sports, technology, events, experimental, China | Please Comment
From GE to Nestle to watchmaker Omega, companies are using the ongoing Beijing Olympics to test-drive new ideas and products. Check out this interesting article from last Thursday’s Business Week….
Learning from the Olympics
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