The Staggering Rate of Smartphone Adoption
In a LinkedIn post from November of 2012, former Director of Google China and head of Beijing-based venture firm Innnovation Works Kai Fu Lee predicted that the installed base of smartphones in China would double to 500 million by the end of 2013 (note that Mobithinking [...]
While the recent Alifest, an annual e-commerce summit hosted by my employer, Alibaba Group, in Hangzhou, may have lacked some of the star power of years past (Kobe Bryant and Arnold Schwarzenegger weren’t back), it arguably offered much greater substance. The panel discussion on intellectual property protection in China revealed the changing attitudes toward IPR [...]
Sina and China Merchant’s Bank will launch a social credit card for Weibo DaRen users at the end of August. Sina is in non-stop experimentation mode as it tries to monetize Weibo. Here’s the scoop.
What’s subscription commerce? Simply put, you, the ‘subscriber’ receive a box full of new products each month from a subcom company that typically focuses on a specific vertical. Verticals range from clothing, beauty, food etc. Notably, within China and HK, I have witnessed several beauty subcom companies emerge from the woodwork like Glamabox and Myluxbox which very closely resemble those well on their way in the US ( Birchbox, Beachmint).
AdChina (易传媒), one of China’s top ad networks, has put together an overview of China’s digital advertising market. AdChina itself is a company to watch, a real Chinese IPO candidate that, unlike many others, rarely trumpets its own horn. I’ve highlighted a few of the key findings from the slideshare.
The great consolidation is coming, but it hasn’t arrived yet. Instead, we’re being treated to an adaptation of Waiting for Godot, with absurd valuations and IPO jokes, while everyone waits around for something, anything that will bail them out.
On December 1st, Gaopeng—a joint venture between Groupon and Tencent—finally made a formal apology for the ‘fake Tissot incident’, over a month after their initial denial. They offered a full refund to everybody that bought a fake Tissot watch from Groupon China as well as give an additional 200 yuan in credit. They could have fixed this problem over a month ago, but instead chose to deny it first, only to be pushed to finally accept it in the end. What took them so long? Let’s take a quick look at Gaopeng’s recent Tissot problem.
In addition to reflecting poorly upon Gaopeng, the incident has further shaken trust in China’s embattled group-buying market.
What are Chinese always reading on their mobile phones in the subway? Chances are it’s a user-generated e-book. Here’s your guide to this innovative and innovative market in China: from the model and existing giants, to newcomers and mobile reading.
Made to Fit Me ships tailored dresses to women worldwide at the China price (100 pounds or 161 dollars). It’s a big, hairy problem–mass market customization in women’s fashion–where many have tried and failed.
“Other companies have been able to do it for men. There’s Indochino, Blank Label, and Shirts My Way–there’s probably about 60 different shirt websites out there. But for women, nobody’s really cracked it,” says Made to Fit Me co-founder Alex Duncan. “There’s quite a few small-scale, lifestyle businesses that operate online, but their website UI is just chronically bad.”
OrderWithMe (tagline: group-buying from factories in China) emerged as victor of the Startup Battlefield at the fantastic TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing conference. Here’s an embed of the pitch deck they used–let it be an inspiration and resource for other entrepreneurs.
