IT Industry Expected to Enter a Period of Explosive Growth in 2012
For the entire Chinese IT industry, 2011 was a year of emerging new technologies. Mobile Internet, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing—concepts previously hyped—finally gained a clear outline. Both at the national level and among Internet giants, these technologies and the enormous commercial opportunities they harbor have drawn significant attention, with efforts focused on seizing the high ground of new technologies.
Regarding the future development of the IT industry, many institutions and experts predict that in 2012, the domestic IT industry is expected to enter a new round of explosive growth.
Key IT Players Competing for Position
Mobile Internet—a domain that Lei Jun describes as "ten times the scale of the Internet in the future"—encompasses LBS, mobile e-commerce, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, new mobile IM, mobile operating systems, and more. These terms are not merely segments within the mobile Internet arena; they also signal one market opportunity after another. Throughout 2011, key players in China's IT industry sought to stake out their respective territories around mobile Internet.
In addition to seizing strategic high ground in the mobile Internet sector, cloud computing and the Internet of Things have increasingly become new industrial hotspots. In 2011, cities such as Chengdu took the lead in establishing cloud computing data centers, while Wuxi leveraged its own advantages to further promote various IoT applications. Meanwhile, the three major telecom operators—China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom—integrated these three technology domains and successively launched their respective "Wireless City" strategies.
Taking China Mobile as an example, in 2011 it signed wireless city construction cooperation agreements with 161 cities across 26 provinces. According to the plan, by the end of this year, more than 16 million active users will benefit from wireless cities. China Unicom and China Telecom have also been expanding aggressively across regions, laying out wireless city construction. In terms of applications, the three major operators have fully utilized mobile Internet, cloud computing, and Internet technologies to develop local features based on regional resources, successively launching applications for government affairs, public utilities, transportation, healthcare, education, and more.
Commenting on the various IT industry trends of 2011, veteran Internet expert Xie Wen noted that major vendors have launched phones, operating systems, and various wireless Internet strategies, similar to the earlier browser and input method wars in the industry—essentially aimed at securing entry points to the mobile Internet, obtaining data and users from those entry points, and thereby generating revenue.
New Technologies to Become the Core of Competition
Regarding the industrial layouts that domestic IT giants are pursuing around new technologies such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, Yang Yi, Sales Manager for Greater London at British telecom operator Vodafone, pointed out in an interview with the Economic Information Daily that the various moves by IT companies this year are "a matter of course." According to him, since 2007, Chinese manufacturers such as ZTE and Huawei have begun producing smartphones and selling them in Europe and North America, with impressive performance. With the further proliferation of Google's Android system and the rapid development of the mobile Internet market in Europe and North America, smartphones produced by Chinese manufacturers are increasingly recognized by foreign consumers. Currently, China's mobile Internet market is beginning to take off, and consumer demand for smartphones will grow day by day. In such an environment, Chinese manufacturers will certainly not give up such a huge market.
According to a report by the analysis firm IDC, in 2012, emerging technologies such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things will become the mainstream of industry development. Companies that fail to seize this trend risk being eliminated. The IDC report also noted that since these new technologies currently lack unified standards and business models, rare opportunities are left for companies in the industry. For some small companies, it is highly possible to achieve rapid growth by leveraging new technologies and business models, and to grow into new industry giants. Existing industry giants, if they miss the opportunity, may well be reduced to second-tier enterprises.