Voice messaging was an early feature that helped WeChat gain traction. Now, it is seen as the province of seniors, but voice commands and video are regarded as critical to bringing the mobile internet to the world’s next billion users.
Articles
Apps that supply news streams tailored to individual users by algorithms are China’s fastest-growing mobile segment, sparking an industrywide war to grab users’ precious screen time.
China Circuit
China Tech Workers Wanted: Women Need Not Apply
Allegations of gender discrimination and sexual harassment have rocked Silicon Valley recently, but the torrent of news has barely registered as water-cooler talk in China’s tech industry, Li Yuan writes.
While Uber is trying to dig out from scandals and curtail losses, its former China rival, Didi Chuxing, is spending billions of dollars on other startups around the world. But is it worth $50 billion?
China Circuit
Get Used to Apple Bowing Down to Chinese Censors
Apple became the standout China success story among big U.S. tech companies partly because the Chinese government views it as a hardware company. Now it is obviously more than that.
Chinese tech companies see voice-activated products as the gateway to a future where platforms animated by artificial intelligence will power homes, cars and offices. But to some, this first wave in the AI revolution already looks frothy.
China Circuit
Censors Scrub Korean Soaps Off China’s Screens
Beijing’s internet censors are now targeting foreign movies and TV shows that are popular with young Chinese as it tries reinsert Communist ideology into public life.
With the U.S. retail industry in a state of flux, American retailers and e-commerce companies should take a look at China, where companies have been weaving together the online and offline worlds.
China Circuit
Highflying Tech Entrepreneur Crashes Back to Earth
Jia Yueting likes to say that Apple is outdated, China’s big tech companies are innovation killers and his company is the real disrupter. But now, his dreams are fading away due to a cash crunch and worried investors.
Alibaba and Tencent’s market values are higher than those of the state-owned enterprises that dominate the Chinese economy. That gives them strength, but also makes them vulnerable.
While censorship, protectionism and copying are often the first things that many foreigners associate with Chinese tech, thinking beyond them is vital to understanding the Chinese internet.
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