Tencent president claims China is “blazing its own trail” in mobile use
In a recent interview with Mobile Marketing, SY Lau - President of Tencent’s online media group - claimed Chinese mobile internet users were far ahead of their counterparts in developed countries, thanks to heavy investment in 4G networks and cheap smartphones.
“China used to follow the US in terms of Internet innovation in the PC era, but this has changed now”, claims Lau, who cites Tencent’s WeChat messaging app as a prime example. The ubiquitous app significantly boosted visibility in the mobile banking sector by adding a “red envelope” gifting feature that allowed users to gift people in their network.
Weishi, an app similar to Vine that allows users to share short videos, also had more than 160m views on Valentine’s Day, creating more opportunities for marketers to connect with a highly targeted audience.
However, a recent study from Forrester Research claims that sophisticated mobile marketing programs with data-heavy and intricate apps will not appeal to Chinese consumers.
Forrester analyst Wang Xiaofeng claimed there would be major challenges for mobile marketers in China. Firstly, while 4G networks are widespread, only 24% of Chinese consumers use public Wi-Fi hotspots provided by telecoms companies, making mobile engagement less “on the go” than in other countries.
Secondly, Chinese users tend towards data-light apps, such as instant messaging services and social media platforms, and would be less inclined to use data-heavy apps that will be ineffective in most locations.
Wang claims that mobile marketers would be better off partnering with a third-party provider to create their apps, as overall design, implementation and maintenance of an app can be costly. Predicting an app’s popularity before it is released is also difficult.