This week, America may have been focused on whether or not eating chicken affects gay marriage, but the rest of the world was worried about the Olympics. You might think that has nothing to do with Asian tech news, and you’d normally be right, but this week saw one of Asia’s biggest tech luminaries stepping outside his comfort zone to address the Olympics in a pretty provocative way. What the hell are we talking about? Read on…
Steven’s pick: Smartphone sales up 199% in China this year, Samsung sells the most
I know that Android is winning the OS wars here in China. I see it in every subway, every restaurant, every bus stop, every dash I make into Starbucks or Costa Coffee. OK, I see an insane amount of iPhones among middle-class Chinese, but Android is truly winning out thanks to its broader price points, and it’s good to have actual sales stats from Canalys to back that up. Another interesting aspect of these new smartphone sales stats for China is that three companies from mainland China – ZTE, Lenovo, and Huawei – are in the top five.
Willis’ pick: Twitter to copy Sina Weibo?
This is an old topic but somehow it is still refreshing to revisit Twitter’s over-minimalistic (or restrictive) features again, especially when compared with China’s Sina Weibo. This opinion piece by Charlie sticks in my mind so I’m choosing it as my news of the week. It also shows how much Chinese products have advanced over the years. This will not be the only Chinese product which we find better than its U.S counterparts. More to come in the future, I believe.
Rick’s pick: In Olympics Outburst, Chinese Celeb Posts Personal Info of US Swim Coach on Weibo
As much as I wish this didn’t happen, it’s hard to overlook Li Kaifu’s very massive, and very public brain fart, pointing his followers to the email address and physical address of a US swim coach. For someone who headed up the world’s biggest internet company in the world’s most populous country, to think this would not explode in his face Jokey Smurf style — well, that’s a blunder that you might expect from a nasty fenqing commenter, or from one’s uncle down the road who just bought a ‘puter.
Charlie’s pick: Smartphone sales up 199% in China this year
Yup, I’m with Steven this week. This data from Canalys is just the latest in a long line of indications that it would be hard to underestimate the growth of smartphones and the mobile web in China. This is my news of the week because the proliferation of smartphones with cameras and internet connections is going to radically change – indeed, is already radically changing – the way news works and information is controlled in China. If the government thinks Weibo is tough to control now; wait a few years, when there are 600 million people with smartphones and everything that happens publicly is recorded and uploaded to the web within minutes. China is heading towards that future at breakneck speed.
Joshua’s pick: Lovebyte Launched in Singapore
I was going to ditto Charlie and Steven’s pick for this week especially stressing the Samsung surge, but after thinking a while, the LoveByte app is also interesting. Though it only has around 1,000 users, and will have a tough fight against similar apps like Between, I’m really curious if it expands to Indonesia and whether it’ll work here. Hopefully the founders and the team can answer that question in the near future!
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
