With a bigger China editorial team, we’ve got a ton of cool news for you this week. Thanks to Steven, Paul, Charlie, and Josh for all their insights into the ever-changing landscape in China.
1. Struggling to steal momentum from WeChat, Alibaba pushes its own messaging app
Guess who’s getting into the messaging app battle? Alibaba. Is it possible that we’ll start to see Alibaba use a kind of Kindle-like strategy with its chat app, pushing content and purchases on top of a platform everybody uses? Well, Alibaba has to win the chat app battle first.
2. No, China is NOT unblocking Facebook (or anything else) in Shanghai free trade zone
Once again, the international press jumped the gun on this one. We really need to start reading the fine print.
3. China will get 4G before year’s end, says MIIT chief
Fast mobile internet coming to China very soon. With mobile adoption at the top of the world, this is big for China’s mobile users.
4. Xiaomi opens biggest ever service center in Beijing, looks like a store (Updated)
As much as Xiaomi’s CEO doesn’t want to be called the Apple of China, it’s interesting that the company is opening an Apple-like store. It’s an unbeatable model, after all. Google and Microsoft have also copied it.
5. Alibaba purchases Chinese cloud service provider Kanbox for an undisclosed sum
In other words, China’s tech giants are all getting really into cloud. Are we about to see more big data and services by next year’s end?
6. Report: Suning to buy PPTV for around $400 million
The intersection of television and tech is of course a huge potential.
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