Chinese tech firms flexed their global muscle in 2015. Here’s what they did.

Chinese companies expanded globally in 2015. Photo credit: Whatsername?

As we approach a new year in 2016, let’s take a quick look back at how Chinese tech companies spent their time outside their home ground. China had an unpredictable year, with a slowing economy and an intense crackdown on corruption, but the big four (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi) looked elsewhere to drive market share and revenue. Here’s where they went.

Baidu global strategy centers on mobile

Photo credit: Esther Vargas

Baidu’s global ambitions have been clear for a while, with the launch of search engines in Brazil, and beta testing in Thailand and Egypt. But instead of building on their search credentials, Baidu stepped up their app game in 2015, growing their app store out of Indonesia and into India.

In fact, India has been a big focus of Baidu this year, with their new office in New Delhi barely a few months old. And with Baidu looking to establish themselves in India for the long term, the company has already started localizing quickly; their appstore in India now works in Hindi as well as English.

Their international app MAUs (monthly active users) has grown to reach 260 million users globally (excluding China) with a 56 percent year-on-year growth. Their largest markets are India, Indonesia and Brazil. With the company monetizing through advertising or paid apps, the apps registered a 600 percent increase in revenue between the second and first halves of 2015 (exact figures undisclosed).

Baidu also acquired Japanese native advertising company PopIn this year. It’s estimated to have spent close to US$8 million to do so.

It’s a leap for the company that shut down their Japan search business only two months prior to this deal. On closer inspection, this deal has nothing to do with their search business. PopIn’s proprietary READ technology (which detects each component of an article like image, text, etc. and records reading time of the user based on the viewable area on a users’ screen) is the main focus. It’s a more indepth way of recording metrics for native content, and Baidu expects to implement this across a range of products in the coming future. It’s another weapon in their arsenal to beef up their advertising revenue.

Baidu also started to work with both Facebook and Google this year. The reason? To acquire more users for their international apps. It’s a testament to Baidu’s pragmatic international approach, and a clear indication that they are serious about making an impact outside China.

But does this mean that Facebook and Google are working with Baidu to gain a presence in the Chinese market? Not really.

Alibaba consolidates closer to home

Alibaba lead some of the most high profile investments this year, with tons of money going into home grown Chinese companies like Youku Tudou and Suning, but it was the international investments that Alibaba made that really turned heads.

In a bid to compete with Amazon in India, Alibaba backed Paytm and Snapdeal, leading many to wonder when and if Alibaba would actually enter India under its own name. With offices opened in the UK, Italy, Germany, France and two more possible offices in the United States, the company doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to establish a presence in emerging markets just yet.

Still, their highest profile acquisition this year was that of the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post, in a move reminescent of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post. Reaction to the news was decidedly mixed.

Tencent has a quiet year

In comparison, Tencent had a relatively quiet year. Most of Tencent’s global ambition came through investments in upcoming startups in China and India. Tencent did invest in Canadian messenger app Kik in a possible effort to expand their homegrown WeChat’s audience to more than just the Chinese in China.

In a telling move, Tencent invested heavily (on it’s own and through Didi Kuaidi) in Lyft, the Uber competitor, setting up the global anti-Uber alliance that came about later in the year. Tencent also dipped their toe into Cyanogen. Could there be a Tencent phone in the offing?

Xiaomi makes in India

Xiaomi moved into India in a big way in 2015. Photo credit: Dennis Jarvis

In surprising news, Xiaomi was knocked out of first place in China by Huawei. Which is probably why the company doubled down on key international markets in 2015: Brazil and India. Xiaomi started manufacturing phones in Brazil to serve their first market outside of Asia, and quickly followed that up with a manufacturing plant in India.

What’s next for Xiaomi? CEO Lei Jun wants to be the top smartphone maker in India by 2018, but they are also looking to enter the Middle East in 2016. Expect more expansion as China’s market slows and more people buy iPhones.

Baidu is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best and most equitable way for people to find what they’re looking for.

Baidu’s international mobile products include DU Battery Saver, DU Speed Booster, Photo Wonder, ES File Explorer and more, as well as its Android app store MoboMarket. Cumulatively, Baidu’s international products have hundreds of millions of frequent users.