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Why Chinese internet firms are winning India's market
By Chu Daye in New Delhi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/18
Did more in five years than traditional industries did in a decade: exec
Rickshaw drivers wait for business in the streets of New Delhi on March 12. Photo: Chu Daye/GT
Adaptability, efficiency and flexibility are behind a group of Chinese internet companies that have taken the Indian market - the world's next billion-user market - by storm in less than five years, industry executives said.
People might wonder how these companies can compete with global giants such as Facebook and Alphabet Inc head-to-head in the Indian market. But a rundown of the most popular apps will yield an amazingly long list of products developed or invested by a Chinese company, from the popular short-video platform TikTok to UC Browser.
Among the 100 most popular apps in India last year, 44 were fielded by China, up from 18 in 2017, according to media reports.
Land of success
According to Wang Chao, chief business officer of Beijing Shareit Information Technology Co, it all started five years ago, and huge success has come quickly.
"The Chinese market, after periods of fast development, began to get saturated and competition grew stiff," Wang told the Global Times. "From 2015 to 2019, since the Indian technology, media and telecom sector entered rapid development, Chinese capital and companies have dominated the development of India's internet arena."
Compared with infrastructure and manufacturing, the development of the internet industry has the lowest threshold. It's asset-light and does not require a great deal of internationalization capacity like traditional industries, according to Wang.
Measured by the user base and the time users spend on apps, not by profitability, India can be a market too tempting to resist.
"SHAREit, for example, now has 400 million users after just four years of development in India. It started from zero," noted Wang.
According to Wang, Shareit has a battalion of coders in China but no operations in the country.
All of its operations are overseas, with about 1.8 billion users in major contributors such as India and Indonesia.
"In the internet sphere, the Chinese accomplished more in less than five years in India than traditional manufacturing and trading companies did over a decade. While China may not have absolute leadership in internet technology, the nation's business model in the business-to-consumer category is definitely leading the world," Wang said.
Mohammad Fahad Noor, Asia marketing director of Opera Software India Pvt, said the Chinese have admirable qualities in adaptability, efficiency and flexibility.
"China is a super power in internet technology and India is a massive opportunity market. The two working together helps," Noor said. Originally from Norway, Opera is now NASDAQ-listed and Chinese-owned following an acquisition in 2016.
The existing user base is no limit. "If the Chinese keep on investing, the number of users will keep on growing. As we continue to build on [local] languages and products for local markets, more people will come on board," Noor said.
Diversified market
"Imagine a market of over 1 billion people who are just beginning to go online, who've just bought their first smart devices and moved into the wireless network. There is so much demand that hasn't been met by local supply," Wang said in describing the Indian market.
However, Noor said India is a very challenging market, as its users, long exposed to international influences, are picky and care about quality more than quantity. They want to get their news from multiple sources, raising challenges for coders.
Wang agreed, saying that "Chinese engineers always scratch their heads asking why Indians want content in three or more languages! They may want to watch movies in Telugu, short videos in Hindi, and MTV in English."
As a result, companies need to build customized editions to cater for Indians' demand for various languages. Opera uses 12 languages in India, while SHAREit offers content in eight to 10 local languages.
Wang also noted many Indian consumers have zero experience in using smart devices and the country's broadband development lags far behind that of wireless services. "A situation like this forces our coders to figure out how to allow Indian viewers to watch videos in a weak-signal or no-signal environment."
It also involves cross-border teamwork. According to Noor, Opera's Indian team helps coders in China to identify, report and work to resolve issues.
"There is a clear communication between the local team here and guys in China," Noor explained, noting that the local team also builds content, conducts testing, researches user behavior and customizes products.
"For instance, nobody knows cricket better than Indians. Chinese can build products for cricket for India, but we sent people to Beijing to help them build the product. No matter how much research the Chinese do on cricket, they won't have the depth or breadth of knowledge that Indians do," Noor said.
Know it by heart
"We really know this country very well. Not literally. But the China and India markets are so much like each other. Large populations, predominantly young, people with at least some education ... they are just getting urbanized with a strong local culture. There are so many similarities in demand and Chinese companies can quickly grasp the needs of local consumers and land projects," Wang said.
Wang said that Chinese companies or investors typically enjoy a "time machine" effect in that they know what business model will work at which stage.
"Indian counterparts know the what. But they just don't know how."
Experts said Chinese companies owe their success in India to their expertise gained from trial-and-error and lessons learned in the fierce market competition at home.
Issues remain
Like any international operations, there are cultural issues.
According to Noor, the objective should be how the Chinese investors can contribute to global companies.
"Opera has already a global presence. The Chinese come to us with great minds and great technologies, and we join hands together, then expand to global markets," Noor said. India was not the only market that Opera was interested in. The app also ranked first in the news category in Africa.
Wang said as business grows, app service providers are figuring out how to make a profit either through subscriptions or advertising, while not affecting customers' experience.
Noor said the Chinese and Indian teams should communicate more. "The more we talk, the more we get productive."
By Chu Daye in New Delhi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/18
Did more in five years than traditional industries did in a decade: exec
Rickshaw drivers wait for business in the streets of New Delhi on March 12. Photo: Chu Daye/GT
Adaptability, efficiency and flexibility are behind a group of Chinese internet companies that have taken the Indian market - the world's next billion-user market - by storm in less than five years, industry executives said.
People might wonder how these companies can compete with global giants such as Facebook and Alphabet Inc head-to-head in the Indian market. But a rundown of the most popular apps will yield an amazingly long list of products developed or invested by a Chinese company, from the popular short-video platform TikTok to UC Browser.
Among the 100 most popular apps in India last year, 44 were fielded by China, up from 18 in 2017, according to media reports.
Land of success
According to Wang Chao, chief business officer of Beijing Shareit Information Technology Co, it all started five years ago, and huge success has come quickly.
"The Chinese market, after periods of fast development, began to get saturated and competition grew stiff," Wang told the Global Times. "From 2015 to 2019, since the Indian technology, media and telecom sector entered rapid development, Chinese capital and companies have dominated the development of India's internet arena."
Compared with infrastructure and manufacturing, the development of the internet industry has the lowest threshold. It's asset-light and does not require a great deal of internationalization capacity like traditional industries, according to Wang.
Measured by the user base and the time users spend on apps, not by profitability, India can be a market too tempting to resist.
"SHAREit, for example, now has 400 million users after just four years of development in India. It started from zero," noted Wang.
According to Wang, Shareit has a battalion of coders in China but no operations in the country.
All of its operations are overseas, with about 1.8 billion users in major contributors such as India and Indonesia.
"In the internet sphere, the Chinese accomplished more in less than five years in India than traditional manufacturing and trading companies did over a decade. While China may not have absolute leadership in internet technology, the nation's business model in the business-to-consumer category is definitely leading the world," Wang said.
Mohammad Fahad Noor, Asia marketing director of Opera Software India Pvt, said the Chinese have admirable qualities in adaptability, efficiency and flexibility.
"China is a super power in internet technology and India is a massive opportunity market. The two working together helps," Noor said. Originally from Norway, Opera is now NASDAQ-listed and Chinese-owned following an acquisition in 2016.
The existing user base is no limit. "If the Chinese keep on investing, the number of users will keep on growing. As we continue to build on [local] languages and products for local markets, more people will come on board," Noor said.
Diversified market
"Imagine a market of over 1 billion people who are just beginning to go online, who've just bought their first smart devices and moved into the wireless network. There is so much demand that hasn't been met by local supply," Wang said in describing the Indian market.
However, Noor said India is a very challenging market, as its users, long exposed to international influences, are picky and care about quality more than quantity. They want to get their news from multiple sources, raising challenges for coders.
Wang agreed, saying that "Chinese engineers always scratch their heads asking why Indians want content in three or more languages! They may want to watch movies in Telugu, short videos in Hindi, and MTV in English."
As a result, companies need to build customized editions to cater for Indians' demand for various languages. Opera uses 12 languages in India, while SHAREit offers content in eight to 10 local languages.
Wang also noted many Indian consumers have zero experience in using smart devices and the country's broadband development lags far behind that of wireless services. "A situation like this forces our coders to figure out how to allow Indian viewers to watch videos in a weak-signal or no-signal environment."
It also involves cross-border teamwork. According to Noor, Opera's Indian team helps coders in China to identify, report and work to resolve issues.
"There is a clear communication between the local team here and guys in China," Noor explained, noting that the local team also builds content, conducts testing, researches user behavior and customizes products.
"For instance, nobody knows cricket better than Indians. Chinese can build products for cricket for India, but we sent people to Beijing to help them build the product. No matter how much research the Chinese do on cricket, they won't have the depth or breadth of knowledge that Indians do," Noor said.
Know it by heart
"We really know this country very well. Not literally. But the China and India markets are so much like each other. Large populations, predominantly young, people with at least some education ... they are just getting urbanized with a strong local culture. There are so many similarities in demand and Chinese companies can quickly grasp the needs of local consumers and land projects," Wang said.
Wang said that Chinese companies or investors typically enjoy a "time machine" effect in that they know what business model will work at which stage.
"Indian counterparts know the what. But they just don't know how."
Experts said Chinese companies owe their success in India to their expertise gained from trial-and-error and lessons learned in the fierce market competition at home.
Issues remain
Like any international operations, there are cultural issues.
According to Noor, the objective should be how the Chinese investors can contribute to global companies.
"Opera has already a global presence. The Chinese come to us with great minds and great technologies, and we join hands together, then expand to global markets," Noor said. India was not the only market that Opera was interested in. The app also ranked first in the news category in Africa.
Wang said as business grows, app service providers are figuring out how to make a profit either through subscriptions or advertising, while not affecting customers' experience.
Noor said the Chinese and Indian teams should communicate more. "The more we talk, the more we get productive."
