Quick Overview
• 09:00 — shortly after the start, Kaiser Kuo (@kaiserkuo), the very same MC from last year’s CHINICT, started the whole thing by introducing, in this very order, Franck Nazikian) (CHINICT President), Xia Yingqi (Director of the Zhongguancun Science Park), Alison Birkett (1st Counsellor ICT, EU Commission), Paul Taylor (Commercial Officer ICT, US Embassy), and Song Ling (Chairwoman, China Electronic Commercial Association, MII). Some couldn’t make it on time and sent greetings using other folks present at the scene.
• 09:50 — Microsoft then came in with their Company Focus, and Nigel Burton, General Manager Evangelism at the Redmond giant, took the stage with fascinating demos of the new Windows 7.
• 10:50 — The first Company Focus then centered around Dangdang, which some prefer to call China’s Amazon.com, even though Joyo - Amazon.cn already exists. Dangdang is an early player, coming in already as of 1999.
• 11:10 — For the next hour, then CEO of Appleap, Zili Ren, interviewed, one-on-one, folks from Kaixin001, 360quan, Playfish, Nihaoareyou and Discuz.
• Lunch came at 12:10.
Detailled tweet summaries will follow.
Intro (09:00 - 09:50)
The event got underway just after 09:00. Kaiser Kuo (@kaiserkuo) hosted the show, as he did last year. He introduced Franck, the President of CHINICT, on stage, who then announced that the 6th edition of CHINICT will take place May 27 and 28, 2010. Franck also thanked all partners, media and attendees for coming. Franck noted that there were lots of influence at the event, which is also government-involved. The world’s now catching up with China, the new hub for IT entrepreneurship. Franck threw out an interesting word: China-ization and mentioned the Kaixin001 IPO, as well as that of Tencent, as “just the tip of the iceberg in the worldwide revolution”. He also mentioned a who’s who of the bigs: these included Microsoft, Sina, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, the London Stock Exchange and plenty of others, who share the same vision and are united at CHINICT. Franck noted that the period of copy-and-paste is definitely over for companies entering China. He also noted that CHina is on the track to becoming the major superpower in the IT entrepreneurship world, and notes unlimited opportunities, especially during these trying times. This was a very upbeat start to the event by the head of the event himself.
The morning next got underway with quick speeches from Xia Yingqi, director of the Zhongguancun Science Park. Actually, Xia Yingqi herself was not there; she was represented by a deputy instead. The Zhongguancun Science Park speaker was grateful that everyone was able to make it, and presented a few facts and figures about the science park, which now hosts over 20,000+ IT enterprises. The speaker also threw a question about internationalization. and promoted a June 9, 2009 event where embassy personnel from five nations will do a nation-to-nation IT intro. The speaker spoke at great length and most of the speech was filled with gratitude, with the “big topic” touched upon only a few times during the talk, a trait common amongst Chinese heads.
The EU speaker, Alison Birkett, who was the first ICT counsellor of the EU commission, was next, briefing those present on the EU, China, and ICT works between the two. She mentioned several big names in the Beijing community, especially Jeremy Goldkorn (@goldkorn) and David Wolf (@wolfgroupasia). She mentioned that China and the US built up intensive ICT research institutes, and that about 30 projects are running under this framework. The EU is looking for the best tech research impact in the world, and this is done with an open research program. Trade and IPR were also mentioned, as well as the fact that there’s a wide participation of Chinese industries and organizations in all this. The projects work both ways, too: through these projects, the Chinese will get a better understanding of the EU, which helps in getting Chinese companies abroad.
Next up was the ICT Commercial Officer of the United States Embassy, Paul Taylor. Paul started by mentioning new US officials, especially the new US Ambassador to the PRC, and conveyed his greetings to CHINICT. He noted that China achieved “unprecedented, dramatic economic growth”. Paul hinted at the large number of US companies sponsoring the event, and noted that these kinds (as in corporate, commercial) of ties go deeper than mere governmental links. He thanked the organizers for bringing together the best of IT and exposing them in the developing Chinese ICT sector.
Last but not least, Madame Song Ling, Chairwoman of China Electronic Commercial Association, went onstage with a bilingual speech. She noted that China has embraced e-commerce and entrepreneurship from early on and wished all the best to the event.
Microsoft Demo: Windows 7, Digital Ink and More
If you thought Microsoft was merely a bad copycat, Nigel Burton, General Manager of Evangelism, changed your point of view. Apple has a fair bit of catch-up to play after this kick-ass prezo, which featured the new Multi Touch-friendly Windows 7, Digital Ink, and a lot more. As there were plenty of new stuff, Nigel warned: “We’re testing our limits here; some things will go wrong,” maybe as a sidenote to the International Incident that ensured after Windows 98 showed the Blue Screen of Death to masses via TV about ten years ago. Nigel was the only person to do a PowerPoint prezo, and even this one was only a semi-prezo, which was, for once, a good thing.
Technology has been changing a lot faster in the 20 years since Nigel has been part of Microsoft. Going back two decades, when black-and-green CRT screens were the norm, Microsoft wanted everyone to have color screens. Now, not only does everyone have a color screen, but we’re predicting the death of printed books in the next 10 years — which, if you think of it, sounds pretty scary. Interesting note: this is probably less of an impact in China, where there’s less inertia with “legacy technology”.
What trends are important? Nigel mentioned three centered on ubiquity of broadband connectivity: Always connected, social presence as well as a natural UI.
Nigel then let us in on a MIcrosoft North Star video, known otherwise as a Vision Video. These things come only once every five years and are very much an internal thing. They’re called North Star videos as they steer employees in new directions. The video, A Glimpse Ahead, shows a world where screens are ubiquitous — but are also organically fitting in with everyday life. There was much less The Jetsons here and far more where screens were in actual use, helping out with the users.
The video started out in a school in Mumbai, where everything’s automatically translated. We’ve kids talking worlds away and learning about water and sunlight. Then we are shown a business traveller, on a plane, finding out what her kid’s studying at school. Touch screens seem everywhere. We see how every device that surrounds these people is a surface on which interaction with team and friends is made possible.
We’re next treated to an incoming passenger at the Hong Kong International Airport who finds his way to the downtown meeting place. Even a direct video link on his palmtop is possible. We then see how virtual ink comes into play and how that plays into how teams are working worldwide. And because both sides have communications history on record, they know how they came to know each other.
Even more amazing was how the newspaper was presented. This is now just electronic ink in an electronic home. You can even copy and paste using a wand on to the wall, and paste this in the e-newspaper. Sound futuristic? It’s actually possible when you come to think of it. Think of it as “grab and shoot” taken to a new level.
Lots of things that were just so The Minority Report came to being in this North Star video, which was truly amazing. The video conveyed much more than just a “mere” PowerPoint prezo. This was shown on a PC running Windows 7.
Interestingly enough, Nigel still refers to Bill Gates as “boss”.
Electronic ink was talked about to some length. Boarding passes are to be electronic ink and RFID-based in future. RFID used to cost tens of dollars just years ago; now, it’s a fraction of a cent. E-fingerprints were also shown in authentication systems (electrowetting via e-ink), as well as active workspaces and dynamic content views.
Incredibly enough, much of this technology is in existence today (although they’re not in mass production yet). Bendable, unbreakable, transparent displays are reality in HP and the Arizona State University. Telescopic pixes, which support large-format, tiled displays, are reality are Microsoft Research. Much of the technology seen in the video are just an extension of technologies which are “hot” now. In 3 to 4 years’ time, that technology will be mainstream.
But just talking about the future as a generalized “whole” wasn’t good enough. Nigel then mentioned the Vision for China, where it was revealed that the Redmond giant’s working in western CHhna with the government in producing subsidized personal computers. There were lines of folks who wanted to try out a PC or Windows. (DF: Apple, where the **** are you!?) Atom-based netbooks, as well as netbooks available now for “just” CNY 1,300, were mentioned.
There are more phone users than computer users in China, Nigel mentioned, and he hinted that it wouldn’t be surprising to see a massive adoption in laptops or netbooks as phone-only people also get computers. Nigel also mentioned that we’ll see the true convergence of the computer and the phone, and mentions the iPhone and Google (Android).
Demoes were next done for Windows 7, where Hong Qiao demoed the new OS. The new OS is relatively — well, new, so things were a bit slow. However, auto window resizing were shown — a smart, if somewhat very new, feature. A Nokia mobile phone was also connected to demonstrate mobile connectivity. However, Nigel refrained form doing a full edu pitch on the new OS, commenting that it’s “not my job today to teach you about Windows 7″.
The Web and Mesh were mentioned as phenomena of change, along with the Internet. The live demo next showed people drawing on the screen using fingers. Nigel noted that the Live Mesh is very much “devices, data, applications and people”. He noted: “This is going to be especially powerful in China, where people are growing up with this technology. Nigel then mentioned about Net cafés (although there are more wifi hotspots out there.” Cloud coding was mentioned.
Next, kids were invited to give the new OS, still unreleased officially, out for a spin by touch-creating an electric circuit (this is safe!) as part of an electricity lesson.
More figures from the Microsoft prezo:
• 1 billion people on the planet have their own computer
• 2 more billion have access to computers
• 3 billion people (that’s a further 3 billion) are locked out of computer access
To end the demo:
• Nigel mentioned the power of China, mentioning the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics (and how Microsoft was involved)
• China is producing “world-class software”; there are 30,000 - 40,000 small IT companies Microsoft knows about in China. “World-class in every sense.”
• Nigel mentioned the BizSpark program, where software’s offered for free at first (but Microsoft has to take a USD 100 program offering at exit) for three full years.
The projector was then taken away as other prezos during the day took the form of one-to-one or one-to-many interviews.
One-to-One: Dangdang
Jeremy Goldkorn (@goldkorn) next hosted a one-to-one live interview with Dangdang, known also as the “Amazon.com of China” (although Amazon has a presence with Joyo as Amazon.cn!). Before this, Kaiser did a plug for Linkool Labs’s Juice plugin for Firefox.
The interview was done with Dangdang’s VP, Chen Tanghua and features the following highlights:
• Chen first joined Marketing Proctor & Gamble before moving onto Sina (1999-2003), doing marketing, new business development, and fee service business. Then Chen headed for Nokia (doing games) before finally popping into Dangdang in 2006.
• Dangdang is now offering “preread books”, a function not unlike Amazon.com’s Look Inside.
• e-commerce is big in China, and has grown since 2007. This has come a long way since the 1999 scene, when most Chinese had no credit cards. This was solved through the availability of COD (cash on delivery). This was also good for the Chinese, who felt secure once you pay for your stuff when you get it. He mentioned that at least for B2C, payment’s no longer a big issue.
• e-commerce started “splitting” into B2C, C2C and even B2B2C already back in 1999 and 2000
• B2B2C came into place after companies started opening stores on C2C sites such as Taobao. This is the change in the B2C platform.
• Dangdang is a “comprehensive” site which started out with “just” books, then going into CDs and, since 2004, over dozens of items. Now you can even buy food and electronics on the site!
• Dangdang has entered into more and more strategic partnership agreements.
• e-commerce is still “just” 1% of all commerce in China despite the recent growth.
• The “typical” Dangdang client is well-educated, has a good job, and is on average between 25-30. There’s nearly as many male users as female users.
• Late morning (around 10:00 - 12:00), early afternoon and early evening are period where most people use Dangdang; most access is from the office.
• Books are selling well as of late, especially “social utility” (reference?) books. The economic crisis has actually meant that novels and business books are doing better.
One-to-One: Social Networking - Kaixin001
From this point onwards, all interviews were conducted by Zili Ren, CEO of Appleap. The next interview was with Liu Qian, deputy manager at Kaixin001. Of note:
• Differences were mentioned between “Kaixin” and “Kaixin001″.
• Kaixin001 users are very much faithful users: there are 8 million user logins every day. Most users are 25-35 years old.
• On Liu Qian himself, he graduated in 1996 and worked at first for the government. This didn’t work out, so he next did something non-gov related and eventually ended up with Kaixin001.
• Why Kaixin001? Three reasons: 1. Concept (Kaixin001 wants its folks to “be happy” on the planet); 2. Trust in the folks that run Kaixin; 3. Team as a whole; products first.
• He’s been part of Kaixin “just” since February 2009. In the company, in fact, are lots of folks from Sina.
• The lawcase with Kaixin and Kaixin001 was involved. He mentions that he wants more folks to understand what an SNS is; competitions is not bad,b ut it can’t be evil.
One-to-One: Social Networking - 360quan
Dan Brody, CEO of 360quan.com, was next interviewed. Highlights:
• The name “360quan” came into being, especially with the “quan” moniker, because “quanzi” in Chinese meant “social circle” (”quan” is an abbreviation).
• There’s a fair bit of similarity between 360quan.com and 51.com and QQ, but 360quan.com is different as it’s targeting itself at “90s kids” (young folks who were born in the 1990s).
• The 90s kids use “Martianspeak”, which is essentially bastardized or distorted Chinese mixed with foreign languages. Think of this as a bad mix between Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Japanese and Korean, just to begin with. There is, in fact, a translator for “Martianspeak” on the site for those who don’t just get the lingo.
• 360quan gives you a place to express yourself. (”They’ve small houses, so they need that space to express themselves.”)
• Regarding developers, 360quan lashed out at Apple in terms of development and platform. (It could be Apple’s development is just too restrictive, but then this is no time or place for an Apple bashing.)
One-to-One: Social Networking - Playfish
Are Mack Growen, a Norwegian from Trømso, next was interviewd about Playfish. Pointers of note:
• The site hosts 25 million unique monthly users.
• They recently made an iPhone entry; they mainly do social games.
• Social games are not just about viral social distribution; social games, which is more a bit like “board games” or “card games”, but in a 2.0 context, are much more based on your friends and live on an SNS site. These are no, let’s say, random shoot-’em-ups. The goal here is not to kill time or to escape, but to socialize and communicate.
• Playfish has a creative studio in Beijing. They want to bring games to China. They’ve spread out and launched offices worldwide virtually immediately on launch. They’re in a USD 50 billion games industry.
• The business model is a mix between ads and microtransactions.
• All Playfish games were Top Ten on Facebook at some time. They’ve also a support site outside Facebook and get lots of communications as well as feature requests.
• Growen on “patience” in bringing the stuff to China: “It’s going to take time for sure.” He next mentions both a short and a long time horizon.
One-to-One: Social Networking - Nihaoareyou
This is one SNS with a smart name: both Nihao (Chinese for “Hi”) and “How are you” are in the name — good mix. Jonathan Jenkins, the CEO, was next interviewed. Highlighters:
• Nihaoareyou just launched beat in April 2008 and is a cross-cultural SNS. Folks watch videos and play games in one site.
• Monetization: Education is very important to Nihaoareyou; they bridge the gap between the US and China. (Often, we’re just treated to “only” CCTV or CNN.) With education and fun both present at the same time, monetization, which is important, comes in the form both micropayments and premium services.
• You can also vote while watching a clip and buy items that are referred to immediately; this is, in fact, interaction with entertainment and brands.
• Nihaoareyou started at school gatherings, where thousands of kids gathered. The fact that they wanted Nihaoareyou people’s email addresses kind of gave them the idea for communications and hence an SNS was born. Offline events take the form of performance, singing, dancing and taping live shows for the website.
One-to-One: Social Networking - Discuz
Finally, Comsenz, which produces Discuz, a popular BBS software, had its CEO, Dai Zhikang, take the final interview of the morning. Notes:
• Over 1 million BBSs in China use Discuz; they’re a big player. This is why Discuz is a very familiar name in the Chinese BBS environment.
• Comsenz regards a win-win situation as very important.
• How do they make money? The software’s free for individual webmasters but fee-based for enterprises.
• Interesting political statement: Class consciousness is still very much part of Chinese society. (This is despite the establishment of the communist republic in 1949.)
• In terms of the future, Comsenz admit it’s somewhat lost; things might pick up about 2 to 3 years after the financial crisis.
This concludes a look at morning discussions and presentations on Day 1 of CHINICT 2009.
