Seven hundred and fifty million people. That’s a big number.
When you consider the size of China’s mobile market, estimated at 750 million heads, it’s no wonder companies like Lenovo are targeting the country first with new mobile devices. Earlier this year Lenovo began selling its LePhone smartphone in China, and this week says it will release an Android-based tablet, the LePad, by year’s end.
Lenovo’s chairman has said the company can win a beachhead in China partly because Apple hasn’t been focused there. According to IDG News Service, Apple will begin selling the iPad in Hong Kong this week, but has not made its plans clear for mainland China.
The opportunity for technology and service providers in China is mammoth, but implementation of modern infrastructure has lagged behind other countries. 3G wireless service, for example, has only been available for about a year, and uptake has not met expectations. This week, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology disclosed that the country had only 25 million people using 3G wireless technology.
Why? Information Week reported a dearth of 3G devices and compelling services, high prices and incompatible technologies. Qualcomm, which is investing heavily in China and plans to open an R&D facility in Shanghai, hopes to positively influence at least one of the challenges facing 3G in China. Last month the company announced a partnership with Web portal SINA, to build an app store featuring content and services which should give users a reason to use 3G.
Some pundits say that, despite its rocky relationship with the Chinese government, Google’s mobile platform will eventually dominate in China. Writing in TechCrunch, Richard Yu opines that Android is braced for dominance. ”A combination of drastic price drops on Android phones and custom Chinese mobile apps supported by the massive domestic market is bound to push Android past the entrenched leaders, setting the tone for how the mobile Internet is built and interacted with around the world.”
Lenovo, of course, is a Chinese company and has an inherent local advantage. But its focus on the massive market should serve as an example to any tech company looking to prosper in the mobile economy.
Lisa
