The View | What will the next big tech trend be? ‘Go back in time’ with China

Name: Three trends shaping China's internet from SCMP's China Internet Report 2020
Uploaded: 2021-03-18T21:15:14.000Z
Duration: 6 min 22 s
Description: Three trends shaping China's internet from SCMP's China Internet Report 2020

With China accelerating past the US in 5G deployment, the Chinese consumer internet could be viewed as a new investment ‘time machine’

Betting on the firms copying successful China models could prove a lucrative investment strategy

Reading Time:4 minutes

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A staff member demonstrates Huawei’s new 5G Mate X2 foldable phone at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai on February 23. Despite the US sanctions on Huawei, China will add 1 million 5G base stations this year. Photo: Reuters

Rory Green

Published: 5:15am, 19 Mar 2021Updated: 5:15am, 19 Mar 2021

For 30 years, the advanced development of the American consumer internet has allowed investors to chart the future of non-US tech ecosystems. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son parlayed this into a highly successful investment strategy.

Going “back in time” to place big bets on emerging tech players worked well for Softbank. The rise of Amazon led Son to invest in Alibaba (China), Coupang (South Korea), Tokopedia (Indonesia) and Flipkart (India). Meanwhile, the emergence of Uber inspired lucrative wagers on Didi (China), Grab (Singapore) and Ola (India).

Today, with China accelerating past the US in 5G deployment, the Chinese consumer internet could be viewed as a new investment “time machine”. China’s prospective 5G leadership is important because not only will it create future investment opportunities, it will also set the standards that will guide the global development of 5G, especially in emerging markets.

The second- and third-order impact of the coming technological changes – the “next Amazon and Uber” effects – may appear first in China and subsequently drive structural shifts globally.

06:22

Three trends shaping China's internet from SCMP's China Internet Report 2020

For a long time, the web was American: the US was first on personal computers, created the internet and email, and dominated search, smartphones and social media. The internet connection rate in the US far exceeded that of most other developed markets until as late as 2010.

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.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}The View | What will the next big tech trend be? ‘Go back in time’ with China

The View | What will the next big tech trend be? ‘Go back in time’ with China