Did Pony Ma just crowdsource Tencent's future R&D direction?

  • Ma’s questions come at a turning point for Tencent, which recently announced it was reshuffling its business to focus more on the industrial internet

Celia Chenin Shenzhen
Pony Ma Huateng, the founder, chairman and chief executive of Tencent Holdings, has said the next era of the internet will be the industrial internet, in which the firm will “connect industries and consumers to build a more open ecosystem”. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Tencent Holdings’ low profile founder Pony Ma Huateng has posted questions on Zhihu, China’s answer to Quora, asking about future internet development – perhaps looking for inspiration after the video games giant recently pivoted towards the industrial internet and away from a reliance on the consumer market.

The billionaire chairman and chief executive of Tencent, which has lost US$220 billion in market value after China cracked down on gaming this year, publicly asked what kind of basic sciences will impact the internet industry in the coming decade and what changes will result from the combination and innovation of the industrial and consumer internet.

Print option is available for subscribers only.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.