The battle for the internet in the coming years will be in China. With nearly 100 million users already and showing nothing by growth, many companies with business on the net are building models for China. In a recent interview, Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley provided some insight into where that market is going.
The interview with BusinessWeek provided some great information and some predictions about the future of China and the internet. She talked about the excitement of investing in the internet industry in China, saying it’s the no. 2 market and it will probably be no. 1 in two to five years.
She also covered details about the lack of innovation in China so far regarding the internet. Foreign companies just took their existing model and moved it to China. Now, the China market is starting to see some of the innovation missing thus far.
Some industry watchers are wondering how long it will take a couple of guys working out of their dorm room to create the next Google or Apple or other company.
She also discussed the fate of companies like Yahoo, Google and eBay and their forays into China and where she thinks those will go. She does think Google and eBay, based on the nature of the two companies will run into some ideological issues with the Chinese government in the future.
It’s a great article and she does discuss the excitement and buzz about the Chinese market, mentioning specifically Baidu. The issue being the intense speculation surrounding Baidu and other companies as they begin to make their presence known.
In any event, China will be the market to watch in the future as more and more people jump on to the net and start looking for the next great wave to surf.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
