China's total number of internet users crept up 2.3% to 632 million by the end of June, from 618 million at the end of 2013, according to a CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) internet development statistics report (pdf). The number of China's internet users going online with a mobile device — such as a smartphone or tablet — has overtaken those doing so with a personal computer (PC) for the first time. Compared to the 53.58 million new Internet users added in 2013, the increase in the first six months of 2014 was relatively small which was due, in part, to declining smartphone sales according to state-run Xinhua news agency. According to IDC, China is the largest smartphone market in the world and will likely account for nearly one-third of the expected 1.8 billion smartphones shipped in 2018. More analysis below--
Computerworld: "...Although China has long reigned as the country with the world's largest Internet population, the services are still struggling to take off in the rural areas, where about 450 million people never go online, said the CNNIC in its bi-annual report. Total Internet penetration in China is at 46.9 percent. This is far lower than the U.S, which has a penetration rate of 87 percent, according to Internet World Stats. Many of these non-Internet users in China have low education levels, and have little need to surf the Web, the research group added...."
The Times of India: "... online mobile services with rapid growth from the end of 2013 include music, video, gaming, search, and group-buying, all of which experienced double-digit increases. The fastest growing services were mobile payment, where users shot up 63.4%, online banking, with a 56.4% rise, and mobile travel booking, which was up 65.4%... Users of microblogs such as Tencent Weibo... fell for the second six-month period in a row, by 1.9% to 275 million. They numbered 331 million at the end of June last year before the government in September started clamping down on "online rumours" which it said threatened social stability... mobile messaging apps such as Tencent's WeChat have since become venues of choice for users who want to express views without fear of retribution."
China Voice: More Internet companies should go abroad - Xinhua | English.news.cn: "During his trip to Brazil last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping, together with his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff, witnessed the launch of the Portuguese version of China's Baidu search engine. It is not the first time that a Chinese Internet company has launched a non-Chinese search engine, but it is the first time that a Chinese state leader has helped promote its services. More Chinese Internet companies should compete internationally, as they now have the ability and can make the world's cyber environment more balanced and just...."
some Chinese Internet and Technology companies:
http://www.alibaba.com/
http://www.baidu.com/
http://www.jd.com/
http://www.lenovo.com/
http://www.mi.com/ (Xiaomi)
http://tencent.com/
http://www.weibo.com/
more info: Top 30: China's most valuable Internet Companies - Web2Asia
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