From China Daily Mail blog: Apple CEO wants to make less products in China.
Related posts:
29/05/2012
* China’s Weibo microblog introduces user contracts
BBC News: “China’s biggest microblogging service has introduced a code of conduct explicitly restricting the type of messages that can be posted. Weibo – which resembles Twitter – took the action after local authorities criticised “unfounded” rumours posted by some users.
Reports suggest a credit score system will also be introduced with points deducted for rule breaches. Repeat offenders face having their accounts deleted. The services parent, Sina Corp, says it has more than 300 million registered users. Users are reported to start with 80 points – they gain more by taking part in promotional activities, but lose points if they break any of the rules. It is reported that if a subscribers points fell below 60 a “low credit” warning would appear on their microblog, leading to the possible cancellation of their account if it hit zero. If they “behaved” for two consecutive months their score is reported to return to 80.”
This is a sign of the authorities trying to restrain the internet in China, but a hardcore group of people will still find ways to get round the restraints,” Dr Kerry Brown, head of the Asia Programme at the Chatham House think tank, told the BBC. “There is a tradition of indirect criticism in which people make points using coded references. I very much doubt these rules will change anything.””
via BBC News – Chinas Weibo microblog introduces user contracts.
Related articles
30/04/2012
* China launches two navigation satellites
Xinhua: “China successfully launched two satellites into space at 4:50 a.m. Beijing Time Monday, the 12th and 13th satellites for its Beidou global navigation and positioning network, the launch center said.
The launch of Long March 3B Rocket, Xichang Satellite Center, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Beidou-2 satellites, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was boosted by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and has entered the scheduled orbit. It is the first time China has launched two navigation satellites with one rocket, and the two satellites will help to improve the accuracy of the Beidou, or Compass system, the center said in a statement. China will launch three more satellites for the Beidou network this year and a global satellite positioning and navigation system will be completed in 2020 with more than 30 orbiters, the statement said. Monday’s mission marked the 160th flight of Chinas Long March series of carrier rockets.”
via China launches two navigation satellites – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
China continues on its path to reduce reliance on Western hi-tech.
Related post: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/04/29/china-plans-national-unified-cpu-architecture/
Related articles
- China launches 11th satellite for independent navigation system (gpsdaily.com)
- ISRO bets on satellite navigation for aviation services (spacemart.com)
- China’s satellite navigation sector annual output predicted to reach 35 bln USD in 2015 (spacedaily.com)
- https://chindia-alert.org/prognosis/innovation/
29/04/2012
* China plans national, unified CPU architecture
Extreme Technology: “According to reports from various industry sources, the Chinese government has begun the process of picking a national computer chip instruction set architecture ISA.
This ISA would have to be used for any projects backed with government money — which, in a communist country such as China, is a fairly long list of public and private enterprises and institutions, including China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world. The primary reason for this move is to lessen China’s reliance on western intellectual property.
There are at least five existing ISAs on the table for consideration — MIPS, Alpha, ARM, Power, and the homegrown UPU — but the Chinese leadership has also mooted the idea of defining an entirely new architecture. The first meeting to decide on a nationwide ISA, attended by government officials and representatives from academic groups and companies such as Huawei and ZTE, was held in March. According to MIPS vice president Robert Bismuth, a final decision will be made in “a matter of months.””
via China plans national, unified CPU architecture | ExtremeTech.
Firstly, I’m not really surprised. As you may know China is developing its own GPS to remove its reliance on US technology – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203479104577123600791556284.html . If (God forbid) it comes to ‘real’ war, the US can apparently switch off GPS for civilian and unfriendly consumption! It has its own social media technology – http://www.mckinseychina.com/2012/04/25/chinas-social-media-boom/ . And it has even developed an iPad – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/redpad-number-one-china_n_1215393.html .
And despite some views in the West, China is gaining in innovation, almost at level of US and Japan in terms of patents lodged (see – https://chindia-alert.org/prognosis/innovation/ )
My own view is that the Chinese will select the architecture that suits its long term purposes best. That would be a combination of rational, systems-oriented reasons and emotive, political reasons. If the current top leadership is consulted, the former will have some leverage as 7 out out the top 9 leaders are all engineers by training and early experience (see – https://chindia-alert.org/2012/02/18/chinese-leadership-are-mostly-engineers/ ).
Related articles
- China said to consider national CPU standard (electronista.com)
- China’s Unified CPU Architecture, Why and When (ubergizmo.com)
- https://chindia-alert.org/prognosis/innovation/
26/04/2012
* Understanding social media in China
McKinsey Quarterly: “The world’s largest social-media market is vastly different from its counterpart in the West. Yet the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar.
No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. Listing the companies that don’t have access to China’s exploding social-media space underscores just how different it is from those of many Western markets. Understanding that space is vitally important for anyone trying to engage Chinese consumers: social media is a larger phenomenon in the world’s second-biggest economy than it is in other countries, including the United States. And it’s not indecipherable. Chinese consumers follow the same decision-making journey as their peers in other countries, and the basic rules for engaging with them effectively are reassuringly familiar.
In addition to having the world’s biggest Internet user base—513 million people, more than double the 245 million users in the United States. China also has the world’s most active environment for social media. More than 300 million people use it, from blogs to social-networking sites to microblogs and other online communities. That’s roughly equivalent to the combined population of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition, China’s online users spend more than 40 percent of their time online on social media, a figure that continues to rise rapidly.
This appetite for all things social has spawned a dizzying array of companies, many with tools more advanced than those in the West: for example, Chinese users were able to embed multimedia content in social media more than 18 months before Twitter users could do so in the United States. Social media began in China in 1994 with online forums and communities and migrated to instant messaging in 1999. User review sites such as Dianping emerged around 2003. Blogging took off in 2004, followed a year later by social-networking sites with chatting capabilities such as Renren. Sina Weibo launched in 2009, offering microblogging with multimedia. Location-based player Jiepang appeared in 2010, offering services similar to foursquare’s. This explosive growth shows few signs of abating, a trend that’s at least partially attributable to the fact that it’s harder for the government to censor social media than other information channels. That’s one critical way the Chinese market is unique.
As you shape your own social-media strategy, it’s important to fully understand some other nuances of the country’s consumers, content, and platforms.”
via Understanding social media in China – McKinsey Quarterly – Marketing & Sales – Digital Marketing.
Related articles
- The Biggest Challenge for Marketers: Engagement (mpdailyfix.com)
- Social Media is Driving First Time Visitors to Restaurants (coverboom.com)
26/04/2012
* For Apple, China Is Middle Kingdom
WSJ: “Not long ago, Asia Pacific was all but a footnote in the financial statements of technology juggernaut Apple Inc. But no more.
Apple’s sales in the fast-growing region, fueled largely by China, more than doubled and represented 26% of its $39.2 billion in sales for the first three months of the year. IPhone sales in mainland China increased fivefold from the year-ago period and more than doubled in Japan.
Asia Pacific came within striking distance of becoming Apple’s largest revenue source in the fiscal second quarter. The company took in $10.2 billion in sales for the region for the first three months of the year, compared with $13.2 billion for the Americas, long its biggest source of revenue. Apple breaks out Asia Pacific separately from Japan, where sales nearly doubled to $2.6 billion.
Its a dramatic transformation considering Apple didn’t include Asia Pacific in its geographic breakdown until it reported results for the three months ended December 2009. That’s the quarter when Apple released the iPhone in China, more than two years after the U.S. debut. Apple has also yet to ship its new iPad in mainland China, selling 11.8 million of the tablets globally in the latest quarter.”
via For Apple, China Is Middle Kingdom – WSJ.com.
So China is rapidly becoming not only the producer but also consumer of high-tech electronic consumer products!
09/03/2012
* Indian government clears distribution of 5 million tablet PCs in schools, colleges
The Hindu: “In a move that will give a big push to broadband penetration in the country, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has cleared an ambitious plan to distribute 50-lakh (5 million) tablet PCs (personal computers) to students in the next financial year (2012-13). A note containing the nitty-gritty of the ambitious Aakash-2 project is likely to be placed before the Cabinet soon. …
The government wants to initially assemble the tablet PCs through its public sector undertakings (PSUs) and eventually indigenise it to maintain cost-competitiveness.
The DoT has declared that the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the research and design wing of the Department of Information Technology, will be the nodal agency for successfully implementing the Aakash-2 project. It will be assisted by the Indian Institute of Technology-Mumbai. They will be responsible for finalising specifications, ensuring quality and testing the tablet PCs. The DoT has decided to rope in two PSUs — Bharat Electronics Ltd and ITI Ltd — for manufacturing and procuring the tablet PCs that will be priced between $55 and $70 (around Rs.2,750 and Rs.3,500).”
via The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Gadgets : DoT clears distribution of 50 lakh tablet PCs in schools, colleges.
This initiative will help push India further into the information era both in terms of the next generation of knowledge workers as well as in terms of hardware development.
Related page: https://chindia-alert.org/economic-factors/information-technology/
01/02/2012
* China re-emphasizes agriculture
With growing affluence and changing tastes, several staples like soya, rich and pork that used to be exported are now imported. China focused on manufacturing and infrastructure for two decades. It is now re-emphasizing agriculture: in terms of investment in technology and research, in terms of exhorting local authorities to pay heed to it and to irrigation projects.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/01/c_131386786.htm
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 