Not everything that happens in China translates to America, Europe, or other mobile markets. But failing to pay attention to what’s happening in the world’s largest mobile economy is probably not a good strategy for staying on the cutting edge of mobile.It’s not a shock that China is massive:
- Smartphone shipments of 250 million just in the first 9 months of 2021
- 932 million mobile internet users
- Mobile commerce totalling $2.3 trillion in 2020, more than half the global total (and 90% of this happens via mobile devices)
- Almost 800 million mobile consumers buying and selling online
So I spent some time with the trilingual Moonie Zhu, co-founder and managing director of eTOC, which specializes in helping Western companies do business in China and with Chinese companies. My goal: understand some of what life is like in China in terms of mobile penetration and use, and understand what that might mean for the West in a few years.