Seth 15 [Shobhit, freelance financial writer, “Can the Tech Sector Save the Ailing Chinese Economy? (CCCQ, QQQC)”, 12-15-2015, Investopedia, http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/121515/can-tech-sector-save-ailing-chinese-economy.asp]-DD
The Chinese technology sector primarily comprises of hardware, the Internet, mobile apps, and e-commerce companies. Encapsulating the technology sector are the supportive services, like online and mobile payment, courier delivery, internet service providers, and other online services like social networking and search engines. Together, these form the technology ecosystem in China. Hardware manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi are established leaders in their space. Some of the biggest suppliers for global electronic giants like Apple and Samsung are based out of China. Though successful globally, search engine giant Google (GOOGL) has not been able to eclipse the market share of local players like Baidu (BIDU). Social networking sites like Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) have an insignificant share in China, where the Chinese versions of these social networks like Renren and Weibo are the most popular. The instant messenger services like WeChat remain dominant in China compared to those like WhatsApp and Viber, which are more popular globally. Mobile cash payment services like Alipay (a division of Alibaba) dominate in China, where other global players like Venmo and Apple Pay may not have any presence. E-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com continue to post high growth numbers with significant revenue increase year-on-year basis. In essence, the Chinese technology sphere remains dominated by domestic players. The hardware suppliers do have a significant dependency on global demand and international business partners, but the Internet, mobile apps, and e-commerce players have a local market with local user base without any significant global competition.