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I am in China at the moment on business, and conveniently, the Web is a-bustle with news from China's mobile market. First, though, it bears emphasizing what a critical role the mobile device is playing in China's society and it's rapid growth. Sitting at lunch today, a good 50% of TV ads on the TV behind the bar were for mobile devices – and sleek, sexy ones, not just cheap clunkers. central Beijing is awash with mobile users wandering its busy streets and hotel lobbies staring at the small screen.
But onto the news:
Mobile Tech Shorts 4.12.06 – China Edition
China Unicom launches a BlackBerry knockoff.
(In)appropriately called the RedBerry, the service (not one device) is mainly push-mail on China Unicom CDMA handsets. Here, RIM, here boy…
China expects 5.5 million 3G subscribers in the first 12 months after commercial launch in the country, according to Norson Research, rising to 84.2 million in third year after launch.
China Mobile Dumps 19,000 Fraudsters
Mobile operator pulls the plug on people using SMS for criminal ends. Which is good because I am getting no end of hang-ups since I arrived, often in the middle of the night.
Back on the streets tomorrow to see more of this fast-growing market. And breathe the Mongolian dust storm. And get another $12 foot massage.
April 12th, 2006 at 11:22 am
The Chinese are already the absolute best at SMS’ing I have ever seen. I also just read that Blackberry will be in China within the year.