Small Bites

1. Swim West, Grow Big
2. Oppo(sing) Apple 
3. Convenience Store as the  ¥ Battleground
4. The Elderly Side of “Consumption Upgrade”
5. Cant’ Stop LAN-ing, WeChat

1.

・ “Chuhai”, aka “Cross the Ocean/going global”, has been brought up a lot by the Chinese government in recent years to encourage domestic enterprises’ globalization effort. So what Chinese brands have managed to reach the global consumer market most successfully in terms of influence and profit?

・The top winner is Lenovo. Today, as the leading monopoly of the global PC market, 2/3 of Lenovo’s profit comes from oversea. (over 160 countries) Huawei, Alibba, Elex(Smart Star) and Xiaomi ranked 2-5 Respectively.

・Despite the rise of these brands, only 23% of Western consumers are able to name at least one Chinese brand in a 2015 survey. Still long way to go guys.⥤ Explore

⩥Article Language: Chinese
⩥Reading Effort Level: 3.5
(Here’s how we evaluate it: from 1-5, 1=easy no-brainer read, 5=relatively serious stuff. It’s subjective, but hopefully could give you a little reference)

2.

・In 2016, Apple’s iPhone 6s had a total sale of 12 million units in the Chinese market, which was 5 million less than Oppo’s flagship phone R9. This was the first year since 2012 for Apple to lose the “top-selling phone” position in China.

・Chinese consumers are changing taste very, very fast. Last year, the total shipment of Oppo smart phones grew 109%, Vivio grew 78%, Huawei 21%. Apple had 21% too, putting itself in negative growth.

⥤Explore

⩥Article Language: Chinese
⩥Reading Effort Level: 1

3.

・Convenience stores such as 7-11 and Lawson are finally turning profitable heads after years of expansion in China’s major cities

∙ On average, consumer spends ¥20-80 for every in-store purchase.

∙ How are convenience stores localizing for the China market?

1) Providing more one-step solutions of public service (print/fax, parcel shipping/storage, utility payments, seated dining areas etc.)

2) Expanding and innovating the ever-so-popular food and snacks aisles

⥤Explore

⩥Article Language: Chinese
⩥Reading Effort Level: 3.5

4.

・You see, China’s “Consumption Upgrade” is not just about millennials and young teens-

・In fact, compared with young people, middle-aged Chinese (aged 45-60) have more direct access to mobile networks and commerce channels, making them more knowledgeable in terms of market education. Wechat’s Red Envelopes and Alipay have quickly foster their online shopping habits as well.

5.

・ For more and more Chinese people, WeChat has been equivalent to the Internet, and people have been accustomed to the full-fetched control of the app.

・In fact, today’s WeChat runs more like a fully-established LAN: all of its content are hosted in Tencent’s server, no outside videos or ads could be posted, and HTML5 pages can only be browsed within the app. Inside the closed ecosystem, advertisers’ distribution channel is limited to only two options: either through WeChat Moments or Public Accounts.

・So basically, Tencent, Wechat’s mother company, has officially taking over every aspect of peoples’ daily lives. It is becoming less and less like a technology company.

Should we worry?

⥤Explore

⩥Article Language: Chinese
⩥Reading Effort Level: 4.5