The ACT team hand-picks the most readable news of the day from China’s booming tech industry. Don’t miss out on these headlines:
IDC predicts USD 13B in revenue for Alibaba on Double 11 shopping day
Market research company IDC predicts that Alibaba may see a total GMV of RMB 82 billion (USD 13 billion) on China’s Double 11 shopping day, in a conservative estimation. In the upper estimate, Alibaba may achieve RMB 87 billion in GMV. Tmall’s revenue in 2014 was RMB 57.1 billion. IDC also points out that pre-orders on Alibaba have seen a significant increase; meanwhile 80% of consumers will browse for products on Alibaba’s mobile applications and 65% will finish the transaction on their mobile phones.
WeChat-based shopping service receives USD 79M from Hainan Airlines
Sun Taoyong, CEO of Weimob, has announced RMB 500 million (USD 79 million) in C-series funding from Hainan Airlines, which will boost Weimob’s valuation up to RMB two billion (USD 317 million). Weimob’s product Mengdian is a WeChat-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform provider, which primarily supports marketing and e-commerce on WeChat. According to Sun’s internal letter, the company aims to list on China’s third board next year. Mengdian claims to host 1.2 million registered retailers as of July 2015.
Mobile shopping surpasses PC in China for the first time
Chinese people will shop more on their mobile phones than on their PCs this year. According to Bain and Co.’s latest report, mobile e-commerce in China will surpass PC online shopping for the first time in 2015. It is expected that Chinese people will complete 55% of e-commerce orders on their mobile phones. This report shows that, as of 2014, mobile e-commerce has already taken over 35% of the e-commerce market in China, a higher percentage than many countries. The ratio of mobile e-commerce in the UK, USA and Korea in 2014 is 27%, 22% and 18% respectively. The total value of online sales in 2014 in China reached RMB 2.9 trillion.
iPad Pro available for preorder Wednesday
On Tuesday, Apple announced that the iPad Pro will be available for preorder online in over 40 countries and regions starting Wednesday, coinciding with the Double 11 shopping day in China. It will be available in stores a few days after the online launch. A 32 GB wifi version starts at RMB 5888 (USD 926) in China, USD 799 in the US. iPad Pro accessories include the Apple Pencil for RMB 728 and the Smart Keyboard for RMB 1288. Apple is hoping that the iPad Pro will revive the declining tablet market. However, industry observers have forecast that iPad sales will continue to decline, since tablets do not make many technological breakthroughs, generally speaking. The launch of the iPad Pro, marketed towards businesses, will test this prediction.
Baidu to discuss potential first investment in India
Baidu is in talks with India’s largest discounted shopping site Mydala.com to invest in the e-commerce site with up to USD 100 million, according to The Times of India. This deal will be Baidu’s first investment in an Indian company if it goes through. Mydala was established 6 years ago. Info Edge holds 44% of its shares and the rest of the shares are owned by its founders and employees. Baidu set up an office in Gurgaon, India in January and the Chinese search giant has 45 million active users in India.