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Forget Millennials, the Internet's Most Wanted Users Are Older -- and Poorer (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader writes: China's relatively young internet industry is facing a mature-market problem: User growth for popular online services such as instant messaging, search, online news and video has fallen to single digits. Online population growth has hovered around 5% to 6% annually since 2014, which is only slightly higher than in mature economies. Unlike in many developed markets, a vast number of Chinese are unconnected. As they slowly come online, they're creating a sizable market that companies can tap into -- if they can figure out how.
"The Chinese internet is experiencing the third wave of [a] demographic dividend," said Wang Hua, a partner at venture-capital firm Sinovation Ventures, at a speech in December. The first wave, he said, were early adopters, while the second was driven by young people in major cities. "About half of the Chinese population is not yet heavy internet users, and they're the third wave of the demographic dividend," he says. "And they're usually the ones that are in charge of a family's daily consumption." Only 56% of 1.4 billion Chinese -- about 772 million people -- use the internet, according to official data. The U.S. reached that level of penetration in 2002, according to the United Nations. Interest in the lower end of the internet market has been building; live-streaming services have managed to attract working-class Chinese. This time around, the spread of e-commerce and new business models are unlocking more potential.
"The Chinese internet is experiencing the third wave of [a] demographic dividend," said Wang Hua, a partner at venture-capital firm Sinovation Ventures, at a speech in December. The first wave, he said, were early adopters, while the second was driven by young people in major cities. "About half of the Chinese population is not yet heavy internet users, and they're the third wave of the demographic dividend," he says. "And they're usually the ones that are in charge of a family's daily consumption." Only 56% of 1.4 billion Chinese -- about 772 million people -- use the internet, according to official data. The U.S. reached that level of penetration in 2002, according to the United Nations. Interest in the lower end of the internet market has been building; live-streaming services have managed to attract working-class Chinese. This time around, the spread of e-commerce and new business models are unlocking more potential.
Maybe the fact that China's Internet is surrounded by the Great Firewall is a reason people aren't eager to get on the Internet. If the Internet is nothing but a big Chinese shopping mall and government news distribution site, it isn't really all that enticing for someone to buy the hardware and learn the necessary skills to get online.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
This is a market segment that will never buy an iPhone.
The elderly are the late-adopters, and more prone to failing to understand the ramifications of certain technological uses (i.e. identity theft).
The millennials were early-adopters, and paid for it with their lives: the generation's last hope for privacy is the ability to force companies to delete permanently any data linked to their victims.
I knew they'd eventually come crawling back.
You are welcome on my lawn.
are you aware that most of the problems today are caused by the baby boomers?
Facebook is overrun by old people that didn't grow up with the internet and believe anything they see.
The title should be: Forget Millennials, the Internet's Most Wanted Users Are Older -- and Poorer ... IN CHINA"
Seeing as it's an authoritarian shithole that I can't invest in or run a business without greasing enough hands, why do I care about their fledgling internet companies' woes?
... if you order enough shipping containers with the solution to the Chinese demographics problem in it, you'll get a 6% discount as well.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
If you think you're going to reach the Chinese market with the same bullshit methods you're using on us, think again.
To even get a shot, you're going to have to satisfy God Emperor Jinping and I've got bad news.
If you're not a Chinese company, with Chinese interests in mind, you're wasting your time.
Elderly hobos?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
They should implement some kind of social ranking system, and suppy free phones to good people and ban anyone with a poor ranking.
What the fucking hell do they teach in schools these days?
Learn about population numbers.
Learn about adoption rates.
Learn about market saturation.
Non-stop growth is IMPOSSIBLE.
100% marketshare is nearly impossible.
#DeleteFacebook
Seriously.
These are the people that have a healthy distrust of their own government already, and anything they generally read has the Governmental spin on it.
Besides, it isn't going to be free. After all, many of them have carefully balanced budgets that happen to include food, and there's probably nothing left over for internet subscription fees, hardware and additional electrical costs per month.
Why in the world would they want to get online, when some twitchy tweenager (or Big Brother) can start picking through anything they post and look for anything incriminating?
Frankly, they have the right idea: Stay disconnected, and you'll be safe(er) from the prying eyes of Big Brother. Let the kids stay connected all the time.
Might not be too bad an idea to get behind over here...
"are you aware that most of the problems today are caused by ?"
What? The Chinese government cares about Chinese people and Chinese interests. Why is this shocking? Is you greed for the $ so high that it's unusual for a country to put its people before foreigners profits?
Those peasants aren't eager to go online because they have their place in society, and they've got better things to do, like daily chores. Why spend all that money and effort to learn to "get online" when they aren't even aware they need it? In fact they do not need it because they've always lived their life without and that worked fine.
But you're right, if I had the full picture I would certainly not want to have anything to do with it at all. The Chinese "internet" is a dangerous place. Say the wrong thing on weibo and you get kicked off the bus for a year... for starters. Better to stay off weibo and if you accidentally say the wrong thing your neighbour has to actively rat you out instead of some automated system picking it up fully automatically.
It is ironic how this piece presents that as a crime against consumerism. Well, the guilty party in this is The Party.
To avoid the inevitable, China has to allow free and open media environment. This way the population can be grown to tolerate the conflicting messages and realize the vast number of the possible lives and views of the world. Without turning into a rioting, noodly mass of disorder, of course.
That is a problem since they don't believe so many negative stories about Trump.
That is a problem since they don't believe the propaganda I believe in.
But I only look Chinese, you insensitive clod!
These aren't the chicken wings you're looking for. I'm not the delivery guy, either!
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.