BEIJING, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- It is hard to believe that a young person from the southern China could bring about a cyber miracle in the Chinese mobile internet industry in just five years.
Deng Yuqiang, then just a quiet, slight boy from southern China, is now CEO of 3G.cn, which is the largest Chinese mobile internet portal. In 2004, Deng founded 3G.cn with his university friend, Zhang Xiangdong. At the moment, 3G.cn has one hundred million registered users.
Deng Yuqiang and Zhang Xiangdong are part of the young generation, which grew up with the development of China's internet industry. As China witnesses the advance of 3G mobile internet, are Deng and Zhang following in the footsteps of Ma Huateng, CEO of qq.com and Zhang Chaoyang, CEO of Sohu.com?
New Opportunities in the Mobile Internet Industry
Mobile SP's value-added business can generate a huge amount of money day to day, and an e-book for mobile download can generate five yuan. Considering these circumstances, Deng Yuqiang would never have developed a website which provides instant and free information and services to all mobile users in China without such an undying belief in and support of the ideal of a free and open internet.
On March 16th, 2004, 3G.cn was launched as the first free WAP site in China. On the first day, there were only two users -- its owners, Deng Yuqiang and Zhang Xiangdong. Several months later, the number of registered users exceeded one million.
At that time, no one knew what the mobile Internet could become. But Deng Yuqiang grasped its essence with his astonishing insight into the sector. He is to the mobile internet what Michael Jordan has been to the NBA.
In 2005 and 2006, 3G.cn obtained venture capital from IDGVC, WI Harper and JAFCO Asia. Now, 3G.cn is the mobile internet portal with the largest number of users, over one hundred million, the most traffic, and it is also the largest mobile application supplier in China.
Chinese-bred Internet Entrepreneurs
Anyone familiar with China's internet knows about Sohu.com, netease.com and Alibaba.com. They would also know Zhang Chaoyang, Dinglei and Ma Yun, who are the successful start-up entrepreneurs who contributed to the rise of China's internet sector.
With the advent of the 3G mobile arena in China, mobile internet has become a fast-developing industry which sees many new entrepreneurs like Deng Yuqiang, whose innovation and bravery have brought about fresh and positive changes to the Chinese internet.
Zhang Xiangdong recalls that in his last academic term, many of his classmates interned for some of China's most popular websites. When they came back to the dorms at night, they all gushed about their companies, which were without exception modelled on and imitations of popular American websites.
Most of the first generation of start-up entrepreneurs in the Chinese Internet industry were Chinese who had returned from overseas. These outstanding entrepreneurs were backed by Wall Street and espoused American philosophies. Headed by Charles Zhang and Jerry Yang, they dreamt of platform services and established portal websites, such as sohu.com and yahoo.com.
Compared with these pioneers, the second generation of start-up entrepreneurs are very much like tea is to coffee: while both are very successful and popular; the former, or the first generation of entrepreneurs, is a Western import, and latter, a product of China alone.
There is no advertising on 3G.cn. The site is user-centered and experience-centered, offering free primary services and utilizing a
mouth-to-mouth marketing strategy while providing valuable information. These are the principles that Deng espouses.
3G.cn: More Fun
Zhang Xiangdong always dresses in a loose T-shirt and jeans, even at important product release events and annual media award meetings.
Deng and Zhang don't think that dressing in formal suits is necessary. They maintain personal blogs, replying to work emails with their mobile phones, play basketball with other staff, and even take photos for other staff. This is the norm at 3G.cn. Personal character runs deep in the new generation of internet entrepreneurs, and they are self-motivated in their work.
3G.cn hosts a wide variety of activities and events to help China's mobile users understand the value of 3G mobile internet. It helped hold a wireless music concert for folk musicians who are outside the mainstream, broadcasting live video through mobile. In this way 3g.cn made mobile users aware that mobile devices can be more than just a way to communicate.
Based on the hit Hong Kong movie Story of a Chinese Odyssey, A Story of 3G Mobile was produced by 3G.cn. This short video story contained a lot of information about connecting to the mobile internet. This video, disseminated nationwide through a wide range of media channels including the internet and CCTV, has a six-minute ad for 3G.cn at the end which has been broadcast for free for over one year.
3G.cn plays a significant role in promoting China's mobile culture. It participates in publishing the East & West Library series, which includes I Cellphone, The Fantastic Websites, 1.3 Billion, and Out of Control, which aid the expansion of mobile culture through text.
3G.cn also backed an initiative of the E-time Environmental Protection Signature, which called for awareness of environmental protection by means of signing on the mobile Internet.
For the past four years, 3G.cn has released its annual Mobile User Experience White Book. This white book is consumer report of Chinese mobile phones, and it is the most unique report of its kind in China.
"Let's make things a little more interesting: anything goes," is the motto of 3G.cn's co-founder. He also encourages independent thinking in his staff, even allowing them to turn the website upside down on April Fool's Day.
Deng is typical of the new generation of entrepreneurs, a product of China's native soil.
3G.cn values openness and new technology
Since its establishment, 3G.cn has expanded its international human resources in mobile technology, researching and developing world-leading
user-end applications. These engineers come from all over the world and different educational backgrounds, but work as a team at 3G.cn. Their ambition is to fill the small screen of the mobile phone with terminal applications. They are determined to create a world in which mobile phones will be the primary source of media for all people.
GGLive, a mobile application developed by 3G.cn, can enable Chinese cellphones from the 2G era to play streaming video clips at 3G speed and quality. This application surprised the engineers of DOCOMO, the largest Japanese telecommunications operator.
Apart from GGLive, 3G.cn's mobile browser GO has been called a product from the year 2010. It has a cool iPhone-like interface, operates smoothly and allows for customizing with individual information. In terms of user experience, this browser is a benchmark among mobile applications in China.
GO presents the leading mobile applications in the Chinese mobile industry. Behind the primary mode and functions, this mobile application expresses a new sense of mobile identity.
All these mobile applications reveal CEO Deng Yuqiang's mobile philosophy. He was selected as one of China's Top 10 Elite, along with Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the best actor from Hong Kong, in a contest held by Nanfang Daily Media Group, the most prominent Chinese media source.
Deng Yuqiang is an extraordinary product manager, spending over ten hours on his mobile phone a day, and a new Chinese entrepreneur, advocating freedom and valuing user experiences.
