Indian and China, the two Asian superpowers have been in competition for quite a long period. We might think that China’s GDP is 5X times higher than India. This puts China at a competitive edge. However, in 2015, India’s growth rate surpassed China and attained a shining spot in the global economy.
The rising conflict between India and China has raised a question. Which country can be the global leader in the future? Can Indian companies outsmart the Chinese tech giants? We have brought you the detailed India-China internet market report. This will help you understand the existing scenario.
Reliance-Facebook merger in April 2020 and Google’s investment in July 2020 paved the way for fundraising in India. Major investment firms have bought over $20 billion worth of stake in Jio. Reliance is looking for ways to create an Indian version of WeChat or a better version of it.
India is also working on creating an Indian version of Facebook. Market talk is that India will replicate Alibaba’s model of commerce. So here is the question.
What has China done right to awaken the surrounding countries?
The BAT companies comprising Baidu, Alibaba & Tencent are the most significant tech giants at present. Their combined value is almost $1.3 trillion. China is the home to 206 privately-owned companies worth at least $1 billion each. The combined value of these companies is close to $700 billion.
50% of these companies are supported by the BAT. All of these started when China initiated its copycat business models of successful tech companies. For instance, China created Baidu as an alternative to Google. Alibaba became an alternative to Amazon. Tencent’s subsidiary WeChat became an alternative to WhatsApp and Facebook (kind of).
The Chinese government applied tight domestic restrictions with the US internet companies. This prevented them from doing business in the Chinese markets. China got rid of Google & Facebook by 2010. Thus, it cleared the way for BAT companies to capture the Chinese market.
The BAT companies used this opportunity and adopted a platform-based strategy. They expanded through major acquisitions and continued buying equity. In 2017, the Chinese government started to open innovative platforms. These included Baidu’s autonomous vehicle rollout. Alibaba developed a Cloud initiative for smart cities. Tencent offered AI-based medical imaging solutions.
They have continued active recruitment from the USA, Israel, and Europe. The recruitments were for predictive healthcare research and conversational AI. At present, the BAT companies have access to more data than the combined population of the US and Europe.
Chinese alternatives to global tech conglomerates
Baidu is China’s answer to Google. It is mostly into search and AI. Also, it holds a major interest in iQiyi, which is a video streaming platform in China. Baidu-iQiyi nexus is identical to a fusion of Google and Netflix.
Alibaba is China’s reply to Amazon. In fact, Alibaba is the closest alternative e-commerce services platform for Amazon in Asia. Alibaba was the second-largest organization to cross a $500 billion market cap after Tencent. At present, it has got the 6th highest global brand valuation.
Tencent is a major platform in China for games, video streaming, and chatting. It is an alternative to WhatsApp, Facebook, and online games. The company is one of the largest gaming firms. It also owns the Chinese messaging portal known as WeChat.
All these happened within the Chinese tech space in the last 15 years. It doesn’t matter where they started. It didn’t matter whether their government helped them or not. They utilized all they had. The BAT companies helped in developing the economy through tech, finance, and all the opportunities they got.
What is India’s scenario compared to China?
India and China both are densely populated countries. The massive internet user base of these two countries is the source of their internet development. Also, it works as a major factor for the growth of internet companies in these two countries.
At present, China has got the world’s largest internet market with 721 million users. India surpassed the USA and became the world’s second-largest internet market user in 2015. It has 333 million users. Considering the growth, India’s internet market can catch up. India’s internet user base grew by 52% in 2015.
It is the fastest growth rate for all member states. On the other hand, the internet user base in China has slowed in the last few years. Amazon brings out a lot of offers for Indian e-commerce companies in India. It is the most-liked e-commerce brand followed by Flipkart.
India’s food delivery companies have better global ambitions than Chinese companies. Zomato was launched in 2010. By 2012 it went overseas. By 2013, the company entered Middle East, South Asia, South Africa, and North America.
Will the next tech giant come from India?
According to the American venture capitalist, Mary Meeker, India’s internet growth rate in 2014 was equal to China in 2008. China’s rapid internet development resulted in Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. If India can achieve the same levels of growth, in the next 10 years, its internet market will face massive development.
There is a big chance that India can produce world-class internet giants. One of the main reasons for that is India has become a popular place of investment for numerous foreign investors. Even the Chinese companies that are looking to invest in foreign markets, cannot simply ignore the Indian “gold mine”.
A major section of the foreign countries is considering India to be an important overseas market. The logic is simple. Use a successful business model from a densely populated country and duplicate it on another densely populated country. No country can ignore a market of 2.7 billion people for business expansion.
In conclusion, the only question is will our mighty companies like Reliance, Tata, Adani group, and more, be able to carry out the strategies in the same way China did? Considering the Indian tech space and the direction we are heading, we might even do it better than China. With players like Reliance at the helm of affairs and generating unlimited capital, India is off to a great start.
