China Tech Talk

This week, we hear from BingoBox and Xiaomi about their products, market strategy, and the future of their verticals

This week, Matt and John talk about what Tencent's $2 bln investment in Snap means for both companies (John also goes down a rabbit hole about Chinese consumer psychology).

This week, Matt and John speak with Dominic Penaloza, CIO of naked Hub, about co-working in China as well as what naked Hub is doing to reinvent commercial real estate.

After a lackluster response from China for the iPhone 7, and consecutive quarterly declines in market share, many have wondered if we are watching the beginning of the end for Apple in China. This week, Matt and John revisit their discussion about Apple in China to look at how the country's consumers have responded to the iPhone X.

Some call Uber's China foray a failure but looking at the DNA of the company, its values of radical ownership and operational focus have reshaped entrepreneurship in China. This week, Matt and John talk about the lasting impact Uber has had on the entrepreneurs and their startups since they exited Chin

This week John and Matt follow up with Florian Bohnert, Head of Global Partnerships about what Mobike has been up to since we last talked, including: How Mobike has expanded into global markets The challenges of globalizing from China Finding talent and educating users Differences in recreational vs commute use in different countries Whether Mobike will expand beyond bikes

The first reference episode for China Tech Talk delves into the broader conditions enabling China speed, including: Economic growth and habituated pace of change Generational differences in user habits Super apps Values that don't include net neutrality or the open web The phone as life's control center

John and Matt start with new group chat rules as well as VPNs and end up talking about deeper questions the economic implications of a truly tech-savvy Chinese government, specifically: Rules affecting group chats in WeChat, QQ, and Baidu Tieba The technical sophistication of China's internet control policy How China's policy towards the internet helped create BAT What a China with perfect information might look like

John and Matt talk with Ling Kong, CTO of Dianrong about: How peer-to-peer (P2P) lending got started What makes Dianrong different from their competitors (hint: there's a reason we're talking to the CTO) How the government sees the P2P lending industry Why and how China's credit habits are changing What a private blockchain application could look like

This week, John speaks with Patrick Dai, co-founder & chairman of Qtum foundation, about: What ICOs are Why companies want to do ICOs How many ICOs are fraudulent Why the Chinese government banned ICOs How long the ban will last How this will affect blockchain companies and applications

Matt and John start with Alipay's recent "smile to pay" demo and end with a discussion on why WeChat went into payments in the first place. Along the way, they talk about: Alipay and WeChat's money market funds WeChat's new money market fund feature The dangers and benefits of ubiquitous facial recognition -The role WeChat and Alipay are playing in reshaping retail banking in China -Whether Alipay can ever become a platform like WeChat

This week Matt and John talk with Dannie Li, an analyst at China Tech Insights about Jinri Toutiao, a Chinese content aggregator recently valued at $20 billion, including:  Why Jinri Toutiao is so popular How it is so sticky Its business model and why its valuation is high Why advertisers love it so much Risks to the app and business model Conflicts between Toutiao and content producers Challenges as Toutiao expands inside and outside China

This week Matt and John talk with Daniel Ahmad, an analyst at Niko Partners about:  The uniqueness of China's games market The size of the e-sports industry How gaming and e-sports are becoming more mainstream Tencent's position in the games market The role of Honour of Kings Future prospects for gaming and e-sports in China

This week Matt and John talk with Josh Gartner, veteran China hand and VP for International Corporate Affairs at JD.com, about: How JD stacks up against Amazon and Alibaba Early challenges and a crucial pivot towards in-house logistics Tencent as a major stakeholder The move towards a greater offline presence Drone deliveries to rural China

This week Matt and John talk with Neil Woodfine, former COO at Remitsy about: What bitcoin and blockchain are What Ethereum might be Why ICOs don't make sense How bitcoin is going to play a bigger part in decentralized transactions Why bitcoin is so big in China and should we be worried

This week Matt and John talk with Kaiser Kuo, veteran China hand and former International Communications director for Baidu about: What the early China internet was like How he joined Baidu How Chinese companies are like ice age tribes VPNs in China Future prospects for the company

This week Matt and John talk about Honor of Kings aka Strike of Kings aka Arena of Glory, Tencent's uber popular mobile multiplayer game, including: Background on mobile gaming and MOBA's Why it's become a cultural phenomenon Why Tencent is butting heads with the Communist Party newspaper Which Chinese celebrities are investing in e-sports Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

This week John and Matthew talk with Bernard Leong, host of the Analyse Asia podcast, about Alibaba and Tencent's activity in Southeast Asia, including: Why banks aren’t competing with each other but with other tech companies Why Southeast Asia may be Amazon’s Waterloo Why WeChat and WhatsApp have been so slow Why Tencent and Alibaba may team up Links Analyse Asia Sean Konieczny: Jack Ma is set to disrupt e-commerce... again Emma Lee: These Ex-Baidu employees are connecting SEA merchants with mobile payment tools How to leave an iTunes review Hosts John Artman, @knowsnothing, TechNode Matthew Brennan, @MattyBGoooner, ChinaChannel Podcast information iTunes RSS feed Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3   China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production

This week John and Matt talk with Jon Russell, TechCrunch's man in Asia about covering China from the outside. We cover topics including: Biggest challenges in covering China from outside the country Explaining China to people who aren't familiar with the market Challenges for bike sharing outside China Chinese brands in Thailand How China's biggest companies are differentiating outside their home country Links Jon Russell on TechCrunch How to leave an iTunes review Hosts John Artman, @knowsnothing, TechNode Matthew Brennan, @MattyBGoooner, ChinaChannel Podcast information iTunes RSS feed Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3   China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production  

This week John and Matt talk with Shlomo Freund and Michael Michelini, hosts of the China Business Cast, about bringing your app to China, including: Why games are difficult to bring to China How app markets monetize Why there is no paid app category in China's app stores How to tell if your app will be successful Links China Business Cast The top 10 Android app stores in China in 2017 App in China Startup Noodle Global from Asia How to leave an iTunes review Hosts John Artman, @knowsnothing, TechNode Matthew Brennan, @MattyBGoooner, ChinaChannel Podcast information iTunes RSS feed Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3   China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production