 "How China is pushing into Digital India")
With China reaching digital maturity, companies on the mainland have started looking elsewhere for the next frontier. The most obvious contender is India. This year has been a busy one for Chinese investment in Indian startups, but the country is still behind China’s digital savviness.
Baidu opens office in India with a long term Indian focus
Similar to Baidu’s plan in Indonesia, the company has entered India with a mobile strategy, leaving their main search focus at home. Baidu’s putting its apps (DU Battery Saver, DU Speed Booster, and ES File Explorer) and app store (MoboMarket) in front of the user, leaving search with a smaller piece of the Baidu pie outside of China.
“The potential size of the mobile market in India is absolutely immense and we’re in store for a lot of growth for the next few years,” says Tim Yang, head of Baidu India. Having worked in the country for the last four years with Alibaba and now Baidu, he echoes the prevailing sentiment about India.
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Ecommerce is booming in India, and Alibaba was quick to capitalize on it this year. With huge competition brewing between India’s Flipkart and Snapdeal, along with the behemoth Amazon, consumers are spoilt for choice with the best deals online. While Alibaba chose to back Snapdeal this year, it also, more tellingly, pushed into payments startup Paytm, which is also pushing mobile commerce heavily. Paytm could eventually become India’s Alipay, and Alibaba looks keen on getting a slice of that pie.
This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.