Ma Ma： Under the tide of ＂Internet +＂, what magic power can Tencent ＂+＂ produce？
Pony Ma, Chairperson and CEO of Tencent
The popularity of "Internet +" is not just because it appeared in Premier Li Keqiang’s government report, but the inevitable development of the times and the general trend of the development of information technology.
Speaking of "Internet +", Pony Ma, chairperson and chief executive of Tencent, said he first realised in 2013 that the internet was a cross-border concept. Later, the development of the Internet was at its height, and many traditional industry people then defined the Internet as something that disrupts, conflicts and replaces traditional industries. However, "things that disrupt, conflict and replace traditional industries" are not the essence of the Internet. "The Internet is a tool, and this tool should be available to any industry," he said. But the Internet is not just a tool, but a capability, a new DNA that, when combined with various industries, can give the latter new strength and regeneration ability.
????What kind of magic can the Internet "+" produce?
Back on March 5, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a government work report and formally proposed "formulating an’Internet + ‘action plan to promote the integration of mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, etc. with modern manufacturing, promote the healthy development of e-commerce, industrial Internet and Internet finance, and guide Internet companies to expand the international market." For a time, "Internet +" became a key buzzword in major media, and the power of the Internet extended to various industries such as transportation, medical care, education, manufacturing, and agriculture.
It can be seen from the daily life closest to the people that the Internet has unknowingly penetrated into everyone’s life. Functions such as social networking, shopping, payment, taxi hailing, car washing, and registration can almost all be realized through the Internet. The Internet is becoming one of the necessities of life on an equal footing with water and electricity. Pony Ma defines the Internet as a new information energy source. He believes that all industries can integrate "Internet +" into their own industries. If they do not do so, this industry and industry will be outdated and eliminated.
Although "Internet +" has not been a hot word for a long time, the Internet’s changes to traditional industries continue. From a broad perspective, "Internet +" is fully radiating to the tertiary industry based on the information and communication industry, and is penetrating into the primary and secondary industries. Services such as catering, tourism, entertainment and other services have begun to move towards a mature "Internet +" development stage. At the same time, industrial Internet and agricultural modernization will bring new opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.
In depth, "Internet +" has gradually penetrated from the link of information transmission to the links of multiple industrial chains such as manufacturing, distribution, and operation. Use information productivity to shift the scale production in the industrial age to a new production model that can meet the needs of personalized long tails. "Internet +" is penetrating from consumer goods to equipment manufacturing, energy, new materials and other industries, and will comprehensively promote the transformation of traditional industrial production methods.
According to official data, our country’s online retail enterprises have created more than 9 million jobs, and it is expected to reach 30 million by the end of 2015. Take WeChat as an example. In 2014, WeChat stimulated 95.20 billion of information consumption, equivalent to 3.4% of China’s total information consumption in 2014, driving social employment 10.07 million people. It is expected that by the end of 2015, WeChat-driven information consumption will grow to 142.80 billion yuan. This is the magic of Internet "+", but there are more than 10 million netizens in China. The above figures are just the tip of the iceberg dug out by China’s information economy. In the future, the number of Internet "+" will continue to set new records.
????Do subtraction before addition
For major traditional industries, compared to what the Internet can "+", they are more concerned about how to "+". An example that Ma Yun often cites is the **** between WeChat and operators about two and a half years ago. Some outsiders said that WeChat replaced text messages, which was a replacement and subversion for operators. He admitted that the pressure was very high at that time. This was the first major impact between mobile Internet and traditional communications. A year and a half ago, Internet finance attracted the attention of regulators again, and online credit cards were subsequently suspended. In the past year, Didi and Kuaidi have triggered government supervision issues in the transportation sector. There have been many collisions in the process of the integration of the Internet and traditional industries, but these collisions are not enough to stand in the way of traditional industries moving towards the Internet. In Ma Jintao’s view, the above problems are "healthy" and can be solved through discussions in various departments.
Pony Ma said that before the "Internet +" wave came, Tencent had made the largest organizational restructuring in history three years ago to adapt to the mobile Internet and the combination of the Internet and traditional industries. Tencent abandoned the "do everything" strategy, and search, e-commerce, and some O2O and small businesses have been axed. Now, Tencent only does two things: connectors and content industries.
In recent public occasions, Pony Ma has repeatedly explained the clear positioning of Tencent, and the most powerful backing for Tencent to become a connector that connects people, people, services, and devices is the two major platforms of QQ and WeChat. The latest data shows that WeChat has 549 million monthly active users, and more than 8 million official accounts, which are increasing at a rate of 15,000 per day. QQ’s monthly active users are 832 million, QQ space has 668 million monthly active users, and Tencent’s international users are 200 million, covering more than 200 countries and regions. It is this series of numbers that give Tencent the confidence to propose "connecting everything".
Pony Ma said that the second thing Tencent does is the content industry, which includes news, online games, videos, literature, music, etc., and other things will be handed over to partners. In the words of Pony Ma: "Before adding, you must first subtract." Pony Ma admitted that this is also the conclusion that Tencent has come to after years of pain. Tencent will firmly be the best partner for all entrepreneurs. Just like the saying "half life": Tencent now only retains half life and gives the other half life to partners, so that an ecosystem will be formed.
????Tencent "+" has produced fruitful results in various industries
After the two sessions this year, Tencent quickly launched the "Internet +" action. Since March 23, Tencent has signed "Internet +" strategic cooperation agreements with Henan, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and other provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government. And on April 29, it hosted the 2015 "Internet + China" Summit with the theme "Imperative". At this conference, Tencent launched the "Internet +" ecosystem for the first time. At this conference, 16 cities including Changsha, Wuxi and Dalian signed a strategic framework cooperation agreement with Tencent and became a member of the "Internet +" ecosystem. At present, some cities have access to WeChat city services, allowing citizens to enjoy more than 10 convenient services such as checking the weather, paying bills, booking passports, and inquiring about violations of regulations through WeChat.
But Tencent’s eyes are not only on the field of "smart cities". In terms of medical care, nearly 100 hospitals across the country have launched WeChat full-process visits, and more than 1,200 hospitals support WeChat registration. The service has accumulated more than 3 million patients, saving more than 6 million hours for patients and greatly improving efficiency. In terms of education, Tencent has cooperated with a number of educational institutions to open Tencent classrooms, opening more than 20,000 courses for primary and secondary schools, universities, vocational education, IT training and other multi-level people, with about 73,000 people taking classes every week. In terms of finance, WeBank also began to test its first Internet credit product "Microloan" after Premier Li Keqiang issued the first batch of online loans. In addition, in various fields such as emergency management and media, Tencent is doing "Internet +" exploration.
It is worth noting that in order to welcome the "maker era", Tencent has upgraded its open API, which has been running for nearly four years. On April 28, Tencent officially upgraded its startup base to Tencent Maker Space. Hou Xiaonan, general manager of Tencent open API, said at the summit: "Tencent hopes to integrate the power of society, integrate the alliance of venture capital, combine offline acceleration and online support, and create a three-dimensional Maker Space for entrepreneurs."
Data from Tencent shows that the total number of open API applications has reached 2.40 million, including entertainment, life, education and other aspects. The total number of entrepreneurs has reached 5 million, covering the first to third tier cities across the country. At the same time, over 500,000 square meters of 25 Tencent Maker space has been planned to land.
Pony Ma said: "In the new era, what Tencent needs to do is to build a ladder, that is, return to the core platform. What we can do is to provide all industries with spare parts and tools, so that they can fly higher and safer in the wave of integration with the mobile Internet." The innovative DNA brought by "Internet +" has begun to seep into various industries. I believe that the innovative seeds implanted with the "Internet +" gene will soon spread all over the country and continue to bear fruitful fruits.