How Chinese firms seek chances in globalized mobile market?

San Francisco, Jan.14, (People's Daily Online)——Internet was born with the gene of connecting and sharing. With quick upgrade and development, ecosystem of the Internet has also faced radical changes with the pervasive nature of mobile.

Sheng Fu, CEO of Cheetah Mobile, said at the “Connect 2016” on Thursday that “We live in the age of connection. The mobile Internet is making the world flatter and more connected than ever before.” He said mobile is breaking down borders between countries, it’s connecting the world’s industries, and it is connecting every human brain into the world’s biggest “think tank.”

“That’s why in this globalized market place, even startups have great potentials,” said Jay, founder of a startup company focusing on healthcare.

How could startups instantly go global and what it takes to work effectively across international borders aroused attendees’ interest at conference Connect 2016, a conference bridging the mobile and Internet industries in Asia and the U.S.

Cheetah Mobile’s success could be seen as an example of a Chinese company’s going global. When Cheetah Mobile originally started, the bulk of its users were using its free PC anti-virus software in China. Established in 2010, Cheetah Mobile has grown exponentially from a six-person startup, to a more than $2billion market cap NYSE company.

Statistics show that Cheetah Mobile had approximately 567 million global mobile monthly active users as of September 2015. Over 70 percent of its users come from overseas.

Sheng Fu told the audience at the conference “We’ve also proven that it’s possible to make money on mobile. We’ve seen 26 times revenue growth since 2011. Our estimated revenue for all of 2015 was about 550 million US dollars, that’s up from just 20 million US dollars in revenue in 2011.”

Why? Sheng Fu thinks there are three reasons. First, Cheetah understands the monetization model of global mobile Internet companies. Second, the company enhances its localization in some key markets. Third, it increases investment not only in tools and security, but also in contents.

With the right planning, developers can push their apps globally very easily. There still is a need to also have regional and localized apps. “I think the big questions are ‘What problem are you solving for people? What value are you bringing to your users?’ These are global questions, but every developer needs to ask them, he said.

He believes that the Chinese companies have great potential. Combined with the harsh competition, it is the Chinese startups who are working harder and faster than their Silicon Valley counterparts. “This environment is causing new innovation to spring up all the time.”He said.

When he had a fireside chat with Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States at todays’ conference, he was asked how can firms from both countries cooperate. He said that both side need to improve communication as well as break down stereotypes and pre-judgments.

Sheng Fu told that “The globalization of the mobile industry has just started with great potentials. Some newly emerging markets are more like what China looks three or four years ago. In these countries, you can find gold anywhere.”

He also announced its Cheetah Global Lab, a research institute to understanding and improving the mobile ecosystem toady at the conference. The Lab will share important findings with entrepreneurs and other tech leaders to assist them in innovating their perspectives through regular salons and meet-ups.

Connect 2016, a mobile-focused conference, gathered hundreds of business leaders, experts, startup entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in San Francisco to discuss opportunities in a globalized mobile era.