Recent Posts
For the past 100 years, Silicon Valley has been the prime hub for leading technology innovation and development throughout the world. From Stanford’s role in shaping the valley’s reputation in the early 1900s to the dot-com bubble in the mid-90s, there is no doubt this area is recognized as the global tech capital of the world.
But as much as Silicon Valley has been leading the way in research and development for the past century, many popular businesses – such as multi-faceted apps like SnapChat and Facebook – are not original concepts born in the United States.
According to the New York Time’s article “China, Not Silicon Valley, Is Cutting Edge in Mobile Tech,” ideas for apps that let you connect with people, pay for goods and order services were not only invented by and popularized in China, but are consistently replicated in the U.S.
For example, as the article mentions, “WeChat and Alipay, two Chinese apps, have long used the bar-code like symbols – called QR codes – to let people pay for purchases and transfer money. Both let users hail a taxi or order a pizza without switching to another app.” This is very similar to current American apps like SnapChat and Kik, which were preceded by the Chinese platforms.
Additionally, video-streaming features like the one popularly used by Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Periscope are other concepts innovated in China. As the New York Times article states, “The video-streaming service YY.com has for years made online stars of young Chinese people posing, chatting and singing in front of video cameras at home.”
So as much as we would like to think that Silicon Valley is revolutionizing chat apps, easy mobile-pay methods, dating services and food orders, China’s tech industry may be the one doing all the mobile world transforming.
As the New York Times explains, “Industry leaders point to a number of areas where China jumped first. Before the online dating app Tinder, people in China used an app called Momo to flirt with nearby singles.”
The app WeChat led the way in in-app purchases, similar to what Facebook is doing now. And the Chinese have been “investing, reimbursing each other,” paying their bills and purchasing goods way before Venmo and Cash came to the market.
Aside from American companies knocking-off the ideas of Chinese apps behind the scenes, there are more explicit interests in China’s tech market that aren’t so discreet. Just this June, tech-giant, Apple, invested a billion dollars in China’s ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing, in order to learn more about the Chinese tech industry. And Uber China surrendered to the ride-sharing service by selling itself to the company in August.
But as much as China is leading the way in mobile app services, there are some pretty important areas where Silicon Valley is still taking lead. When it comes to America’s innovation in virtual reality and driverless cars, China doesn’t compare. And most importantly, Silicon Valley’s innovation in “high-end servers and supercomputers” is still heavily relied on by much of the world, including China.
