It was a year of the Three As for the information technology industry in China, the world's biggest Internet market.
This year, it became clear to anyone following the industry that application, Apple and Android are changing the way people use the Internet and the way businesses structure profit and marketing models.
Application and online stores for people to download apps have become an industry standard, proving that handsets have become more powerful than many people had expected.
Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market have led the market, followed by the rest of the players, including Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry maker RIM.
New gadgets and services - such as iPad, micro-blogging and Twitter-clone sites in China - continue to change people's lives. New technologies, including cloud computing and Internet of Things, have developed rapidly thanks to government support.
For the first time, a China-developed super computer, the acme of the nation's IT development to date, ranks No. 1 in the world in terms of calculation ability.
Some giants, like Google, Foxconn and Tencent, have faced challenges in China this year, but they have found ways to continue growing.
These are the top 10 IT developments that made the news this year.
A series of suicides occurred at Foxconn's mainland facilities
Within several months in the first half of the year, 10 Foxconn workers in Shenzhen died by jumping off buildings at the company's plants. The deaths were blamed on discontent about wages and benefits. The company, which makes laptops, handsets and other gadgets for Sony and Apple, responded by raising salaries. It also said it would move part of its operations from the southern coastal city of Shenzhen to inland cities like Chongqing and Zhengzhou.
Why and so what?
The suicides triggered a wide-ranging debate on the working conditions and incomes of Chinese workers. The wage increase may improve the situation for some Chinese workers, but it also sent a signal that China's labor cost advantage may be weakening. Google redirected its mainland site to Hong Kong
The world's No. 1 Internet search firm announced in January that it would move out of the Chinese mainland because it was unwilling to censor search results. In March, it began automatically redirecting Internet traffic to its site in Hong Kong. As a result, Google's share of the mainland market decreased dramatically, giving rivals Baidu and Microsoft's Bing a boost.
Google has received the necessary licenses to continue operations in China and will expand into mobiles, display advertising and e-commerce sectors, its top executives said two weeks ago in Beijing.
Why and so what?
The redirection of Google China makes the most popular English-language search tool unstable in the mainland. It has also left space for overseas and local rivals in an already competitive market. Application, or app, and online stores
IT company executives in China are always asked if they plan to launch online stores. The answer is invariably yes. Every one in the industry has either opened an online application store or has plans to do so.
The list includes carriers like China Mobile and China Unicom, handset makers like Nokia, Motorola and RIM, and media like Sina and even Shanghai Daily.
Obviously, the stars of the sector are Apple with the iPhone 4 and App Store, and Google with Android, which each offers more than 200,000 applications. In the "app era," people can access customized content and services through various devices, from phones and tablets to computers.
Why and so what?
The supply shortage of the iPhone 4 has lasted several months since its debut in China in September, a sure signal of the success of the new business model.
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This year, it became clear to anyone following the industry that application, Apple and Android are changing the way people use the Internet and the way businesses structure profit and marketing models.
Application and online stores for people to download apps have become an industry standard, proving that handsets have become more powerful than many people had expected.
Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market have led the market, followed by the rest of the players, including Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry maker RIM.
New gadgets and services - such as iPad, micro-blogging and Twitter-clone sites in China - continue to change people's lives. New technologies, including cloud computing and Internet of Things, have developed rapidly thanks to government support.
For the first time, a China-developed super computer, the acme of the nation's IT development to date, ranks No. 1 in the world in terms of calculation ability.
Some giants, like Google, Foxconn and Tencent, have faced challenges in China this year, but they have found ways to continue growing.
These are the top 10 IT developments that made the news this year.
A series of suicides occurred at Foxconn's mainland facilities
Within several months in the first half of the year, 10 Foxconn workers in Shenzhen died by jumping off buildings at the company's plants. The deaths were blamed on discontent about wages and benefits. The company, which makes laptops, handsets and other gadgets for Sony and Apple, responded by raising salaries. It also said it would move part of its operations from the southern coastal city of Shenzhen to inland cities like Chongqing and Zhengzhou.
Why and so what?
The suicides triggered a wide-ranging debate on the working conditions and incomes of Chinese workers. The wage increase may improve the situation for some Chinese workers, but it also sent a signal that China's labor cost advantage may be weakening. Google redirected its mainland site to Hong Kong
The world's No. 1 Internet search firm announced in January that it would move out of the Chinese mainland because it was unwilling to censor search results. In March, it began automatically redirecting Internet traffic to its site in Hong Kong. As a result, Google's share of the mainland market decreased dramatically, giving rivals Baidu and Microsoft's Bing a boost.
Google has received the necessary licenses to continue operations in China and will expand into mobiles, display advertising and e-commerce sectors, its top executives said two weeks ago in Beijing.
Why and so what?
The redirection of Google China makes the most popular English-language search tool unstable in the mainland. It has also left space for overseas and local rivals in an already competitive market. Application, or app, and online stores
IT company executives in China are always asked if they plan to launch online stores. The answer is invariably yes. Every one in the industry has either opened an online application store or has plans to do so.
The list includes carriers like China Mobile and China Unicom, handset makers like Nokia, Motorola and RIM, and media like Sina and even Shanghai Daily.
Obviously, the stars of the sector are Apple with the iPhone 4 and App Store, and Google with Android, which each offers more than 200,000 applications. In the "app era," people can access customized content and services through various devices, from phones and tablets to computers.
Why and so what?
The supply shortage of the iPhone 4 has lasted several months since its debut in China in September, a sure signal of the success of the new business model.
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