This source, an excerpt from a newsletter titled "Unknown! Keywords for Deeply Understanding Chinese IT," focuses on the significant impact of instant delivery services in China. It explains how these services, initially for food delivery, have expanded to encompass a wide range of goods, transforming the consumer experience from going to stores to having items delivered directly. The article discusses how this shift has fostered new retail models like new retail supermarkets, quick commerce, and community group buying, and highlights the supporting roles of smartphones, mobile payments, and advancing delivery technology like autonomous carts and drones in this evolving landscape.

This source, an excerpt from an article by IT journalist Takemaki Makino, introduces OPPO and vivo, two prominent Chinese smartphone brands, often perceived in Japan as simply "cheap and poorly made." The author challenges this outdated image by explaining that these companies, part of the "Bubugao" or "BBK" system founded by Duan Yongping, have achieved success through bold technological innovation. The article details the history of Duan Yongping and the origins of BBK, highlighting his unique management philosophy of sharing profits and fostering talent, which has influenced the development of companies like OPPO and vivo and even the social e-commerce platform Pinduoduo. Ultimately, the source argues that understanding BBK and Duan Yongping provides crucial insight into the true nature of OPPO and vivo as technologically advanced, pioneering companies, not merely budget options.

This source, written by IT journalist Takafumi Makino, discusses how China rapidly deployed various artificial intelligence technologies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The author explains that China's approach of quickly introducing systems to the market, even if imperfect, aligns well with the development of AI, which benefits greatly from real-world data and continuous learning. Several examples of these quickly implemented AI solutions are provided, including health codes for managing movement based on infection risk, AI-powered analysis of medical images for diagnosis, automated delivery systems to minimize human contact, and AI phone systems for gathering public health information and updating business hours. The source also highlights that China's previous experience with agile development in other sectors and a general public acceptance of iterative technological improvements contributed to this rapid deployment and ongoing refinement of AI.

This source, an excerpt from a newsletter on Chinese IT, focuses on the rise of live commerce in China, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It explains how businesses, particularly smaller ones and those in rural areas, turned to live streaming platforms to sell goods when traditional sales channels were disrupted. The text highlights government support for live commerce as a strategy for economic recovery and describes how the model is being adapted beyond retail to include areas like tourism, matchmaking, and entertainment, demonstrating its increasing integration into various aspects of Chinese life.

This source, a newsletter from IT journalist Takemino Makino, analyzes the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Chinese restaurant industry, particularly focusing on the rapid adoption and evolution of food delivery, known as waimai. The article details how restaurants pivoted to delivery to survive significant drops in revenue and highlights the success stories of several establishments that innovated beyond simple delivery, incorporating elements like half-prepared meals and live e-commerce. It also discusses the role of delivery platforms like Meituan and Ele.me, the changing landscape for delivery drivers, and the potential long-term shifts in the restaurant business model in a post-pandemic era, suggesting a move towards online-merge-offline (OMO) strategies.

This source, an issue of an IT journalist's newsletter, explores the emergence of a "new normal" in China following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on shifts in technology adoption and behavior. It highlights how the pandemic accelerated the move towards online activities, such as e-commerce for groceries, online gaming, online medical consultations, and remote work. The author suggests that the post-pandemic future will involve a blended approach of online and offline activities, and examines specific examples like the unexpected resurgence of an older mobile game, the move to online movie releases, and the implementation of employee sharing programs by businesses. The article concludes by emphasizing that these changes are not confined to major cities and that observing these developments in China offers insights into how the "new normal" might unfold elsewhere.

This source provides a historical overview of the rapid evolution of e-commerce in China. It highlights key factors influencing this growth, including the impact of SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks driving online adoption. The text also details the intense rivalry between tech giants Alibaba and Tencent in the e-commerce and the emerging "New Retail" sector, tracing their strategic shifts and technological advancements like mobile payments and mini-programs that arose from their competition. Ultimately, the article explains how this rivalry has fueled the rapid innovation and transformation of China's retail landscape.

This source examines the reasons behind the struggles and withdrawals of foreign retail companies in China during 2019, highlighting the failure of many to adapt to the country's rapidly evolving market. The text attributes this to the speed of change in China, encompassing economic growth, shifting consumer preferences, the rise of e-commerce, and the adoption of new retail technologies like mobile payments. The article presents several examples of failed foreign ventures, including Forever 21 and Amazon, who attempted to apply global business models without local adjustments, contrasting them with the initial difficulties and subsequent successful adaptation of Starbucks through strategic partnerships and responsiveness to local trends. It concludes that success in the Chinese market for foreign businesses hinges on empowering local leadership and collaborating with domestic companies.

This source describes "New Retail," a concept introduced by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, where online and offline retail merge to offer customers flexibility in shopping methods, such as ordering online for in-store pickup or home delivery. It highlights how Taiwanese supermarket PX Mart successfully implemented this model despite its core customer base being less familiar with smartphones. PX Mart achieved this by first introducing a dedicated electronic money card, making it accessible to older customers, and then transitioning them to their smartphone payment app, PX Pay, through personalized assistance. This strategy allowed PX Mart to offer various New Retail services like delivery and a bulk-purchase option, ultimately expanding its customer base and gaining valuable data for business improvement, illustrating the necessity of adopting New Retail for retailers' survival.

This excerpt from an article titled "Unknown! Keywords to Understand Chinese IT Deeply Vol. 014" focuses on China's "Singles' Day Sale," primarily initiated by Alibaba. It details the massive scale of this annual event on November 11th, where billions of dollars in transactions occur in a single day, far surpassing the sales of major Western e-commerce companies like Amazon. The article explains that while the event isn't necessarily a direct profit center for Alibaba itself due to substantial promotional costs, it serves as a crucial driver for the company's technological advancements in areas like cloud computing, payment systems (which evolved into Alipay), and logistics. It also traces the origins of Singles' Day as a day for young people to socialize and celebrate being single, and how Alibaba transformed it into a colossal shopping festival, highlighting the company's strategic use of data and its evolution into a "data technology company."