This article is from the WeChat public account: zinc scale (ID: znkedu) , author: Deng Deng Xiao Chen into the new Wei Xu, editor: Pan Juan, from the cover: Oriental IC
In 2008, Bill Gates, 53, gave the baton to Ballmer, one year younger.
In 2019, 46-year-old founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave the baton to Sanger Pichai, one year older.
Some people say that Pichai’s baby face, some people say that he is cute, some people say that he is patient, some people say that he likes to be low-key, some people say that he looks like a handsome endorsement model of a certain jeans brand … …
It is not denied that this is true Pichai, but not all Pichai.
In 2015, Pichai was appointed as the new CEO of Google. At the same time, accompanied by the most significant corporate structure adjustment in Google’s development process—by starting a parent company called Alphabet, the company ’s search, YouTube and other online subsidiaries are separated from the R & D investment department. Alphabet replaced Google INC as a public entity.
In the first after-hours trading day when the news of the new operating structure plan was issued, Google’s stock rose sharply, and behind Pichai’s starter, his courage, leadership, and recognition by the capital market are evident.
11 years after Bill Gates handed over Microsoft ’s handsome seal, there is another change of Silicon Valley Internet giant at the helm. The whole world is guessing: this 47-year-old middle-aged person will give the world What does it bring?
What new possibilities will emerge for the Chinese market that has been with Google for ten years …
Pichai’s obsession: a billion-scale market not to be missed
Google’s attitude towards the Chinese market has always been described by love and hate.
“I see the Chinese market as a huge opportunity and we can participate as an available platform. Hope we have the opportunity to provide other services in the future.”
This is Pichaj ’s clear statement on the Chinese market in February 2015 when facing foreign media interviews. Because he saw the large-scale Android users in the Chinese market, as long as he could find a model to serve these users, Pichai promised “we will do something special.”
At the end of this interview, Pichai said that Google plans to re-enter the fields of payment, business, and enterprise applications, and hopes to get a chance to enter China again.
Pichai’s interest in the Chinese market. From 2013, Pichai had an intersection with Xiaomi and invited Lei Jun to visit and exchange at Google headquarters.
2015 was a year of special significance for Pichai. Interestingly, this year was also a year in which he exported to the outside world his desire for the Chinese market.
“China is a considerable, important, and unique market. We take our investment in the Chinese market very seriously. We are very happy to provide Google services to Chinese users, but we need to think carefully and improve how to do it.” It is not difficult to see that since then, Pichai has been open-minded about the new possibilities of Google and China, “but now all we can do is wait and see.”
In other words, what Google lost was a billion-dollar first-mover market.
As for the Chinese market, Pichai has never given up.
In the spring of 2016, Pichai came to Beijing.
The itinerary is not complicated: under the leadership of Nie Weiping, a chess sage, visited the Go school, chatted with the Go players, and talked with Ke Jie, the world’s number one at the time, to symbolically play against each other.
From left to right, Ke Jie, Guli, Nie Weiping, Pichai
The arrival of Pichai makes the industry boil and calm down. Because, it is generally believed that this visit to China is only a simple exchange of AlphaGo and Go. But this interpretation may be too hasty.
Under Pichai ’s leadership, Google ’s biggest goal is to make AI ubiquitous. This ubiquity, from Pichai ’s arrival, shows that the Chinese market is covered.
Apple’s CEO Cook has come to China many times to sell iPhones, and to stabilize the sales of Apple products in the Chinese market. Facebook’s founder Zuckerberg has also come to China many times, and even appeared in China. Tiananmen Square running is also an effort to open up the Chinese market.
Then Pichai came to China in less than six months after being promoted to Google CEO, and naturally has his own calculations.
Google CEO said today: “Many small and medium companies in China can sell our products to other countries through us. This is a large scale effect. Technology gives us the opportunity to be able to interconnect and establish cooperation, which is a good opportunity And will not be reversed. “
In 2017, Google set up an artificial intelligence research room in Beijing to increase investment in high-tech research. This year, the Google Translate app for smartphones was also approved by China.
In the same year, Pichai also publicly expressed his desire for the Chinese market again: “Many small and medium-sized companies in China can sell products to other countries through us. This is a large scale effect. Technology gives us the opportunity to be able to Connect and build cooperation without being reversed.
In 2018, Google-based venture capital CapitalG invested in Manbang Group. This is the first investment Google companies have made in Chinese companies in the past three years.
At a general meeting this year, after bidding farewell to China for almost 10 years, Google is planning to restart and run its own search engine in China.
Pichai’s attitude towards China, if you want to draw a conclusion, it may be said that he has been looking for a model to return to China.
Pichai dream broken: Google search returns to China to plan abortion
Yes, Pichai is most eager for the search business to return to China.
Google officially entered China in 2006 and gained a large number of loyal fans, but announced its withdrawal from China on March 23, 2010. The reason for the withdrawal is said to be related to Google’s content recommendation.
At that time, Bill Gates commented: “The Internet is regulated to varying degrees around the world, but it still succeeds as a bridge to promote openness and communication. To do business in a country, you must comply with the laws of that country. . “
Former Newsweek senior editor Steven Levy’s book “Inside Google: What Google Thinks, What It Does and Its Impact on Our Lives,” broke the news, and Chinese regulators summoned Google Chinese executives to Beijing A hotel that displayed a lot of pornographic content contained in Google’s search results in person, “the waitress pouring tea in the room saw this scene almost fainted.”
This phenomenon has not only persisted for a long time, but it has also turned a deaf ear to criticisms from all sides and has no intention of correcting them.
Therefore, after Google left, the voice of “bargaining with the Chinese people can only be humiliated by themselves” “Google loves not to leave, not to send” has become the mainstream.
After 2010, Google still has an office in China to expand its advertising business and explore the Chinese market step by step. Therefore, at intervals, the news of its desire to return to China is spread, but each time there is no beginning or end. Until September 2018, Google ’s Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright first confirmed the existence of the Dragonfly Project (codenamed Dragonfly) .
Under Pichai, Google internally planned a dragonfly project in the spring of 2017, and was originally scheduled to officially launch a search engine willing to comply with Chinese laws in 2019.
Pichai’s plan is to remove the historical burden and re-embrace the Chinese market.
In response, People’s Daily tweeted on overseas social media: “Welcome Google to return to mainland China, but must abide by Chinese laws.” And Li Yanhong, founder and CEO of Baidu, will be gearing up: “If Google returns now, we can Really PK again and win again. “
Li Yanhong, founder and CEO of Baidu
However, this vision is difficult. Regardless of the various interference factors, Pichai’s readiness to fight must also be marked.
First, the importance attached to the Chinese market.
Nine years of Google search leaving this market also means that there is a lack of nine years of business data accumulation, so whether the search needs in China are well known, test the wisdom of Pichai and Google’s heritage.
This can’t be made up overnight.
The young people of Gen Z are relatively new to Google. How to read their hearts and attract their attention is another problem.
In fact, even before exiting China, Google executives did n’t know much about the search needs of young Chinese.
I know there is a hot topic, “Why did Li Kaifu choose to leave Google at that time?”, former Google China CEO Li Kaifu personally answered the question: “Cui Jin was in charge of public relations marketing. The last time” Everyday Up “was almost crowded Server, this type of promotion is not in line with Google’s values, so it has not been supported by the headquarters. “
Former Google China CEO Kaifu Fu
To put it plainly, at that time, Google executives didn’t pay enough attention to the Chinese market, and their resources were not enough. What step can Pichai take?
Second, Baidu has a high market share.
As the so-called distance produces beauty, the Chinese market is calling for Google search quite loudly, but no one knows if that day will come again.
A short time after Google Search entered China, the high-light moment ushered in. Foreign media disclosed that its market share reached a maximum of 29%, but it continued to shrink, unable to grab more market share from Baidu.
Li Yanhong said in an exclusive interview with foreign media: “In 2010, Baidu occupied 75% of the Chinese search market, while Google only had a dozen% market.”
Baidu grew into a search giant, and it was also shot and killed with one shot. At one time, the saying “Do not ask Baidu internally and Google about foreign affairs” was popular.
After 2010, 360 search, Sogou search and other takeovers have become strong rivals of Baidu Search. The competition has not stopped. After the golden age of the development of the Chinese search market, mainstream search engines eventually have various “moats”. Baidu The search builds a content ecosystem, 360 searches for major security cards, and Sogou searches for medical health and WeChat public account content.
In this context, Pichai is not difficult to challenge Baidu.
The third is whether we can keep up with the new situation.
Currently, search has passed the golden age, “search + information flow” has become a mainstream trend, and the boundaries of search engines are constantly expanding. Tencent, Baidu, and today’s headlines tied for the top three information flow.
The war of information flow is essentially a scramble for high-quality content. To this end, the three giants have invested heavily in recruiting horses, and only now have the current prosperity.
Pichai has also launched an English information flow overseas, but the response has been flat, and the English information flow battlefield has not won. What about the Chinese information flow battlefield? If you avoid this main battlefield, let’s talk about competitiveness.
In the final analysis, Google’s competitiveness is not dominant.
After weighing and weighing, on July 17, 2019, Google publicly confirmed that the dragonfly plan “abortion”, and Pichai’s dream was broken.
Pichai’s strategic offensive direction
Google search cannot return to China, but Google has never left China.
Not to mention that Google has not followed China’s exit from China, including Chrome browser, Google Translate, Google Pinyin input method, etc., there are still a small number of people who are still insisting on using Google apps to integrate Chinese consumers in a wider range Google’s advanced technology also influences the development of Chinese Internet companies in daily life.
For example, the well-known Android system. Since Google developed Android, an open source operating system based on Linux, it has a strong competitive advantage in China because of its security, fast computing speed, and ease of development.
According to industry insiders, “Android, as a very good mobile development platform, is very suitable for domestic development environments. In particular, the low cost of SME development teams and the sharing of source code can save a lot of money for enterprises.”
So, after fierce competition in China’s mobile phone industry and several rounds of industry reshuffle, the four major domestic mobile phone manufacturers of Huami OV are still loyal users of the Android system. And after the iterative major version upgrade once a year, through the secondary development of Android native system, manufacturers such as Huami OV also derived EMUI, MIUI, Flyme, hydrogen OS, Smartisan OS and other systems with various characteristics.
Google makes intimate contacts with Chinese people via Android
The authoritative data released by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology shows that from January to October 2019, domestic smartphone shipments were 309 million units, a decrease of 4.3% year-on-year, accounting for 95.7% of mobile phone shipments in the same period. The proportion was 91.4%.
You can also see from the data that the Android system can be regarded as a horrible dominant force in the domestic smartphone market.
In addition, Google distributes under multiple free copyrights, such as BSD license, and open source as the open source Chromium kernel (Core technology of Chrome browser) is also the basis for improvement and innovation by many Chinese browser products. Because of its strong performance, good standards support, and sensitivity to user privacy, “At present, browsers generally use the Chromium kernel, because he has the largest market share in the world.” Liang Zhihui, general manager of the 360 PC browser division once said .
Currently, China ’s mainstream 360 browser, QQ browser, UC browser, Sogou browser, etc. are all generated based on the Chromium kernel.
It can be seen that as long as Google stands on the edge of technology, it will always affect the Internet industry.
After Pichai became the CEO of Alphabet, he won greater power of speech and resource scheduling, and his favored strategic direction may receive greater support.
Since 2015, Pichai’s strategic offensive strategy is the three major directions of “Google Cloud + AI” to form a combined punch, vigorously develop cloud games and explore quantum hegemony.
If there are no accidents, the above directions will continue to be implemented to gain more resources and development space.
At that time, in the cloud computing track, Google will fight head to head with Amazon, Microsoft, and Alibaba; in the cloud game track, it is eager to subvert the dominance of Microsoft, Sony and other game consoles; in the field of quantum, and IMB Higher and lower.
Inspired by Pichai, Baidu identified AI as the strategic core direction of the future, and Tencent and Netease both cut into the cloud game track.
Whether Pichai can be a good successor, let us wait and see.
This article is from the WeChat public account: Zinc scale (ID:znkedu) , Author: Deng Deng Xiao Chen into the new Xu Wei