So do you remember a report I did about Alibaba? They overwork their employees with little to show for it. Furthermore, CEO Jack Ma likes it this way. But there is another China IT service corporation who wants positive influence. Tencent promises technological good.
So this is what Tencent CEO Pony Ma promises for his $460 billion company. He says Tecent’s mission is to, “improve the quality of life through Internet value-added services”. These are the three ways he wants to do it. The first is provide more big data for tradition businesses. Then the second is use his apps to easier provide gov’t services. This includes getting drivers licences and passports/visas. Finally, the third is helping society. One way he proposes is track missing people through facial recognition.
These things sound great, don’t they? But Tencent has a hard row to plow through, and Pony Ma knows it. The Chinese government and rival companies are putting the squeeze on him. For example, a gaming freeze cost Tencent billions of dollars in profits. Then you have competitors like Douyin. That’s an up and coming player in China’s social media world. With all these things, Tencent is changing the way they do business altogether, from cloud computing to IT support.
So maybe, and this is the cynic in me talking, this is why Tencent promises technological good. So they can compete and stay effective in a forever changing climate that is 2019 China. And do you want to know something else that’s ironic? Pony Ma revealed this plan at a Digital China Summit. The Chinese government sponsored this summit. So maybe Ma’s second suggestion won him some points with them. But whatever the reason, whether it is sincere or a business deal, I’m just happy Pony Ma is taking Tencent is dealing with them. What do you think of this move?