What’s the current landscape of business-to-developer (B2D) market in China? That’s a topic our panel of five third-party service providers addressed today at TechCrunch Shanghai.
When being asked about the difference between Chinese and foreign app developers, Testin’s CEO Wang Jun noted that foreign startup entrepreneurs are prone to trust and utilize third-party services to solve problems that are not their expertise, while their Chinese peers are more reserved in adopting B2D services. But the situation is changing rapidly. Chinese app developers tend to pay for third-party services since this year, because they have seen the benefits brought about by these services. As a third-party service provider, it is crucial to keep hands off the important data of customers, Wang added.
B2D market embraced more opportunities because the threshold for developing apps is lowered, according to Dominique Tu, Kii’s VP of Greater China. Previously, most app developers are people with technology backgrounds (eg. engineers), but technical background is not a must for developers now. B2D services can make up for the technical demands for non-technical developpers.
Cloud computing and data storage services put startups on the same start line as giant companies in terms of technical supports and they enable startups to focus squarely on their products, said Li Jing, marketing VP of Qiniu.
In the past, VCs were reluctant to invest in B2C startups, because it is difficult for them to monetize. But now, the market is big enough to attract investors. The very case of Alibaba’s acquisition of UMeng indicated that the investors are now bullish on the potentials of B2D market, said Linda Jiang, VP of UMeng.
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