Zhang Xiangdong: Riding the Wave

by+Xuan+Kang

Over a decade later， Zhang considers 1999 a game-changing year. In that year， 22-year-old Zhang graduated from the Department of Information Management at Peking University. For a long time after graduation， Zhang roosted in Zhongguancun， the eye of the technological storm in China at that time. In the very place where the first computer was sold in China， Zhang witnessed the computer storm sweep across China from the United States. He never forgot a remark made by a high-ranking Intel manager： “In the future， every mobile phone will become the internet.” In 1999， when most Chinese people didnt even have access to a PC or the internet， this sounded like science fiction. However， just 15 years later， the fantastical prediction became cold， hard reality. Since then， Zhangs life has been closely tied to the internet and mobile phones.

In November 2013， Sungy Mobile， with Zhang as its president， arrived on NASDAQ， marking the first Chinese mobile internet company to go public in the U.S. By the fourth quarter of 2013， downloads of the Go series apps， developed by Sungy Mobile， ranked third on Google Play， following only Facebook and Google. Global users of Go Launcher have reached nearly 270 million， with 70 percent outside China. Go Launcher has become the most important distribution platform for Chinese mobile apps in foreign lands. The previous internet trend in China was to copy the Silicon Valley pattern. Now， the development of the mobile internet enables more Chinese enterprises such as Sungy Mobile to compete in the international market.

Sungy Mobile started from 3G Portal， a website developed by Zhang and his university classmate Deng Yuqiang in 2004. The two young men were pioneers who disrupted the paid mobile content business model by offering free content through 3G Portal. In 2005， the company began to pay equal attention to both the 3G Portal and software development. However， developing software didnt go so smoothly， and the company struggled for success until 2010， when Go Launcher went live.

“In the mobile internet industry， entry point stands for products， and affords flow volume and users，” explains Zhang. “A home screen manages a mobile phone and knows its user， which makes the home screen app an important entry point application.”

Actually， for a long time after it was released， Go Launcher， with myriad themes， didnt win popularity among Chinese users， but rather foreigner customers. Zhang didnt pay much attention to this oddity at first. Only six months later， he decided to accelerate development in the overseas market， which ultimately led Sungy Mobile to NASDAQ.

Today， along with the 3G Portal， Sungy Mobiles products include GO Series apps such as GO Launcher， GO Locker， GO SMS Pro， GO Weather and several others， and the 3G Book Market which mainly targets domestic users.

Over the past decade， numerous Chinese mobile internet companies have been devoured by the mobile internet wave. Sungy Mobile is among the few to endure and survive the entire process. The mobile internet， which is international by nature， enables Zhang and his company to go global and do business in foreign lands. As for Sungy Mobiles management and development after going public， Zhang already has ideas. “Contrasting other revolutions， the information revolution moves forward in real waves，” he remarks. “Those who understand the rules of the information world will ultimately emerge victorious.”