After many years of unbridled growth, China’s seemingly forever growing internet is slowing down.
For the first time, year-on-year (YoY) growth rate of mobile internet users in China has fallen below 1%, an indicator that might mark the end of a fast-expanding period for many internet businesses, according to data released by research company QuestMobile.
Mobile internet monthly active users (MAU) in China in November 2019 were 1.135 billion, which represents more than 80% of the country’s population, but only just 0.7% higher when compared to November 2018. In contrast, China saw a 4.5% year-on-year MAU growth from 2017 to 2018.
According to Questmobile, internet mobile traffic in China is close to hitting a growth ceiling, meaning it’s getting more and more difficult for Chinese internet giants to keep growing their business.
Currently, there’s less unexplored room for enterprises to simply ship their apps and expand wildly. However, there is a silver lining to the not so bright picture. As Chinese mobile internet users mature over the years, their strong dependence on mobile internet and growing appetite for different types of services might provide new directions for firms to explore.
