Tencent CEO Pony Ma claimed that he was threatened. It seems that the Internet war has expanded to a battle of personal attacks.
On the evening of November 3, Tencent announced that QQ and 360 would not be compatible, forcing users to choose one or the other. Following this, the clamor between 360 and QQ rose continuously, with each wave surpassing the last. In the first round of fighting, Tencent, the cute little penguin, fell. The public outcry against Tencent surged, with the movement to overthrow Tencent clearly being larger than the one against 360. Then, on November 5, five companies—Kingsoft, Maxthon, Koobee, Sogou, and Baidu—announced that they would not be compatible with 360. 360 faced the most brutal encirclement and boycott in the history of China's Internet.
Firstly, it was foreseeable that Tencent would fall in the first round of fighting. Over the years, Tencent had already established an image of plagiarism (or what some call "micro-innovation") in the minds of netizens. In every field that Tencent's tentacles reached, there was a re-shuffling. Netizens felt both love and hatred towards it. Now, Tencent had brazenly launched an attack, making netizens uninstall 360 and related software. Regarding this matter, Tencent initiated the trouble, interfering with users' computers, violating the principle of putting users first, and making users feel coerced. Thus, users became angry. The majority of netizens expressed strong indignation towards QQ.
Subsequently, Kingsoft and the other five manufacturers issued a joint statement announcing their incompatibility with 360. With this, 360's situation became precarious. The five manufacturers pointed out eight deceptions, accusing 360 of deceiving users and engaging in malicious competition. In fact, Zhou Hongyi himself was not a good character. Starting from 3721, he bore the reputation of being the "godfather of malware." Later, he repeatedly abandoned moral principles for profit, breaking ties with multiple former partners such as Alibaba (Zhou Hongyi's previous employer), Baidu, and Kaspersky, going back on his word and behaving reprehensibly. This greatly angered several major manufacturers, leading to the encirclement.
Afterward: Both sides of the conflict expressed their determination to fight to the end. It remains unknown who will emerge victorious. Although Zhou Hongyi appears to be fighting alone, as an "Internet veteran," he must have made preparations.
The impact of the dispute between 360 and QQ on the Internet:
1. Antivirus software began to be fully free. Kaspersky, Kingsoft Antivirus, Koobee Antivirus, Rising Antivirus, Avira AntiVir, and AVG Antivirus successively launched fully free or six-month or one-year free promotions.
2. Users in the instant messaging software domain started to分流(divert). Feixin, leveraging its network advantages, might become the biggest winner in this diversion.
3. The current position of Tencent, the internet leader, remains firmly unshakable. QQ has evolved from just a chat tool into a culture.
Lessons learned from the 360 incident:
1. We are the weak ones. The monopoly of the Internet inevitably leads to hegemony. The result of hegemony is that we are "hegemonized";
2. Few Chinese Internet companies can escape accusations of "evil deeds." Neither Baidu, Tencent, nor 360 are exempt. The gray areas of the law are frequently exploited;
3. The role of the news media cannot be underestimated. In reality, even now, it is difficult for us to determine who is right and who is wrong in this dispute.