1. Where is Meng Wang heading? The initial emergence of Meng Wang was mainly targeted at the value-added service platform based on SMS, and its business model was to share profits with SP/CP. This model has achieved tremendous success since its launch and has saved China's Internet and a host of Internet companies. But today, the flaws in the Meng Wang model have become increasingly apparent. Meng Wang is already at the end of its rope, while the Internet is flourishing.
Firstly, the SMS-based service carrier is being replaced by newer WAP, WEB, and IP-based clients. Meng Wang inherently is not suitable as a platform for WAP and pure IP value-added services, so its status will inevitably degrade from the only value-added service platform to just one among many, and it will be the most outdated one.
Secondly, in terms of business model, Meng Wang has become a synonym in the public eye. It is seen as the best place for SPs to make money deceitfully and where users are bound to be cheated. Although its economic benefits are still strong, its social benefits and public image have become like an incapable person who cannot be helped. Every year, the 315 Consumer Rights Day is almost like a specially convened criticism meeting for Meng Wang.
In fact, China Mobile is already considering the future of Meng Wang, even discussing whether Meng Wang should be shut down. This issue not only involves the interests of China Mobile itself but also a large number of SPs and CPs in the industrial chain, which currently supports hundreds of thousands of employees. However, the current predicament of Meng Wang is difficult to reverse. The only suspense lies in how Meng Wang will fade away - will it naturally disappear like an outdated pager, or will it be immediately terminated by administrative orders?
2. How to Build a Mobile Internet Platform?
Another confusion for China Mobile is how to formulate and implement its Internet strategy. The recent buzz about the rumored relationship between China Mobile and Tencent is actually just a small scene where Wang Jianzhu redirected his visit to Huawei to Tencent to learn about the Internet. In fact, in recent years, exchanges between China Mobile and Tencent at various levels in the Internet field have been ongoing. China Mobile has always envied Tencent's platform superficially without understanding its essence. Although Tencent has indeed been teaching it through real cases, China Mobile cannot get rid of the influence of monopoly thinking and fundamentally fails to understand the essence of building an Internet platform.
On the other hand, China Mobile's actual attempts in the Internet field have been carried out high-profilely. The products like 139, 12580, MDO, and various business bases distributed across eight provincial companies (Sichuan Music Base, Guangdong MobileMarket, Hunan Payment Base, Zhejiang Reading Base, Jiangsu Game Base, Liaoning LBS Base, Hunan Animation Base, etc.) have been defined by China Mobile. MDO is considered a business model parallel to Meng Wang, and the rest are all its own channels. The architecture model is entirely a "platform built by Mobile and performances given by SP" model. However, the problem is that these products do not look like products, and the platforms do not seem like platforms. There are a bunch of things, and China Mobile itself is quite confused. It does not know how to build these things into an Internet platform like Tencent. It even doesn't understand why QQ is a platform, but Qzone isn't.
Lost, lost.
3. Operating Environment Full of Internal Troubles and External Threats
The propaganda department has been closely monitoring the telecom value-added service sector, which is prone to errors. Last year's crackdown was said to last for a year, and it just passed not long ago.
Zhang Chunjiang's fall has triggered an anti-corruption wave in the telecom sector. The latest case involves Li Xiangdong, the head of China Mobile's Sichuan Music Base, who fled to Canada with a huge sum of money (some say he has been captured, and the amount involved is said to be between 400 million to 600 million yuan). Today, it was announced that the National Audit Office will fully enter the three major telecom operators to specifically audit SP businesses, requiring SPs to cooperate and provide corresponding audit materials.
China Mobile is about to establish a Network Security Department and a Terminal Department. In the future, the usual tricks used by SPs to make money will have to be somewhat restrained in front of the specialized Network Security Department, and the Terminal Department will strictly manage terminal pre-installation. It will no longer be realistic to operate as a black SP unless you pre-install something that does not directly profit.