【英语中国】中国互联网应用程序开发道阻且长

Mobile-application developer 9thQ, like tens of thousands of small- to medium-sized developers in China, is faced with a dilemma: While it is more adapted to the Chinese market, the company has to release its products on overseas platforms like Apple's App Store or Google's Android Market.

Though China is full of developers, distribution of applications like those found in the App Store or on social-networking sites is fragmented. Chinese consumers often use smaller, independent stores or electronics retailers to obtain mobile apps, and the prevalence of piracy in the country also limits sales, driving developers to look abroad for profits.

Meanwhile, platforms in China offer lower revenue share than platforms overseas - about 50% to 60% or even less, compared to 70% - and lack of marketing from third-party platforms makes the market less profitable as well. And app stores run by telecom operators generally have qualification and technology requirements, which put up barriers for smaller developers.

Baidu's new platform, unveiled last week, appears to be an attempt to solve that problem. The Chinese search engine says it will charge only 30% commission on paid apps.

But while the platform promises access to Baidu's massive user base, and some 400 apps and games are on it, some Chinese developers like 9thQ are taking a wait-and-see approach.

'We haven't yet considered releasing our products on the Baidu platform,' said Shi Weixing, founder and CEO of 9thQ, in Beijing. While several other Internet companies have also launched so-called open platforms, he added, the terms aren't always fair.

'I haven't paid much attention to the news of Baidu's platform, but we won't consider launching products on Baidu at this moment,' said Wu Kezheng, founder of Beijing-based developer Zhang Shang Ji Hao Information Technology Co., which distributes apps through China Mobile, as well as Tencent's platform, even though it pays a whopping 70% commission fee.

Despite Tencent's 70% commission, he said, 'we make the most from Tencent. The high user stickiness on the site help keep the customers.'

China Mobile's Mobile Market is currently the most successful one within China, but still, many developers complain that they don't actually make many releases on that platform.

As for the smaller independent app stores, Baidu's new platform may cannibalize traffic to other distributors. 'For those websites/developers that are able to pass the acceptance check of Baidu, the risk is that their users might stop on Baidu's search page given that they can access the game/software directly from there,' said analyst Li Zhi, analyst of Beijing-based market research firm Analysys International. 'For those who failed to pass the approval, they'll find it even harder to generate network traffic because potential users are attracted away by those showed high up in Baidu's search-and-use platform.'

Still, Baidu's offer has intrigued at least some, and Li said the combination of search engine and application store will become the new profit-growth spot for the company.

机应用软件开发公司九趣（9thQ）和中国数万个中小型软件开发者一样，正面临着一个困境。尽管该公司更适应中国市场，但却必须在苹果(Apple)的苹果商店(App Store)或谷歌(Google)的Android Market等国外平台发布产品。

虽然中国有许多软件开发者，但像在苹果商店或社交网站中的那些应用程序的销售却很分散。中国消费者通常利用小型的独立商店或电子产品零售商来获取手机应用程序，并且由于盗版问题的猖獗，销售也受到了限制，使得开发者不得不将赢利的目光投向海外市场。

同时，中国平台的收入份额也低于国外平台，中国约为50%到60%甚至更少，国外则为70%，同时由于缺乏来自第三方平台的营销，市场的赢利性也就变得更低。电信运营商运营的应用商店一般都有资格和技术要求，这使得更小规模的开发商面临更多障碍。

百度上周新推出了一个应用平台，看起来似乎试图解决这一问题。这家中国的搜索引擎公司说将只会从付费应用程序中抽取30%的佣金。

但是，尽管通过该平台能接触百度庞大的用户群，并且拥有大约400个应用程序和游戏，但是许多像九趣一样的中国开发者仍持观望态度。

九趣的创始人和首席执行长史卫星在北京说，我们还未考虑过在百度的平台上发布我们的产品。他补充道，其他的几家互联网公司也推出了所谓的开放平台，但是条款并不公平。

软件开发公司北京掌上极浩信息技术有限公司的创始人吴可征说，我并未非常留意百度平台的新闻，但是我们目前不会考虑在百度推出产品。该公司目前通过中国移动和腾讯的平台销售应用软件，虽然必须支付高达70%的佣金。

他说，尽管腾讯的佣金达到70%，我们在腾讯上发布应用的收入情况最好，腾讯用户粘性较高，从而帮助留住客户。

中国移动的移动应用商场（Mobile Market）是目前中国最成功的应用商店，但是，许多开发商仍抱怨他们在该平台上难以发布很多产品。

对于更小型的独立应用商店，百度的新平台可能将流量分给其他的销售商。北京的市场研究公司易观国际（Analysys International.）的分析师李智说，对于那些能够通过百度合格检查的网站或开发商，风险在于他们的用户可能停留在百度的搜索页面，因为他们能直接从那里获得游戏或软件。而对那些未能通过审核的开发商来说，他们将发现会更难获得网络流量，因为潜在用户被百度的即搜即用平台上高排名的应用程序和游戏吸引走了。

但是，百度至少已经引起了一些人的兴趣，李智说，搜索引擎和应用商店结合的模式将成为百度新的利润增长点。