THIS year is shaping up as a wired year for lovers of consumer electronics.
We can wake up in the morning and read the latest news on our iPads on our way to work using 3G or 4G networks. At our lunch break, we can peruse gadgets or books from online shops. In the evening, we can watch high-definition online video clips through Wi-Fi based on home broadband networks.
All the constant innovations that mark the information technology realm seem certain to change our lives in 2011 - once again. So what's in store?
Video websites
The fight for a dominant position in the online video market is expected to intensify after Youku successfully completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in early December.
Tudou, China's second-largest video website, is also expected to sell shares on the Nasdaq market in the next few months.
The two sites will likely grab most of the advertising spending targeted on video sites. Spending on patented content is also expected to rise because the rivals are trying to outdo one another in the quality of videos offered.
Beijing-based LeTV became the first Chinese listed video site in August, after raising 730 million yuan (US$111million) in an IPO on the ChiNext board, China's Nasdaq-style market. Shares sold at 29.20 yuan apiece at the IPO. They currently are trading at about 52 yuan.
LeTV is smaller than Tudou or Youku. Youku's income in the third quarter of 2010 was US$17 million, while Tudou's was US$17.3 million. LeTV, by contrast, showed revenue of only US$11 million over the same period.
As more and more websites seek to provide mainstream licensed TV series and movies to viewers, going public and brand marketing have become prime industry strategies.
Other smaller rivals of Tudou and Youku are also expected to launch IPO plans within the next year or two. These companies may include Shanghai-based Joy.cn and PPLive.com, whose peer-to-peer software provides online broadcasting of TV programs and movies. Tudou and Youku have also launched applications to allow iPhone and other smartphone users access to their video database through mobile handsets more easily.
Research estimates that the market value of online video sites may reach 16 billion yuan in 2014, more than a fivefold increase from last year.
Apart from enhancing user experience, they are also reaching out to related businesses, including the production of TV series and the redistribution of online broadcasting rights for hit movies. Both Youku and Tudou have made those investment decisions.
Youku Chief Executive Officer Victor Koo told the media that the ultimate goal is to cover the computer screen, the mobile screen and the TV screen.
Tablet PC
Tablet personal computers are attracting increased attention since the Wi-Fi-only iPad debuted on the Chinese mainland in September. Headlines in newspapers are filled with hot topics: "The iPad 3G has been approved in China." "RIM is going to launch its tablet PC Playbook."
And there's no end in sight to the hype.
China's tablet PC sales will reach 4.5 million units in 2011, compared with 600,000 units in 2010, according to Beijing-based Analysys International.
The rapid growth comes from the surging demand for large-screen mobile terminals, more types of terminals available and copycat models entering the market, a factor unique in China, according to Analysys.
Chinese manufacturers that used to turn out "shanzhai," or copycat, mobile phones, have started to produce shanzhai models of the iPad. The copycat costs less than 1,000 yuan, only a quarter of the cost of Apple's iPad.
Branded domestic firms, including Lenovo and Hanwang, have also taken aggressive strategies into the sector. For example, Lenovo, China's biggest PC vendor, launched its LePad during the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vega, joining the tablet PC wave with RIM, Motorola and Samsung.