If there is one word to describe a person's 30 years, it is undoubtedly the right time.
Similarly, if we look at the 30 years of China's Internet from a 30-year perspective, we may be able to come up with the same answer.
The 30 years of China's Internet may be a 30 years of ups and downs, and in these 30 years, there are too many stories and characters that are worth commemorating and writing.
However, if you have to find iconic events and characters from so many characters and stories, Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi and the 3Q battle they experienced are undoubtedly the most important that cannot be ignored.
However, unlike the former Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi, standing at the time gap of China's Internet for 30 years, we saw Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi's handshake and peace, but we saw the transformation and re-departure of Tencent and 360.
At this time, Ma Huateng has led Tencent to carry out a comprehensive renewal from the inside out, and now Zhou Hongyi has become an "Internet celebrity" in Ma Huateng's mouth.
When Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi shook hands, what we saw was not just the release of the past suspicions between Tencent and 360, but more needed to see the profound changes that are taking place in China's Internet industry.
Only in this way can we stand at the time stall of China's Internet for 30 years, never forget the way we came, and explore a new future.
One
For every netizen who has experienced the 3Q war, even at a moment like today, they may still remember that kind of war.
The 3Q war is not just a battle between Tencent and 360, it shows us more that the Internet has become a way of life for people.
Therefore, whether it is for Tencent or 360, they just use their own practical actions to let us see such a reality.
Just as there is no real winner in every big battle, in that 3Q battle, neither Tencent nor 360 said who was the final winner.
However, it was through that great war that we truly realized that the so-called Internet is not a very distant existence, but an existence that is closely connected to our lives.
If we see the 3Q war as a watershed, it is more like the beginning of a move from the PC era to the mobile Internet era.
From this moment on, the Internet was no longer limited to the PC side, but became a rapidly developing existence towards the mobile side.
For Tencent and 360, such a big battle between them is more of a manifestation of the white-hot stage of traffic competition on the PC side.
Whether it is for Tencent or for 360, only by constantly looking for new sources of traffic other than PC traffic can we win in the new development process.
As a result, we saw that Tencent began to incubate WeChat, and 360 began to start a new journey of large ecological construction.
If you summarize the 3Q war, it is more like a fuse.
Behind such a fuse, what we see is that the exploration and practice of Internet players represented by Tencent and 360 based on new development directions and new business models, a big explosion of new Internet species has begun to derive and appear.
So far, China's Internet industry has begun to enter the mature and stable young adult era from the immature era of rampage.
Two
When the era of mobile Internet comes, what we see is the emergence of a new generation of players represented by Didi, Meituan, and Toutiao, and we see the giants represented by Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu start a new war dominated by capital.
Whether it is for Tencent led by Ma Huateng or 360 led by Zhou Hongyi, only by finding a new development model and new method suitable for themselves in such a new stage can they continue to stay at the Internet table.
As a result, we saw a large migration of Tencent's traffic from QQ to WeChat, and as a result, we saw a large migration of 360 from PC to mobile.
Although in such an era, Tencent and 360 have different focuses, one thing is for sure, they are basically focusing on traffic, and they are all welcoming the general trend of the Internet becoming a way of life.
If Tencent and 360 are summarized and defined at such a stage, they are more like a stage dominated by capital and traffic.
In such an era, Tencent and 360 are constantly building their own ecosystems, and they are constantly building their own moats in the way of capital operation.
If the development of the Internet industry in such an era is summarized and defined, it is more like an era in which the Internet industry has truly become a new type of infrastructure.
In such an era, whoever can link their products and services with people's production and life as much as possible, and is no longer limited to just a certain field, will be able to win in the new competitive landscape.
It is in such a context that
We have seen that Tencent is not only engaged in social networking and games, but has also penetrated more into many fields such as retail, education, finance, and public welfare.
We have only seen that 360 is not only an antivirus, but also focuses on many fields such as finance, search, information, and browsers.
If Tencent and 360 at such a stage are summarized and defined, they have begun to extend their development from just being limited to the Internet industry to more new fields outside the Internet.
If we summarize and define the development of such a stage, "Internet +" is undoubtedly the most appropriate.
After experiencing the baptism of the "Internet+" era, Internet players represented by Tencent and 360 have truly become a kind of "infrastructure" from an existence limited to a single field.
Three
At the commemorative meeting of the 30th anniversary of China's Internet, we saw Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi standing together again.
The difference is that the current Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi began to shake hands and make peace, and ridiculed each other, completely without the past soldiers.
However, through their conversations, we can see that video accounts, Internet celebrities, AI models, etc. have become new keywords.
Yes, what Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi conveyed to us is that China's Internet industry has undergone a deep and comprehensive transformation.
Today, it is difficult for us to define Tencent and 360 with the concepts of the past, and it is difficult for us to look at Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi from the perspective of the past.
Under the leadership of Ma Huateng, Tencent has already begun a new transformation and transformation.
Whether it is the concept of the real Internet, the exploration and practice of the integration of data and reality, the deep cultivation of the industrial Internet, and even the sprout of the video account, we can see that a deep and comprehensive transformation and upgrade is being staged on Tencent.
Today, Tencent is no longer an existence driven by just traffic, but has become a new existence with AI, short video, and digital technology as the main driving force.
It is with the support of such a new driving force that Tencent has achieved a perfect transformation from the mobile Internet era to the AI era, and truly opened a comprehensive refresh.
In Zhou Hongyi's body, we also began to see that a transformation of the face is being staged.
Now Zhou Hongyi seems to have become an Internet celebrity, and what he is talking about is no longer the previous network security, but more involved in new fields such as AI large models.
For 360 under his leadership, a new transformation has also begun.
It can be said that the current 360 is no longer an existence that only relies on the network security of the Internet as the main driving force, but has become a new existence with AI large models as the main driving force.
When Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi began to shake hands, what we saw was that Tencent and 360 were no longer the Tencent and 360 of the past, but achieved a perfect turn.
Similarly, Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi, along with Tencent and 360 under their leadership, are just a microcosm of China's Internet industry.
In addition to Tencent and 360, we have also seen the full embrace of AI by Internet players represented by Alibaba, JD.com, and Baidu.
If we summarize and define such a coming A era, it is more like a process of "renewal" in Ma Huateng's mouth.
I think that such a definition of "renewal" does not only apply to Tencent, but also to the Chinese Internet.
epilogue
When Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi shook hands at the China Internet 30th Anniversary Commemoration Conference, what we saw was that the profound changes in China's Internet over the past 30 years and the current Internet industry are undergoing a comprehensive "renewal".
If the handshake between Ma Huateng and Zhou Hongyi is summarized and defined, it is more like a sign that China's Internet industry has entered the AI Internet era from the traditional Internet era.
Taking this as a start, China's Internet companies, represented by Tencent and 360, will begin a deep and comprehensive change, and truly bring people's production and life to a new stage.
-ENDS-
Author: Meng Yonghui, senior writer, columnist, industry observer, well-known KOL, digital economist.