Whether you are texting your parents or making a morning coffee on your programmable coffee maker, you probably use technology every day. Compared to 30 years ago, when the U.S. dominated the tech world, a lot of the most popular tech now comes out of China.
Consider Lenovo. In the 4th quarter of 2023, Lenovo sold 16.1 million personal computer (PC) units, beating out major American brands such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) with 13.9 million in sales, and Apple with 5.7 million. In addition to having a major influence on the computer market, China also has a strong presence in the smartphone market, with brands such as Motorola (an American brand now owned by the Chinese) and Xiaomi. Google sold a combined 192.1 million phones in 2023, slightly less than Apple’s 232 million and Samsung’s 226 million. Meanwhile, China’s Xiaomi phones are the third most popular cell phone brand worldwide, according to Counterpoint.
Online shopping, which has exploded in popularity in recent times, is another area where China is increasingly dominating the market, particularly through shopping apps such as Temu and Shein. According to Backlinko, Shein had over $32 billion in revenue worldwide in 2023. As for Temu, it currently has 292 million monthly users world-wide, and a gross merchandise value of $71 billion.
Chinese apps also have a massive presence in the social media market, with apps such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu (Red Note), and TikTok having millions of users worldwide. On the Apple Play Store, WeChat is currently the 31st most popular app in the social networking category, with Red Note coming in at number 40. TikTok ranks number 1 in the entertainment category. All three apps have a combined 3.1 billion users worldwide, with the number of American users on Chinese-affiliated social media apps at over 175 million people.
The sheer volume of people using these Chinese apps is a concern for many, especially the American government. According to Voice of America, “Chinese law requires companies to share data with the government on request.” In addition, The Guardian notes that “The [Chinese] Communist Party has always maintained direct control over state firms.” So there are fears that information gathered on those using Chinese apps could be shared with the Chinese government or used to spy on Americans.
The Guardian also noted that in 2019, U.S. officials provided evidence that the Chinese telecommunications app Huawei had facilitated spying on the U.S. and its allies. For similar reasons, in 2023, Congress banned TikTok from all government devices.
Chinese technology has proven to be very popular worldwide, with millions of customers. In the past few months, Chinese AI software Deepseek, the Chinese counterpart to ChatGPT, gained traction. What shocked the tech world and many tech investors is that Deepseek’s AI cost only $6 million, compared to ChatGPT, which cost over $100 million to produce. As with TikTok, there are concerns regarding Deepseek’s user safety and data protection.
So while Chinese technology has its detractors, more and more people feel that it is becoming a prominent part of life worldwide, including in the American market. Regardless of how they feel about the safety of Chinese tech, economists and users alike appear to be keeping an eye out for their latest breakthrough.
