BLOG-GOMO

Founded in 2003, GOMO was the pioneer in starting a free mode on Mobile Internet. It currently runs worldwide mobile application series, a Chinese reading platform of Internet literature and the 3G Portal News Website. On November 22nd 2013, GOMO became the first Chinese Mobile Internet company that went public in the United States. After its privatization in 2015, GOMO gradually faded out and this is the very first time of GOMO’s COO, Mr. Zhu Zhi, to respond to some questions about its current situation.

1. For GOMO, people are more familiar with its former name 3G Portal. It is well known that GOMO was the initiator of free mobile website, but the company is less startling than before: many people barely know GOMO and some are surprised that it is still running. What do you think of it?

Zhu Zhi: Our company did survive and is under excellent operation. GOMO concentrates on the global market and puts less efforts on domestic publicity. Therefore, many people have little knowledge of our company. We are the first Mobile Internet company that pursued oversea business and went public in the United States. At the moment, our GO series products are aimed at foreign market, covering more than 200 countries and 48 languages with hundreds of millions of customers. We are the world’s largest developer of utilities applications. As for the domestic market, we have 3G Portal and GOMO Reading. GOMO is a Mobile Internet company of its own characters. We are practical, modest and willing to embrace changes. In 2017, we became Facebook’s biggest partner around the world.

2. It has been 14 years since GOMO was founded. Why people still mistake you as a startup company?

Zhu Zhi: I think it is because we develop apps and run the company with a startup attitude. We owed our continuous growth to it against the 14 years of obstacles. You can see it in our company, especially from our CEO Deng Yuqiang, who has led the team to overcome hardships with assiduity since 2004 and still keeps the same startup spirit. We adopt flat organization with over four hundred employees creating products that affect hundreds of millions of people, sharing the similar influence of apps created by Tencent with over forty thousand. The Key point is the startup spirit.

3. What do you think of GOMO’s shift from operating 3G Portal to develop mobile apps during the 13 years?

Zhu Zhi: We are both changed and unchanged. We have changed from running 3G Portal to develop apps as you said. What we didn’t change is our initial motive to make the best use of Mobile Internet and to become the leading provider of Mobile Internet apps and services. We have always pursued a balance between the changed and unchanged.

4. What is the business pattern of GOMO? How did GOMO achieve an intensive growth in 2016 which marked the best performance of your company ever?

Zhu Zhi: The most important factor is our excellent products. We are the top Mobile applications developer of Google and produced many outstanding applications such as GO Launcher, GO Keyboard, GO Weather, GO SMS, etc. Besides, we are also supported by splendid business team and marketing team. Our business team cashes out advertising while our marketing team, founded less than a year, is pushing us to be one of the top advertiser on Facebook.

Most of GOMO’s practice is Mobile application development. Why are you also running Internet literature at the same time?

Zhu Zhi: Our practice is not limited to utilities applications. We are now expanding our product line to fields such as games. Apart from being the world’s largest developer of mobile phone utilities applications, our company also manages the largest mobile reading platform in China. There are twenty thousand IP on GOMO Reading and we run the digital copyright of the renowned novel The Three Body Problem. Thanks to the accumulation in the last decade, GOMO Reading is experiencing a rapid exploration in recent years. We are not only a company of technical innovation, but a representative of diversified technology companies which emphasizes the combination of science and culture.

6. For Chinese companies with overseas business, what do you think of the distance between them and their customers?

Zhu Zhi: Mobile Internet is characterized with fast speed, no limitation, wide rage, etc. Therefore, we don’t need to be bound with our customers for we connect people with information and data. When I went to America, the Visa Officer asked me aobut my profession. I told him I was doing GO Keyboard. He was so excited and said that he was actually using this app. The best reward of doing global Internet products is to meet customers around the world.

7. Most of GOMO’s apps are not familiar in domestic app stores. Why did you choose to do international business when China has such a big market? Did you try to avoid competitions in this industry?

Zhu Zhi: In addition to our unavoidable rivals “BAT”, we made this decision from the big picture. Over 90% of mobile phones are equipped with Android system across the globe. Through Google Play, we can directly put products to customers in every corner of the world. Our CEO Deng Yuqiang is the pioneer in overseas Mobile Internet business and led the company to the foreign market before others paying attention. Today, our overseas business has formed quite a solid bulwark in competition. Now China is promoting “One Road, One Belt”. In fact, we are the very representative of innovative enterprises that fulfills this policy. GOMO is the world’s largest developer of utilities applications. In the future, providing games will be our new breakthrough.