NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, February 8, 2019

By Krystal Hu

The Lunar New Year has become an intense marketing battlefield for China’s tech giants. It’s also an expensive one with millions of cash burn.

With over 800 million smartphone users and the world’s largest mobile payment market, the annual holiday, which includes the tradition of giving cash in red envelopes to deliver good luck and greetings to family members and friends, has evolved into a day of promotions. Homegrown companies like Baidu and Alibaba are pouring cash into digital red envelopes, which have become prevalent, to attract users to its services.

Photo courtesy of bfishadow.