Who Will Become the Next BAT? Analyzing the Rise of China’s New Internet Giants

Searching Google for the keyword "next BAT" shows a sharp increase in mentions, indicating a shift in the Chinese internet landscape.

New internet giants are likely to emerge as the industry moves from desktop to mobile, from consumer to industrial internet, and finally to the Internet of Things, with two governing laws: the cycle law and the power‑law.

Three indicator models are used to assess potential winners: the degree of key resource extraction, alignment with trends, and competitive scale.

Indicator One: Flow of Key Resources

Key resources are money, people, and traffic.

Capital Flow

Capital is the most sensitive resource; without venture funding, companies cannot scale. Early 2000s data shows Alibaba and Baidu captured over half of total internet financing.

Recent capital flows reflect future trends. The top‑20 most‑invested companies since the 2012 mobile boom include Didi, Xiaomi, JD.com, Meituan and others.

Capital also poured into Toutiao ($100 M) despite it not being a hot sector, showing investors’ confidence in its growth potential.

Indicator Two: Flow of Traffic

Traffic is to the internet what location is to real estate— a decisive factor. The competition for attention drives growth.

Analyzing apps that received over $100 M VC since 2013 reveals that Didi, Meituan, Toutiao, Jumei, and Ele.me have download‑growth rates surpassing BAT products, indicating a shift of user attention.

The data shows Didi, Meituan, and Toutiao leading in traffic growth, suggesting they will capture more user time.

Indicator Three: Talent Trends

Talent is the ultimate competitive edge. BAT historically attracted top talent (e.g., Liu Qiangdong to Tencent, Wang Jian to Alibaba, Wang Jin to Baidu). New players are doing the same: Didi hired Liu Qing from Goldman Sachs, Meituan recruited Gan Jiawei from Alibaba, and Toutiao hired Yang Zhenyuan from Baidu.

Salary analysis of core positions across 11 internet firms shows a three‑tier ladder: Didi, Baidu, Hujiang, Toutiao, Alibaba, and Meituan offer average monthly salaries around 20 k RMB, about 45 % above the industry average of 13.77 k RMB.

Technical roles, especially data and algorithm positions, command the highest salaries; Toutiao leads with 28.5 k RMB/month, followed by Didi.

Trend One: Mobile

Mobile is the dominant theme of the new internet cycle. Companies fully embracing mobile have a decisive advantage, while legacy desktop‑centric firms retain significant traffic and revenue.

Products like Didi, Toutiao, Meituan, and Momo have virtually no desktop presence, underscoring the shift.

Trend Two: Big Data

Big data and algorithms become core competitive assets. Didi leverages user data for precise ride‑matching, while Toutiao invests heavily in algorithm talent, offering million‑dollar salaries to attract top engineers.

Trend Three: Millennials

The millennial generation (born 1984‑1995) is the next core user base: they are mobile‑first, data‑rich, and demand‑driven, shaping consumption patterns and fostering new economic models.

Conclusion

Predicting the next BAT is challenging, but historical patterns show that dominance of capital, talent, and traffic, combined with alignment to mobile, big‑data, and millennial trends, are key. Companies such as Didi, Meituan/Dianping, Xiaomi, and Toutiao exhibit these traits and are strong candidates to become the next generation of internet giants.

Source: Zhigu Trend Author: Yan Jiuyuan