Why can't Europe produce large Internet companies?

Why can't Europe produce large Internet companies?

I was chatting with my friends the other day and accidentally talked about this topic. Europe's developed economy is the birthplace of the first and second industrial revolutions. But in today's Internet age, it is difficult to find a large European Internet company.

According to the data, by the end of 20 18, among the 20 Internet companies with the largest market value in the world, the United States occupied 1 1 and China occupied 9 companies, but none of them were European! By the end of 2002 10, among the global internet companies, there are 6 in the United States, 3 in China and 0 in Canada, but there are still no European companies!

Just in Google, Amazon technology swept the Internet field; Ali, Tencent has created one billionaire after another in China; On the other hand, Europe looks like a bystander, isolated from the rest of the world. Why did the industrial revolution once originate here? Why is Europe so low-key in the Internet age?

After careful analysis, nothing more than the following reasons:

First, the population restricts the development of Internet in Europe! The total population of Europe is about 740 million, which seems like a lot, but there are 46 countries in Europe, and the most populous Germany has only a population of more than 80 million. If a large-scale application app is developed in Germany, the registered users can reach 654.38+00-20 million, even if it is a national level! Similar application apps are basically hundreds of millions of levels with China and the United States. In this way, the market value of 10000-2000000 is not an order of magnitude with the market value of hundreds of millions or even hundreds of millions of users. Because the marginal cost of Internet companies is almost zero, that is to say, the investment of an application software developed for 654.38+0 billion users is basically the same as that developed for 654.38+0 billion customers. At this time, the lack of a huge single market in Europe has become a fatal factor for the development of Internet companies! Internet companies with hundreds of millions of users can completely kill Internet companies with 10 million users by burning money in the early stage, and then enjoy the market exclusively!

Second, the multilingual environment is a natural obstacle to its development. There are 24 official languages in 46 countries in Europe! Does an Internet application app need to develop 24 languages? Moreover, the cultures and traditions of European countries are quite different. In the era of efficient operation of the Internet industry, multilingual environment has become a natural obstacle, which also makes its cost quite high. Moreover, unless the language is unified in the European environment, it is almost impossible to break through this obstacle! This problem does not exist in China. An APP can be used perfectly by 65.438+04 billion people, which is similar in the United States!

Third, the financing cost and convenience of Internet start-ups in Europe are not as good as those in China and the United States. Due to historical reasons, European enterprises and investment institutions are generally conservative. If start-ups only have business plans such as blueprints, ideas and creativity, it is difficult for European venture capitalists to look at them and invest! They generally prefer those internet companies that have been established for one or two years or even longer and can make profits; In a sense, although this is safe, it is easy to lose many opportunities! In addition, the population and market size of China and America, as well as the predictable input-output ratio, make venture capitalists more willing to invest. In this regard, the Internet entrepreneurial environment in China and the United States is much stronger than that in Europe, and it is easier for start-ups to raise funds and the cost is relatively lower!

Fourth, the labor cost in Europe is high. Compared with domestic internet companies, the cost in Europe is higher. For Internet companies that need distribution, the labor cost in China is only 1/5 of that in Europe. Moreover, Europe's high welfare policy is high cost for start-ups, which also limits the development of Internet fields such as e-commerce and B2C in Europe.

Fifth, there is no "Silicon Valley" in Europe. The development of Internet industry depends on the development of computer industry, and the development of computer depends on the development of semiconductor chip industry, which originated in Silicon Valley of the United States in 1950s. You know, at that time, Europe had just got up from World War II and was undergoing post-disaster reconstruction. The reconstruction funds even depended on American investment! At this time, because the United States is far away from the main battlefield of World War II, the mainland is basically unaffected, and it made a fortune in World War II, so it has sufficient funds to continue to invest in the science and technology industry! Moreover, due to the international environment at that time, scientific and technological talents from various countries poured into the United States, bringing unlimited intellectual resources to the United States. IT also gave birth to the great development of the American IT industry, from chips to computers, from computers to the Internet, which contributed to the vigorous development of the American Internet step by step and led to today! Europe has no such history, and China certainly has no such history, but China has a huge population base, a huge market scale and a single language environment, thus becoming the most suitable place in the world to develop the Internet with the United States!

Sixth, Europe cannot resist the infiltration of American science and technology. The Internet originated in the United States, and with the development of the United States, the development of American Internet companies has a first-Mover advantage and a technological advantage for Europe. When American Internet giants entered Europe, no Internet company in Europe could resist these giants. And historically, the United States is an immigrant country composed of Europeans who immigrated to the United States. Cultural similarity and homology make it difficult for Europe to exclude and resist American internet giants! In addition, Europe is a loose alliance, and various interests are intertwined, so it is difficult to really unite together, and it is also difficult to support local Internet companies like China!

For the above reasons, it is difficult for large Internet companies to appear in Europe, but this does not mean that there are no Internet companies in Europe. In fact, there are some small and sophisticated Internet companies in Europe, but most of them focus on the industrial Internet. They use the Internet to improve industry efficiency and reduce costs. Even in industrial automation, it is quite mature. ...

Ok, that's all for today. See you next time!