????近年來，移動互聯網發展極為迅速，大有趕超傳統互聯網之勢。尤其在新興市場，這種趨勢更為明顯。由于價格原因，這些地方的居民極少購買昂貴的個人電腦，但大部分人都擁有智能手機。此外，對于大部分科技人士而言，移動上網就算不是唯一的，也應該是他們最青睞的上網方式。過去這個夏天，中國和印度的移動上網流量在歷史上都首次超過了傳統的桌面平臺。

????一家中國公司正在引領這股潮流并希望將業務擴張至美國。“對于想真正擁有10億級用戶的公司而言，我認為兩大關鍵（因素）必須重視：移動互聯網和亞洲。”中國最大的手機瀏覽器公司UC優視（UCWeb）首席執行官俞永福如是說。UC瀏覽器和蘋果（Apple）Safari和谷歌（Google）Chrome一樣，都是手機瀏覽器。雖然大部分移動廠商往往把注意力放在了操作系統或應用程序上，但UC優視堅信手機瀏覽器才是引領全球數十億用戶的關鍵門戶所在。

????UC優視現在已經表現出這種潛力。它的UC瀏覽器目前牢牢占據了亞洲市場四成的份額。誕生于2004年的UC瀏覽器目前每月頁面訪問量已超過1,600億次。俞永福希望它的用戶數能在未來五年突破10億大關。這個目標并非遙不可及，因為亞洲地區移動互聯網發展迅猛，而UC瀏覽器在此地區根基很牢固。僅中國就擁有10億多手機用戶，活躍移動互聯網用戶數也已突破4億。印度也不甘落后，它的手機用戶數也在迅速接近10億。Mozilla社區火狐（Firefox）工程部總監喬納森?南丁格爾說：“在發展中國家，絕大部分人與互聯網的第一次親密接觸都是通過某款移動設備。”

????1997年，第一款智能手機瀏覽器誕生。此后，手機瀏覽器的速度和功能都有了巨大的飛躍。手機瀏覽器在很大程度上提供了一種開源平臺，用戶可以隨心所欲地瀏覽各種網站。與之相對應的是應用程序，它們絕大部分都是封閉的，只允許用戶和開發者之間的交流，人為封鎖了他們與第三方廠商的聯系。俞永福稱：“不論是谷歌、Facebook，還是亞馬遜（Amazon）的平臺，我認為沒有哪家公司愿意他們從中坐收30%的收入。”他是指蘋果和谷歌等公司對于在其應用中發生的交易收入抽成；而在網頁中進行的交易則無需支付此類費用，甚至包括通過移動設備進行的交易。

????瀏覽器的擁護者聲稱他們擁有許多應用程序所不具備的優勢：網站開發者不需要任何產品發布許可就能訪問瀏覽器。維護手機網站的成本也更低，因為開發者無需專門針對微軟（Microsoft）Windows Phone或蘋果iOS等數個不同平臺。同時，對網站進行更新更加容易，堪稱天衣無縫。

????Mobile Internet browsing is quickly overtaking traditional web surfing, particularly in emerging markets where few people own expensive PCs but many own smartphones. For many of the world's technology users, mobile Web is the preferred, if not only, Internet option. This past summer, mobile Internet traffic in both China and India surpassed desktop Internet traffic for the first time in history.

????One company in China is riding that wave -- and hoping to expand its business in the U.S. "For companies that aspire to really become billion-user companies I think there are two key [things] that they have to focus on: mobile Internet and Asia," argues Yu Yongfu, CEO of China's largest mobile browser, UCWeb. UCWeb is akin to Apple's (AAPL) Safari or Google's (GOOG) Chrome for mobile devices. Major mobile players often focus on operating systems or apps, but UCWeb believes the mobile browser is the most important gateway to billions of customers around the world.

????The company has demonstrated the potential reach of such software, capturing 40% of the market share in Asia. Founded in 2004, UCWeb's users now generate more than 160 billion page views per month. Yu hopes to reach the billion-customer mark in the next five years, not an unrealistic goal given his firm's footing in Asia where mobile browsing is booming. China alone has over one billion mobile subscribers with more than 400 million active mobile Internet users. India's subscriber base is also rapidly closing in on one billion. "Most people's first personal interaction with the Internet in developing markets is going to be a mobile device of some kind," says Johnathan Nightingale, Director of Firefox Engineering at Mozilla.

????The speed and functionality of mobile browsers have greatly increased since they were first unveiled for smartphones in 1997. For the most part, mobile browsers offer open-source platforms that allow users to freely navigate between websites. Most apps are closed source, in contrast, allowing communication between users and app developers, but limiting the freedom to interact with third parties. "Whether we're talking about Google, Facebook (FB) or Amazon (AMZN)," says Yu, "I don't think any company is going to continue to be willing to have someone stand in the middle taking 30% of the cut." He is referring to the cut companies like Apple and Google take of purchases made within apps; transactions on the Web aren't subject to such fees -- even when made from a mobile device.

????Browsers boosters say they offer a number of advantages over apps: Developers of websites accessed through a browser do not need to wait for approval to release their products. Utilizing mobile browsing also lowers maintenance costs because developers do not have to design for multiple operating systems like Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone or Apple's iOS. Updates can be rolled out more seamlessly as well.