When it comes to surprises, no one beats CloudFlare, the king of buzz, controversy and freedom of speech. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, the big news is that CloudFlare formed a partnership Baidu, also known as “China’s Google”. According to Richard Bejtlich, a writer for NYT, the partnership “has created a sort of fast lane to speed traffic across the border”. One concern is that CloudFlare is transferring their intellectual property (IP) to another government.
However, Matthew Prince stated that sharing code will “enable a deeper trust” between the two. China is a massive market, which will one day surpass the US CDN market size, and this partnership solidifies CloudFlare’s stake in China. The market for CDN services in China is ripe with opportunity, especially since there are only two incumbent CDNs – ChinaCache and China Net Center. Baidu has the economic wherewithal to supplant ChinaCache is due time, and CloudFlare will be the beneficiary.