China's Secret: Contractors

The rise of China, which passed the U.S. two years ago as the world's largest wireless market, has been driven mostly by outside contractors, reports the WSJ.

"Since 2000, 24 local manufacturers have emerged to grab nearly 40% of cellphone sales in China, eating into the growth of multinational firms there -- and raising fears they could do the same beyond China's borders.

But the Chinese firms' secret strength was their reliance on manufacturers in Korea and Taiwan to design and assemble products. About 90% of the phones sold in China last year by local manufacturers got their start at a contract firm elsewhere in Asia, according to an estimate by iSuppli Corp., a market-research firm in El Segundo, California."

For more on China fears :

-- China's Haier to bring phones to U.S.

-- China's 60 percent cell phones to be exported in 2004

emily | 8:51 AM | News, Buzz |
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/03/003431.htm

Tweet