Many leading American digital firms, including Google, Amazon, eBay, and Uber, have successfully expanded internationally by introducing their products, services, and platforms in other countries. However, they have all failed in China, the world's largest digital market.
The widely touted reasons for these failures include censorship by the Chinese government and cultural differences between China and the West. While these factors undoubtedly have played a role, such explanations are overly simplistic. Google, for example, has succeeded in dominating many foreign markets that have radically different political systems and cultures (including Indonesia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia). And these factors have not stopped Western multinationals from succeeding in China in car manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods, and even sectors where culture plays a key role, such as beer, coffee shops, fast food, and the film industry. There are deeper reasons behind the systematic failure of Western digital firms in China. (The term “digital firms” refers to those companies that from their inception have focused on digital services enabled by the internet and related technologies, including mobile. It does not include traditional IT firms that rely on sales of hardware or software as their main source of revenue.)
And yet Western digital firms haven't given up on trying to tap into China's rapidly growing market. Google is reentering China by setting up new offices and an AI center, signing new deals with retail heavyweights JD.com and Tencent, rolling out new products (including a controversial local mobile search app that would strictly censor results), and investing in promising local startups. Airbnb, LinkedIn, and WeWork are also expanding their presences in China. Amazon is expanding its China business in cross border e-commerce, Amazon Prime, and Amazon Web Services.
Read Full Article »