Tuesday, October 10, 2006

China and India are emerging as technology titans, but in different ways

Read the full article in the Economist of October 5, 2006. (subscription required.)

The "table of the world's 250 largest technology firms, measured by revenue, shows two big shifts. The first is that it includes far fewer hardware and manufacturing firms than it did five years ago, and far more software and service companies. The second is that Asian firms are pushing aside American ones.

"Companies from China, Hong Kong and India appear in this year's ranking for the first time and the number from Taiwan more than trebled (see chart). China is actually under-represented in the figures: many of the Hong Kong and Taiwanese firms do the bulk of their business on the mainland and many of the big Western technology firms have substantial operations in China. Indeed, China is now the world's largest exporter of technology goods (although much of the work is on behalf of foreign firms). Domestically, China is now the sixth-biggest buyer of high-tech goods and services in the world; by 2010 it will be in third place, behind America and Japan. Meanwhile, revenue from software and services has increased by around 50% between 2000 and 2005. So it is no surprise to see India's software stalwarts—Tata Consulting Services, Wipro and Infosys—on the list."
Source: The Economist

No comments: