Why does GPRS bring out the inner moron from Mars??
Scamming though the Moderated Q-Thread beats even the
more evolved variations of Benny Hill and othogonal Mr Bean
seem very conservative. (although Benny was pretty othogonal
too, but at a later, more mature age)
Who can beat this except Dr Who Orwell and the dream of
somebody buying a Red Dwarf Rover, produced in Bavaria.
Message 15365221
However, even a blind hen can count to three and find a
gold nugget.
(somebody I had thought of mentioning in the "finnish
frmr president runs China" thread, Folke Ahlback, a smart,
pragmatic guy, additionally great visions:)
JANUARY 22, 2001
NEWSMAKER Q
Nokia's China Strategy: Exchanging Technology for Market Access
The Finnish company's China chairman talks about the challenges of doing business under Beijing's watchful eye
When Folke Ahlback, chairman of Nokia (China) Investment Co., arrived in Beijing six years ago, the local office consisted of about 250 staffers working in a former Beijing movie theater. Since then, he's built Nokia's China operation into a sales powerhouse with 5,000 employees. In 1999, it contributed 14% of Nokia Corp's global sales.
Small wonder Nokia has invested more than $1 billion in the Chinese market. Already, there are more than 70 million wireless subscribers in the Middle Kingdom, with 2 million new users signing up each month. Ahlback, also a Nokia senior vice-president, recently spoke about his company's operations in China with Irene M. Kunii, a BusinessWeek correspondent covering telecommunications. Here are excerpts from their conversation:
Q: Has there been any downturn in your China business?
A: There have been no cancellation of orders. Growth has continued to climb steadily...We're satisfied, since China's gross domestic product is on the 8% level.
Q: Nokia seems to have good relations with its Chinese partners. Why is that? And how many partners are there?
A: Chinese and Finns have some common characteristics. They don't brag and are modest. They are aware that life isn't easy. It makes you a little more humble. We have seven joint ventures, and all but one are state-owned.
Q: You're transferring sophisticated technology to these partners. Aren't you concerned that they might take your market share in the future?
A: Because the telecom industry is so important [in China], there are rules and regulations. You transfer technology and you get market access. It's a mix between a central and a planned economy. We've learned that every country has its own characteristics. In 1998, China became the second most important market for Nokia [after the U.S.].
Q: How much market share do Chinese handset makers have?
A: The MII's [Ministry of Information Industry] task is to make sure that 30% will be Chinese. It's likely to be in the range of 5% to 10% now.
Q: Are you concerned that China is backing the development of yet another third-generation, or 3G, cellular standard, TD-SCDMA?
A: We are firm believers that...regardless of what choice will be made, the point is to make an evolutionary path to wideband CDMA (or W-CDMA, the 3G standard backed by Japan and Europe). If we don't do this, we haven't achieved our path.
Q: But what of this new standard under development with Siemens?
A: As with any standard, there are two steps. First is to make it a standard. We welcome the fact that China is involved in standardization. Consumers are interested only in features, and not the technology. So the test for TD-SCDMA will be the market. Nokia is supporting this standard and is involved in R.
Q: Will the mobile Internet take off in China the way it has in Japan? As you know, there the emphasis is on entertainment sites.
A: China is a big country, and it's [in the process of] building one of the world's biggest and most modern mobile-phone systems. But it is a developing country, so it will be very careful about how it's going to use it. So, for 3G, we shouldn't talk about content but rather how to enhance the business. The target for the Chinese government is to make investment decisions that will help industry to be more efficient.
Q: Does that mean Chinese won't be downloading games to their handsets?
A: The Chinese government's first concern is to give the Chinese [mobile] infrastructure to business. They'll get the state-of-the-art technology first. Then the government will give consumers what they want. Big consumer segments will want the same as everyone else. The whole of Chinese society would like to be connected [to the mobile Internet.]
Q: Will Chinese companies contribute to the development of content and applications for the mobile Net?
A: We think there will be hundreds of companies [doing this] in China and thousands worldwide. I'm sure the Chinese government wants Chinese businesses to play a big role in wireless cellular operations.
Q: Would it be possible for Nokia to operate independently in China and thus protect its intellectual property?
A: In China, it's very advisable to work with partners. I would not advise anyone to go to China without a partner for such a complicated business like telecoms. After building a business together, your joint-venture partner becomes your trusted partner.
Q: That's fine, but look what happened to the foreign partners of mobile operator China Unicom [which had its foreign joint-venture agreements with Unicom terminated last year].
A: It was political. They developed an investment structure that went against the government's policies, so Chinese officials decided they should dissolve it.
Q: Is this a good place to set up a business in terms of being able to hire promising engineers?
A: In China, we have a big supply of educated people. It didn't take up long to ramp up operations -- less than 12 months per factory. Between 1996 [and] 1999, we have built manufacturing capability in China, not only for China but also the world. We made China a manufacturing center, along with the U.S. and Europe.
Q: What does Nokia headquarters think of your China strategy, where you offer technology in exchange for market access?
A: My message to headquarters is that nothing comes easy.
Edited by Thane Peterson |
