I’ve been asking this question for like two years. And until recently, nobody seems to have an answer.

Starbucks is doing fantastic in China. They have tons of stores and are apparently very profitable. And for some reason, they don’t have a major competitor. They have somehow avoided the brutal competitive knife fight we see in industry after industry in China (ask Uber). It’s weird.

So I made a video with my best explanation for what’s going on (link here).

Update: Luckin Coffee is now moving fast in China. So I may finally get an answer to this question.

Thanks for watching.
Cheers, jeff
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I am a founder, consultant and keynote speaker specialized in digital and AI agentic strategy.

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