I often get asked how JD competes with Alibaba (in ecommerce). Who is going to win? My answer is below. But first a little theory on the sources of competitive strength. My Checklist for Competitive Advantages I put competitive advantages in five buckets, with a total of 15 sub-types. That’s my checklist. But keep in […]
I’ve been thinking about Luckin Coffee, which was a big story a few years ago in China. It was a digital upstart taking on giant Starbucks. It was Jack Ma’s “new retail” applied to retail coffee. It was a digital innovator. Blah, blah, blah. It was mostly a lot of hype. And the company crashed […]
In this insightful piece, Jeff Towson explores what Xiaomi, despite its strong management team and innovative approach, can learn from the strategies employed by Apple and Amazon. He underscores the importance of a clear, effective strategy, something he believes these two tech giants excel at. Furthermore, he brings attention to the vital role that artificial intelligence (AI) plays as a strategic tool in today’s digital business landscape.
We are a couple of years into the epic (pun intended) fight between Apple and Epic Games over the App Store. This is really the biggest tech fight we have seen in tech in a decade. For example: Apple doubles down in fight with Fortnite creator Epic Games, seeks damages for breach of contract (CNBC) […]
In Part 1, I argued that Starbucks China most interesting competitor is not Luckin Coffee. It is HeyTea, an upscale Starbucks-type business focused on tea (something Chinese consumers really, really like). And to their credit, HeyTea appears to be mostly focusing not on digital innovation but on product development and continually thrilling their customers. Which […]
China / Asia is usually the most dynamic frontier for retail – and especially when it integrates with ecommerce. This is the result of a really big market and never-ending hyper-competition. It means there is always frantic innovating just to stay in the game. It’s a space I generally avoid because of the degree of […]
I’ve talked a lot about why KOLs and influencers are so important in a connected world. Live streaming and short video are currently the big focus of influencers, but this is a much larger phenomenon. So why is Baidu is selling iQiyi, China’s #2 video streaming platform? Consumers Are Networks It begins with this simple […]
I have one B2C “super chart”. It’s a bit ridiculous but stick with me. I think it is actually a good prediction of the future of B2C. The basic idea is that ecommerce is combining with entertainment. We see that in Taobao Live and TikTok already. And this is also being combined with social media […]
Huawei has just announced its 2021 financial results, with the title “Solid Operations, Investing in the Future”. That is actually a pretty good summary of their strategy post-US tech ban. It was also interesting because CFO Meng Wanzhou is now back in China, after years in Canadian custody. She presented the financial results, along with […]
Several years ago, I got a message (via LinkedIn) from Robin Trebbe, who was at that time the Managing Director for China / Asia Pacific for Intersport International. They had a new project with Alibaba that was trying to digitize the sports apparel business. I jumped at the chance to do a visit. Note: I […]