http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:29:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/interesting-blog-on-low-cost-competition-in-the-newspaper-business http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/interesting-blog-on-low-cost-competition-in-the-newspaper-business#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:25:40 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=388 Poynter Online comments on the applicability of my McKinsey Quarterly piece to the newspaper industry.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/interesting-blog-on-low-cost-competition-in-the-newspaper-business/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/384 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/384#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:00:01 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=384 McKinsey Quarterly recently published a short article I wrote on companies underestimating their low cost rivals. The article was a “conversation starter” and has attracted quite a large number of comments from executives from all over the world. Some of them are very thoughtful and you might find them very interesting. ]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/384/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/siemens-emphasizing-industrial-services-in-order-to-stay-ahead-of-asian-rivals http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/siemens-emphasizing-industrial-services-in-order-to-stay-ahead-of-asian-rivals#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:18 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=379 Financial Times article pointed out that Siemens’ services business is growing faster than its products business. The article also mentions research by Bain & Co. that the shift to more services is high on the priority list of many similar companies in German-speaking countries.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/siemens-emphasizing-industrial-services-in-order-to-stay-ahead-of-asian-rivals/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/why-apple-cant-control-its-chinese-factories http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/why-apple-cant-control-its-chinese-factories#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:16 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=373 Daily Telegraph (UK) reported on a couple of the downsides of outsourced manufacturing. Because the Chinese electronic outsourcing giants like Foxconn (HonHai) have become so dominant and powerful, companies like Apple have very limited ability to influence working conditions in the factories that make its products, even when the Apple auditors uncover issues of child labour, excessive working hours, environmental damage, and very low wages. Apparently, there are only about three companies that can deliver Apple products in a timely manner while meeting Apple’s quality standards. If there are only three major companies that can meet Apple’s standards, one wonders if they will use their power to extract higher prices from companies like Apple.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/why-apple-cant-control-its-chinese-factories/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/upstart-huawei-rises-to-no2 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/upstart-huawei-rises-to-no2#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:41:53 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=368 New York Times article points out that while Huawei’s prices are often lower, a good deal of its ascendancy can be traced to innovative products and the low cost of ownership of its products. Huawei recently made headlines around the world when Telenor, the Norwegian mobile operator, decided to use Huawei equipment to upgrade its network rather than its traditional suppliers, Ericsson and Nolia-Siemens. Huawei, according to some industry sources, now has a market share of 20% versus 32% for Ericsson.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/upstart-huawei-rises-to-no2/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/panasonic-launches-a-new-strategy-to-meet-low-cost-competition-in-developing-markets http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/panasonic-launches-a-new-strategy-to-meet-low-cost-competition-in-developing-markets#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:35:27 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=365 Financial Times article describes the new strategy Panasonic is adopting in its appliance business to take advantage of opportunities in the good enough segment of the market in developing countries. The products are designed in the local markets to meet local needs and manufactured there. They may use key components, such as refrigerator compressors, designed and made in Japan. The company is also using new sales and distribution strategies and marketing approaches. It hopes to tap new segments of the market, whose income levels are below those of current Panasonic customers. ]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/panasonic-launches-a-new-strategy-to-meet-low-cost-competition-in-developing-markets/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/indian-companies-develop-innovative-low-cost-products-services http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/indian-companies-develop-innovative-low-cost-products-services#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:12:11 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=359 Wall Street Journal highlights a few recent examples of how Indian engineers are developing exciting new, low cost products and services for the poor. However, many of these innovations have the potential to find homes in other markets, including developed country markets. In my opinion we are likely to see a growing stream of low cost products and services coming out of India. We are already seeing a significant impact of Indian players on the global pharmaceutical industry and the Tata Nano has made headlines around the world. This articles highlights examples from GE Healthcare, banking and household appliances.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/indian-companies-develop-innovative-low-cost-products-services/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/chinese-manufacturers-begin-to-move-beyond-low-cost http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/chinese-manufacturers-begin-to-move-beyond-low-cost#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:02:43 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=353 Financial Times (May 28, 2009) Peter Marsh describes the efforts of several Chinese companies to develop more advanced products. He also discusses the implications of this for leading Western companies that supply these Chinese companies as well as other companies that want to take advantage of, and learn from, these more sophisticated Chinese manufacturing companies. China is already the second largest manufacturer in the world and, if current trends continue, will likely pass the United States in terms of manufacturing output within the next decade.]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/chinese-manufacturers-begin-to-move-beyond-low-cost/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/open-source-software-booming-in-the-recession http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/open-source-software-booming-in-the-recession#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:49:49 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=349 Economist, May 30, 2009). Increasingly mainstream companies, such as IBM and Oracle, are capitalizing on the trend as more and more companies are implementing or expanding open-source software initiatives. ]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/open-source-software-booming-in-the-recession/feed 0 http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/jugaad-in-india http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/jugaad-in-india#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:33:54 +0000 admin http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/?p=346 The Economist had an interesting article on jugaad. Jugaad are improvised Indian vehicles used by Indian farmers, but the term also refers to any innovative, low-cost way of providing a product or service. The global recession has increased the opportunity for Indian companies with such products to expand into foreign markets where there is a growing segment of customers, who are looking for inexpensive, “good enough” products and services. ]]> http://www.beatlowcostcomp.com/jugaad-in-india/feed 0