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Call me suspicious, but could this pull-out have anything to do with Google getting beat up by Baidu? Maybe getting beat isn't the reason for pulling out, but
by andrewljohnson 17y ago
Call me suspicious, but could this pull-out have anything to do with Google getting beat up by Baidu?
Maybe getting beat isn't the reason for pulling out, but it at least makes the decision much easier if you aren't the market leader in the country. Another big company, GE, will shut down businesses where they aren't 1st or 2nd in a market.
If Google were dominant in China or making a lot of money, this decision might be a lot tougher.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- ErrantX 17y agoWith the sheer number of internet users in China I suspect even 2nd and 3rd place wouldn't be something to walk away from lightly.
- pyre 17y ago> If Google were dominant in China or making a lot of money, this decision might be a lot tougher. Not necessarily. It would also depend on what they predict their future prospects to be. If they predict that 5-10 years down the line they will be hard-pressed to be able to grow their business there, they could make such a decision (even if they are making a lot of money there right now). But this could also be seen as a hostile environment/market too. You're essentially doing business with a country/government that behind the scenes is trying to attack you and/or your customers.
- wildwood 17y agoGoogle got whipped by Yahoo JP for quite a while, as I recall, and they stuck with it. They're still getting their asses handed to them in South Korea. This doesn't seem like a decision that's being based on market share. And Google doesn't have a track record for bailing on tough markets. With their cost structure, why would they? (Google doesn't have near the physical plant costs that GE does.)