I think you're reading the wrong meaning into this particular word. I would take the term 'sophisticated market' to refer to a market that is established and h

I think you're reading the wrong meaning into this particular word. I would take the term 'sophisticated market' to refer to a market that is established and has largely passed the initial saturation phase. There will a number of different actors in the market competing on axes other than "who can offer the most product for the least money," with more complexity in trade as participants' marketing and sales strategies evolve, or as consumer behaviour starts to be affected by other forces. In this sense, China is a less sophisticated market – that's not a problem or a negative, it's just a different stage of market development. It's reasonable to point out that sales behaviour will be different for that market as a result.