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Keiretsu-type groups that do everything in-house can prevent whole business sectors from emerging. In Japan the relative lack of independent software companie
by Nokinside 7y ago
Keiretsu-type groups that do everything in-house can prevent whole business sectors from emerging.
In Japan the relative lack of independent software companies have been attributed to Keiretsu structure. Software development was just in-house activity to serve established product divisions. It was not seen as business to be sold independently. For example, Toyota made whole integrated CAD/CAM/CAE system called 'TOGO' in the late 90s.
As a result Japan has been mostly no-show in software business outside console games. Software they develop is sold inside hardware.
- eatonphil 7y agoAgreed, historically anyway. Older Koreans (judging by my in-laws) hear "computer science" or "programming" and think of computer repairmen. Oddly enough, Korea and Japan have even higher percentage of SMBs than in the US (can't remember the link but the OECD published such stats). However historically they served only as subcontractors to the chaebols and keiretsu groups. I think that's changing in Korea and Japan as of recently. In the last 20 years, there has been a rise in startups serving massive audiences in online gaming, social media, and e-commerce. Think Nexon, Daum, Naver/LINE, Rakuten, SoftBank, etc.
- bobthepanda 7y agoIIRC, one big type of sector that they received flak for when they moved into it was bakeries. Food is one sector in Korea with a lot of SMBs, and at the time it looked like they were trying to steal even more of the economy for themselves. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120126001019 http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120126001019