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I find the premise of this article (the 10,000 Apples thing) laughable-maybe that's the point. Every business in the world is struggling to create 1 Apple right

I find the premise of this article (the 10,000 Apples thing) laughable-maybe that's the point. Every business in the world is struggling to create 1 Apple right now (except maybe Exxon-which is bigger today?). The chances of 10,000 Apples coming out of China's me-too business culture is too much of a long-shot to be overstated.

danmaz74 15y ago
Me-too business culture? Wasn't it what was said about Japanese business culture when it started to really grow after the war?
- chugger 15y ago
  And look at Japan now. They're currently in 2 decade-long recessions and they're in even worse shape than us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decade_(Japan) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decade_(Japan) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002928.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10...
  - jgamman 15y ago
    considering what's going on at the moment i think one could make the case that they were just two decades ahead of you... ;-)
    - chugger 15y ago
      What's happening now is nothing like what's happening in Japan.
  - danmaz74 15y ago
    That's not at all because of a lack of global brands or innovative products though: Toyota, Sony, Honda, Hitachi, Panasonic, just to name the first ones that came to my mind...
  - chugger 15y ago
    @danmaz74 there were very little innovation that came out of Japan in the last 20 years. They were overtaken by their Korean counterparts (LG/Samsung > Sony/Panasonic/Toshiba/etc.) and American (HP/Dell/Apple/etc.). Ok you have Toyota/Nissan/Honda,etc. but their success was not due to innovation but was mostly due to GM/Ford/Chrysler's inability to make good cars.
    - danmaz74 15y ago
      @chugger: Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the last 20 years. I'm talking about the transition from me-too/copycat productions based on low prices of the 50s and 60s to the innovative, high-tech, high-quality branded production of the late 70s and 80s (Sony Walkman, VHS and Betamax, Space Invaders and Mario Bros...). My point is that China could do that same transition, even if now Chinese brands are mostly me-too.
    - Aga 15y ago
      That is a horribly limited view of innovation. Innovation is not limited to only consumer end-products but happens through the whole design-manufacture-logistics-market chain. This is where e.g. Toyota has famously excelled. There is more to this world than mobile phones and computers. A lot of innovation happens in b2b end products also, with less fuzz.
VladRussian 15y ago
from the modern ferret-attention-span point of view such dismissal may be a valid one. Looking at the other time scales - there were periods when the world around China was striving to and happy to be "me-too of China" and there is nothing that precludes that from happening again, even more - China seems to have learnt the lesson about the limits on trusting to Western civilizations, and their current "me-too" is manifestation of shrewd practicality as it is the fastest way to get the humongous country from being mostly agricultural 10-20 years ago to the leaders of the world. You just may not like the "Apples" that will come out of China :)

danmaz74 15y ago

Me-too business culture? Wasn't it what was said about Japanese business culture when it started to really grow after the war?

chugger 15y ago
And look at Japan now. They're currently in 2 decade-long recessions and they're in even worse shape than us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decade_(Japan) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decade_(Japan) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002928.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10...
- jgamman 15y ago
  considering what's going on at the moment i think one could make the case that they were just two decades ahead of you... ;-)
  - chugger 15y ago
    What's happening now is nothing like what's happening in Japan.
- danmaz74 15y ago
  That's not at all because of a lack of global brands or innovative products though: Toyota, Sony, Honda, Hitachi, Panasonic, just to name the first ones that came to my mind...
- chugger 15y ago
  @danmaz74 there were very little innovation that came out of Japan in the last 20 years. They were overtaken by their Korean counterparts (LG/Samsung > Sony/Panasonic/Toshiba/etc.) and American (HP/Dell/Apple/etc.). Ok you have Toyota/Nissan/Honda,etc. but their success was not due to innovation but was mostly due to GM/Ford/Chrysler's inability to make good cars.
  - danmaz74 15y ago
    @chugger: Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the last 20 years. I'm talking about the transition from me-too/copycat productions based on low prices of the 50s and 60s to the innovative, high-tech, high-quality branded production of the late 70s and 80s (Sony Walkman, VHS and Betamax, Space Invaders and Mario Bros...). My point is that China could do that same transition, even if now Chinese brands are mostly me-too.
  - Aga 15y ago
    That is a horribly limited view of innovation. Innovation is not limited to only consumer end-products but happens through the whole design-manufacture-logistics-market chain. This is where e.g. Toyota has famously excelled. There is more to this world than mobile phones and computers. A lot of innovation happens in b2b end products also, with less fuzz.

VladRussian 15y ago

from the modern ferret-attention-span point of view such dismissal may be a valid one. Looking at the other time scales - there were periods when the world around China was striving to and happy to be "me-too of China" and there is nothing that precludes that from happening again, even more - China seems to have learnt the lesson about the limits on trusting to Western civilizations, and their current "me-too" is manifestation of shrewd practicality as it is the fastest way to get the humongous country from being mostly agricultural 10-20 years ago to the leaders of the world. You just may not like the "Apples" that will come out of China :)