Economic Times (July 4)
“The Chinese government is signalling enough is enough when it comes to the fierce competition in the country’s electric car market.” The nation’s “industrial policy has engineered a remarkable transformation to electric vehicles in… the world’s largest auto market,” but it has also “spawned far more makers than can possibly survive.” The government is moving to address “long-simmering concerns about oversupply and debilitating price wars.” The government is now “cracking down… targeting unsustainable price wars led by market giant BYD.” Marking a first step “toward stabilising the market,” the government has introduced “a new pledge to pay suppliers within 60 days.”
Tags: BYD, China, Cracking down, Debilitating, EV market, Fierce competition, Government, Industrial policy, Oversupply, Price wars, Stabilising, Suppliers, Unsustainable
Professional Pensions (April 17)
“As political tides shift in the US, many firms are pulling back on their DE&I commitments, restructuring or scrapping entire departments in response to legal challenges and cultural pressure. And the ripples are already reaching UK shores.” The appropriate response is not “about virtue signalling, it’s about smart governance.” US backsliding presents “a real, tangible issue that UK organisations, especially those working with global partners, need to pay close attention to.” They should secure their values and their supply chains as Transport for London did “by cutting ties with Accenture … after the consultancy ‘sunset’ key DE&I policies.” TfL disallowed Accenture “from bidding on a creative contract because it no longer met TfL’s diversity criteria, stating ‘We are proud to hold our suppliers to account… making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity.’”
Tags: Accenture, Cultural pressure, DE&I commitments, Legal challenges, Political tides, Restructuring, Smart governance, Suppliers, Supply chains, Transport for London, U.S., UK, Values, Virtue signalling
Wall Street Journal (February 17)
“The new plan for western companies is ABC: ‘Anything But China.’” Many multinationals had previously tried to correct their overreliance on Chinese suppliers through a “‘China Plus 1’ strategy of augmenting China-based suppliers with those in other countries.” Rising tensions between the U.S. and China are now prompting many tech businesses to instead adopt the ABC strategy. They are “accelerating moves to shift production out of China and look for suppliers elsewhere, signifying a global tech world that is increasingly bifurcated between the two powers.”
Tags: ‘Anything But China, ABC strategy, Bifurcated, China Plus 1, Companies, Multinationals, Overreliance, Production, Suppliers, Tech, Tensions, U.S., Western
South China Morning Post (February 11)
“China has long held ambitions of turning global aviation into an ‘ABC’ market: breaking the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing with the entry of world-class Chinese jets. That strategy is already well under way, with the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) having already received orders for hundreds of its regional and narrowbody planes.” Its ambitions to develop a world-class jumbo jet, however, “may hinge on cooperation from Western regulators and suppliers.”
Tags: ‘ABC’ market, Airbus, Ambitions, Aviation, Boeing, China, Comac, Global, Jets, Jumbo jet, Narrowbody, Planes, Regional, Regulators, Suppliers
Wall Street Journal (August 26)
In the “latest retreat by U.S. companies,” IBM is shuttering its R&D operations in China. “Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China have led many multinational companies to reassess their business in China.” IBM once viewed “China as a major growth market,” but its market share has plummeted. Revenue dropped nearly 20% last year when “Beijing pushed Chinese buyers to purchase more from domestic technology suppliers, in a campaign dubbed ‘Delete America.’”
Tags: China, Companies, Geopolitical tensions, Growth, IBM, Market share, Multinational, R&D, Reassess, Retreat, Revenue, Shuttering, Suppliers, Technology, U.S.
The Week (October 8)
“Alarm is rising over a global slowdown that’s testing even Apple’s invincibility… In September, Apple was so bullish about its sales projections for the new iPhone 14 that it told suppliers to bump production by roughly 7 percent.” Within just a few weeks, Apple backtracked. “If Apple is struggling to gauge consumer sentiment, that doesn’t bode well for other companies.
Tags: Alarm, Apple, Backtracked, Bullish, Consumer sentiment, Gauge, Global slowdown, Invincibility, iPhone 14, Production, Sales projections, September, Struggling, Suppliers
Reuters (January 28)
“A growing number of Chinese construction and decoration companies are writing off assets or issuing profit warnings as debt woes at China Evergrande Group and other property developers debilitate their suppliers.” Despite government measures “to ease developers’ liquidity stress and support the cooling economy, recent data suggests the problem will get worse.”
Tags: Assets, China, Companies, Construction, Debt, Evergrande, Government, Liquidity, Profit warnings, Property developers, Suppliers, Woes
Bloomberg (December 18)
“The U.S. launched yet another broadside at China’s technological ambitions this week by blacklisting more than 60 Chinese companies…. While the action will be painful, over the longer term it could be a shot in the arm.” The restrictions may very well “help make China great again.” Under this “massive pressure, Chinese tech giants finally have an incentive to use and improve local suppliers.”
Tags: Ambitions, Blacklisting, Broadside, China, Incentive, Painful, Pressure, Restrictions, Suppliers, Tech giants, U.S.
Financial Times (March 26)
“Ten years ago, you knew where you stood with your energy suppliers. Oil companies sold road fuel, while utilities supplied electricity and gas. Today those lines of demarcation are blurring: utilities can fill up your car and oil companies want to keep your lights on.” This will make for a “period of intensified competition and instability, as companies that were previously able largely to forget about each other are now forced to battle for dominance.”
Tags: Blurring, Competition, Electricity, Energy, Fuel, Gas, Instability, Intensified, Oil, Suppliers, Utilities
New York Times (September 25)
Companies are discovering that “quitting China is hard to do” as they look to shift operations to avoid Trump tariffs. “Few places can match China’s convenience and reliability.” Not only is China a near comprehensive source of “the ingredients that go into today’s consumer goods,” it also boasts “a dependable source of workers who know how to hold down factory jobs,” along with “reliable roads and rail lines connecting suppliers to assembly plants to ports.”
Tags: China, Consumer goods, Convenience, Dependable, Factory, Operations, Ports, Rail, Reliable, Roads, Source, Suppliers, Tariffs, Trump
