CEOs: Emerging markets will pave the way
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(InfoWorld) - Some mobile phone companies are looking to emerging markets to find early adopters and for a glimpse at services of the future, CEOs said during the opening day keynote of theÂ 3GSM conferenceÂ in Barcelona on Tuesday. In Senegal, for example, customers eagerly use a mobile Internet TV service that includes a DVR (digital video recorder) feature. "It's more advanced than in many other places," said Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of operator Orange. The keynote focused on the importance of emerging markets to the future of the mobile industry. That compares with last year's opening keynote, which focused largely on the potential of wireless content services. Vodafone Group's CEO Arun Sarin pointed to South Africa, where HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) users make up 30 percent of the entire broadband market. That number is expected to increase to 50 percent by 2010, he said. Users in emerging markets are taking up such new technologies as mobile broadband because they don't have quality fixed-line networks, he said. The lack of quality landline networks may also be driving people in developing markets to exclusively use wireless, he said. In Europe, on average, 35 percent of phone usage is on mobile networks while in developing markets more than 50 percent of minutes are on mobile networks, he said. Naquib Sawaris, chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding, an operator offering services in Pakistan, Egypt, Algeria, and Iraq, put it most succinctly. "You have two Indians and an Egyptian on this stage: It's our time," he said. Sarin also commented onÂ Vodafone's recent winÂ of a controlling interest in Indian operator Hutchison Essar. Mobile phone penetration in India is around 13 percent and Sarin expects that to grow to 40 percent, or 500 million subscribers, in a few years. Indians like to talk too, with an average of 400 minutes of use per subscriber per month, he said. That compares to 150 minutes in Europe.
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(InfoWorld) - The future of the mobile communications industry lies inÂ emerging high-growth markets, like China and India, and companies ignore the opportunities in these countries at their own peril, Motorola's top executive said. "It's where the future is, not only for low-end handsets but forÂ mobile communications," said Ed Zander, Motorola's chief executive officer, during an interview at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006 conference and exhibition in Hong Kong. "You've got to make the investments. It's painful in terms of cost. ... But three to five years from now you're going to look back and say it was the right thing to do," Zander said. In recent years, Motorola has worked hard to build its presence in high-growth emerging markets, investing heavily in its operations in China, India, and elsewhere. As part of these efforts, the company was awarded two contracts by the GSM Association, an industry group comprised of operators around the world, for a low-cost GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) handset designed for emerging markets . "The press sometimes focuses on whether we can get a $20 or $10 handset, but it's the next 4 billion people that are going to get connected and all of the communications that goes with it, the infrastructure," Zander said. The rapid pace of economic growth and the large populations in these countries means that vendors cannot afford to stay away if they want to remain competitive. "You have to be in these countries. That's the bottom line. Do you want to be in business 10 years from now? Doing business in the U.S. is great. We love it. Doing business in Europe is nice. We love it. But China and these other countries is where the growth is," Zander said. Low-end products have helped Motorola build volume in emerging markets, but these countries also have sizable populations of affluent consumers, particularly in major cities such as Beijing and Mumbai. "If you're not in the country you don't get to sell this stuff," he said. Emerging markets are also an increasingly important source of research and development (R&D) for Motorola. "We have more than half our R&D outside the U.S. In China alone, we have 18 R&D centers and 3,000 engineers," Zander said, noting that these investments are not driven by a desire to reduce R&D costs or outsource operations from the U.S. "You go to India and the PhDs coming out of there are some of the best in the world, and China every year is graduating more and more students in engineering, math, and science," Zander said. "We have to be where the smart people are."
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WASHINGTON: Global finance chiefs may admit this week that soaring oil prices are a cloud on a generally sunny world economic horizon but they will likely dismiss any chance they could drown growth.
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The tiny but elite club of Group of Seven finance chiefs seems to have hit the limits of its influence on the two top economic issues of the day -- oil prices and the emerging powerhouse that is China.
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(InfoWorld) - "I have sent my wife across there because she understands the language," The Financial Times reported News Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch saying. "There" is China, and he sent Wendi Deng "across" to try to avoid the pitfalls that have ensnared other Western Internet ventures, including News Corp.'s. I had to laugh when I read that, after I stopped shaking my head in disbelief. After knocking on China's door for years, Mr. Murdoch has clearly learned nothing. Sending a representative who carries no portfolio for the company except a wedding ring isn't going to impress anyone in China, regardless of where she was born or what language she speaks. That "send the Chinese guy" strategy worked so well for Yahoo Inc. they no longer own their China unit and their coffers are $1 billion lighter. The one- or two-day "parachute" approach so many CEOs use isn't any better. Fortune 500 CEOs pay lip service to their and their companies' commitment to China on a daily basis, and it's wearing thin, especially on the Chinese. "We're in it for the long-term," "we're here to stay," "China is such an important market for us" -- stop me when you've heard enough, because people here certainly have. If foreign companies are committed to the Chinese market, then it's time to demonstrate that in a meaningful way. The CEOs need to lead a China initiative the same way they would back restructuring, going green, or any other major corporate project. Today I issue the China CEO Challenge: as CEO of a non-Chinese company, show your commitment to the China market by moving here for a year. Establish your personal headquarters in a major Chinese city (Hong Kong doesn't count). Business travel is permitted, but for one year, your home and office are here. For extra credit, have your board meetings in China too. My guess is that if Eric Schmidt parked it in an office overlooking the Bund or the Forbidden City for a year, China's perspective of Google would change and vice-versa. He should spend some time trying to use his company's sites on a regular ADSL connection, and slamming his fist against the desk when some of them are blocked. When pictures of him sitting at the corner shop slurping down beef noodles start showing up in local newspapers, it'll win hearts and minds. I'd bet the first CEO to do this will be European. There was a rumor a couple of years ago that Volkswagen's CEO was going to spend half the year in China and half in Germany, but it never happened. The opportunity is still there. If the U.S. or European or your other home market is more important, that's fine. But then stop saying how committed you are to China because sitting in the same traffic, using the same Internet connections, and eating the same food is the real price of admission.
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Financial contagion from a credit crunch rooted in the U.S. subprime lending market seems not to be affecting emerging economies as much as crises in the past, the head of the Bank for International Settlements said on Wednesday.
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Major U.S. CEOs complained about  regulatory burdens in the post-Enron environment at a  high-profile conference on regulation and the legal system,  while an investor advocate warned on Tuesday that business  leaders should not lose sight of what matters to investors.
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More top U.S. chief executive  officers believe the economy is going to deteriorate over the  next six months than expect improvement, according to a study  of 70 top CEOs released on Thursday.
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More than half of the world's market cap now sits outside the United States.
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Developing countries are starting to flex their financial muscles and invest overseas.
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The International Monetary Fund says emerging economies will not be immune from a slowdown among wealthier nations.
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Rising oil prices are slowing growth across the world but key emerging economies such as China and India will continue to support the near-term outlook for commodities, the world's largest mining company said Friday.
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Global finance chiefs on Saturday made progress on reforms that would give emerging economies a greater say in the International Monetary Fund and expressed confidence they could seal a deal next year.
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Attention, CEOs around the globe: The gold standard has been set.
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While the market in Central and South America is growing faster than the U.S., Asia, and most of Europe, it still faces some challenges that need to be overcome.
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Dodge China's bubble. Invest in an emerging market that's still selling for a bargain.
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The world is a less risky place these days, but that doesn't mean investors should stop preparing for bad times, Goldman Sachs Group  Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said Wednesday.