The Hindustan Times cover this morning has a generous space dedicated to Google's exit out of China and related efforts at redirecting mainland users to its Hong Kong hub, but couched cosily inside that story is perhaps an even bigger one.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is quoted as saying that Dell is considering taking its $25 billion's worth of business elsewhere, possibly India:
"This morning I met the chairman of Dell Corporation. He informed me that they are buying equipment and parts worth $25 billion from China. They would like to shift to safer environment with climate conducive to enterprise with security of legal system."
Dell already has one manufacturing plant in India, and the man himself - Michael Dell - has been on a sweet visit in the country this week meeting and greeting local officials. While it could be just a regular visit, it makes one think that Dell is just seeking to play China and India off one another to get itself the most favorable manufacturing deal.
It also appears that Google's wrangle with the Middle Kingdom's leadership has forced consumer electronics execs to re-evaluate their strong reliance on China, and the (very) long-term effects could indeed be a shifting, or at least diversification, of manufacturing away from Yao's homeland.
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