EMC Corp, the world’s largest data storage company, set up a 50-50 joint venture with Hong Kong-listed Digital China in March this year, aiming to tap into the country’s booming IT market.
The new venture—EMC’s first in Asia—is expected to provide information infrastructure solutions, services and support for the Chinese market. It will also help the two sides to attract partners in the information storage sector.
EMC, by shifting to software sales over the years, has now become an information management company. It planned to invest $1 billion in China before 2012 to gain a larger share in the country’s data storage market as China has witness explosive growth in websites and internet content.
According to American IT research firm IDC, the total storage capacity in China will grow 30-fold from 132 petabytes in 2004 to nearly 4,000 petabytes in 2011.
EMC is also expecting the new venture to help serve the needs of its customers in China since Digital China, the country’s largest IT products distributor and systems integrator, has been trying to enhance its IT services business.
“This is about how we grow in the years ahead in China,” said Steven Leonard, president of EMC Asia Pacific-Japan. “China is now one of the world’s fastest growing and strategically important markets.”
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China, data storage, Digital China, EMC, IT, JV
The global leader of home appliance makers Whirlpool and Chinese conglomerate Hisense, a large electronics and information industry unit operating in such fields as household appliances, telecom, information, real estate and commerce, have set up a joint venture for consumers worldwide.
The 50-50 joint venture will invest about 900 million yuan ($129 million) in high-end washing machines and refrigerators production under the Hisense and Whirlpool brands.
The two sides will work together on capital management, research, manufacturing, procurement and global marketing. And the expected production capability is two million washing machines and one million refrigerators each year.
“The strong union of Hisense and Whirlpool will improve the structure of the Chinese appliances industry and prompt the research, development and manufacturing ability of Chinese companies to reach international levels,” said Huo Dufang, director-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.
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China, Hisense, home appliances, JV, Whirlpool
Alibaba.com is the largest business-to-business website, which started out helping millions of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises sell their goods on the internet.
Last year, the company’s revenue grew 58.6% to 2.16 billion yuan and its net profit surged 340% to 968 million yuan, which was attributed to the rise in the number of the company’s paying members and their increased averaged online consumption.
Despite the current economic slowdown at the global scale, Alibaba.com expected to see dynamic growth this year. “I think we will maintain fast growth this year because people in difficulties tend to diversify their product sourcing and supply in order to reduce risks,” said Wei Zhe, CEO of Alibaba.com.
According to Alibaba.com, 72% of the company’s revenue came from online trade between China and foreign countries and only 28% from trade within China. Revenue from domestic trade is expected to rise as China’s internal demands grow. Meanwhile, the company also has plans to open a joint venture with Softbank in Japan this year and increase its business presence in Europe and India to seek greater international opportunities.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Alibaba, China, joint venture, sourcing, trade
