Chinese Tech Titans Eye Brazil
Big Chinese consumer-technology companies are dominant at home, but they have struggled overseas. Now, in an attempt to change that, they are charging into Brazil and other emerging markets.
The Chinese like emerging markets because, for a change, they don’t have to start way behind established American companies. By moving into Brazil aggressively, Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd. and Internet-search company Baidu Inc. hope to gain an edge over companies like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Google Inc. In addition, some U.S. companies that are leaders at home and in Europe have a smaller footprint here because of Brazil’s long history of protectionism and red tape and its high cost of labor, particularly compared with Asia.