Samsung is set to ditch Snapdragon 810 for its next flagship smartphone, Galaxy S6. (Photo : Reuters)
While the Chinese marketplace has been revered from everyone ranging from Tim Cook in Cupertino to the World Economic Forum in Davos, a recent contribution to the "Manufacturing and Technology News" newsletter paints a very different picture.
According to the interpretation of Forbes writer Eamonn Fingleton, Michael Wessel and Daniel Slane believe that Beijing has embarked on a nationalistic process to remove "the gweilo out of the nation's hair."
The literal translation of the Cantonese word "gweilo" is "ghost man," and Fingleton informed his readers on Sunday that U.S. businesses need to wake from their reveries, in which they pride themselves as the apple of the Chinese authorities' eyes.
The Forbes writer makes it clear from the outset of his piece that such companies need to stop believing that "they are loved for their own sake in China." Fingleton is not meek in his words of caution, depicting a situation in which Beijing has "sucked dry" foreign entities to reinforce the "gweilo" notion.
Fingleton frequently refers to segments of the newsletter contribution, sharing the conclusions that the two analysts, who are employed by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, have arrived at. The recently implemented anti-trust legislation, of which Fingleton says Qualcomm is the "most obvious victim," has been identified by the commission staff members as the starting point for the "very difficult" time that foreign corporations will experience.
"The Chinese government is solely interested in protecting their domestic companies and their national champions. Now that these foreign corporations have been exploited for their technology . . . the welcome mat is being removed," said the article.
The pair do not stop at the woes of the American companies involved, which are now merely "in the way," and also write of "the great detriment" suffered by "American workers."
In addition to Beijing, "The Party" is put forward in the newsletter as the body that "got what it wanted from Western companies," which belies the expression of openness that the Chinese premier delivered in Davos.
The impact of the Wessel-Slate article is yet to be seen and only time can reveal Beijing's response.
