India imports nearly $70 billion worth of Chinese goods and services every year. Trade with China accounts for over 40% of the country’s total trade deficit.
American dating apps may be making a splash in India, but a Chinese brand working mostly under the radar is close at their heels.
China’s favourite dating app is now the fifth-most popular in India by combined monthly active users on iOS and Android phones, according to the analytics firm App Annie.
Experts say there’s a reason India is a priority market for these Chinese apps. “Once they mature in China, India is the only place these apps can go to. Chinese apps have very low acceptance in the West,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president at Everest Group consultancy.
Read more in Quartz India
Global Services Locations Predictions
The prevailing bilateral frost between India and China is having a chilling effect on local trade as the south Asian nation prepares to celebrate its annual festival of colours.
Around 60 million members of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) have called for the boycott of Chinese goods on the eve of Holi, one of India’s most popular festivals. Some business owners even plan to use such products to make the traditional bonfire—Holi symbolises the burning of an evil demon in Hindu mythology—today (March 19) across 1,500 locations in the country.
The row only highlights the significance Chinese products have assumed in Indian trade and other areas.
“The entire garment and electronics industries are highly dependent on China. Lots of Chinese apps like TikTok are gaining traction, too,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consultancy Everest Group. Four out of five of the top smartphones in India are China-made. Even plastic buckets, idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, and winter coats are mostly manufactured in China.
While APAC remains the dominant delivery location, global services headcount is growing in other locations as GICs and service providers recognize the value of location-specific talent and seeks to diversify their portfolios
Availability of relevant talent for digital and complex services is driving large setups in Singapore, Romania, Ireland, and Mexico
“For voice work, the Philippines has a better voice/accent environment even though it is at a cost disadvantage to India. For some kinds of work, close proximity and time zones advantage near shore locations is preferred over India,” said Peter Bendor Samuel, CEO of Everest Group, a Dallas-headquartered management consulting and research services firm.
Citing concentration risk as another reason, Samuel said some firms feel that they are overly concentrated in India creating increased risk in the event of natural disasters or large currency swings for these firms a more geographically dispersed location strategy makes sense.
“Although these alternate locations have taken some share from India such as Mexico, Costa Rica and for Europe, Poland, we believe that these share gains will level off as these alternative locations are priced higher than the low cost high skilled Indian labour pool,” Samuel said.
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