Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

China Overtakes US as Supplier of IT Goods

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the capitalism-at-its-very-best dept.

Ant writes "CNET News.com is reporting that 'after almost a decade of explosive growth in its electronics sector, China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest supplier of Information Technology goods, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.' From the article: "The most spectacular demonstration of China's ambition to become a consumer electronics heavyweight came in May this year when Lenovo, the Chinese computer maker, paid $1.75 billion to buy IBM's personal computer unit."

7 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. How can that be? by bit01 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    China has nowhere near as many IP lawyers protecting their "valuable intellectual property" as the USA.

  2. Hmm by jav1231 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Frankly, after the shootings the other day in China I wish we'd stop doing business with them. Our relationship with China is nothing to be proud of.

    1. Re:Hmm by Narc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where I see your point, I don't agree with it.

      You can't judge a people by their govt and their ideology, especially such an oppresive one. It's like judging America by Bush. Refusing to do business with them or have any sort of relationship with them isn't quite as simple as "I don't like that cheerleader, she's a prissy cow and ignores me". On a international level, this hurts the people already being screwed over by their govt in the long run more so.

      You have to build some form of relationship, positive ones more often than not are better, regardless of your opinion of someone. Positive relations are more effective at bringing about change.

    2. Re:Hmm by Newton's+Alchemy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You have to build some form of relationship, positive ones more often than not are better, regardless of your opinion of someone. Positive relations are more effective at bringing about change.

      Unless the country doesn't have nuclear weapons, then you're of course free to invade.

      The "helping the people not the government" argument is utter bullshit. It helps US Corporations to do business in China, period. THAT's why we still do business with them and not in places like North Korea. It has NOTHING to do with helping the average Chinese.

  3. Only the beginning by Markvs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    JP Morgan and some other firms are now outsourcing finance positions to India for the first time. If the US doesn't wake up and go for FAIR trade, FREE trade will cut all of our collective throats.

    --
    46. The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps. "Beware the man who has lived longer than the Wasteland."
  4. The great red planet??? by dbleoslow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I was growing up in the 80's, there was a big anti-communist thing going on (Most notibly, the great war epic Red Dawn). There was also a big "buy American" movement due to a strong Japanese economy. Now we have a communist economic powerhouse and noone seems to be raising a stink. Why is that? My only thought on this is that with China, US executives are still making money. The Japanese kept everything from manufacturing to management in-house. China just does the manufacturing and leaves the US management to their big salaries. I think you will only see the "Made in China" issue come to the forefront when they start managing everything, thereby screwing the US upper management.

  5. Services moving overseas, too by EmagGeek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've read a lot of posts about how the US is becoming a services-based economy. I have news for you, the services are being offshored as well. I went to my doctor for my annual physical last month, and while there was a nurse in the office performing the physical, the doctor was on an LCD screen from his office in, you guessed it, India.

    Did you also know that there are law schools in India now that teach AMERICAN law and not Indian law? I'm guessing that paralegals and other support functions in Law will shortly be available for cheap offshoring.

    I used to think that Medicine and Law would be the last things to go, but it seems I was wrong about that. As I scramble to find a safer profession than Engineering, I'm not even sure where to go. I thought of teaching, and then realized that there are movements afoot to move this overseas, too, with a cheap security guard in the classroom to maintain order and a cheap teacher overseas in front of a camera.

    So, while it's not so untrue that America is becoming a services based economy, I think it would be more accurate to say that it is becoming an UNSKILLED or lesser-skilled services economy.