According to the current business mantra, any company that wants to be global has to do business with China. And international internet companies were not slow to try to exploit the Chinese market for its huge user base. They were initially confident about conquering the market, given that they had always performed well in non-domestic markets and rapidly became market leaders with a strong presence. However, no matter how great their achievements outside China, their initial success in China faded in the end. It seems that they did not know exactly what Chinese customers want and, for one reason or another, they failed to find a formula that would allow them to hold onto or win over Chinese customers.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from IMD, a leading business school based in Switzerland. http://www.imd.org]