09-3-2010

"I've got four words for you... You're fucked."

-krypt

The Tech Crunch has a good analysis on why China won’t be the next Silicon Valley. Instead it will be its own thing where everything is happening in parallel. Imagine trying to start an entertainment company where piracy is already rampant. Instead of trying to go global, Chinese companies can turn inward and tap a market of 1.2 billion people and the world’s largest middle class. China isn’t the next Silicon Valley but it doesn’t really need to be.

I am nonetheless optimistic about the future of Silicon Valley because it can attract talent from all around the world, including Chinese. While most of the world can speak or have learned English, Mandarin Chinese is still a barrier for most of the world, even if it has the most speakers. The customs and cultures of China is much more foreign to the rest of the world than American culture which has been exported endlessly to the rest of the world. All else fails, the world is big enough for China and Silicon Valley in the same way London and NYC can both coexist as financial capitols.