Dell To Leave China For India

halfEvilTech writes "India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, told the Indian press that Dell chairman Michael Dell assured him that Dell was moving $25 billion in factories from China to India. Original motives were cited for environmental concerns. But later details come up as to Dell wanting a 'safer environment conductive to enterprise.'"

Wow

[FlyingBishop]

If Dell can guarantee their parts are made in India and not China, I just might be getting a Dell next year.

Re:Economic warfare

[Anonymous Coward]

If you declare war against the people who are trying to make you rich, you suffer the consequences.
I'm really not sure whether you're referring to the Chinese or Dell

Re:It's a lose lose

[Seor Jojoba]

India is a democracy with a much better record of treating its citizens as free human beings. It also doesn't seem to have the taste for global imperialism that China does. In China, you can disappear for protesting on the street. In China, you put in an application if you'd like to move to another city. In China, the internet is filtered. India should be a great friend of the United States. Americans have a lot in common with them, and in that part of the world, America could use more friends.

pandemic?

[bl8n8r]

Wonder how many more US companies are going to pull out of China. First google, then godaddy, now Dell. What happens when all that China has left, is China?

India safer? Define safer.

[Anonymous Coward]

India safer? In some ways I suppose but it depends on what you are talking about. The Indian government is less draconian and less likely to try to compete with you. Expropriation [wikipedia.org] is probably less of a concern in India. The rupee has somewhat better convertibility [wikipedia.org] than the yuan and currency flows are less stringently controlled. Plus there is a much larger contingent of English speakers than in China. India's legal system is slightly less hostile to foreigners than China's though both are to be avoided if possible. Freedom of speech is obviously better in India though China doesn't have quite the death grip on speech everyone here seems to think they do.

On the other hand, India's infrastructure is badly trailing that of China, there is less foreign capital to improve things, corruption is a huge issue in India, business regulations are as bad if not worse than China, and transport costs are somewhat worse. Despite the number of engineers, India has less experience with certain types of manufacturing. India is a democracy (which is good) but that doesn't always make doing business there easier - in fact it often makes it harder due to populist policies.

There has been something of a "gotta be in China" attitude but China isn't always the best place to make things. There are places with cheaper labor (Vietnam for instance) and places with better logistics (Singapore) and places with expertise silos (Japan) that might make better choices. Plus betting everything on China is risky by itself. Doing business in China is hard, risky, requires constant oversight, and a long term perspective. Anyone thinking they can just produce stuff cheaply in China with little difficulty is going to lose a lot of money very quickly.

I've done global sourcing in both countries - it's difficult no matter which way you go. I've personally been in a factory in Chengdu where parts for Dell computers were being assembled. Moving production from China to India might be a good idea from a diversification standpoint (bad idea to do everything in China) but it's only marginally safer in my opinion depending on exactly what one means by safer.

Re:Economic warfare

[bsDaemon]

Yes, they can sell to themselves, which is a closed population, which has demographic policies which ensure that they're going to have more old people than anything else in the mid-term, and those old people aren't really going to be productive. The only way capitalism works is if it can keep growing, which means that they have to start expanding into new markets, if possible -- otherwise, the system chokes on itself. It doesn't work closed in, just the same as Communism -- it wouldn't really work in just one country. In the 19th century, this brought us imperialism. In the 20th century, it brought us two world wars, followed by the cold war. If the rest of the world just stopped buying China's crap and kept trading with each other, freezing them out, we'd do a whole lot better than they would.

How about

[koan]

The USA, it's safer and conducive to enterprise, and with the economy in the pits a great time to negotiate with state governments, not to mention the karma factor Mr Dell.

Re:Wow

[RajivSLK]

Canada had to do this in response to the US. The US required everyone entering to have a passport. If Canada didn't do the same they'd be stuck with a bunch Americans who came over the border with their drivers licenses and couldn't easily pass back into the US for lack of the required passport.

Re:Economic warfare

[santax]

You have a point there, but that last part, about cars. As a European I can say the same thing to any American... In the end, it depends on your own standard. And no way china will stop exporting. So many countries depend on them... Look at what they are doing with Africa, instead of just donating money, they create jobs... Generate income for the people there... and then sell them their services and goods. No if I would have to put my money on 1 country to come out as the next World-Dominator it will be China on the short run and India as a close second, maybe even the leader in about 40 years. I definitely would not put my money on the US or EU cause well... we both are practically bankrupt. lol.

Re:India safer? Define safer.

[sjbe]

Thanks! Thought I was signed in but oh well...

Re:Wow

[517714]

A lot, possibly the majority, of items marked "Made in Taiwan" are simply transshipped from the mainland.

Re:It's a lose lose

[hooeezit]

Sorry sir, but upper castes can also be beaten, murdered, extorted, systematically denied legal representation, et al. What matters is how well-connected you are. And that factor is as important pretty much anywhere in the world. Take the example of blacks and hispanics in the US, Uighurs and Tibetans in China, Romas in Europe, ethnic Africans (as opposed to ethnic Arabs) in Sudan, etc etc. I'm from a part of India where upper castes lived in fear of 'lower' castes for close to 15 years until 4 years ago when a change of government equalized power and brought back balance. Now, that province (Bihar) is making international headlines with fastest economic growth in India. Yours seems to be an intentionally under-informed opinion based on xenophobia. Most people around the world are good. Most people in positions of power are not. Do not treat one as the other.