Since my answer "SCREW CHINA" was so disliked, and eventually removed by the too sensitive community here, i figured i would write a few lines and explain why you should Avoid CHINA, INDIA, and other LOP SIDED COUNTRIES.
China's culture, politics, and legal system place no value on IP. The same is very true in India and Pakistan. So, say your company thinks you can save costs and sell to a potential 4billion plus consumers in china.
here is what usually happens (examples like Matel toys). You take your operation offshore, teach the Chinese how to build your product exactly how you want it. Usually, and since getting a business licence from scratch is next to impossible (catch 22 where you are required to have a location before you can start a business, and to lease a location you are require to have a business), you align your company with a contract manufacturer.
Problem 1. Contract manufacturers make money by cutting corners. They do this by using sweatshop labor, lower quality than what you have approved. This affect your existing USA or European consumer base that unlike chinese or indians have a culture that values brands and quality.
Problem 2. Your Chinese or Indian manufacturer will rip off your idea, ripp off your brand, (or re brand it if they really must) and sell your product in china, to chinese, for far lower than you ever could. Therefore you will never be competitive in china unless if you are Chinese. You could file a lawsuit, but that takes 7-10 years. And although the Chinese will ACT like they care, the whole political system rewards this type of activity.
Problem 3. Your new chinese friends will sell your product, in the USA, and undercut you. They do this because they can. They do this to attract price shoppers, not caring about quality. They dilute the marketplace and make it more expensive because now you have to educate customers about quality.
Problem 4. When you ship your operation to countries like China and India, you are not doing their countries a favor either. These countries still have the highest poverty rates among developed countries. Say i manufacturer sunglasses or even software. When i take my project to India, my "friends" in india promise they can deliver my product for 20% of the cost of what it would cost to make it in the USA. Thats attractive, but what really happens is that if I were in india, I could probably do it for around 3%. The other 17% stays with the middle man. So in these countries you have huge gaps in Poverty and poor. The rich are just those who speak English and nurture relationships with Europe and USA.
Problem 5. Since I moved my company to china, or india, i no longer hire USA workers. This is a big problem if you are large, (say Chevrolet or Ford). In america we value american brands, without the american culture built into your product, its essence soon fades. With that you also are pumping money out of the USA economy into a closed economy that doesn't reinvest back in the USA.
So, if every company in the USA (which many are) chose to move their operations to a dirt cheap country, to try to save on labor, environmental and other compliance costs, eventually there would be no american consumers. As stated before, american consumers are your number one shot at making money. With a weak american consumer, it doesn't matter how cheap you created your product, nobody will be able to afford it.
When nike and Adidas started making shoes in 3rd world coutnries to save money, they still could rely on a strong american consumer. With more and more countries shifting offshore, there are not many people who can afford american products.
So... you need to evaluate why you are looking at China or India.
Chances are you need to cut costs? Well there are better alternatives for cutting costs, in countries that dont have such low poverty rates. Countries that dont hate us, countries where their citizens love to vacation (and at lease pump some money back in) in the united states, and countries who's culture is more centered around quality and pride rather than cheap knock offs.
If you do your homework, as have I (after having offices in Chengdu China, Bangaloru India) you quickly find that Latin America is a lot more business friendly for manufacturing, and nothing beats Eastern Europe for high quality software. These cultures value relationships, honor, and most of all respect Americans and do not see them as an opponent that they have to deal with only when they get the upper hand.
You can offshore, if you have to, but you also have to carefully calculated that a distributed team will cost you more than the actual labor costs in time, delays, communication and general overhead.
So, SCREW CHINA, AND SCREW INDIA. They are not good deals for your business, or the american consumer. Eventually, we are going to have a political system that doesn't reward offshore work, in the form of Tariffs for imported goods, and no tax write offs outside of the united states. Politicians usually wake up to the fact that our current unemployment situation is mainly caused not by a lack of jobs, but a lack of jobs in the USA.
Each company is different, but I strongly suggest you evaluate your situation and see how much of a blow you are willing to personally deliver to the USA economy. And remember that money is power, so give your power to countries that deserve it rather than companies that exploit their currencies, population and environment so that a few smart morons can can gain wealth from the sweat of many.
FOCK CHINA!!! FOCK INDIA. AND FOCK YOU IF you are too sensitive hear it said.
