The success of the Chinese AI firm DeepSeek shocked financial markets and major US tech firms in January 2025. But it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.
Because, for decades now, plenty of companies in China have been developing competitive advantages that enable them to make remarkable progress. This involves a different strategy to that of many big western firms that rely on things like branding – like Apple – and exclusive technology – like Nvidia – to succeed.
Instead, these less well-known Chinese companies have focused on delivering more innovation faster and cheaper. And our research suggests that they have been able to achieve this by being much more adaptable in how they do business.
