Groupon in Japan Faces Growing Pains

Groupon isn't just a hit in the U.S. -- it's rapidly expanding overseas as well, with 50 million subscribers in 35 countries.   Part of its expansion strategy, however, is to acquire local startups rather than compete with them, which has led to some growing pains for Groupon.  Most recently, a nationwide deal in Japan went bad, forcing Groupon founder Andrew Mason to post an online apology to Japanese customers (above).  The two-year-old company now pulls in more than $1 billion in revenue, and the business model of offering huge discounts to popular goods and services looks set to flourish in international markets.  Apparently a good deal transcends all cultural barriers.

Groupon in Japan Faces Growing Pains - NYTimes.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

When Outsourcing Reverses Itself

Yesterday in class I made the bold proclamation that if we aren't careful about how we manage the economy going forward, we may all end up working for the Chinese one day. Today the New York Times ran a story about how this is already happening in some segments of the computer industry (just ask former IBM Thinkpad employees).

We all know computer companies like HP and Apple don't actually have any factories of their own. They design a cool gadget like a new color printer or iPod, then ask a contract assembler in Taiwan or China to put it together for them. For years, that's how it worked.

Now, those contract assemblers are starting to grow up. With names like Quanta or Foxconn, most Americans have never heard of these companies before. These two in particular, however, are investing millions of dollars into new technologies and startups, sometimes in the U.S., so that they can eventually compete with... their own customers.

Asian Computer Makers Move Into Riskier Ventures - NYTimes.com