The Silicon Valley which is famous for computers and software produciton has seen some new trends wherein the target is shifting from USA to Asian consumer markets. For example Telegent, which produces a mobile-phone chip that enables devices to pick up analogue TV broadcasts, is one of a growing number of valley companies innovating for the rest of the world. It sells products in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, though not in the United States. It's a kind of technological jujitsu.
"We leverage the brainpower in the valley," said Weijie Yun, co-founder and chief executive of four-year-old Telegent, which has 80 engineers in Sunnyvale, California."This has allowed us to do something unique."
Nonetheless, start-ups creating technology primarily marketed in other countries are "increasing pretty rapidly," said William Miller, a professor at Stanford University's graduate school of business.
No official numbers are available on how many of these under-the-radar companies have sprung up in Silicon Valley, but industry insiders such as Jin Yi, former marketing director of networking group Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association, or HYSTA, estimate there are two dozen or so.
It's a different twist to globalisation. Rather than merely seeking out low-cost talent abroad, these companies hire brilliant minds in the valley to create products that, at least initially, are designed for other cultures.
"At one time, they were just producer markets," Stanford's Miller said. "Now they have become consumer markets. That's a dramatic change."
UTStarcom, an Alameda, California, company that specialises in internet protocol and communications technology, is so enamoured of overseas markets that last year it ditched its division that made handsets for the US market, selling it for about $240m to an entity controlled by AIG Vantage Capital. But UTStarcom continues to make and sell cell phones in China. Now, at least 75% of its $1bn in annual revenue comes from outside the United States.
"These markets have typically been ignored," said Craig Samuel, UTStarcom's chief technology officer. "Silicon Valley has a unique ability and innovations that appeal to the rest of the world. The big brands are addressing these markets. But are they taking full advantage of them? Probably not."
Legend Silicon makes HDTV chips based on China's technical standards for home and car TVs, as well as for Hewlett-Packard laptops made for Chinese consumers. The company plans to roll out HDTV semiconductors for mobile phones in a year or two.
However there are some risk doing business in Asia therefore doing business overseas without deep knowledge is going to be fatal. In many Asian countries, the way the business is done is based upon relationships and who you know, and less on what you have and what you know.
Telegent Systems, which began shipping its power-sipping chips in April 2007, has so far supplied more than 20m mobile phones worldwide - including 5m in China - with its technology. CEO Yun claimed that while other companies battle over digital standards, his company is the first to provide the technological backbone for mobile analogue TV, which snatches free programming off the airwaves. He first looked to Asia because that region is the world's trendsetter when it comes to cell phones.
"We leverage the brainpower in the valley," said Weijie Yun, co-founder and chief executive of four-year-old Telegent, which has 80 engineers in Sunnyvale, California."This has allowed us to do something unique."
Nonetheless, start-ups creating technology primarily marketed in other countries are "increasing pretty rapidly," said William Miller, a professor at Stanford University's graduate school of business.
No official numbers are available on how many of these under-the-radar companies have sprung up in Silicon Valley, but industry insiders such as Jin Yi, former marketing director of networking group Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association, or HYSTA, estimate there are two dozen or so.
It's a different twist to globalisation. Rather than merely seeking out low-cost talent abroad, these companies hire brilliant minds in the valley to create products that, at least initially, are designed for other cultures.
"At one time, they were just producer markets," Stanford's Miller said. "Now they have become consumer markets. That's a dramatic change."
UTStarcom, an Alameda, California, company that specialises in internet protocol and communications technology, is so enamoured of overseas markets that last year it ditched its division that made handsets for the US market, selling it for about $240m to an entity controlled by AIG Vantage Capital. But UTStarcom continues to make and sell cell phones in China. Now, at least 75% of its $1bn in annual revenue comes from outside the United States.
"These markets have typically been ignored," said Craig Samuel, UTStarcom's chief technology officer. "Silicon Valley has a unique ability and innovations that appeal to the rest of the world. The big brands are addressing these markets. But are they taking full advantage of them? Probably not."
Legend Silicon makes HDTV chips based on China's technical standards for home and car TVs, as well as for Hewlett-Packard laptops made for Chinese consumers. The company plans to roll out HDTV semiconductors for mobile phones in a year or two.
However there are some risk doing business in Asia therefore doing business overseas without deep knowledge is going to be fatal. In many Asian countries, the way the business is done is based upon relationships and who you know, and less on what you have and what you know.
Telegent Systems, which began shipping its power-sipping chips in April 2007, has so far supplied more than 20m mobile phones worldwide - including 5m in China - with its technology. CEO Yun claimed that while other companies battle over digital standards, his company is the first to provide the technological backbone for mobile analogue TV, which snatches free programming off the airwaves. He first looked to Asia because that region is the world's trendsetter when it comes to cell phones.
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