“A large portion of Chinese New Year sales are about having the gifts in hand right now,” said David Wolf, chief executive officer of Wolf Group Asia, a Beijing-based consulting firm. “Android devices competitive with the iPhone will benefit.”

HTC Corp. (2498) and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) also make iPhone-class devices that could win over buyers frustrated by Apple’s sales halt, Wolf said.

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David’s point was that a brand making a leap into a foreign market must be relevant within the context of the target culture, and cannot assume that the relevance it  has built at home transfers to the new culture – even if the brand’s products fulfill the same “needs” in the target market. For that reason, B-to-B brands, like banks, steamship lines, insurance companies, advertising agencies, and upstream suppliers are in the best position to make the leap first because business cultures tend to share more commonality today than consumer cultures do.

Related articles

• Brands Add Value (siliconhutong.com)
• Had Enough Of ‘Made In China’? Get Ready For ‘Brands From China’ (forbes.com)

David comments on the development challenges  for cinema in China with Martin Patience on the BBC.

David was quoted as one of the “luminaries” who mourned the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in this USAToday roundup.

David Pierson at McClatchy-Tribune quotes David in this article, where David notes that the halcyon days of knockoff and “shanzhai” mobile phones is coming to an end. The culprit: global leaders are still the only companies who can bring economies of scale to bear on the China market.

The point that I made to Louisa is that this is a fight not against luxury per se, but against ostentation. It is not the consumption of luxury that the Party is interested it: it is how conspicuous it has become, and how therein lies the roots of popular discontent.

If you’d prefer to listen to the story, the audio file is here.

Some critics have panned the commercial for being out of touch with its American audience, presumed to be jittery over the China’s growing global influence. By flaunting all of China’s material accomplishments, says David Wolf, chief executive of marketing strategy firm Wolf Group Asia, the commercial was more scary than friendly. “With these ads, China probably hoped to open its arms to the American people,” he said. “Instead, without realizing as much, it gave them the finger.”

David’s more detailed – and nuanced – response to the issue is up on Silicon Hutong.