So my statement that the “axis of technology has shifted to somewhere in the South China Sea” is finally coming true. Couple of days ago, Cisco Systems announced that it was setting up a $32 million R&D labs in China. Today there is news that Cisco Systems is setting up a venture capital arm in India.
Cisco is bullish on the Indian market, which it says is amongst the top three strategic markets worldwide and its fastest growing. New product launches and the recent establishment of separate vertical business groups there have buoyed hopes for Cisco in the country, whose own manufacturing and services industry has been maturing in recent years because of de-regulation and privatization. [Venture Wire News]
“India has been referred to for years as ‘the land of eternal promise’ because its markets always seemed on the verge of really taking off,” Daniel Scheinman, senior vice president of corporate development for Cisco told News@Cisco.
“Now we see that promise coming true.” Scheinman says because of changing U.S. visa laws, many Indian technology managers that had been working in the United States are now returning to India to start companies. This trend, combined with India’s excellent pool of engineers and burgeoning consumer and business markets make it ripe for investment. “Our new venture capital operation is a reflection of the maturity of India as a technology marketplace,” Scheinman said.
Taken together, Cisco is saying that entrepreneurship is in India while research in China. Or is it that it feels its money has more legal rights in India. I don’t know the answers, but it is clear that the globalization of technology continues.
Recommended reading: