Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires • Hacker News Board

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#51

Post by AnimalMuppet » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:32 AM UTC

CoreSet wrote: post #27

rangibaby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it boils down to: if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones

That's what I'm getting at though - you should throw stones! China being bad doesn't excuse the U.S, the U.S. being bad doesn't excuse China. But somehow, somewhere, in the rhetoric of HN (and let's face it, the internet) there's this idea that only the morally unimpeachable can criticize something. But in reality that just gives the worst actors carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want - as long as it doesn't…

Just be sure that, when throwing stones, you also throw them at the appropriate issues on your own side. Sure, criticize China, and criticize the US, as appropriate. That doesn't mean moral equivalence (they aren't equivalent), but it does mean not sweeping your own issues under the rug.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#52

Post by sanxiyn » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:35 AM UTC

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #26

cromwellian wrote: post #2

Count me skeptical about of some of these 'self-made' billionaires. Pinduoduo for example, as with many Chinese companies, has been accused of falsifying revenues to pump stock prices. Yes, this stuff happens in the US as well (we all remember Enron and Theranos), but to what extent, are the statements of these companies transparent and well-audited, and regulated by government differs by region. And Bitmain? Is it t…

Xiaomi is another one, their build quality is good and they make a whole bunch of actually useful non "tech" things like escooters, air filters, vaccuums. I don't know if they're shady with finances or data collection though

Xiaomi doesn't really make air filters and vacuums, they are made by their partners. Xiaomi is providing retail service to those partners. Xiaomi also provides partners other services, like pooling purchases to lower price and pooling loans to lower rate.

One financial analysis of Xiaomi I read (it's in Korean, I couldn't find anything in English) is that it is in part a lending company funded by float from manufacturing partners. Xiaomi has a personal loan product which grew by 100x in two years to ~1 billion. Liquidity comes from delay between retail sale to partner payment.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#53

Post by diogenescynic » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:35 AM UTC

rblion wrote: post #46

What matters is durability and defensibility, not current market value which is very speculative if you ask me. When they produce something like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google I'll reconsider my position.

DJI makes impressive drones and handheld cameras, I’d say they are honestly best in class. Anker makes some of the best batteries and tech accessories. They don’t seem to have an Apple or Google yet, but they are getting better. Only a matter of time.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#54

Post by diogenescynic » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:37 AM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #5

roenxi wrote: post #3

It'd be interesting to be able to compare America and China through the lens of capitalism; at the moment I don't think China is transparent enough to really come up with anything meaningful. America is a lot less capitalist than it once was [0, 1] total government spending has gone from 10% GDP around the 1930 great depression (so, 9 private dollars for every public dollar) to about 30% post 1950 including State & L…

That’s why undermining US foreign policy is a big BRIC priority. The era of stupid we are in now will have dramatic impact on the rest of this century.

Republicans will find a way to blame democrats.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#55

Post by diogenescynic » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:38 AM UTC

ngcc_hk wrote: post #8

roenxi wrote: post #3

It'd be interesting to be able to compare America and China through the lens of capitalism; at the moment I don't think China is transparent enough to really come up with anything meaningful. America is a lot less capitalist than it once was [0, 1] total government spending has gone from 10% GDP around the 1930 great depression (so, 9 private dollars for every public dollar) to about 30% post 1950 including State & L…

Only if people are compete fairly. Otherwise like Soviet Union has been better America in space industry ... And when is America can reach the chinese market or except a few one way only. And it is not just about money but those people use the money for. Re-educate Muslim in or next time American in ... good luck. But it is important to have competition.

Yeah remember when the Soviet Union beat America to the moon?

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#56

Post by addicted » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:43 AM UTC

adventured wrote: post #11

This is of course an exaggeration by Bloomberg. Six of the ten richest people on earth are US tech billionaires. Out of the 63 technology billionaires in the top 500 global richest that Bloomberg tracks in their billionaires list, 32 are in the US. China has 13. Here's the breakdown of technology billionaires in the Bloomberg top 500 rich list by country (the list cuts off at $3.7b): US 32, China 13, Germany 5, Canad…

What were the numbers like 10 years ago? 30 years ago?

Bloomberg isn’t claiming Sachin’s has surpassed the US completely. They’re making a comment based on trends.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#57

Post by forkLding » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:45 AM UTC

alkibiades wrote: post #25

cromwellian wrote: post #2

Count me skeptical about of some of these 'self-made' billionaires. Pinduoduo for example, as with many Chinese companies, has been accused of falsifying revenues to pump stock prices. Yes, this stuff happens in the US as well (we all remember Enron and Theranos), but to what extent, are the statements of these companies transparent and well-audited, and regulated by government differs by region. And Bitmain? Is it t…

not to mentioned they are government-sanctioned/backed oligarchs.

Yeah but so is Ford (https://qz.com/1262815/fords-move-to-stop-making-cars-was-en...) and GM ($49.5 Billion US govt. bailout), they would have been crushed by the Japanese and European auto companies a long time ago but nobody cares, it's the winners that matter in the world so saying govt. sanctioned is pretty random chance of probability, I wish I was a govt. sanctioned company person in China but that is never gonna happen.

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#58

Post by baybal2 » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:52 AM UTC

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #26

cromwellian wrote: post #2

Count me skeptical about of some of these 'self-made' billionaires. Pinduoduo for example, as with many Chinese companies, has been accused of falsifying revenues to pump stock prices. Yes, this stuff happens in the US as well (we all remember Enron and Theranos), but to what extent, are the statements of these companies transparent and well-audited, and regulated by government differs by region. And Bitmain? Is it t…

Xiaomi is another one, their build quality is good and they make a whole bunch of actually useful non "tech" things like escooters, air filters, vaccuums. I don't know if they're shady with finances or data collection though

> useful non "tech" things like escooters, air filters, vaccuums.

Since when scooters, air filters, and vacuums turned "not a tech?"

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#59

Post by frankietwenty9 » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:53 AM UTC

tehlike wrote: post #42

cromwellian wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, DJI literally shocked me when I bought the Mavic. They completely bust the stereotype that China is bad at design and innovation, e.g. "Designed in California, Assembled in China". Everything from the build quality, to the packaging, documentation, software, even customer support has impressed me. They're like the canary in the coal mine, a wakeup signal for the Silicon Valley that thinks they're still on top be…

I feel same for xiaomi.

Don't Xiaomi sell their brand to other manufacturers? So devices are designed by Xiaomi with decent quality, while others fall short?

Re: Asia-Pacific is home to a rise in new self-made billionaires

#60

Post by baybal2 » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 4:55 AM UTC

sanxiyn wrote: post #52

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xiaomi is another one, their build quality is good and they make a whole bunch of actually useful non "tech" things like escooters, air filters, vaccuums. I don't know if they're shady with finances or data collection though

Xiaomi doesn't really make air filters and vacuums, they are made by their partners. Xiaomi is providing retail service to those partners. Xiaomi also provides partners other services, like pooling purchases to lower price and pooling loans to lower rate. One financial analysis of Xiaomi I read (it's in Korean, I couldn't find anything in English) is that it is in part a lending company funded by float from manufactu…

To begin with, money in China are super duper cheap to begin with. I guess, even "super duper cheap" was not enough for Xiaomi