US tech giant Oracle’s struggles to seize the global cloud computing market has resulted in staff downsizing in R&D centers worldwide – but most significantly in its China branch. Offering concrete examples, this article from China Entrepreneur Magazine explains why Oracle was never a good fit for the Chinese market and pinpoints the mistakes that international companies tend to make in China. The business insights will be helpful to executives of international firms who are working on their China strategy.
US tech giant Oracle laid off 900 employees from its R&D center in China in May 2019.
Following Amazon’s exit from China’s online marketplace, US tech company Oracle announced in May 2019 that it would be laying off 900 workers from its R&D center in China. As a major contender in the world’s software industry, Oracle entered the Chinese market in 1989 and now has a number of R&D centers across the country with a total workforce of 1,600 people. The abrupt layoff caught the workers by surprise, leading to protests at Beijing headquarters, where management let go of more than 500 employees.
Oracle’s small share in China’s cloud computing market caused the layoff.
Oracle’s underperformance in the cloud computing market was one reason why it had to downsize. The company’s early successes in database services led to complacency during the prime window for cloud computing development, which allowed competitors like Amazon to speed ahead. Oracle fell behind competitors globally. China’s market was no exception. According to a report on China’s cloud services market in the second half of 2018, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent ...
Ma Guanxia is a writer for the content platform Qqshenwang. Sponsored by Tencent News, the platform produces original reports about China’s technology, media and telecom industries.
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