The success of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek shocked economic markets and significant US tech firms in January 2025. But it shouldn’t have come as for a surprise.
For years now, lots of companies in China have been developing economical benefits that enable them to create amazing progress. This involves a strategy different from that of many big Western firms that rely on things like branding ( like Apple ) and exclusive technology ( like Nvidia ) to succeed.
Rather, these less-well-known Chinese firms have focused on delivering more creativity faster and cheaper. And our study suggests that they have been able to achieve this by being little more versatile in how they do business.
But DeepSeek may not be only as a gamechanger. Here are four more Chinese companies looking to undermine the global market in similar way.
1. DJI Innovations
DJI Innovations makes low-cost robots that produce underwater photos and video. Founded in 2006 by Frank Wang ( who became Asia’s youngest it billionaire at the age of 36), the business develops camera systems and applications as well as executive aircraft techniques used in business including crops and military. Its engineering has been used in the shooting of shows like Better Call Saul and Game of Thrones.
DJI’s cutting-edge research and development involves very sophisticated automatic assembly lines that make more for less value. This has led to rapid global growth and international collaborations, making the business a strong person that is difficult to contend against.
2. Unitree Robotics
A DJI Innovations spin-off founded in 2016, Unitree Robotics specializes in high-performance legged and human computers as well as elements such as mechanical hands. These items incorporate synthetic intelligence and have many uses in consumer and professional markets.
But in a field where progress may be slower than we might hope, Unitree’s swift development cycles – from first idea, through development and testing, to commercialization – give it an edge over rivals. This cycle speed is achieved through highly digitized processes, and large highly skilled development teams, which place it ahead of many rivals.
For example, in 2024 one of the firm’s humanoid robots ( already capable of soldering and cooking ) set a new walking speed record of 3.3 meters per second. And in early 2025 the company’s robots performed a traditional Yangko dance alongside humans.
3. Game Science
Game Science is a Chinese video games firm founded in 2014. Its August 2024 release of Black Myth: Wukong, an advanced role-playing video game inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, is one of the fastest-selling games of all time, with revenues of over US$ 1.1 billion and over 25 million copies sold to date.
This success demonstrates the firm’s ability to create products that incorporate Chinese cultural elements that also appeal to global tastes. This is partly down to the company’s prolific data analysis capabilities, allowing it to incorporate vast quantities of feedback from players into its design decisions.
That input gives it a big advantage over competitors, moving beyond the old Chinese export model of making cheap versions of western products. Instead, it offers innovative products that are also cheaper, contributing to China’s growing presence in the global gaming market.
4. Yonyou
Yonyou was set up in 1988 to offer business and accounting software to Chinese companies. It now dominates the market in the country and has spread to Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Beyond Asia is the next goal.
The firm’s success hinges on its ability to optimize its products for local customers while avoiding premium pricing. It understands that business systems vary geographically according to things like local culture, customs and consumer taste.
Yonyou’s proposition is simple but very effective: to develop software that varies to serve idiosyncratic local needs, knowing that this will work better than the one-size-fits-all products available from global competitors.
This has led it to create popular and specific software for industries including retail, education, finance and construction. The company’s expertise lies in challenging the conventional wisdom that customized products come at a high cost.
Each of these four Chinese firms clearly understands the advantages to be gained from innovative technology and good strategy, which are both within their control. What they cannot control are the geopolitical factors to do with international trade and the global economy – which makes the future uncertain.
But continuing to work to their particular strengths will make it likely that they – and plenty of others like them – go on disrupting global markets.
Naresh R. Pandit is a professor of international business at the University of East Anglia, Feng Wan is an associate professor of management at Zhejiang University, and Peter Williamson is an honorary professor of international management at Cambridge Judge Business School.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.