Abstract

The business operations of US-based UTStarcom, a leading manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, grew rapidly in China since 1995. The company's revenues in 1995 were $10 million, which grew to $2.7 billion by 2004. This case describes the business opportunity that UTStarcom identified and exploited in the Chinese telecom markets, mainly because of its highly successful product - Personal Access System (PAS). An account of various strategies adopted by the company to manage its rapid growth is presented. Finally, the case describes the challenges facing UTStarcom as a result of maturing market for PAS and the measures taken by the company to overcome these challenges. The case highlights the benefits and drawbacks of an organization's single product, single market strategy.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand how companies can exploit business opportunities in China
• Analyze strate gies pursued by companies to manage rapid growth
• Understand the benefits and risks involved in a single product, single market strategy.

Keywords

UTStarcom, Personal Access System (PAS), Networking Solutions, Wireless in Local Loop (WLL), Global System for Mobile Communications, 3G, Chinese Telecom Industry, Chinese Ministry of Information Industry and Voice-over Internet Protocol