Some mid-market innovators are privately held companies; others are state-owned. They are all in intense competition, often with one another, which forces them to be frugal, nimble and responsive. They sell to customers who have many choices but who also have their own hypercompetitive pressures, and they are rapidly moving from their Chinese B2B context out into the global economic landscape.
The emergence of mid-market innovators is a game-changing disruptive force. They are rapidly reshaping the dynamics of many industries - including agriculture, construction, healthcare and transportation - but many competitors are still largely unaware that they exist. In aggregate, however, mid-market innovators represent the next stage in China's transition to becoming a global economic superpower - and a major potential threat to well-established global manufacturers, one that could jeopardize their existence. This may sound overly dramatic, but the possibility is real. Incumbents in capital- and scale-intensive B2B industries, in which consumer branding isn't important, are particularly vulnerable.
