[andrewmb]

As others have mentioned, nothing is even close. For certain types of industries there are cities in the US and Europe that are competitive (eg mil/aero in Los Angeles and DC metros), but for general product development and especially consumer electronics nothing is close.

What do you hope to gain out of living in these places? There are plenty of foreigners who have been in Shenzhen for over a decade and are only marginally more interesting or successful now than when they arrived. The location rarely changes what's inside. If you find Shenzhen interesting, just come! It (and the rest of the HK+PRD megalopolis) is not even close to peaking in terms of creative or engineering output. Just bear in mind that there will always be a barrier. If you're thinking of turning into a local you need to be either (A) a skilled Chinese (B) an extremely well capitalized foreign company (C) an extremely skilled foreigner willing to spend years in the city and learn the language to fluency.

All that being said, you want to look for cities with strong population growth trends, very low wages, and huge levels of government investment. India is probably your best bet, though I know nothing about it other than what's in the news that they want to be the next China. That will be tough since India is missing some absolutely fundamental pre-requisites to the kind of growth China has had.

[vbit]

> That will be tough since India is missing some absolutely fundamental pre-requisites to the kind of growth China has had.

Interested to hear what you think these are?

[mankash666]

India Cons -

1> Infrastructure - You can't get China-like public utilities (road, transport, electricity, water ...) 2> Blatant corruption -> While corruption in China is at the communist party level, every step you take in India requires a bribe, or things move at snail pace. 3> No hardware ecosystem - both the design and manufacturing skills and resources are considerably weaker than China

India Pros - 1> IP protection laws are stronger and more enforcible. 2> English fluency is high - hence communication is less of a barrier 3> Well established software and back-end-office sector. 4> Government policies are not as protectionist. 5> More conducive to free speech, so a Facbook/Google can actually thrive in India

Conclusion - Bangalore/India is the Shenzhen of software, but definitely not close in hardware.

[are595]

Have any suggestions as to which companies might be in point B? Currently planning on going to China or Taiwan to work (Computer/Electrical Engineering and/or Software).