It is understandable that Lenovo is moving its manufacturing department to India, after all, the costs are lower there, but moving the core R&D department from Shanghai to India is something many people may find difficult to understand.

I have a classmate at Lenovo's Shanghai R&D, who received a notification after the Spring Festival that the team would be split, with some members going to Bangalore for long-term assignments; he is on the list. His child just started kindergarten, and he didn't sleep a wink that night, repeatedly checking the project schedule. Unable to harden his heart, he made a request: to go for a three-month trial. Upon arrival, his first impression was that there were many smart people who wrote code quickly, but the equipment was slow to arrive, and they couldn't get in touch with supporting manufacturers, often getting stuck in meetings over a small component. The most pressing time was during client acceptance, when the chips needed for debugging were delayed; he broke down the domestic plan into a checklist, connected via video overnight, and temporarily modified the test platform into two processes, managing to keep the project on track. After returning home, he told me that the difficulty was not in technology, but in processes and collaboration, and that creating standards for these would enable operations anywhere.

He also saw opportunities. The communication costs with Indian clients are low, the market is willing to try new things, and while they are price-sensitive, the volume is large. The subsidies and rotation policies offered by the company are decent; the key is whether you are willing to broaden your horizons. Many people worry about "core leakage"; he said it is actually more akin to modular division of labor, with the underlying direction remaining in China, while adaptation and localization are done externally, where risks are controllable, but it requires people to oversee it.

I asked him a question: Are you afraid that all positions will be overseas in the future? He said not to be afraid; what is scary is if we only want to stay in our comfort zone. Corporate globalization is not a retreat; it is an extension. Whoever can replicate the efficiency and engineering capabilities of the Chinese team abroad will capture new markets. We used to talk about Chinese manufacturing; now we should talk about Chinese people going global for manufacturing and R&D.

This changed my mindset. Rather than arguing online, it is better to focus on three points: Can talent collaborate across cultures? Can the supply chain be quickly rebuilt? Is intellectual property and core capability managed in layers? If we do these three things well, it will enhance the company's global presence. If we fail to do well, even the cheapest costs can turn into invisible losses.

You may still be unaccustomed to this change, but the market does not wait for anyone. When orders and resources begin to flow globally, we must learn to win in different coordinate systems. Perhaps the next time you see a new product launch, the team will be seamlessly switching between Shanghai and Bangalore. The suspense lies here: whoever can manage a hybrid team smoothly will take the lead in the future.