Samsung and Alibaba Thriving as Japan Lags Behind Chinese and Korean Companies on the Champs-Élysées

Charles de Gaulle Square, where everyone sets up their cameras in unison and looks up at the 50-meter-high Arc de Triomphe. From there, they walk down the Champs-Elysées, feeling the breeze as they make their way to Place de la Concorde. As this reporter was walking along this street, which most tourists visiting Paris pass by, she came across a pop-up store of Samsung, a leading Korean technology company.

This is the Samsung Olympic Experience Store. This is the Samsung Olympic Experience Store, which is open only during the Olympics, and is a facility where Samsung promotes its new products and products in collaboration with the Olympics to tourists and athletes, and allows them to experience them first hand. The Concorde Square at the end of the day is also the venue for BMX and skateboarding, which attracts many visitors every day.

It makes me proud as a Korean to see the products of our country’s leading manufacturers being picked up at this place that attracts the attention of the world. It makes me realize that Korea’s technology is the best in the world,” said a Korean journalist who visited the pop-up store.

Samsung is a worldwide partner of the Olympics, and the pop-up store plays an important role in showing solidarity with the Olympics.

Walking further toward Place de la Concorde, we came across a pop-up store of Tmall, an e-commerce site operated by Alibaba, one of China’s leading technology companies.

The workshop for making bracelets in the colors of the Olympic rings is very popular among children. There will also be a variety of other events, such as introductions to Chinese products and Chinese food tastings. Alibaba is the Worldwide Partner of the Paris Olympics. This year’s Olympics are being optimized for power consumption and venue capacity with AI provided by Alibaba. To showcase its commitment to the environment, the store is made of wooden materials and recyclable steel. It’s a unique opportunity to showcase the technological capabilities of Chinese companies. We want visitors to know that China is the most technologically advanced country in the world” (pop-up store clerk).

While companies representing China and South Korea were competing for the prestige of their respective countries, there were no pop-up stores of Japanese companies such as Bridgestone, Toyota, and Panasonic, which are also official sponsors of the Olympics.

Toyota used to have a showroom on the Champs-Elysées, but they have already pulled out. Panasonic and Bridgestone are a world apart from Samsung and Alibaba in terms of international name recognition. Even if they open new stores, they will not attract people. It is frustrating, but that is the reality. Like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, most of the world’s most famous companies today are technology companies like Alibaba and Samsung. I never thought I would see the difference in national power on the Champs-Elysées. …… It makes me sad to think that Japan is falling further and further behind the rest of the world.

On the Champs-Elysées, there was one pop-up store that originated in Japan.

It is Onitsuka Tiger, operated by ASICS, a well-known sports fashion brand. The building is decorated in yellow, the brand’s color, and displays works by Japan’s world-class artists. Onitsuka Tiger plans to open a flagship store on the Champs-Elysées next year, and this time it is also a publicity campaign for that purpose. However, if we had one more corporate store that could compete with Chinese and Korean companies, if we wanted, we could go to ……. Some people may think, ‘We don’t need to compete with other countries,’ but it is in our future national interest to showcase our country’s technological capabilities at international events like this,” he said.

There is no doubt that Onitsuka Tiger is a world-class brand that Japan is proud of. However, is it only the reporter who senses the decline of Japan’s national power when looking at the flourishing booths of Samsung and Alibaba?