Bigger India
Why Walmart and Amazon Are Battling So Fiercely Over India
It’s a tangled web these enemies have woven. Competition in fast-growing markets like India is the only thing that will untangle it.
No less an authority than Wikipedia attributes the origin of the proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” to Sanskrit, an ancient Hindu language. How appropriate, then, that the saying’s latest proof point is the battle unfolding among global tech players in India.
India is a massive market with relatively puny e-commerce volume and therefore a must-have opportunity for the world’s biggest retailers. Amazon (amzn, -0.48%) already is pumping $5 billion into its hoped-for Indian marketplace. And Walmart (wmt, +0.33%) is said to be finalizing a $15-billion controlling investment in e-commerce startup Flipkart there.