Asian B2B and the Long Tail

An interesting column in today's Hong Kong Standard newspaper in which writer Peter Gordon describes the long tail concept to his readers, mentions Chris Anderson's new book and then goes on to say why it is relevant to Asian B2B trading (and, by extension, media products):

Hong Kong companies rarely deal in blockbuster products in the world's main markets (and indeed, such successes that Asian companies have had in such products, Singapore's Creative Technologies being an example, have tended to be short-lived).

Hong Kong companies have specialized in niches: cloisonne table lamps, selling garments to Fiji or car stereos to Cameroon, canine chew toys, etc. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council and other trade catalogs and Web sites have thousands of pages of just these sorts of niche products and services.