Asia market roundup: stability, growth, and the cost of complexity
Asia market roundup: stability, growth, and the cost of complexity September 16, 2026 What’s new? As political and economic realities change across the region, market opportunities shift too. Recently, Asia CEOs and leaders shared their views on individual markets. Below is a curated selection. Why it matters: Asia’s economies are varied and complex. Many Asia CEOs say it is often best to tell the region’s story ‘in aggregate’ to their board and C-suite to communicate effectively. But individual-market insights are essential when deciding where time, resources, and investment will earn the best return. We all want global leaders to appreciate the nuance of these markets, but in multinationals with globalised operating models, vertical functions, and hierarchical decision-making, it can also be an advantage to keep the region a black box. The tension lies in knowing when to unpack it and when to leave it packed. One has to be deliberate: Who are you speaking to, for what purpose, and at what point in the annual cycle? A budget discussion requires something different from an ongoing business review. During a crisis, however, you generally need to unpack the detail because crises play out very differently across these markets. The challenge is knowing when to present Asia Pacific as a coherent whole—and when to expose the differences within it. Here’s what Asia CEOs at industrial, service, and high-tech firms are saying. Japan is back on the radar for foreign investors… Investors have a lot of familiarity with Japan, but it has felt sleepy and slow. Japan’s policies have been moving in the right direction, and it is all beginning to click. Japan has woken up. After living there for almost a decade, it is remarkable to see how they are changing the way they operate. They have become much more focussed on return on equity (ROE) and shareholders They are making their international businesses more growth-focused. Investors are beginning to show more interest. It is worth disaggregating Japan from the Asia story, depending on your business. It remains a massive market. …while for MNCs it remains a large market that delivers healthy margins… When I wake up in the morning, I think about Japan and Australia. Between the two of them, they deliver 75% of our margins in Asia. …even if Japanese managers are known to resist outside influence. Getting buy-in from the leadership team in Japan takes at least six months. Trust and respect take time to build, before any influence is accepted. Often, the approach is “Don’t talk to us. Let us run Japan; we have it covered.” And when they have a problem, you have to check in subtly and ask, “Is everything okay?” Indonesia’s political volatility has returned… Southeast Asian markets can be very frustrating. There can be positive movement in a country, and then the wrong leader comes in, and it starts falling apart again. Indonesia is our favourite event —going from excitement to disappointment and then back again. At the moment, the sentiment on the ground is that corruption is on the rise. A lot of manufacturing is moving out. The dollar is killing the market. …and this has led some firms to reconsider their plans for greater direct investment there, to more stable markets like Japan. We have been able to maintain a high market share, good penetration through partners in some Asian countries. It’s making me rethink: Do we need a formal setup to make money and grow in these countries, or are we disadvantaged because we’re an American company? Is it better to give the business to somebody local who can better navigate the political situation? During COVID, nationalism was on the rise and every country wanted firms to set up local manufacturing, but that has changed. Indonesia wants that local presence, but growth has not been there to justify it. Consider Indonesia’s temporary ban on iPhone 16 sales, which was lifted in 2025 after Apple agreed to further local investment. More recently, the local-investment requirement for us, as a US firm, has become less stringent. I am rethinking whether we really need a strong footprint there, or whether we should reallocate our capital. Japan is very significant and profitable for us. So, my thoughts are: Do I want to work very hard for something that I don’t know will deliver fast enough given our quarterly reporting? Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia remain among the region’s most difficult to predict… Indonesia is good one day, and then six months later, it’s more opaque. Thailand is not so different and is a question mark. In the Philippines, we rode a wave, it came crashing down, and now we’re expecting another wave to come in. The Philippines is like Indonesia. These markets are uncertain and can be tough places to operate. …so, when Asia heads ‘pick their battles’, less predictable markets receive fewer resources… Telling a story for these markets is difficult because nobody can be certain what will happen in six months. That is why we focus on what we can control and manage. So India, China, Japan, Singapore, and Australia are all more manageable, predictable, and stable markets for our business. …and the less stable remain managed indirectly via partners. Indonesia and the Philippines are smaller markets for us and are largely partner-led by local channel partners that can navigate those ecosystems more effectively, sparing us much of the complexity of operating directly. Those markets are predominantly retail, while our larger markets skew towards B2B. Ultimately, we have to pick our battles: incremental 3% to 5% growth in established markets can deliver a more stable and profitable return than trying to manage every market directly. Vietnam is one small-market exception; it is growing well, and local teams perform well… Vietnam as a market is quite dynamic and our team is very capable there. We see a lot of development in software, data centres, and infrastructure, all growing at double-digit rates. …but its ties to China are what make it stand out.
