13 Global brands that are not in Brazil
Being a global brand, successful in many countries sometimes is not enough to make companies bring their business to Brazil. Find out in this article some of the major international brands that are not present in Brazil yet.
1 - Amazon
Amazon is an American multinational e-commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon produces electronics (such as the Amazon Kindle e-book reader) and is a major provider of cloud computing services.
Amazon already has plans of coming to Brazil, what has scared local e-commerce retailers such as B2W, owner of the brands Americanas.com and Submarino. According to “Brasil Econômico”, Amazon’s debut in Brazil has been postponed to 2013. Although the company already has an online address, Amazon has no distribution center in Brazil.
The company – that was expected to be operating in Brazil in September 1st –, has pushed its opening to June 30th, 2013, with the exception of digital books, that are already being commercialized as they do not demand physical space.
Still according to “Brasil Econômico”, one of the obstacles for Amazon’s agreements with Brazilian publishing houses is the aggressive business model adopted by the e-commerce retailer.
2 - China Life Insurance Company
China Life is the largest life insurance company in China, offering individual life insurance, group life, accident insurance and health insurance policies. Commanding 45% of the insurance market in the country, China Life is the only life insurance company in China with a national operating license. The direct result of such dominance is its 87.000 sales outlets and almost 67.000 employees.
If expanding to Brazil, China Life Insurance would have as main competitors Bradesco Saúde, Itauseg and Porto Seguro, the top three on the insurance companies ranking, according to Exame magazine.
3 - China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a telecommunication company providing mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network. A state-owned company, China Mobile is one of the largest mobile telecommunication companies by market capitalization.
If expanding to Brazil, China Mobile would have as main competitors Telefónica - owner of the brand Vivo - ; Claro, operated by América Móvil; Nextel; and Oi, that currently belongs to Telemar Participações.
4 - Orange Telecommunications
Orange is a French multinational communications corporation present in several European and African countries, such as Spain, Austria, Poland, Belgium Slovakia, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar and Ivory Coast.
If expanding to Brazil, Orange would have as main competitors Telefónica - owner of the brand Vivo - ; Claro, operated by América Móvil; Nextel; TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) and Oi, that currently belongs to Telemar Participações.
5 - Sberbank – (Bank of Russia)
The largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, the company headquartered in Moscow offers a full range of savings, investment and lending services. With approximately 20.000 branches, Sberbank has 242.000 employees.
If Sberbank decides to expand its business to Brazil, it would have a wide range of competitors, including Banco Itaú, Bradesco, HSBC, Santander and Citibank.
6 - Taco Bell
Taco Bell is a chain of fast-food restaurants based in California, USA. The restaurant is famous for offering low-price Tex-Mex food, such as tacos, burritos, quesadillas and nachos. With an average of 6.446 restaurants, Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers every year.
Although not present in Brazil yet, Taco Bell has expanded to other Latin American countries, such as Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Panama, apart from other countries located in Europe and Asia.
If expanding to Brazil, Taco Bell would have as main competitors major fast food chains already operating in the country such as McDonalds, Subway and Burger King.
7 - TD – Toronto Dominion Bank
Second largest bank in Canada by market capitalization, Toronto-Dominion Bank – TD –, is also the sixth largest bank branch network in North America. TD is present in all the Canadian provinces and in 16 American states.
If expanding to Brazil, TD would have a wide range of competitors, including Banco Itaú, Bradesco, HSBC, Santander and Citibank. There is also Scotiabank, a Canadian bank already present in Brazil and in other Latin-American countries such as Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.
8 - Tencent QQ
Another China based company, Tencent QQ – also referred as QQ –, is a free instant messaging computer program. With 784 million active user accounts, QQ achieved the 8th position in the Alexa Internet ranking.
If expanding to Brazil, Tencent QQ would have as main competitors Microsoft’s Skype and MSN Messenger, as well as Yahoo! IM.
9 - Tesco
Tesco is a multinational grocery store and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom. Present in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, Tesco is the third largest retailer in the world, after Wal-Mart and Carrefour.
Tesco has tried to enter the Brazilian market in 2003, by acquiring the 118 stores of the chainstore Bompreço, but the Brazilian chainstore ended up being acquired by Wal-Mart. Tesco then tried to acquire the chainstore Atacadão, but it was acquired by the French retailing giant Carrefour, what has led Tesco to give up on Brazil, at least temporarily.
10 - The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer working with construction products and services. Present in all the 50 states of the US plus Canada, Mexico and China, the megastore has had plans of expanding to Brazil. According to Cidade Biz, the retailer had plans of coming to Brazil in the first semester of 2011, but nothing has been confirmed so far.
If expanding to Brazil, The Home Depot would have as its main competitors C&C, Telhanorte and Leroy Merlin.
11 - Tim Hortons – Cafe
Tim Hortons is Canada’s largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide, commanding 76% of the Canadian market for baked goods and 62% of the Canadian coffee market. Present in the United States, Afghanistan, Ireland, UK and United Arab Emirates, Tim Hortons has not expended to Latin America yet.
If the Canadian company decides to expand to Brazil, it would have as main competitors McDonalds and Starbucks.
12 - Vodafone
Vodafone is a multinational mobile operator headquartered in London and with a branch in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently present in 25 countries, Vodafone is the second largest mobile operator in the world, after China Mobile.
According to Radar Econômico, Vodafone tried to enter the Brazilian market in 2010 through Telecom Italy, owner of TIM Brazil, but the attempt has been left aside since then. If expanding to Brazil, Vodafone would have as main competitors Telefónica - owner of the brand Vivo - , Claro, operated by América Móvil, Nextel and Oi, that currently belongs to Telemar Participações.
13 - Wendy’s
The world’s third largest hamburger fast food chain in 2010, Wendy’s is an American fast food restaurant headquartered in Ohio, USA. After failing in Brazil in 1992, Wendy’s is looking at the Brazilian market again. The major problems pointed out by the American fast food restaurants are the difficulty to get good suppliers and the supposed Brazilian resistance to imported menus.
If expanding to Brazil, Wendy’s would have to face the same competitors it has in the US: Burger King and McDonalds.