Competition and India

Competition. Yesss. The world thrives on competition. As consumers, we like competition. Why? Because it drives the prices down. It keeps business on their toes. It really is a good thing. There is surely enough pie for everyone.
But alas, what is happening in our world? This is the era of big business buying big business, thus making big businesses....gigantic businesses. Buying the competition.
What does that mean for us as consumers?

To me , it means as a consumer of product, I get to spend more money. To me, it means Corperate Monopolies. To me, it means less customer satisfaction.

Let's shift gears into a similar subject.

I am an animator. I animate. I feed my family by animating. I have over 10 years experience, and consider myself more than a novice in the industry.

Enter India.

The company I work for just bid out a large project the other day. It would end up being a $60 k job. The client took the same project to India. Their bid came back at $1500 ....Fifteen Hundred Dollars???????? There is absolutely no way that we could ever do the same job for that amount of money. So, the client took their project to 2 different India companies. The company paid them each approx $1500 and decided to go with the one that works the best for them. What could they lose for 3 k?

Man oh man.

I understand that cheap labor equals bigger profit margins. Somehow I think that between the communication gaps and the difference in cultures, that the India experience won't necessarily be all it's cracked up to be. I am a little concerned that this is a new competition where American companies will never be able to compete.

However, the work coming out of India is getting better and better. Most of the big well known animation houses are already using them. They are being trained by the best. (Disney etc)

To me this is very discouraging. I either compete with them, or hire them to work for me if I continue to stay in this industry.