Emerging Markets Leaders: From Scale to Innovation

Emerging-market companies are increasingly competing through technology, scientific expertise, advanced manufacturing and innovative business models rather than scale and low costs alone.

• EM companies account for nearly 90% of the global pure-play semiconductor foundry market, while South Korean companies represented more than 80% of the high-bandwidth memory market in the second quarter of 2026.
• A Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer sold 4.6 million new-energy vehicles globally in 2025, including more than 1 million overseas, after developing capabilities in batteries, power electronics and vehicle manufacturing.
• A China-based biologics CRDMO has accumulated more than 1,000 integrated projects spanning drug development, clinical manufacturing and commercial-scale production.
• A South African financial-services group has expanded a data-based shared-value insurance model internationally through partnerships, rewarding healthier customer behaviour and applying related principles to banking.

Takeaway: Investors should look beyond traditional commodity and low-cost manufacturing exposures toward EM businesses with durable advantages in technology, data, intellectual property, scientific know-how, scale and network effects, while recognising the higher volatility and regulatory risks of emerging markets.