The characteristics of Asian innovation have to be understood in the context of economic development which the countries are in.
The emerging markets are just that: rapidly making their way out of poverty, inadequate technology, a locally oriented economy and production of low sophistication. The emerging markets are now extremely dynamic, undergoing (in a few decades) a transformation that took the Western countries more than a century.
This is obviously a very different business environment than the stable, almost stagnant markets of the industrialized countries, and many of the current characteristics of Asian innovation are closely related to these circumstances.
Very generally, one could describe the Asian companies as being in a catch-up mode. They are working hard to catch up with the Western companies and economies, and the strategies they use are shaped by their starting point and current position.
Wong Poh Kam on maturing industries