And I would like to take this opportunity to share a little bit of my experience with Pizza Hut in China:
Basically, Pizza Hut has a different strategy in Asia Pacific region. They try to bring a "fine-dining" concept to the region for their products. So Pizza Hut restaurants in Asia is the place where you can take your girlfriend out to diner, not like in the Unites States where Pizza Hut is a place where you want to "save" some money by eating the same food for your diner and breakfast the next morning (that's what I did when I'm on a tight budget).
The bottom line is that I was not surprised that Pizza Hut (Yum!) is doing well in China and Asian countries because they have been able to create such brand recognitions so that people are willing to spend some of their disposable income to get a "luxury" food and services from the "American" restaurants. This is also supported with the growth of middle class population in the Asian countries.
It is arguable if Pizza Hut has a different strategy in Asia because of 'fine dining.' It is the cultural difference in America that does not lend the patience to wait for a seat to order something that will promote the international stereotype of Americans--i.e. the image of obese people. Yet, this does not follow either given that American eat at Pizza Parlors such as California Pizza Kitchen. Furthermore, it is also arguable if Pizza Hut is following the same strategy in America as in Asia. Pizza Hut's strategy goes beyond 'fine dining' and the strategy that Pizza Hut is exploiting is culture. This is speculative but perhaps Pizza Hut made the realization that Asia has a center in its family therefore introduces the concept of 'fine dining' opposing to just saying that Pizza Hut is fancier in Asia.
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