Hello.
It seemed to me that we had gone through the times when we did not understand goods and services, we stuck labels on them. Remember, in the 90s there was the term “European-style renovation”, which is still used by someone, although it is difficult to explain what exactly the speaker puts into these words? Usually the association is as simple as scrap, European means quality. And perhaps that’s why I cringe when I hear the question: “Will Chinese companies be able to replace quality European goods?”. I don’t like to answer a question with a question, but here I don’t hold back, I’m interested: “Do you think that the iPhone is a low-quality product?”. And then the classic of the “this is different” genre happens, people try to explain that it’s impossible to compare like that, because there are European companies that make some goods better than in China. An attempt to find out the names of companies, specific products comes across the fact that a person throws up his hands and says: “You are an expert, you should know better.”
The phenomenon of the quality of goods was once tied to certain countries, which is beyond doubt. The richer the country, the better it gets some goods. For example, at the end of the 19th century, Germany was considered a world leader in technology, German engineers were perceived as magicians, and in England many things were advertised with the prefix “German quality”. In France, both German and British goods were promoted, even then distrust of local production was at its maximum level, its own was familiar and often seemed much worse than that produced in another country. It got ridiculous, people bought the “best” ice that they brought from the north of Europe, it was delivered to America, China and other distant parts of the world. At a time when refrigerators had not yet conquered the world, ice for glaciers was transported all over the world, regardless of the cost. And partly there is a lack of confidence in the local product, which is obviously worse. A familiar evil.
Globalization quickly led to the standardization of production processes, which, in turn, meant the leveling of the quality of goods, the average level of household goods became noticeably higher. And if we do not talk about artisans, but take into account only production in factories and plants, then it became possible to create goods with a high level of quality, which is regulated by the manufacturer himself. Accidents are almost a thing of the past, and the level of marriage has become unimaginably low. Now the manufacturer himself is responsible for how the product will be released, and can control its quality and, accordingly, the cost on the store shelf. Do you need an anti-crisis solution? We will simplify the materials and components for the product, reduce its service life, but we will get a different cost on the shelf. But even when producing the cheapest goods, we get a completely different level of quality than some hundred years ago.
China has quickly become the world’s factory, producing just about every product you can imagine: textiles and clothing, electronics and industrial machinery, automobiles and furniture. China’s domestic market is huge, but most of the goods are sent to other parts of the world, as they are produced for foreign companies. For example, Apple does not have factories at all, Chinese companies produce most products with an apple logo on the case, and we know that their quality is at a good level. I’m not talking about the price here, it’s a completely different story.
You can look at many well-known companies and find that they have located their production in China, they do not see anything shameful in this. The question of the place where the goods are produced has not been raised for a long time, the quality standards of the manufacturer and how he observes them come to the fore. Twenty years ago, Chinese electronics manufacturers day and night copied the models of European companies, they did not know how to create something of their own. Copies and fakes were distributed everywhere, but their quality left much to be desired – creaking plastic, saving on important elements, complete copying of the menu and software. And it got ridiculous, in one of the markets in China I found a fake for Nokia N95, where the menu was copied from my review, they didn’t even remove the logo of our site in the corner.
Those epic times are long gone, even small Chinese factories have learned to produce very high quality goods. And if ten years ago it was possible to pick up a Chinese phone and immediately name a dozen minuses, today all problems are rather hidden, they are well disguised from an outside observer. Therefore, many people buy Chinese electronics and do not see this as a problem, it is often worth the money and does not raise any questions.
Let’s take a look at Dyson handheld vacuum cleaners, the company is associated with Britain where it was founded, but today its headquarters is in Singapore.
By creating a new category of handheld vacuums, Dyson is also selling them at a very high price, a kind of Mercedes in the world of vacuum cleaners. People buy Dyson for the quality they expect from a European company. In fact, many models of vacuum cleaners that appeared in previous years have a design flaw – the batteries are too small in capacity, screwed to the body, and they are not supposed to be replaced quickly. Since the motor requires high power, the batteries fail in a year, stop working as they should. The hostess is faced with a choice – to reduce the power and quality of cleaning or change the battery. We must pay tribute to Dyson, they change the batteries under warranty, but the new ones have exactly the same flaw. Non-original Chinese batteries offer more capacity at a lower cost, and their degradation does not occur so quickly, the issue has been resolved. Will we discuss European quality here, or have the Chinese improved it?
I can give dozens, if not hundreds, of such examples – China has long begun to produce very high-quality goods in many categories. Another thing is that the customer does not always demand quality, he often focuses on cheapness, and this is a completely different conversation. But I can safely say that most of the Chinese goods that pass through my hands, regardless of the nameplate with the name of the company on them, are of high quality.
The brand certainly continues to play a role. I am sure that you can remember the legendary Nakamichi brand, until 2001 it was their acoustics that stood in Lexus cars. Now this brand was bought by a Chinese concern and produces speakers and more.
Recall the European Grundig, for a long time the brand experienced problems, passed from hand to hand, today electronics under this brand are produced by the Turkish company Beko. It’s one thing to buy Turkish electronics, which baffles almost everyone: is there such a thing? It is quite another thing when you have a European company in front of you.
Let’s remember the great collector of brands, the Chinese company TCL – it acquired the Alcatel brand, then used Blackberry for a short time, bought the American Palm. And there are dozens of such examples, mainly Chinese manufacturers are looking for a screen for their products, so as not to give out the country of origin of the brand, to increase their chances in the market. This became possible due to globalization, when users retained the stereotype of Chinese goods as something bad, but at the same time their real quality became exactly the same as that of other companies.
There is competition between countries, but the quality of goods has become more or less in line with our expectations. Comparing German or Japanese cars of the same level, it’s hard to say which is better, it’s a matter of your habits and expectations, as well as what you are used to. Japanese or Germans – such a question immediately leads to heated discussions. But the fact is that the cars are plus or minus the same level, and no one has obvious advantages, the differences are only in aesthetics and your convenience. But cars are a very complex product with a heavy heredity, in ordinary products there are completely different differences, and there are noticeably fewer of them.
As a response to globalization, we see the rise of local industries, when local factories are trying to show that they are better and more alive than soulless corporations. This does not always work out, but there is such a way of development.
Another thing is that the term “European quality”, as well as any other “quality”, has become obsolete. Yes, it is easier for a person to believe that all things from Germany are noticeably better than from other countries of the world, but in fact this is not so. You need to look at the manufacturer and the specific brand, study their weaknesses in order to say how good the product is. In theory, we can assume that a factory located somewhere in Europe will give the best quality product, in practice it often turns out exactly the opposite. For example, Samsung’s Hungarian plant has a higher defect rate than Vietnam’s. The standards are the same, but the quality of the labor force varies, hence the difference in yield. It’s good that no one is looking for the “Made in Europe” sticker anymore, people quietly ignore it. But there was a time when they were chasing phones from a certain factory, they didn’t want to buy China. But life put everything in its place.
There are companies that continue to exploit the idea of “European quality”, for example, Bork is Chinese through and through, all production is located in factories in China. By investing in design, Bork gets the opportunity to set prices 2-3 times higher, to support sales with marketing. With a margin of 200%, this is not difficult to do, but there is no and cannot be any German quality, most of the goods are typical China with a good approach to managing marriage.
Almost every product is worth the money that is asked for it. There are no very profitable offers without hidden flaws, just as the most expensive product cannot be perfect. But it is important to understand that the country of origin of the brand does not play any role today, it is almost always a production located in China. And you should stop torturing yourself with illusions – there is neither European-quality repair, nor European quality.