Do you know? After Samsung and Apple, Chinese manufacturers are really dominating. From position 3 to 10 is fully controlled by vendors from China. Consecutive starting from Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi, Vivo, ZTE, Lenovo, TZL, and Meizu. What's the secret?
Mobile phones made in China that used to be synonymous with cheap copies of products, now not so anymore. Local brands Bamboo Curtain country managed to create a smartphone that can compete with world-class giants like Apple and Samsung but still with a cheaper price. Quoted from Prophethacker, here are 7 reasons why the secret of cheap Chinese smartphone can even be marketed very cheap.
Here's the Secret!
Wages of Cheap Labor
One of the most common reasons why Chinese smartphones can be priced at a low price is because of the availability of labor at a low cost. The wage of labor in China is the lowest in the world and this is the main reason why many vendors are building products there.
Abundant Raw Materials
China is clearly a major smartphone maker. In addition to cheap labor, raw materials are also very abundant in China. Of the 17 rare earth materials, 16 of them are needed to produce smartphones. China produces 95 percent of rare earth material. In comparison India only produces 2.5 percent and the United States only 13 percent. Obviously not, China became a major smartphone maker.
High Specifications, But ...
Do not be amazed to see China's smartphones with high specifications but priced at a low price. Because, in order to balance between price and performance, there are some components that still use the old technology. For example, instead of using RAM with the latest DDR4 technology, they are still adopting DDR3 RAM. In addition, the used screen quality may be lower when compared to AMOLED or IPS panels used by leading vendors.
Focus on Online Sales
Companies like Samsung and Apple, they have spent a lot of money to build stores, service centers, ecosystems to improve after-sales service. That is the reason, why Samsung smartphones with the same specifications with China smartphone priced more expensive. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers rely more on online sales, especially new vendors who tried the Indonesian market. That way, there is no additional cost to be incurred and the vendor can push the price of the phone.
Cheap Marketing
By pouring cheap smartphones berspesifikasi quite high, take the example Xiaomi. They managed to become famous without spending a lot of marketing expenses. Chinese manufacturers know how to use network marketing on the Internet. Meanwhile, leading vendors such as Samsung, LG, or Apple have to spend millions of dollars on advertising costs on TV, sponsors, or advertising stars to promote their products.
R & D (Research and Development)
Tech giants call it like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung spend money in crazy amounts on research and development division. In the meantime, you probably will not find anything new besides the high specs on the Chinese smartphone.
Better Quality
Consumers are more concerned with quality and good service than just cheap price. In the year 2016, we do feel that many Chinese manufacturers are developing premium smartphones with good quality and no longer just cheap. Call it Huawei poured resources into the design department of the device headed by former Samsung designer, Joonsuh Kim. While OPPO seeks to create superior devices that can stand out in terms of quality among competitors products.
That is the reason why China's smartphone is cheap. Chinese smartphone giants have been expanding around the world in early 2017. They have also been playing innovation, it is certainly very interesting to see its development. What do you think?
