VCD player warranties in China (and other good stuff)...................
chinadaily.net
VCD player producers join warranty network
FIERCE market competition and a short product life cycle have encouraged Chinese video
compact disk (VCD) player manufacturers to find new ways of upgrading their products and
bettering their services.
Last week, 12 VCD manufacturers took the lead to join the nationwide warranty network.
This is a major initiative by the Ministry of Electronics Industry (MEI) to improve after-sale
service for VCD players.
Starting in November, about 500 out of the 3,044 household electrical appliance maintenance
centres on the network are offering free repair to holders of the 12 VCD player brands within
one year after the purchase.
The 12 have 86 per cent of national VCD player market.
"It is good news for both buyers and producers," said Wu Zhengzhe, deputy general manager
of Guangdong Idall Electrical Appliance Co Ltd. "It will help elevate the standard of the
product as well as the services."
VCD players, first marketed in China in 1994, have seen an explosive growth.
Chinese factories produced 220,000 VCD players in 1995 and 2.24 million in 1996.
Sales were 65,000 in 1995 and 2.69 million in 1996.
This year's sales are expected to rise to 10 million VCD players, said MEI experts.
Experts attribute the popularity of VCD players in China to the national craze of karaoke
beginning a few years ago, the moderate prices of VCD players and the high density of TV
sets among the population.
Chinese families have 120 million colour TV sets.
Prices have kept dropping since the end of last year. A VCD player costs more than 5,000
yuan ($602) when they first appeared in China but less than 2,000 yuan ($241) at the end of
last year.
This summer, all the VCD player makers were involved in a fresh price war when Idall cut its
prices by 25-30 per cent. Idall doubled its production by this campaign.
The price war has helped regulate the market by forcing a number of small firms into
bankruptcy.
Now, both the government and manufacturers have agreed that the only way to improve
competitiveness in the long run is to expand production, improve technology, quality and
service.
Despite the inroad of digital video disk (DVD) players, industry insiders believe that VCD
players can hold onto the market for at least three years.
DVD players have a higher definition and larger capacity, but prices are at least more than
double that of VCD players.
The expanded production lines will not be a waste when VCD players are replaced by DVD
players because they can also be used to assemble DVD players.
Foreign brands, including Panasonic, Samsumg and Philips, took up 30 per cent of the
Chinese market last year.
Date: 10/22/97
Author: Wen Fang
Copyrightc by China Daily |
