The nobility is in decline. How can domestic Philips TVs get rid of the stigma of "OEM"?

Philips used to be a well-known brand to most Chinese consumers, and the media even described it as the "last European aristocrat" left in the Chinese consumer electronics market. However, on October 17, 2011, Philips Electronics released its third-quarter financial report, with net profit falling 85.9% year-on-year; it also announced that Philips would lay off 4,500 employees worldwide. At the end of January 2013, Philips' consumer electronics business had been completely divested. Philips' businesses in the Chinese consumer electronics market have also been acquired by others, including Philips' color TV business in China.

TPV's Philips products frequently questioned

Since last year, Philips TV channels have been subject to complaints from consumers. On major e-commerce platforms, consumers' dissatisfaction with Philips TVs mainly focuses on unstable quality, black screens, distorted screens, poor picture quality, delayed after-sales installation, and poor attitude. Some TVs have thin lines on the screen and obvious color differences less than a year after purchase. Some TVs have even exploded. According to messages from consumers on mainstream e-commerce platforms, there are still cases of substandard quality as of October this year.

Since Philips of the Netherlands sold its color TV business to the Chinese local enterprise TPV Technology Group in September 2010, Philips TV has been questioned by consumers, with poor quality and "OEM goods" being constantly criticized. It is understood that TPV Technology was originally a contract manufacturing company in Taiwan, China, and was later acquired by Great Wall. Compared with domestic and foreign color TV companies such as TCL, Skyworth, Konka, and Samsung, there is a big gap in quality management, product research and development, and core technology. In addition, Philips TV does not have its own production plant and cannot monitor production and management quality. In terms of publicity, "Philips" TV "equates" itself with Philips of the Netherlands, claiming that it is "originating from Europe", "a century-old brand, a safe choice", and "Philips sales outlets cover 98% of the world", misleading consumers.

The market competition is fierce and the company is losing money

This year has been a difficult year for the Chinese color TV industry. According to CMM data, the retail volume of color TVs in the first quarter of 2017 was only 11.38 million units, a decrease of 12.5%; the retail sales amounted to 36.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.3%. In the third quarter, the overall situation of the domestic color TV market was still relatively sluggish, with the retail volume of 10.41 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 12.9%. The rising costs of materials and labor have left the Chinese color TV market in a state of gloom and doom.

In contrast to the market downturn, new OLED TVs and smart network TVs have begun to carve out a niche in the domestic color TV market. Well-known domestic brands such as Skyworth, TCL, and Changhong are also gearing up to target the sales turning point of the fourth quarter, "Double Eleven". It is reported that the top executives of Skyworth and TCL have met with the top executives of Suning respectively, and both sides have reached a new cooperation plan for Double Eleven and 2018. According to Qunzhi Consulting, the top three brands in terms of shipment share in the first three quarters of the domestic market are Hisense (15%), Skyworth (15%), and TCL (14%).

On the other hand, although Philips TV has called out the "Three Good TVs" strategy on the product side and cooperated with Suning to launch a "new retail model", in August, the share price of TPV Technology (00903) fell by the largest drop in at least three years, directly evaporating 800 million yuan in market value. In contrast to this drop, TPV Technology's Q2 performance warning is reflected. On July 31, the company announced that it expects its second-quarter performance to turn from profit to loss. Research reports analyze that as TPV's home market, China's weak market demand and intensified competition have brought resistance to the development of the display market. The continued high panel prices continue to squeeze TPV Technology's profit margins. In response, TPV's countermeasure is to produce OLED TVs in 2017 and launch the TV in the second and third quarters. However, Skyworth, which is also produced domestically, released China's first OLED TV as early as 2013, and this year took advantage of the popularity of OLED screens to launch the W series wallpaper OLED TV. Faced with such a strong competitor, Philips TV under TPV is afraid that it will be difficult to compete with it.

Good development requires getting rid of the label of "OEM"

This year, domestic brands have risen strongly in the Chinese color TV market, overtaking foreign brands. According to data from CMM, the top three major brands in the Chinese color TV market in terms of retail sales volume in the first three quarters were Hisense, Skyworth and TCL. In such an environment, for a domestic TV that still uses the "Philips" brand, the influence of the "foreign name" is getting smaller and smaller. By keeping up with the times, producing cheap and beautiful products, and improving after-sales service, Philips TV may be able to win back the confidence of Chinese consumers and get rid of the bad reputation of being called "OEM goods".

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.