What are the shortcomings of Chinese home appliances when competing with foreign oligarchs?

Over the past 30 years, when Chinese companies have truly stood at the center of the world's home appliance stage as strong players and challengers, and launched attacks and challenges on the old giants from Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, they suddenly looked back and found that compared with these foreign oligarchs, China's home appliances have one most scarce capability that has not been established.

Over the years, Chinese companies have quietly emerged as rising stars on the world stage, whether in the black appliance market, white appliance market, or even in the kitchen appliance and small appliance market. In particular, with large-scale manufacturing and low-price marketing, many Japanese, Korean, European and American companies that were mentors of Chinese companies in the past have been squeezed into the corner in the Chinese market, and now they have begun to challenge and impact overseas markets.

However, compared with foreign brands that are in the defensive and exhausted channel, Chinese home appliance enterprises that are in the rising and sprinting channel, although they are full of passion, strong stamina and broad prospects, always feel that "something is missing" when they enter the competition in overseas markets, especially in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, when they impact local enterprises and brands in the local market as challengers. It is not that they are weak in strength, products are average, and technology is weak, but when facing users in the first-tier market, they always feel that they lack a little self-confidence.

In fact, this so-called lack of self-confidence is precisely the most scarce resource for Chinese home appliance companies and brands over the past 30 years. That is the "brand reputation" and "user trust" established and formed through the precipitation of time, the continuous inheritance of high-quality products, and decades of original investment and dedication to the market and users. In short, the credit system of Chinese companies in the world home appliance market has not yet been truly established.

In recent years, some Chinese home appliance brands have begun to establish a little bit of brand influence and appeal on the world stage through independent innovative products and even large-scale capital mergers and acquisitions, but have not yet fully established relatively stable brand trust and recognition. Many Chinese home appliance marketing experts who have been pioneering in overseas markets for a long time have the biggest feeling that "Made in China has a poor reputation in overseas markets, and the trust of Chinese brands in overseas markets is very fragile. Many merchants and consumers in overseas markets equate products from China with shoddy products in the past when they hear that they are made in China."

In fact, in the past few years, in order to grab market share in overseas markets, Chinese manufacturing has often adopted the means of "shoddy production". This is definitely not a problem for the home appliance industry alone, but also involves other industries and fields such as daily necessities, shoes and hats. In the end, Chinese manufacturing has left a big scar among the world's user groups. This is definitely not something that can be compensated and reversed by relying on a few Chinese home appliance companies and brands. At the same time, this is also a problem that Chinese home appliance companies cannot solve by "taking shortcuts" in a short period of time through capital mergers and acquisitions, hiring top technology research and development teams, etc.

Many Chinese companies always give an example when expanding overseas markets: the reason why a 100-yuan note can circulate in the market as a purchasing power of 100 yuan is that users believe it has a value of 100 yuan. Credit is the foundation of modern economic development and take-off, and it is also the reason why German and Japanese products have left a deep impression on users in many countries in the world in the past half century. Without a credit economy, there would be no prosperity and development of a modern market economy.

Compared with Chinese companies, Japanese home appliance companies have a longer history of expanding international markets. Although Japanese companies have been in the process of withdrawal, decline and depression in the world's electronic and electrical industries in recent years, their sales in the international market have not decreased. According to the statistics of the "World Trade and Investment Report 2016" released by the Japan External Trade Organization, the overseas sales ratio of Japanese companies reached 58.3% in 2015, a record high. Behind this is the good "reputation" left by Japanese brands to users in various countries around the world. The impression left by Japanese brands and products to the world is mainly high quality, recognized by everyone, and safe and secure.

However, Japanese manufacturing and brands did not gain the trust of overseas markets and users from the beginning. In the recovery stage after the defeat, in order to grab the market, there were many inferior products made in Japan, and the reputation and trust in the international community were very poor. After more than half a century of efforts, Japanese manufacturing and products have achieved significant changes in the international community. Today, the main driving force for Japanese companies to compete in the global market lies in "product and service performance and quality", "research and development and technology" and "after-sales service". Thereby winning the credibility and trust of consumers from all over the world. In addition to the unremitting efforts of technicians with a craftsman spirit to improve quality, there is also the continuous precipitation and accumulation of time.

It can be seen that the credibility and trust in the hearts of consumers are the cornerstones of sustainable development of all enterprises and the necessary conditions for the successful expansion of Chinese home appliances in the global market. At present, all Chinese home appliance companies must step out of the established product confidence, gradually build up brand confidence, form technological confidence, and finally move quickly towards cultural confidence to truly establish the international reputation of Chinese home appliance brands.

However, reputation cannot be established overnight. Can Chinese enterprises make unremitting efforts to win reputation in the global market? At present, many Chinese enterprises have the awareness of quality products, but lack the endurance and perseverance to invest in quality products for a long time; they have the ability and enthusiasm to innovate, but lack the guarantee of a sustainable innovation system. How to solve these problems? The person who tied the bell must solve it!

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.