Yes indeed the manufacturing power of China, the cheap labour and ever increasing demands of these products cannot be denied. But i am bound to think about the adjustments we have made in our quality standards to get cheap products..A few only seem to care about quality..
When i was in Singapore, Chinese goods were also available and were flooding market, however as a consumer I still had to the option to buy Made in Malaysia or Made in Japan goods...ofcoarse i needed to pay an extra % for these goods. But as a consumer if i am buying a Plasma screen TV , do i really mind paying another 200-400$ when i know i am buying a quality product and i do not need to worry about my 2000$ investment into a good that i have bought. After all we do not buy a Plasma TV everyday.
However in Europe i see a different situation. As a customer, i have very limited option and most likely i have no other choice but to buy a Made in China product. Think about it, if you are buying a laptop , you are investing about 1500 Euro. Given an option i will not mind if have to pay another 200-400 Euros if i can buy a made in Japan product. But here we have mostly made in China goods. Even the companies with brand names like Sony/ HP have products which are made in China and i do not have any option left. Yes what i do get is a 2/3 year warranty. Atleast i am covered. But isn't it a botheration that if u buy a product, may be a bit cheaper, with extended warranties, and when u start using it, after 6-7 months you start the viscious circle of calling Customer Service desks..
We are happy when we buy cheaper products, and do not worry about the associated quality. This is good for products which are not a high end consumer products. Clothes/Shoes/purses etc are some of the things are not considered as durable goods and yes we are Ok to compromise with the quality. However do the same rules apply with the high end products like Computers/ Plasma TV's or for that matter Refrigerators/Washing machines...
Think about how inconvinient it is if you have bought a new Refrigerator/ washing machine and after 4 months, you have to take it back to the Customer support centre for a defect/problem. Even if you are covered by the warranty you have, the pain to take back the product and bring it back and the related inconviniences cannot be justified by the low price you have paid.
Yes a laptop warranty helps the owner to get the company bring it back to the factory setting, but what happens to the Data the owner had saved on it...Surely that is not covered in this warranty..So the warranties do not really cover the consumer. There is always a price to pay for the cheaper and low quality product that one has bought.
My question is do u think in future you will have an option to pay additional amount for a good quality product?
Most likely not, since these days, most of the products are Made in China. Companies like Philips/Sony/HP etc..all have their manufacturing centres in China and are exporting to US and Europe goods that are Made in China with Brand Names.
There were times in early 1970's and 1980's, Japanese goods brought economic boom to Japan and helped to reposition as a leading economy in the world. These days instead of quality the cheap price is leading China to be leading economy.
How visible are the Made in Germany goods in the store?
Will a Mercedes made in China stand the test of time and quality..Probably not...But may be with the changing times, our quality definitions would have changed itself.
When i was in Singapore, Chinese goods were also available and were flooding market, however as a consumer I still had to the option to buy Made in Malaysia or Made in Japan goods...ofcoarse i needed to pay an extra % for these goods. But as a consumer if i am buying a Plasma screen TV , do i really mind paying another 200-400$ when i know i am buying a quality product and i do not need to worry about my 2000$ investment into a good that i have bought. After all we do not buy a Plasma TV everyday.
However in Europe i see a different situation. As a customer, i have very limited option and most likely i have no other choice but to buy a Made in China product. Think about it, if you are buying a laptop , you are investing about 1500 Euro. Given an option i will not mind if have to pay another 200-400 Euros if i can buy a made in Japan product. But here we have mostly made in China goods. Even the companies with brand names like Sony/ HP have products which are made in China and i do not have any option left. Yes what i do get is a 2/3 year warranty. Atleast i am covered. But isn't it a botheration that if u buy a product, may be a bit cheaper, with extended warranties, and when u start using it, after 6-7 months you start the viscious circle of calling Customer Service desks..
We are happy when we buy cheaper products, and do not worry about the associated quality. This is good for products which are not a high end consumer products. Clothes/Shoes/purses etc are some of the things are not considered as durable goods and yes we are Ok to compromise with the quality. However do the same rules apply with the high end products like Computers/ Plasma TV's or for that matter Refrigerators/Washing machines...
Think about how inconvinient it is if you have bought a new Refrigerator/ washing machine and after 4 months, you have to take it back to the Customer support centre for a defect/problem. Even if you are covered by the warranty you have, the pain to take back the product and bring it back and the related inconviniences cannot be justified by the low price you have paid.
Yes a laptop warranty helps the owner to get the company bring it back to the factory setting, but what happens to the Data the owner had saved on it...Surely that is not covered in this warranty..So the warranties do not really cover the consumer. There is always a price to pay for the cheaper and low quality product that one has bought.
My question is do u think in future you will have an option to pay additional amount for a good quality product?
Most likely not, since these days, most of the products are Made in China. Companies like Philips/Sony/HP etc..all have their manufacturing centres in China and are exporting to US and Europe goods that are Made in China with Brand Names.
There were times in early 1970's and 1980's, Japanese goods brought economic boom to Japan and helped to reposition as a leading economy in the world. These days instead of quality the cheap price is leading China to be leading economy.
How visible are the Made in Germany goods in the store?
Will a Mercedes made in China stand the test of time and quality..Probably not...But may be with the changing times, our quality definitions would have changed itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment