Half the nation happy to 'buy local'

Lenovo Group Ltd advertising is seen at a Lenovo store in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong. In the mobile phones market, China's six top brands are all Chinese－Lenovo, Coolpad, Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi and TCL. [Photo/Agencies]

Domestic tech gadgets seen as value for money, Mintel poll finds

Well over half the people in China now believe, domestically produced technology brands are as good as foreign ones, as well as offering better value for money, according to a report from the United Kingdom research firm Mintel Group.

Around 3,000 consumers aged 20 to 49 from 10 cities were questioned online with 58 percent saying the quality of home-grown brands was as good as international ones, and 61 percent saying they were satisfied with domestic technology.

"Chinese consumers believed domestic brands represented good value for money, but foreign brands, such as Apple and Samsung, are still viewed as being 'stylish' and 'innovative'," said Huang Can, senior research analyst at Mintel.

In recent years, a growing number of Chinese technology products have been launched featuring innovative solutions at more competitive prices than foreign rivals.

In the mobile phone market, for instance, the country's top six brands－Lenovo, Coolpad, Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi and TCL－are all Chinese. The top five desktop and laptop computer brands are also Chinese (Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Hasee, and Haier), as are the top seven tablet computer brands (Lenovo, Teclast, Onda, Asus, Huawei, Cube, and Acer).

"Consumers make technology purchases based on factors such as good value for money and customer service, but brand attributes such as the perception that a brand is 'high end' are also able to influence purchasing decisions to a large degree," said Huang.

According to the report, 71 percent agreed with the statement "advertisements focusing on brand image gave me a good impression", and 75 percent of respondents agreed that the "brands that a person uses are a reflection of the lifestyle he or she seeks".

Last year, Mintel statistics show, there were 444.7 million units of individual technology product sales including mobile phones, tablets, and desktop and laptop computers. The average Chinese household spent 7.2 percent of overall income on technology products, much larger than in markets with a similar level of development.

The report said that number is forecast to hit 513.5 million units sales by the end of 2014, a 15.5 percent rise.

The leading technology brands will be aware of such a large percentage of total household expenditure being spent on their products, said Huang, and the growth of Chinese over foreign brands in recent years means Chinese consumers are still looking for brands that offer value.

A male Xiaomi user called Liu Qin said that Chinese technology companies have developed very fast and are now producing a lot of good products, such as smartphones by Xiaomi and Huawei.

"Compared with other high-priced foreign brands, these domestic brands have proved good value," said Liu, who called himself a long-term Xiaomi smartphone user. "In addition to good functions, their products' design and appearance are also no less exciting than foreign brands."