Survey: Cheaper China-made gadgets benefit the consumers

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the fact that most Filipino consumers are known in patronizing branded products, specifically in consumer electronics and appliances, the trend is now slowly taking a shift due to the availability of similar items from China that are pegged at affordable prices.

Based on the survey conducted by GFK Custom Research in the Philippines, the proliferation of more consumer electronics and appliances products in the retail channels have changed the mindset of Filipino buyers, who used to be known as brand conscious.

GFK Philippines country manager Jake Savellano said that this development has greatly benefited the Filipino consumers, as manufacturers of branded products are now forced to slash down their pricing schemes as competition is becoming too fierce.

GFK Custom Research is one of the world’s largest, fast growing fact-based consulting firms. Ranked amongst the top four research groups, GFK has 115 companies covering more than 100 countries including the Philippines, ensuring a strong local market understanding and service.

Among the products being tracked by the company for trends and movements include consumer electronics, home appliances, and technology gadgets, such as cellphone, netbooks, laptops, among others.

“There’s a change in buying patterns among mainstream Filipino consumers now. In their mind, they want to buy a certain branded appliance or gadget, but when they get to the store, they usually changed their minds but ended up buying the same quality non-branded products instead, with lesser cost,” Savellano said.

In the past, he mentioned that LCD TV for instance costs as much as P32 thousand, now a branded LCD is only priced at an average of P22 thousand.

On the other hand, while Filipino consumers have become wiser now, the consumer research firm also noted an increasing purchasing power of Filipinos, fueled by the growing remittances of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers).

In general, however, GKF forecasted a single-digit growth in the consumer electronics/technology and appliances growth this year in the Philippines, as some OFWs are affected by the fragile economic situation in other countries, such as Middle East, and Japan.

The increasing cost of fuel also affected the purchasing power of Filipinos, some are also tightening their belts in terms of buying new appliances and gadgets. Unpredictability in the economy also affects the buying pattern among Filipinos.

This year, the company sees substantial growth in the fad-technology such as iPad, tablets and smartphones. The sales growth of these gadgets is expected to sustain in the next two years.Meanwhile, GFK noted that cellphone sales of Chinese brands dominate the market today.

This development also pushed branded manufacturers to introduce cheaper mobile phone units to combat the strong competition with China-made cellphones. (FREEMAN)