It's times to cash in on Chinese resurgence

BEIJING, CHINA: With the Chinese government having kicked off measures to check dip in exports following the global slowdown, semiconductor companies worldwide have been advised to start tapping opportunities to work with Chinese manufacturers. The advice has come in from market research player Gartner Inc.

Looking at Chinese manufacturers to work with would help companies cash in on a rise in that country's domestic demand being driven by a government subsidy program for home appliances, the market research firm said.

In its report on the Gartner directive, EETimes has said that a trial subsidy program in China that offers farmers a 13 per cent subsidy for electronic products purchases will likely increase sales of household electronics by 20 per cent.

Quoting Gartner, the report added that Chinese government program has already been extended from three provinces in late 2007 to all of China in February 2009. Besides, it said, TVs, refrigerator and freezers, washing machines, mobile phones, PCs, heaters, induction cookers and microwave ovens, are among the product categories that have now been certified and approved by the program.

It is being noted that the increase in sales to the tune of 20 per cent was very much possible to make up for the reduction in exports to overseas markets hit by the economic downturn.

According to Oliver Xu, principal research analyst at Gartner, who has been quoted by the report, “Sales figures show that farmers are using the subsidy to select higher-specification and higher-cost products, and with the average income of Chinese farmers on the rise, this trend looks set to continue.”

Now, electronics providers who look at cashing in on the rise in product sales, owing much to the stimulus package, would need to develop specific features in products for farmers, such as coping with the wide range of power supply voltages, better moisture protection and rodent-proofing measures, Gartner advised.

This apart, the players should also lower costs and provide good after-sales service to farmers using their own or third-party services.