September 17, 2019
The National & Bloomberg both just published a feature on Chinas growing transformation from global manufacture to business innovator. The premise of the article is that "by bringing technology expertise to the place where devices are manufactured, companies are able to develop products faster and more cheaply."
One of the companies sited and hailed as an example of what's to come is SIVGA — a headphone manufacturer that leverages expertise gained from working for Sennheiser, Sony and Bose. Their key to success has been the proximity to the network of specialty factories. The local industrial chain is "near perfect."
For more details about SIVGA and to get a better understanding of their business model and how it fits into the larger headphone space, please read the full article here.
Why this matters for global in-ear manufacturers is simple. The world is changing. Rapidly. China can no longer simply be seen as a manufacturing partner. In the last 18 months, we've seen the rise of Chi-Fi — the term given to affordable Hi-Fi products from Chinese manufactures. As in-ear manufactures — many of whom produce some product in Chinese factories — we need to understand that new buisness models and opportunities are coming and that consumers now have more choice than ever before. As manufacturers, if we do not factor this reality into our own forecasts and plans, we will see a situation of excess inventory.
