Chinese Imports, Smuggled Goods Dent Retail Rivals' Market Share in Thailand.

Byline: Srisamorn Phoosuphanusorn

Jul. 28--Thirty years ago, Japanese brands began to shed their low-quality image and push their Western counterparts into retreat across many lines of manufactured products.

Now it's the turn of Chinese brands to follow the path of the rising sun, displacing Japanese brands of electrical appliances as the preferred Asian models.

However, there is a downside for Thailand, as illegally imported products from China are undermining the market, causing losses estimated at one billion baht a year to local manufacturers, according to Udom Chatiyanont, chairman of Electrical Appliances Industry Club at the Federation of Thai Industries.

Cheap Chinese-made goods such as mini-home theatre sets, video recorders, VCDs, DVDs, karaoke equipment, CD players, radios and flashlights are very popular among lower- and middle-income buyers because of the low, black-market prices.

"The quality of Chinese goods perhaps might not beat Japanese brands right now, but technological improvements and cost efficiencies will increase the presence of Chinese household goods in Thailand over the next few years," Mr Udom said. "Chinese goods are following the example of Japanese goods a few decades back."

Grow Rich Enterprise, a leading importer of electrical appliances from China, said it sold between 2,000 and 3,000 Chinese video recorders a month. The items are priced between 1,000 baht and 4,000 baht, which a source at Grow Rich said was similar to the price of Thai goods, but the Chinese were of higher quality.