Chinese enterprises aim to build brands in consumer electronics

Italian reporter Vittorio Manti, who is covering his 10th International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here, has witnessed growing recognition of Chinese brands for quality and price. On the first day at the event, which runs from Tuesday to Friday, Manti headed straight to a press conference held by renowned Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense, which was unveiling a new TV. Manti told Xinhua Chinese brands had experienced "a major change in the last few years" and "several Chinese brands are focusing on establishing a brand and making their brand known, like Huawei, like Hisense". His view is supported by the fact Chinese enterprises account for nearly one quarter of the more than 3200 exhibitors this year, according to data released by the CES' organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Walking through different exhibition halls, it is hard to miss the Chinese brands. Their booths stand prominently alongside those of manufacturers from the United States, Japan and Korea. Hisense's booth was in the show's central hall in 2013, just opposite U.S. giant Intel's. The booth used to belong to Microsoft, who withdrew from the CES the same year. It is believed Chinese enterprises not only need quality products but a respected brand name. And Chinese manufacturers are working on achieving that through increased production capabilities, more advanced technologies and better product design "Chinese companies are ascending. To be successful globally, you have to have not only good products, you have to have respected brands," CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro told Xinhua at the show. Echoing Shapiro's remarks, Hisense Executive Vice President Lin Lan agrees told Xinhua: "Not only for Hisense, brand is the most important thing for all the Chinese companies who want to enjoy long-term survival and development." "Without brand, you can only pick up things other people left. With brand, we have the space and strength to talk about product price," he said. The major gap between Chinese electronics enterprises and the world's famous enterprises was not their products, Manti said, "It's more about the brand recognition". Chinese enterprises were "doing a good job" in building their brands, he said. "Huawei just announced that their brand recognition grew from 25 percent in 2012 to 52 percent in 2013. They doubled their recognition in one year. It's quite amazing," Manti said. Huawei sold about 52 million smartphones worldwide in 2013, and the company plans to sell 80 million this year. Every year, Huawei invests 10 percent of its total revenue in research and development. Hisense sold about 2 million TVs and tablets in the United States in 2013 and plans to top 3 million in 2014. Hisense has built two research centers in the U.S. cities of Atlanta and San Diego and announced at the show it would build a U.S. assembly plant to better serve local customers. Although Chinese brands are now much more recognized, Chinese entrepreneurs remain sober-minded, acknowledging a brand can not be built in a day but needs detailed planning and preparation and a lot of effort. "Brand building is a gradual process," Lin said. "It must be planned carefully, which requires a lot of investments and adequate preparations."