China’s Electronics
2 min readChina’s rise to economic glory over the past quarter century began from an arrayof manufacturers churning out toys，bags，shoes，and other cheap commodities.Simple electronics figured into the mix early on，but were far behind the rest of the world in terms of intricacy and quality.But in the past decade，China’s electronics industry and IT sector has boomed，to become the nation’s largest industry，and the third largest in the world.
With cheap labor as its key initial attraction，a growing number of factories were set up in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s doing subcontracted assembly and OEM manufacturing for foreign markets.The cost advantage is still one of the primar factors driving such impressive growth.Labor costs in mainland China are about one sixth of those in Taiwan and one tenth of the US.
But the real growth potential lies in China’s huge domestic market.In today’s urban China，the latest household and personal technology is as widespread as indeveloped nations.China seems to have avoided entirely the problem of resisting change which is such a factor of more mature markets.
A 2006 report by Global Sources confirms the continuing trend in consumption growth and more advancing technology.China’s consumer electronics industry salewere reported to total nearly US $80 billion in 2006，a figure expected to be US $100 billion by 2007.
Propelled by the huge domestic consumer market，China’s electronics sector has expanded into a diverse and comprehensive industry.Although imports or foreignbrands still make up a significant share of sales，domestic companies marketing their own brands have flourished to rival the market shares of multinationals lik Sony and Toshiba.Lenovo Group is China’s largest IT company and tops China’s computer sales over De11，the number two contender.Haier presently claims the titleof fourth among the world’s white goods（large household appliances）manufacturers，with about 30%of the Chinese domestic market.Companies like Changhong-China’slargest television producer，Konka，and TCL，hold large shares in the electronics market.
The Pearl River Delta region in southern China was the first place to see theboom in China’s electronics industry and remains the focal point of activity.Operations in the Yangtze River Delta，including Shanghai，Suzhou and Hangzhou，are newer and therefore generally have a slight technological advantage over those in Guangdong.The region’s high-tech industry experienced a huge influx of operations from Taiwan in the late 1990’s.Suzhou is now the world’s largest laptop computer producer，for instance.
The northern coast has also emerged as a high-tech leader.Qingdao is home to names such as Haier and Hisense，two of China’s best known domestic brands.Dalian has become a center for IT，with operations of IBM，Hewlett Packard，Microsoft，De11，Sony，and other IT celebrities.
