Analysis on the export of lighting industry

Emerging markets with relatively loose product certification in Africa, Russia and Southeast Asia have become new targets for LED export enterprises. The preparation of Asian infrastructure investment bank and the creation of "one belt and road" in recent years have drawn the enterprise's eyes to emerging markets such as Central Asia and Southeast Asia, and domestic LED export enterprises seek new development opportunities.

Because of the "lessons from the past" of European and American markets, what risks should domestic LED lighting enterprises pay attention to in entering these emerging markets and how to avoid?

New target of emerging market investment turning into export

At present, the slow growth of European and American economy and the slowdown of market demand in developed countries have made it urgent for LED industry to actively expand other overseas markets outside of domestic market and mature market such as Europe and America.

It is understood that at present, a number of foreign trade enterprises have further adjusted their export strategies and increased their attention and investment in emerging markets.

Foshan Lighting Liu Xingming said:

The market volume of developed countries such as North America and Europe is undeniable, but it is quite good to keep the growth rate of economic aggregate at more than 2%. However, for emerging countries, the growth rate of total economic volume can be maintained by more than 5%. Therefore, it is a short-term behavior to "keep track of" developed countries' markets. Enterprises should seize the development opportunities of emerging countries' markets. In the future, the capacity of emerging markets will also grow rapidly. The market volume of emerging countries is huge: first, the LED acceptance capacity of emerging countries is strong; secondly, the emerging countries are developing rapidly and the construction demand is large.

The vision is outside Europe and America, and the infrastructure investment in emerging markets such as Russia, Southeast Asia, India, Africa and other countries and regions is starting to turn hot. LED market penetration rate is not very high due to the high price of LED. However, this also reflects the huge potential of the market in the region from the side, and it is expected that the demand for LED lighting in emerging markets will continue to rise.

Avoiding patent risk and establishing patent warning

Although emerging markets may not have strict intellectual property protection system in European and American markets, as domestic enterprises that have long cultivated local markets, they should take precautions to control risks, do their own patent layout and patent evasion design, and finally realize the development of foreign markets, especially emerging markets under the protection of independent intellectual property rights.

On the one hand, we can launch products with higher cost performance, on the other hand, we can avoid falling into disordered price war.

If Chinese enterprises lack patent awareness, they will be very passive in any market. If the local market share is relatively small, the possible friction will be relatively small. Once the market scale of the company is expanded, the relevant patent control enterprises will make a big contribution to patent issues and carry out market pressure.

Just as the 337 investigation incident which was in the industry has been hot in the past, it has sounded the alarm bell of domestic enterprises in the aspect of intellectual property rights again.

Find out the market access system and establish brand recognition

Whether it is any regional market, the product must meet two basic requirements: security requirements and market access requirements.

In addition to these basic requirements, some countries' requirements for products entering the market include light quality, basic parameters and sustainable development requirements. However, in terms of the current export situation of LED products, there are still great worries about this aspect. Enterprises are also paying a great price for frequent collision events due to the failure to timely understand the update of LED industry standards and regulations in various countries.

After being troubled by frequent patent investigation and infringement complaints in Europe and America, enterprises should think hard, learn lessons and do their homework before deploying local market.

In many foreign markets, consumers, retailers and government law enforcement agencies have even more recognized and even required the products to be labeled with authoritative certification marks, which indicates that the products have passed strict testing and certification, and meet the corresponding safety and performance requirements of applicable standards.

In North America market, for example, reliable third-party testing and certification agencies are usually required to test the quality, structure and safety characteristics of products to ensure that these aspects meet the relevant standards. The products passing the certification shall be labeled with the certification mark provided by the third-party certification agency to show that the products meet the safety specified in the standards.

The same is true for emerging markets. Although many regional emerging market certification and testing systems are not yet perfect, export enterprises should pay attention to local certification projects and access systems for specific countries and regions.

For example, in Latin America, Brazil has no mandatory safety and energy efficiency requirements for LED products, but Argentina's requirements for electronic and electrical products comply with IEC standards, and the main safety of lamps products is resolution 92/98 (covering various lamps such as LED), and energy efficiency: 319/99 (the product scope covers incandescent lamps, halogen lamps and fluorescent lamps, and LED lamps are not included); In Mexico, LED is related to nom-064-scfi-2000 lamp safety standard and nom-030-ener-2012 light efficiency standard for LED bulbs for general lighting.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore Malaysia has a relatively perfect certification system compared with other countries. The relevant electronic and electrical products certification that needs attention include: safety mark (Singapore), SIRIM (Malaysia) and TiSi (Thailand). All three kinds of certification have mandatory product list, and products including them must pass the certification before they can be imported.

Analysis of specific market without action

Although the export market is large and has great potential, the potential risks and policy changes of overseas markets, especially emerging markets, are worthy of vigilance. Enterprises should fully understand local customs and culture and economic conditions while they know the market access system of various countries, and then move first, and do not do blind flies.

Southeast Asia market: increasing the market of "black horse" is not standardized

The rapid growth of Southeast Asia market is surprising. The rapid economic growth rate of the region makes the investment in local infrastructure increasing, which drives the demand of LED lighting products, and becomes a big cake for domestic export enterprises to "covet".

"LED lighting products trade flourished in the border area bordering Vietnam. The agents of relevant trade companies have sprung up. Lighting products sold to local markets through this area are often in short supply." Chen Yansheng, director of China lighting and Electrical Association, is very optimistic about the growth potential of Southeast Asia market, "with the strengthening of local infrastructure construction, we believe that the potential is greater".

On the one hand, there is a large market space, on the other hand, it makes many enterprises feel "difficult to do", "often spend a lot of energy in the early stage to talk about cooperation well, but at the last moment, the other party suddenly regrets. Many cooperation is generally based on a very low price basis, and it is difficult to have long-term stable cooperation". A foreign trade company specializing in Southeast Asia market said that due to the lack of local certification system The enterprises are also facing greater risks due to the impact of depression and unclear market rules.

This requires that the enterprise products should be well done, attractive enough to meet the local standards for LED requirements, on the other hand, they should also launch more cost-effective products according to the local market demand to meet the needs of customers.

However, panrurong, director of Pengrun Technology International Co., Ltd., thinks that although the Southeast Asian market is large, it will still insist on the high-quality European and American market as the leading factor. "Enterprises should have profits, not to do so, nor to make a little profit and to make a little bit of the market" rotten. "

Russian market: it is important to communicate with customers strictly through customs clearance

Russian consumer products are relatively weak in manufacturing capacity, and the products mainly rely on imports. As the host of the 2018 football World Cup, Russia has driven a large number of projects such as urban appearance update, infrastructure upgrading, road and outdoor lighting transformation, athletes village construction, etc., and the demand for LED lighting products has increased greatly.

The import tariff of LED lamps in Russia will be reduced year by year, which brings huge business opportunities to China, a manufacturing power bordering the region.

Reporters learned from a Russian export enterprise that entering the Russian market, the first thing to face is the customs clearance problem. Russian customs clearance is strict and more complicated, and products will encounter many problems during the customs clearance process. Sometimes it takes a long time to transport a batch of products.

Therefore, it is necessary for foreign trade personnel to understand the key points of export Russia patiently and carefully, to avoid unnecessary disputes in the process of foreign trade transactions, and to communicate with Russian customers in a timely manner.

Middle East Market: it's important to have a complete solution without money

The large investment and construction in the Middle East and the weak industrial manufacturing capacity also make it have a great demand for high cost-effective LED lighting products. In particular, the one belt, one road strategy has made the domestic economy more closely linked to the region, and it is estimated that the two regional economic exchanges will also increase.

"These regional markets may not be as sensitive to price factors as other regions, but customers value the integrity of a series of products, sometimes even delay for a long time to consider it," a middle east foreign trade firm said, "we will be more cautious when dealing with them.".

Our attention should be paid to the unique customs and customs of the region and the climatic characteristics of the long and high temperature period.

epilogue

The growth focus of global market economy pattern is shifting from developed countries to emerging markets, which also promotes the profound change of the global economic structure, and the export market of lighting products.

The slowdown in demand in Europe and the United States has opened the test for Southeast Asia and emerging market countries. As a fertile land that has not yet been fully opened up, emerging markets are undoubtedly a treasure of opportunities and challenges for Chinese manufacturers.

To stand firm in the international market, enterprises need to comprehensively distribute the global market, not only to grasp the market of traditional developed countries, but also to develop the emerging countries' markets.

Similarly, in the emerging market with relatively loose Nuggets import policy, intellectual property rights should be attached importance to, which is related to the sustainable development of the LED industry. Once it is missing, the market will continue to appear homogeneous competition phenomenon, and the products will not be converted into industrial profits.