The development of office furniture has made significant progress in recent years, yet the domestic industry still faces numerous challenges. There are relatively few established office furniture companies, and the quality varies greatly, with a wide gap between high-end and low-end products. Many firms lack real design and production capabilities, merely listing themselves on the stock market without substantial innovation or growth, which hinders the overall development of the sector.
The furniture industry encompasses various categories such as solid wood furniture, panel furniture, children's furniture, and office furniture. However, office furniture companies are highly fragmented, with limited innovation and low profit margins, making it difficult to build large-scale enterprises or industry leaders. According to Zhu Changling, vice chairman of the China Furniture Association, the price of Chinese office furniture is 5 to 8 times that of foreign counterparts. Despite a 20% to 30% increase in sales in the first half of this year, the value of domestic products remains low compared to global standards.
Design is one of the main barriers to the development of office furniture. At furniture exhibitions, many Shenzhen-based office furniture booths feature signs like "Domestic Refuse" or "By Invitation Only for Overseas Clients," effectively shielding the domestic market. Zhu Changling explained that some companies avoid selling domestically to prevent their designs from being copied. The number of independent office furniture brands is very limited, with less than 20% of products sold under brand names, most of which are produced through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing). As Su Bei noted, some companies focus solely on OEM and lack any brand value.
The entry barrier in the office furniture industry is low, leading to uneven quality, widespread imitation, and pricing strategies that do not support sustainable profits. Huang Bingsong, Marketing Director at Shanghai Fuhui Enterprise Development Co., Ltd., expressed frustration over the lack of a clear business model. While foreign companies often complain about Chinese imitations, protecting intellectual property is challenging since many products are not registered in China. Even when styles are copied, Chinese firms often improve functionality, making enforcement difficult. Zhu Changling added that if companies copy, they might receive a warning, but no real legal consequences follow.
Despite these issues, some companies are focusing on protecting their core technologies. Fu Tiancheng, president of Novant (Shanghai) Office System Co., Ltd., stated that the largest company in the industry holds less than 1% of the market share. Although Novant achieved a 30% sales growth in the first half of the year, it still doesn’t consider itself a major player. Fu believes that plagiarism isn't a big concern because the core technology is hard to replicate. He pointed to a table in front of him, explaining that while individual parts are manufactured by different OEMs, the final assembly requires specialized knowledge only his company possesses.
Some larger firms have recognized the need to own and protect their technological innovations. Huang Bingsong revealed that the company invests at least 10% of its profits into R&D annually. Novart recently passed Greenguard certification, a U.S. high-end standard, and now holds over ten patents. Zhu Changling believes that even though plagiarism exists, large companies aren’t afraid, as some imitations fail to meet quality standards. In fact, such competition may push them to develop better products continuously.
Solar Pendant Light
Separate design
The battery of this item is not installed on the solar panel as traditional outdoor solar lights do, but on the lamp body. With 16.5 feet long wire, it can be used outdoors and indoors.
Connect/Disconnect for flexible use
Disconnect it from the solar panel after fully charged for 8 hours, and you will get a portable lamp. Could be used as temporary light source for camping or be hung anywhere light needed.
Wide applications, Suitable for outdoor & indoor
This solar motion sensor light is made of high-density ABS and IP65 waterproof materials, not easily worn by bad weather (high temperature/rain/snows). Suitable for places where no power supplied like gazebo, shed, workshop, patio, porch, garden, chicken coop, basement, storage, barn, garage, yard, carport, backyard, camp, driveway, greenhouse, loft, van, attic, awning, grill area, pergola, tent, cabin, etc.
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