Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
Do American companies design the product, and then contract to have it made as cheaply as possible in China? Or do Chinese companies turn out stuff they think Americans will buy, and then sell them to American distributors?
|
Both, depends on the product and company. Some companies will design their product and find a manufacturing company to make it. That manufacturing company may have a choice of factories, in China, Taiwan, etc... This is known as contract manufacturing. The Xbox, for example is made by various contract manufacturers that bid on a manufacturing price that Microsoft accepts or not, then they plan a specific number of units over a period of time.
The other method is where the overseas company will design for you the product you want based on your requirements. This is common in the cell phone industry, where a company will ask for a phone with certain features and the contract development will work on the project for them. Then the design will get made wherever the customer chooses.
Another way, is where the company makes it's own line of products, and you can choose to buy it directly from them. You can, of course, ask for a different version for an additional charge. Much of the cheap stuff that is bought is this type, where the company is already making such a product and the buyer just gets their name put on the box, or a generic box.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
