"China's Things" American media: The Chinese market is changing rapidly foreign brands rely only on "show" difficult to split the cake

"China's Things" American media: The Chinese market is changing rapidly foreign brands rely only on "show" difficult to split the cake

A screenshot of CNN's report.

China Daily, October 8 (E.)--the United States or European companies once believed that China, a huge market, would constantly crave their products, but the changing tastes of Chinese consumers and the rising rise of local Chinese competitors have forced Western companies to adjust and adopt new strategies to In order to gain a foothold in China, the world's second-largest economy.

According to CNN, the daunting challenges faced by well-known companies such as Starbucks and Apple have nothing to do with the Sino-US trade war, but with new competition and increased wealth.

Benjamin Cavender, an analyst at China Market Research Group, Benjamin Cavende that well-known western brands "just flashing their brands is no longer working and that the tastes of Chinese consumers are changing rapidly. ”

Coca-Cola, one of the well-known brands, has also had to face this reality.

"We are seeing dramatic changes in consumption patterns," Curtis Ferguson, president of Coca-Cola's Greater China and South Korea, Feng at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China, last month. ”

In the past six months, Coca-Cola has launched more than 30 new beverage brands in China, with a total of about 275 brands on the market, including regular cola and more exotic drinks, such as those containing soybeans and Apple fibers, Feng said. Coca-Cola has even launched its own tea-series drinks in China.

This is very different from the way the company has always relied on the brand effect before.

Over the past six months, Coca-Cola has launched more than 30 new beverage brands in China. Photo An advertisement for an apple fiber drink.

Feng said the company's philosophy was to "get them to drink coke." He felt that Western companies could not consider their brands sacrosanct.

"Either you destroy your brand in China or someone else will do it for you," he says. ”

Another well-known brand, Starbucks, is also trying to keep pace with Chinese consumers.

The coffee chain has about 3,000 stores in China. But just weeks after the announcement of the rapid expansion plan, Starbucks abruptly announced in June that growth in China's business was slowing.

Part of the reason is the rise of a local competitor. Luckin Coffee opened its first store in China less than a year ago and now has more than 500 stores. Many of Rhys Coffee's customers will order coffee takeaway services online or choose to bring them out. Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to the American Regiment, a takeaway platform, to buy food or drink.

"Starbucks has been slow to tech in China, and consumers are tired of waiting in long queues," Cavender said. ”

Starbucks, the global coffee giant, is now trying to adjust its direction. In August, it launched a distribution service in partnership with Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company.

Starbucks opened the world's largest storefront in Shanghai in 2017 and launched a distribution service in 2018.

In addition, automakers ' brands face serious challenges. With China the world's largest car market, carmakers around the world are scrambling to keep pace with the Chinese auto market. As electric vehicles are rapidly popularized and increasingly promoted through government subsidies, competition is becoming increasingly fierce, leading to overcrowding in the market.

Francois Provost, chairman of Renault Motors Asia Pacific, said the company was now competing with traditional Chinese rivals and Francois Provost. For example, local manufacturer Wei Automobile (Nio) sells SUVs in China for about half the price of Tesla Model X.

Provost said prices were important because most customers in China were buying cars for the first time. At the same time, people also have higher requirements for the life of electric vehicle batteries, because China's charging station network is still under construction everywhere.

"The biggest challenge is to increase the efficiency of the range while reducing user costs," Provost said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum. "It's going to be tough for automakers," he said. "To be honest, we don't necessarily be able to do that," he predicts. ”

Apple is gradually losing the competition for innovation. Apple's market share in China has been lost to its local rivals over the past two years. Analysts estimate that Apple phones account for less than 10% of smartphone sales in China, compared with about 40% in the United States.

Apple is now facing fierce competition from domestic companies such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

"Apple has slipped a lot in the Chinese market in recent years," said Mo Jia, a researcher at statistics agency Canalys. The very positive technological innovation of Chinese brands is changing the high-end product market. ”

Apple's latest phone model, iphone XS and XS Max, specifically adds features that can enhance the attractiveness of the Chinese market, such as dual SIM cards and larger screens. But analysts are skeptical that these features will work.

"Apple is fighting a war that is doomed to failure," Cavender said. ”