Lamp Technology: Survival of the fittest in overseas markets

Overseas markets will face reshuffles

In recent years, with the implementation of my country’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy, Chinese LED display companies’ “going out” has also gained more strategic significance. From the perspective of the global LED display market structure, China is the largest market in a single country, accounting for approximately 25%-30% of the global market. As the domestic market becomes saturated, domestic LED display companies must "go out" and expand the global market in order to find new growth directions and profit growth points for industrial development. Looking at the current global LED display market structure, the once important export markets of North America and Europe have become saturated. Coupled with increased market access, emerging countries such as Russia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America have huge market development potential. Domestic LED display companies have moved overseas, which has become a wave in the industry today and is surging in the field. Its future development trend is also the focus of attention in the industry. Will all companies entering the international market be able to move forward steadily according to their own plans, or will they encounter unexpected changes? What kind of posture should screen companies that are preparing to enter the international market adopt to enter the international market to have a greater chance of winning? With a series of doubts, the reporter interviewed Tian Shojin, general manager of Shenzhen Lanpu Technology Co., Ltd. He expressed his views on this.

At present, among the many Chinese LED screen companies that have entered the overseas market, not all of them can occupy a certain market share in the international market as they wish. "In the future competition in the international market, only two types of companies can survive well. One type is large and strong companies, that is, listed companies and companies related to listed companies; the other type is specialized, sophisticated and differentiated companies. Their products must be differentiated, but such companies must not be big. If they are big, it will be difficult to survive. They need to be specialized and refined. This can be seen in three years." Tian Shoujin said. In addition, Tian Shoujin also analyzed the reasons for us. At present, many emerging markets in the international market are still in their infancy, and both listed and unlisted companies are having a difficult time. And with time and the implementation status of each company, there will be a clear distinction in the near future.

First of all, because large and powerful companies have a manufacturing advantage, they have huge plant areas and have an unparalleled scale advantage for small manufacturers; secondly, large and powerful companies also have a purchasing advantage, and their purchasing volume is relatively large. "For example, Zhouming Technology ranks among the top three in the industry in terms of procurement. This advantage is not available to other small manufacturers, and it is extremely important for doing well in the international market and making the company stronger and stronger." Tian Shoujin said. Thirdly, in terms of funds, large and powerful companies also have obvious advantages. The amount of funds will directly affect the shipment and spot of products. Doing well in the international market requires a very large capital investment, and foreign countries will also be involved in account period issues. For small manufacturers that are relatively short of funds, capital turnover will be a big problem. Large and powerful companies face less such confusion. Therefore, in the future, this will form a clear differentiation. Large and powerful companies will survive in the international market, while small manufacturers will be eliminated in the fierce competition, leaving only companies related to listed companies.

Small businesses are specialized and refined, focusing on niche areas

Nowadays, domestic LED display companies are entering overseas markets. Due to high transportation and maintenance costs, overseas markets will not have the same wholesale prices as domestic ones. Manufacturers do not have the cost to make low-end products, and due to financial and technical reasons, it is also difficult to squeeze into the high-end market. Therefore, in overseas markets, many manufacturers choose to position themselves in mid-range products. Therefore, foreign competition is mainly the competition of mid-range products, that is, the competition of enterprises other than listed companies. However, most companies are independent and have no connection with listed companies. Therefore, in such competition, only companies related to listed companies may survive. So how should other companies do well in overseas markets? Tian Shoujin said that small businesses should specialize in overseas markets and focus on niche areas. Tian Shoujin introduced to us the market positioning of Lamp Technology in overseas markets. After Lamp Technology was acquired by the listed company Unilumin Technology in 2014, it has become more competitive in the LED display industry. It has both large-scale advantages and the sophistication of a small business. Therefore, it walks on "two legs" in its strategic layout. Its mid-range product route overseas is "first-tier brand, second-tier price". Leverage Unilumin Technology’s strong brand advantages, manufacturing, procurement and other advantages, combined with Lamp’s own characteristics, to do well in overseas markets. In the segmented fields, LAMP also has its own positioning. For example, overseas, it is mainly positioned in the outdoor high-density and sports fields. Tian Shoujin said: "Outdoor high density is actually the same model as indoor small spacing. OutdoorNo one is very good at small spacing. At the ISE exhibition in the Netherlands last year, our products should be the densest and largest in the industry. The current level of the industry is 3.9 or around 4 points. There is obvious room for the development of outdoor high-density and sports overseas, especially outdoor high-density. If one day all traditional bus stop signs and advertisements are completely replaced, the market space will be very large. This is currently a relatively expensive market, and it is still in the trial stage, and customers are still trying. The technical problems of outdoor high-density have now been solved, mainly because the market is still in its infancy. ”