While skimming through some YouTube videos, I stumbled across Ashley Carman’s video for The Verge titled The challenges Chinese gadget creators face about some of the struggles that Chinese gadget makers face when trying to sell products into western markets, specifically, the United States.
As an American technology enthusiast, I tend to follow the products that are developed by domestic companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter. Sony, a Japanese company, for me at least, does not bring up feelings of a negative view point. In fact, it has a nostalgic feel to it. There is something special about Sony hardware design that resonates with me. The 1979 Sony Walkman and the unabashedly yellow Sony Sports Walkman, and the Sony Discman D-20.
When when I think about Chinese gadgets, I unfortunately conjure up negative feelings that Sony does not. Chiefly among these China detractors are the Chinese government itself, censorship from the Internet and the Great Firewall, and the vast amount of counterfeit goods that can be found on Amazon, eBay, and others.
However, as Carman points out, these negative US-centric biases can create significant barriers for Chineses companies that what to expand outside their home market. And these barriers can keep new innovative products out of consumer’s hands. You should watch the piece. All of this to say, I found the video to be both informative and, more importantly, made me think about Chinese companies as individual entities to be considered on their own merits.
