Made in China means quality

rdan

The blog Name Wire poses a potent question on perception of value and who builds a product:

The recent news that China has surpassed the US as the world’s second largest exporter — now making more cars than Detroit — has got me thinking about what “Made in China” means to US consumers.

Nowadays, “Made in China” on a brand name product no longer means cheap and cheerful, according to the Washington Times. Even Nokia Phones are being made in China. When it comes to fashion brands, however, “Made in Spain” and “Made in Italy” have a certain cachet, but this may be waning.

An Asian Times Online article “China’s Global Luxury Brand Workshop” notes that high end luxury brand names like Prada, Armani and Burberry are outsourcing to China.

By 2009, 60% of the world’s luxury brand names will have their products made there.

Don’t believe me? French fashion brand Louis Vuitton is putting up a factory in China this year. Prada, for its part, outsources its products to so many countries that they are considering putting “Made by Prada” on their labels.

China now makes high end trains and rail, tennis rackets, and lenses.

GE is producing wind turbine blades there and Chinese made Chery are the top selling autos in China last month, for the first time ever.