Saturday, August 25, 2007
the beginning of the end?
a recent series of events has been plaguing our newswires and toystores, and it all comes from the quality of toy production in china.
in a few conversations i have had with a few close friends and colleagues, the notion of china as a economic superpower ringed true in our minds. its never been a thought of ours that china could lose their grasp on our economic production methods. their greatest natural resource, their workforce, has always been, always will be, a great source of power. the old phrase, "never start a land war in china" will always be a fact it seems.
through this natural resource a great commodity is on the verge of collapse. though endless products can be made, whatever, whenever, however, is no longer or should no longer be the issue. i remember a short chat i had with a rep from a manufacturing plant in china telling me that he could make me whatever, for so much cheaper than anywhere else. he didn't care what it was, he guaranteed me that he would produce a product i would be proud of. i was thinking of alarm systems, and he didn't blink an eye, simply said, "great, here's my card. lets talk!"
how scary it is for the plant representatives now that this mentality is on the cusp of disassemblement. i don't even know if that's a word, but it is now, and most appropriately. nathaniel, if your reading this, i think you know the proper word. help me. also, congrats on the new baby boy. hes adorable.
anyway, i digress.
the response of the american corporations has been rather well. a few companies who were not part of the original products have stepped forward and taken extra products off the lineup. toys-r-us is to be commended. i buy all of my nintendo wii stuff from them for a reason...
but the real question lies in how the american consumer will react long term. americans are generally short in the memory division when talking about their pocketbooks. they want things cheap and now, and this whole high lead content may be passed over quickly. will the american consumer step up and demand a higher quality product for a higher price, and will they remember the price of gas is higher and filling that SUV isn't getting less.
i guess the real question is if anyone is even reading this...hehe.
in a few conversations i have had with a few close friends and colleagues, the notion of china as a economic superpower ringed true in our minds. its never been a thought of ours that china could lose their grasp on our economic production methods. their greatest natural resource, their workforce, has always been, always will be, a great source of power. the old phrase, "never start a land war in china" will always be a fact it seems.
through this natural resource a great commodity is on the verge of collapse. though endless products can be made, whatever, whenever, however, is no longer or should no longer be the issue. i remember a short chat i had with a rep from a manufacturing plant in china telling me that he could make me whatever, for so much cheaper than anywhere else. he didn't care what it was, he guaranteed me that he would produce a product i would be proud of. i was thinking of alarm systems, and he didn't blink an eye, simply said, "great, here's my card. lets talk!"
how scary it is for the plant representatives now that this mentality is on the cusp of disassemblement. i don't even know if that's a word, but it is now, and most appropriately. nathaniel, if your reading this, i think you know the proper word. help me. also, congrats on the new baby boy. hes adorable.
anyway, i digress.
the response of the american corporations has been rather well. a few companies who were not part of the original products have stepped forward and taken extra products off the lineup. toys-r-us is to be commended. i buy all of my nintendo wii stuff from them for a reason...
but the real question lies in how the american consumer will react long term. americans are generally short in the memory division when talking about their pocketbooks. they want things cheap and now, and this whole high lead content may be passed over quickly. will the american consumer step up and demand a higher quality product for a higher price, and will they remember the price of gas is higher and filling that SUV isn't getting less.
i guess the real question is if anyone is even reading this...hehe.
