MillersLocal
  • Home
  • Latest Shots
  • Blog
  • Comp news
  • Surf Report
  • SurfGuide
  • PHOTOS
  • Vintage
  • Enviro
  • Shop

Blog

Made in China

11/19/2012

 
Picture
"My wave!", "No, MY wave!", "No, MINE!" Repeat a billion times...
This landed in my inbox this morning...

"Dear Sir, Have a nice day !It is Diana from Horizon Surfing Products Factory in China, I contact you for the potential business opportunity for surfing accessories products. Please check the attached of our hot sell products info for your reference, please let me know your product need, then we can offer the best price for you! We can also send samples to you for testing. So please let me know your valuable comments soon , our factory is located in Shenzhen, and we also sincerely invite you to visit our factory if you come to China. Thanks for your time again !"

The mail then went on to offer me leahses (otherwise known as leashes)....of the straight or coiled variety - meaning surfing or bodyboarding. They were doing a big push on all things SUP (so very not good!)

Yip, pretty much everything surf related you buy comes outta China. Even surfboards - although they're the pop-out variety so maybe they don't count? But almost every boardbag, leash, and deckpad come from the People's Republic. Most of your boardies and surf T's as well. We like the fact that they're cheap, and tend to ignore possible human rights infringements associated with their production. Outta sight, outta mind.

With a population of over 1.3 billion peeps, they sure have enough ou's to work those factories. What could prove interesting is the move to flip the coin - not only have the Chinese make all things surfing, but to become surfers themselves. The ASP is starting to actively promote surfing in China, and is hosting contests there. Of course the surf brands think this is a good way to grow market share - another billion surfers to buy your stuff. The hiccup is that those billion are also going to be competing for waves. In future it might not be the Brazilians who hold the "travel in packs, take over the waves" moniker, but the Chinese.

Which of course is terribly myopic from our side, cos someone somewhere along the line introduced surfing to our country, for which we're eternally thankful. But surfing is probably one of the most selfish sports around, period. As much as we love it, we still like to have more waves to ourselves...and the prospect of having to absorb a mass of Chinese surfers into our line-ups is a bit daunting! Might be one of those typical cases of 10 years from now someone goes "maybe this was a kak idea" when JBay has 500 surfers stretched along the point. One plus is that if anyone can come up with a cheap wave pool it'll be the Chinese!

As far as all our surf kit coming from the land of the dragon? Personally I'm all for local is lekker versus mass produced Chinese stuff, but it's hard for our guys to be cost-competitive against the manufacturing power of the east. Still, if you can afford to, pay the extra coin and buy local if you can....and if you can find it.
Picture
Waiting for a set. Wonder who's got priority?

Comments are closed.
    Picture
    LATEST POSTS
    More posts HERE

    Author

    Millerslocal

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Latest Shots
  • Blog
  • Comp news
  • Surf Report
  • SurfGuide
  • PHOTOS
  • Vintage
  • Enviro
  • Shop