From "Made in China" to "Global Brand": The Breakthrough Path for Consumer Electronics to Go Global
From power banks to drones, from 3C digital products to smart home devices, in recent years, Chinese consumer electronics brands have been making continuous efforts in the overseas market, and more and more "Made in China with Intelligence" products have become the favorites of global consumers.
In the past year, the trend of consumer electronics going global has shown that products are becoming more intelligent, the ecosystem is becoming more localized, and the awareness of compliance is increasing. Moreover, enterprises are no longer only focusing on the traditional developed markets in Europe and the United States, but are paying more attention to the opportunities in diversified markets.
The core driving force behind the upgrading of business models and market expansion is undoubtedly the continuous innovation ability of enterprises. However, the road to going global is not smooth - the uncertainties in the macro - environment, the game of channels and brand competition, and the challenges in various aspects involved in in - depth localization are all tough battles to fight.
In the next wave of going global, what changes will there be in the key dimensions that determine the success or failure of consumer electronics enterprises? How can standard products achieve differentiated competition? What market opportunities are worth the attention of small and medium - sized enterprises newly entering the market - With these questions, at the 2025 "From 'Ingenuity' to 'the World'" Going Global Conference jointly organized by 36Kr and Qiantang Construction and Investment Group, we had discussions with representative consumer electronics enterprises going global and testing and inspection institutions.
01 The consumer electronics going global shifts from "product transaction" to "trust co - construction"
Under the global competition pattern, a consensus has gradually emerged in the Chinese consumer electronics industry: cost - effectiveness is no longer the decisive factor, and product innovation is the key. The competition dimension of brands in the overseas market is shifting from cost - effectiveness to brand premium, and from "product transaction" to "trust co - construction". This is not only an upgrade of the pricing strategy, but a systematic competition centered around brand power, service ability, and value resonance.
Specifically in the new energy industry, Tracy Wang, the global brand director of Jackery, found that the "value anchor points" in each market are different: Europe is a high - ground for green energy, highly concerned about sustainable development and carbon footprint; North America focuses more on the functions and economic application values of products in outdoor and home emergency situations; Japan, as an area prone to earthquake disasters, attaches great importance to the practicality of products for essential needs and the detailed experience, and is a representative of "pragmatists".
In the semiconductor storage industry, as Wan Qian, the general manager of Lexar's overseas e - commerce, said, the key to competition is "not to see who is doing well now, but to see who can last long." Lexar has a high proportion of overseas sales, and its offline value channels have made great contributions, which can screen valuable users and increase brand premium and brand positioning. To take root offline and win consumers' trust, brands need to adhere to long - termism in all aspects of product R & D innovation, quality, and service to cope with the uncertainties in market changes.
Wan Qian said that the offline channels need to maintain the interests and trust of channel partners, considering business interests, channel reputation, and the whole - network marketing review rate, etc. At the same time, offline channel operation must be a long - term behavior, whether it is the entry or sales cycle. The focus of the online channel lies in operational efficiency and localized content marketing, and it should be combined with the offline channel to form a complete omni - channel sales network. Offline users who see the products and approve of them will quickly make purchases online. The online share and ranking influence will promote offline entry and transactions. Within the company, the understanding of the two channels also needs to be coordinated to give full play to the characteristics of each channel and achieve channel synergy from the brand dimension.
In the 3D printing category, Chinese brands once broke through through cost - effectiveness advantages. However, the R & D cycle of 3D printing is long. Therefore, Han Zongbo, the marketing director of Creality, believes that in the future, brands need to continuously innovate to maintain competitiveness. In terms of brand building, Creality gets closer to users by sponsoring events and public welfare projects in the overseas market. It also cooperates with upstream and downstream enterprises, peers, and technology enthusiasts with an open mind, establishes local service centers, and increases users' favor by improving service efficiency.
To give full play to the advantages in product R & D, Chinese brands need to adapt to the needs of the target market. As a technical platform assisting enterprises to go global, Zhao Hui, the vice - president of SGS in the China region, said that enterprises going global need to realize that compliance is not a cost, but a "pass" for brand premium. Enterprises can obtain overseas recognition through third - party testing and certification (such as sustainable development, ecological design, etc.), highlight the characteristics of products in sustainable development and ecological design, enhance international competitiveness, and achieve brand premium. This is a key step from "Made in China" to "Globally Trusted".
02 Differentiated paths for brand breakthrough
Jackery: Tell a good ESG story
In the overseas market, ESG has been a hot topic in recent years. Integrating ESG into the corporate strategy of clean energy enterprises can not only meet local regulatory requirements and continuously create social value, but also bring about commercial returns in the end.
For Jackery, ESG has never been an "extra question", but runs through every aspect of product R & D, production, and global market practice, such as participating in the earthquake relief in Turkey and cooperating with global environmental protection institutions on multiple sustainable projects. Tracy Wang revealed that as of the end of 2024, Jackery's products had cumulatively saved more than 1.07 billion kilowatt - hours of electricity and reduced 1.069 million tons of carbon emissions. It is the first enterprise in the industry to obtain the "National - level Green Factory" certification, realizing intelligent and digital operation in the whole process and real - time monitoring and tracking of energy consumption and product quality in the production process, thereby improving production efficiency and resource utilization.
The key to making global users recognize green energy is to "tell stories they can understand in their local language". Europe attaches importance to green concepts and social responsibility and tends to resonate in values; the United States and Japan value the practicality and actual implementation of brands more.
Therefore, Jackery's strategy is "localized narrative + precise channel communication": In the United States, it uses technology and business media and influencers to deeply convey brand values and product concepts, plans city flash mobs to establish emotional connections with young people; in Japan, it uses local social platforms such as Line to connect with users throughout the whole process; in Germany and the UK, it adopts a "point - to - face" strategy - creating benchmark projects, and leveraging the perception and recognition of the entire market through one or two good stories that are "easy to understand and spread".
Lexar: Identify needs, insist on technological investment, and achieve product innovation
For a long time in the past, the raw material supply in the semiconductor storage industry has always been in a seller's market, being restricted by suppliers from regions such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Facing overseas competition pressure, Lexar has found a foothold in the industry by focusing on innovation and entering service scenarios. For example, after investigating the feedback from users and cooperating photographers, Lexar took the lead in launching differentiated metal three - proof memory cards and other products to meet the needs of photographers in outdoor work scenarios.
After identifying user needs, brands need to achieve product innovation through continuous technological investment. Lexar has launched a series of products equipped with self - developed main controls, connecting the whole process of the production link, and comprehensively improving the stability and flexibility of the supply chain.
Creality: The membership subscription system resolves the cost of consumables
The supply of 3D printing consumables and overseas logistics costs are high. To make different consumables more compatible with more printers, Creality has implemented a membership system, which is strongly bundled with consumables. On one hand, it conducts social media activities online and user meetings offline; on the other hand, it promotes the membership subscription system in offline stores. By combining services with consumables, it solves after - sales problems and encourages users to share on social media, forming a positive cycle.
SGS: Priority market strategy for small and medium - sized enterprises
For small and medium - sized consumer electronics enterprises, the resources available for going global are limited, so they cannot cover all aspects in market layout. How to choose the markets to be prioritized? In Zhao Hui's view, the regulatory systems in Europe and the United States are strict, market supervision is tight, and the certificate cycle is long. Some enterprises that started by doing OEM for European and American enterprises can follow the certification path of mature products and enter the European and American markets first. The access regulations in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East may follow the mature system with simple reviews, and the cycle and cost are lower. Therefore, enterprises can seek the help of large international institutions to customize solutions for faster market entry and monetization.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Hangzhou Qiantang Enterprise Going Global Service Base", author: Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global. It is published with the authorization of Qiantang.
