Sunday, October 12, 2008

Something Fishy With Melamine

While you may find it amazing to find a brand new NOKIA 5320 to be sold below PhP 10,000.00, check out Chinese made touch screen cellular phones pegged at more or less PhP 5,000.00 only. Almost always, the price of an item says so much of its quality. Does this mean that China made products which are way cheaper than most commercial brands have low quality? Could be. It's always an issue of Quality and Affordability.

China obviously wins over the issue of affordability. While people would want to give premium on quality, their purchasing power does not allow them. Inevitably, they settle for the cheaper products. China wins this economic tug-of-war hands down on countries with low income populace. A good share of the world market.

What better way is there to beat this overwhelming market for the cheap Chinese products than to pull down its quality to an unbearable level with propaganda. Melamine, lead content, etc. can instill fear and make people forget of the affordability of these products. Consequently, interested parties will win back the huge chunk of the world market, pulling back the rope of economy to their side. Do you smell something fishy?