Located in Shenzhen, Huaqiangbei Business District is known as "China's First Electronic Street" and is also the largest electronic product distribution center in Asia. Here, you can see tourists "buying" everywhere.
Previously, there were explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other communication equipment in many places in Lebanon. It is reported that because of the impact of the explosion, "Huaqiangbei suddenly 'exploded orders', and many products are required to be produced in the whole process in China, and components from third countries are not allowed."
In early October, the Red Star Capital Bureau found that the Huaqiangbei market had a flat response to the rumors of "explosive orders", and many shopping malls did not have pager sales counters, and the interviewed walkie-talkie merchants said that the demand for foreign trade had not changed.
The Red Star Capital Bureau investigation found that, in fact, it is difficult to find a pager manufacturer in China. Among the walkie-talkie merchants in Huaqiangbei, some have quit the lease, some have put big-name labels on their own brands to attract traffic, some have stopped making Chinese manuals, and some have closed their online stores due to "no reason for refund".
The pager is not on sale
The only manufacturer has long switched to real estate
"What do you want to do with that? Filming or collecting? After many years, Chen Guang (pseudonym), a post-70s Shandong boss who sells second-hand Apple mobile phones in Huaqiangbei, couldn't help but ask when he heard someone looking for a pager again. In his opinion, the era of pagers ended as early as about 20 years ago, and finding an outdated product in Huaqiangbei, where product iteration and update speed is so fast, is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack.
"What do you think, this thing has long been eliminated." A boss next door to Chen Guang's shop, who has been in the business of elderly machines for more than ten years, also joined the conversation at this time, "There is no paging station, and people won't sell things that can't be used, and they can't circulate in their hands." If you want to bookmark, go to the Internet and check it out. ”
A walkie-talkie owner's collection of Motorola pagers
For two consecutive days, the Red Star Capital Bureau went to many shopping malls in Huaqiangbei and got the same answer. Different from the overwhelming "explosive orders" on the Internet, Huaqiangbei not only can't find a pager sales counter, but even there are few merchants who discuss this matter. Only a few merchants asked, "Are you looking for a walkie-talkie?" As for the "explosive order", it is even more replied: Where are the orders for things that are no longer produced?
In 1983, the first paging station in the mainland market settled in Shanghai. By March 22, 2007, China Unicom applied to the former Ministry of Information Industry (later integrated into the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) to stop the paging business in 30 provinces, and since then the paging service business has been officially suspended in the country.
Red Star Capital Bureau also searched on Tianyancha and other platforms and found that there were less than 20 companies that met the keywords of "BP machine/pager", "manufacturing" and "survival", and they were established no later than 2005.
On October 9, the Red Star Capital Bureau called the public phone numbers of the above-mentioned companies, either prompting empty numbers or unable to get through. Tianyancha information shows that Rizhao Siwen Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., a small and micro enterprise located in Rizhao, Shandong Province, whose business scope includes "BP machine production", has been reported by the media as the last BP machine manufacturer in China. The company's staff told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the company has not done BP machine business many years ago, and is now mainly engaged in real estate and building decoration business.
Walkie-talkie has consultation and no order
Some merchants said that "they are all blown out"
The search for pagers was unsuccessful, and the Red Star Capital Bureau also explored the situation of walkie-talkies. Walking out of Huaqiang North Subway Station, you can see SEG Electronics Market and Huaqiang Electronics World, two landmark buildings with a complete range of business categories, but there are less than ten walkie-talkie shops still in business here. Compared with hot-selling electronic accessories such as power banks, headphones, and data cables, the business of walkie-talkies is relatively cold.
A walkie-talkie counter in Huaqiangbei
On October 7, in a walkie-talkie store in the International Security City, a salesperson who was packing foreign trade orders told the Red Star Capital Bureau that their store was a factory direct store, and the factory was located in Quanzhou, Fujian.
"Recently, some foreign trade people have asked us for quotations, but we haven't placed orders yet." The salesman said that its factory products have been steadily exported to Europe, America, Africa, Southeast Asia and other countries, and it is not surprising that foreign trade companies come to consult. After the Lebanon walkie-talkie explosion, more people did come to inquire, but they did not ask about the specific product or where it was sold.
Regarding the increase in the number of inquiries, Huang Long (pseudonym), a walkie-talkie manufacturer that also opened a store in the International Security City and made a Russia and Southeast Asian market, also said that the actual foreign trade demand of its factory in Quanzhou, Fujian Province has not changed, and it has not received orders from the Middle East recently.
Huang Long believes that such a situation is nothing more than that there are foreign traders who see the tuyere to understand the market, but the professional walkie-talkie market has a certain technical threshold, the product range is huge, and the requirements for the channel are very high, if you only see the price advantage of domestic walkie-talkies, but do not understand the quality difference of different products, and even do not understand the specific needs of downstream customers, then it is difficult to cooperate.
Referring to the Lebanon incident, Huang Long took explosion-proof walkie-talkies as an example, saying that such products are mainly used in special places such as petroleum, chemical industry, coal mines, etc., and the price of domestic machines should also start at 1,000 yuan, and they naturally have to consider whether foreign traders can catch it, and it is best to directly connect with customers. "To put it bluntly, it doesn't matter if you don't understand (the product), the key is that the relationship is not in place." Huang Long concluded.
However, more foreign trade walkie-talkie manufacturers have not increased their recent order inquiries. Merchants have mixed reactions, some people say "there may be but I didn't buy it from me", and some people bluntly say that "it's all blown out".
"Now everyone thinks that walkie-talkies (demand) are very large, but in fact, there are none." A walkie-talkie boss in Huaqiangbei told the Red Star Capital Bureau that its previous channel customers would purchase reserves in advance, and there were few temporary intentions. After learning that the reporter came because of the market news that "Middle East orders crowd China", the boss reminded again, "You have to understand what the customer's needs are, not what machine you want to sell, and the (Middle East) will sell it." ”
The walkie-talkie market is chilling
Under the price war, some people quit the lease and some closed the online store
In Huaqiangbei, Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that unlike some foreign trade manufacturers, small and medium-sized manufacturers and agents in the domestic retail and wholesale markets have clearly felt the chill after the tide recedes. Here, some people have quit their leases, some have put big-name labels on their own brands to attract traffic, some have stopped making Chinese manuals, and some have closed online stores due to "no reason refund".
On October 6, the Red Star Capital Bureau saw in a building in SEG Communication Market that there were walkie-talkie shops that were not open for business, and there were also shops near the escalators that were being rented. On October 8, a property manager in charge of leasing in the building told the Red Star Capital Bureau on the phone that the rent of the shops in the building has basically not changed after the epidemic, and the boss of the walkie-talkie business "has returned to his hometown", and has been in Huaqiangbei for many years, "It is estimated that there is no need to do tourist business, and the office will be withdrawn if there is a stable single source." ”
A walkie-talkie shop near an escalator is renting out
The property staff also said that there were still a lot of walkie-talkie shops in the building before, mainly due to the impact of the two nearby markets that mainly do security equipment (referring to the Pacific Security Communication Market and the International Security City), "and then slowly other products came in, and the Pacific Ocean also changed, leaving only two floors for security products, and four floors for mobile phone cases." ”
On October 7, the Red Star Capital Bureau also found that the 1st to 4th floors are mainly engaged in mobile phone communication accessories, and there are only a handful of walkie-talkie stores on the 5th and 6th floors of the main security products, mostly selling surveillance cameras, power adapters and other products. According to the property officer, many years ago, the walkie-talkie shops here were "all in batches".
Liu Liang (pseudonym), a walkie-talkie agent who has been operating security equipment for more than 10 years, lamented to the Red Star Capital Bureau that the golden age has passed, and his customers are mainly in security, construction sites, property and other industries.
Although the retail business is not doing well, Liu Liang does not want to run an online store anymore. "The walkie-talkie is not just needed, we have seven days to return and refund without reason, some people and even some companies, temporarily use a day or two, and say that there is a quality problem to return, in vain, but also to post the freight." He said that the walkie-talkie belongs to "thinking about it when you use it, and you don't even know it exists when you don't use it." ”
According to the "2023 China Walkie-Talkie Industry Research Report: Market Overview Analysis" released by the Toubao Research Institute, the competition in the walkie-talkie industry is fierce, in addition to the first echelon of Motorola and the second echelon of Hytera, Kenwood, Acmu, etc., other third-echelon enterprises are usually small in scale, do not have their own core technology, generally adopt the strategy of low-cost marketing and low-cost competition to gain market share, and the market is concentrated in the local low-end customers in the industrial and commercial fields with high price sensitivity and a large number. Typical manufacturers, such as Fujian Baofeng Electronics, mainly sell analog walkie-talkies, and the average unit price of products is only 7.3 US dollars / unit.
A walkie-talkie agent in Huaqiangbei once revealed to the Red Star Capital Bureau that due to the cheap price, Baofeng's foreign trade export business is very good, "This brand, our store alone exports more than 100,000 units a year, regardless of domestic sales." He took Baofeng's hot-selling "fool machine" on an online shopping platform as an example, "less than $8 a pair, if it breaks, it will be lost."
During the visit, the Red Star Capital Bureau also found that most of the walkie-talkie stores in Huaqiangbei claimed to be "factory stores", and the factory was located in Quanzhou, Fujian, the "hometown of walkie-talkies", and the brand has been done for more than ten years, "you can find it on the Internet". However, the Red Star Capital Bureau searched on shopping platforms such as Taobao and Pinduoduo and found that some brands only have one or two stores on sale, and most of the product sales are 0.
Walkie-talkie faucet Hytera 10 days 9 boards
Expert: The shrinking market has little impact on domestic manufacturers
It is worth mentioning that previously, a news that "a large brand agent in Huaqiangbei received 950,000 US dollars without a contract and the order was its exclusive agent for a well-known domestic brand walkie-talkie" circulated in the capital market. A number of Huaqiangbei walkie-talkie agents told the Red Star Capital Bureau that they had not heard of this news, and it was difficult to judge whether it was true. Huang Long also said, "To be honest, if there is really such a big one, just communicate directly with Hytera, and what are you doing in Huaqiangbei." ”
Although the authenticity still needs to be verified, this rumor was interpreted by the market as a good thing for the domestic walkie-talkie industry, and drove the walkie-talkie leader Hytera (002583. SZ) shares rose sharply.
According to statistics, since September 19, as of the close of trading on October 9, Hytera has been 9 boards in 10 days, with a cumulative increase of 125.42%. Even on October 9, when the three major A-share stock indexes collectively pulled back, Hytera hit the daily limit in less than 15 minutes after the opening and closed at 8.07 yuan per share. Before this round of rise, Hytera's share price has not exceeded 6 yuan per share during the year.
On the evening of September 23, Hytera issued an announcement on abnormal fluctuations in stock trading and responded to the expansion of the company's business in the Middle East. Hytera said that in recent years, it has continued to strengthen its business layout in emerging market countries such as the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America, and Africa, as well as the "Belt and Road" region. In the first half of the year, in the face of business opportunities in the Middle East, the company further strengthened the market layout in the region and the promotion of overseas brands to promote business expansion in the Middle East. Hytera also said that there is uncertainty about the progress of expansion in new markets, and the impact on the company's performance remains to be seen.
Fu Liang, an independent IT and telecommunications analyst, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the technology of walkie-talkies and pagers is relatively backward, with low manufacturing costs and strong substitutability, but due to the uneven development of communication technology in the world, related products are still in demand in some special scenarios due to their specific functions. There are a few domestic enterprises focusing on the field of walkie-talkies, mainly because the scale of demand is limited.
With the gradual shrinking of the market, what will be the impact on domestic walkie-talkie manufacturers? Fu Liang said that walkie-talkies actually belong to electronic assembly products, there are many kinds in this field, as small as tape recorders, radios and other digital home appliances, as large as the Internet of Things intelligent equipment, etc., although there are differences in some parts, but the production process and sales methods are very similar, at present, most domestic enterprises are engaged in the production and sales of a variety of small electronic products, so the overall impact is not large.
Red Star News reporter Jiang Ziwen
Edited by Xiao Shiqing
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