Current analysis of Industrial design firms in China An industry report.

摘要

This paper reviews and analyzes the state of industrial design firms and businesses in China. The research includes mixed methods of primary and secondary research. Over 40 one on one interviews and site visits were conducted with Chinese Industrial Design firms. Additional interviews were conducted with professors from U.S. and Chinese universities, senior managers and founders from United States based design firms. Concurrently, significant amounts of secondary research data were collected. Based on the research, now is a great time for industrial design in China. Business is rapidly growing due to economic, political and other factors. However, the data also uncovers that most Chinese industrial design firms are not without challenges. First, it is difficult to make Chinese clients believe that there is any value in creativity. Design is perceived as a commodity and purely execution. Second, win their clients' trust on their capability of generating innovative solution and becoming a partner in their clients' strategy. Some Chinese industrial design firms have overcome the first challenge. As these Chinese firms overcome the second one, they will begin to compete directly with international industrial design firms. Currently Chinese industrial design firms and international ones have different strengths; the author suggests that collaboration between them would be a good solution for both.