A Branded Future

摘要

What ophthalmic goods market enjoys a total home population of over one and a quarter billion, among whom over 120 million - equivalent to the combined populations of France and Britain - are categorised as 'middle class', and therefore prime targets for eyecare and eyewear? What market already has more retail optical stores - optical practices - than Germany, France, the UK and Spain put together, with additional outlets opening all the time as modern schools of optics pour out new graduates? What market has a bigger workforce engaged in ophthalmic goods manufacture by far than all Europe's 'Big Five' markets together? The answer, of course, is China. The year 2003 saw the onward march of China's ophthalmic industry impeded, even seemingly halted in its tracks, by a combination of the SARS epidemic itself and by China's initial response to that epidemic. No-one who attended MIDO 2003 could have been unaware of the SARS effect, or of its significance for this manifestation of world optics. In China itself, too, business and consumer confidence were deeply shaken. The next Hong Kong optical fair, which takes place shortly after next month's final event on the European circuit (Silmo 2003) should yield more insights into the current state of Chinese optics. Such insights, however, are unlikely to include any hint of a long-term loss of momentum. Till recently, the West has been able to comfort itself with the reflection that at least the top-value branded goods aspect of the ophthalmic market was relatively well shielded from Chinese competition. That immunity may not last much longer, though, according to business gurus Fiona Gilmore and Serge Dumont. In business sectors from computers and telecommunications to fashion and 'white goods', they argue, Chinese manufacturers are currently responding to consumer demand both at home and abroad by adding brand value and built-in quality to the price advantage they already - overwhelmingly - possess. Within 10 years, these specialists believe, at least one Chinese brand name will be up there in the global Top 10 alongside the optically significant likes of Disney and Kodak. The size of China's home market provides a firm foundation for ambitious brand-building. In terms of ophthalmics, there is the added advantage of endemically strong demand for visual correction, given the ultra-high incidence of myopia in similar developed populations. Is there then hope for ophthalmic goods manufacturers in the West? The examples of other industries from fashion to horticulture suggest that there is: that Western manufacturers will come to create, develop and occupy profitable new niches in an ever-evolving global market. But the pain of adjustment to a new world ophthalmic order may be prolonged, and the fall-out heavy.