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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| gsxr750r wrote: |
You know, I asked that once. The response I got made me laugh my butt off...
The Korean said, "Samsung makes higher-quality products for Koreans only. They make low-quality products for cheap overseas sale."
If lots of Koreans believe that, then Samsung has done a pretty masterful job of brainwashing! |
That would mean Sony has to do the same. Because if Sony suddenly started marketing their "good stuff for the Japanese" products in America for the same price, they would destroy Samsung.
And I've tended to find the total opposite. Durable goods made for the Korean market don't last. Yeah, the Korean consumer is 100% brain washed. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:50 am Post subject: |
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That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff.......  ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
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rocklee
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| gsxr750r wrote: |
You know, I asked that once. The response I got made me laugh my butt off...
The Korean said, "Samsung makes higher-quality products for Koreans only. They make low-quality products for cheap overseas sale."
If lots of Koreans believe that, then Samsung has done a pretty masterful job of brainwashing! |
That would mean Sony has to do the same. |
Not true. Sony markets those that can be marketed, and quite often they can be more expensive overseas than in Japan. There are some great products that are far cheaper than everywhere else but that is a secret best kept  |
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rocklee
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:07 am Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff....... ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
Agreed.
Though using the Japanese as an example, there are many many products that didn't really make much sense overseas because they were too weird, unique or expensive. Take my headphones for example (MDR CD3000), they were too big, too ugly and too expensive when they were first released. Sony probably lost millions on it but 10 years later when it was suddenly in demand. |
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gsxr750r
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:11 am Post subject: |
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| Sometimes Koreans answer to save face. They know their own countrymen screw them, but they'll be darned if they'll admit it. |
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rothkowitz
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff....... ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
Me,for one.I met my brother in law in Seoul(industrial designer)from England who came here for just that very purpose.
Different markets,different countries to market to.
Koreans think little about some ugly box using half of their room-just their for show-Europeans wouldn't buy the same thing.
If you break it down by model,some things will sell and some clearly won't.The profit to be made is enough to change direction a tad,or stamp out a different limited run.
It;s not like everything comes off the same line. |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff....... ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
A lot of this was born from a lack of consumer protection laws until a couple years back as getting a product recall was near impossible and one could not file a collective lawsuit over a defective product line. Products made from lower quality (or just cheaper) components would be shipped to the Korean market and then the higher-quality components went into products destined for overseas. I did work for an RFID company who was to track what components went where and automatically match new ID tags to the completed lines.
In the UK, for example, electronic items have a mandatory 2-year warranty per law. So companies exporting to there tend to make sure that they get the top-tier stuff as warranty servicing is rather expensive in a place like the UK while warranty exchange here in Korea is a $2 affair thanks to cheap labour, token shipping costs, and remarkably few repair centres required thanks to high-density population hubs.
Though this is hardly uncommon. For example, Samsung would provide a manufacturer with their better quality RAM so long as the assembler pushed that their product came with Samsung RAM. If they didn't, Samsung would provide them with much cheaper RAM but it came with a higher-expected failure rate. Because of this, Samsung was able to capitalize on both the high and low end of the RAM markets (high end assemblers pushed that they had high-end RAM, low end assemblers pushed they were using Samsung RAM which consumers associated with high-end products) to increase market visibility and have become the powerhouse they are today.
And add to this how Korean companies tend to do a shotgun approach to pushing products onto the market. Fast development schedules, a splash of products, and then see which ones the public picks up. Once something has caught the public eye, focus on developing that product for the overseas market.
For example, I've done development work for Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung. Motorola was in the middle with an average of six months from concept to production with a small collection of similiar products that overlap to reduce costs and developments. Eventually, part of this will end up in the market. Nokia, products I was involved with were more than a year from concept to production. And it was for a single product to ensure that when it hit the street, it was all it could be. Recycling of existing product lines was not expected.
Samsung, in contrast, shotgunned every idea we could come up with and had them on the market in six weeks due to reusing existing product lines as much as possible. THough they also have a huge fear of Chinese knock-offs (which even at 6 weeks, I've had stuff I worked on out in China under a fake brand before the Samsung model hit the streets). And then when the market says "hey, that looks neat", it gets focused on for a reworked model to be shipped domestically and overseas within three months.
Though the Chinese knock-offs aren't the only ones involved in that. I've come across two models from Samsung sold in Canada that I was involved in developing which Samsung has said they were not going to pursue. That made for interesting meetings back in Korea when I sent pictures back of those phones up for sale. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff....... ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
That's very common. It's called "product crimping". For example, many clothing manufacturers make a line of clothing specifically for the outlet mall space. Same styles, just lower thread count etc. If you're curious google on it. It's not an urban myth. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| eamo wrote: |
| That whole urban myth thing about various companies having 'two production lines' one for domestic, the good stuff, and one for export, the crappy stuff....... ...........Who the hell would actually believe that!!???You would have to be as dense as a post to swallow that one. Like half the factory are making stuff well and the other half of the factory are just slapping parts together!!! |
That's very common. It's called "product crimping". For example, many clothing manufacturers make a line of clothing specifically for the outlet mall space. Same styles, just lower thread count etc. If you're curious google on it. It's not an urban myth. |
Yeah. I can see how a manufacturer would make something of low quality that they will sell to low-cost retail outlets. But my original disbelief was that certain big companies have two levels of quality of the same product. Is a Samsung TV better or worse quality if it's going to be sold abroad? |
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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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Koreans have that same slavish attitude towards SO MANY things made in Korea. Electronics, cars, you name it; if it's foreign, it seems that Koreans just won't go for it.
For example: Motorcycles. Korean fit and finish is, let's face it, not the best. The only sportbike made in the country is the GT650R, and it's slower and cludgier than any Japanese bike -- but the import taxes on Jap bikes and Hyosung label on the GT conspire to boost sales at unreasonable prices.
It's really a shame. Every time I've been shopping for new computers (with friends, etc.) I've always been shocked at how expensive Korean computers are. |
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Endesu
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Location: Bucheon
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:35 am Post subject: |
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Samsung and LG have factories all over the world, making specific models for specific markets. In Mexico usually for North America, Eastern Europe for Europe etc. So models for sale here are not the same as in the US for example. I'm not saying they are better, just different. Sony and Samsung make most of their LCD panels together at the S-LCD factory in China btw....
I would choose Samsung and LG over Sony any day, but offcourse some people disagree with me there.
When it comes to prices, if you take taxes away from prices in other countries like you have in the US, this is what I found on Samsung BDP-1000:
Best prices online in US dollars:
USA: 499
UK: 569
Germany: 531
Korea: 1159
Norway: 772
So dont buy that one here  |
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gsxr750r
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, don't buy the Samsung BD-P1000 at all!
It's been plagued with problems that firmware updates haven't fixed.
The new Samsung BD-P1200 is said to be the player to get at the moment, but it was literally just released like last week.
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=6505
It's not in Korea -- go figure. Personally, I'd be more inclined to stick with a PS3 at the moment. It's a proven great player, and heck -- you can even play games. The Panasonic BR player is said to be great, but it's expensive. Newer Sony models are good too.
My PS3 looks stunning. The differences the guys on the BR Forum like to nitpick about are very, very subtle. They are all video nuts. One thing important that the new Samsung 1200 model does is output at 24fps in 1080p. Currently, my PS3 doesn't do that (although it is rumored a firmware update will fix that soon). Most people wouldn't know the difference between 24fps and 60 on a TV anyway, but once you know what to look for, you will like 24fps. You also need an HDTV that will accept a 24fps input, which mine does.
Prices on the new Samsung player in the USA are a little less than the older Samsung player, if you can believe it. I'm sure it will not be introduced here until they get rid of their current crop of bloatedly-priced BD-P1000 models. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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The same could be said with Prescription drugs and the US markets.
Most drugs are made in the US by US pharmaceuticals yet the price of drugs are phenomenally higher in the US than in other countries.
Also, I can use the example for Textbooks. In college, it was CHEAPER to buy textbooks from the UK and have them shipped to the US, than to buy them here. The "International" editions were the same book as the US version.
Korean companies price gouging their own people is nothing new. US companies do it in the US. |
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gsxr750r
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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You're picking on one thing the US does -- one thing.
Korea does this on far more products than the USA does. Far, far more.
We all know this -- beef, electronics, rice, the list goes on and on. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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yeah, I know the markets are completely different and there is lack of competition in Korea.
I just wanted to make a point that its not something "new" that just happens in Korea. |
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