This Walton brand is a great achievement for Bangladesh. I don't think that many countries in the LDC category have such industrial capability. Do they export to other South Asian countries?
Edit: Now I wonder if an Indian brand has majority market share in India
Edit2: Seems like Indian market is dominated by LG, Samsung and Whirlpool. Godrej (Indian company) come in 4th place with just 14%
Bangladesh had the wherewithal to get out of LDC stage three decades ago, but resisted because LDC status afforded EU GSP quota advantage for apparel exports. Ruti-rooji was more important than flimsy prestige which belied reality.
Walton exports to almost all countries in South Asia except Pakistan in piecemeal fashion. Nepal is an important and thriving market.
Users of electronics and electrical appliances of Nepal has appreciated the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ labeled Walton for the unique quality and design at the five-day long ‘4th Bangladesh Expo-2018’ in Kathmandu, Nepal.
www.daily-bangladesh.com
In India it is OEM'd under one of the Korean brands but mainly for fridges I think. I am sure the Gulf being the wholesaler Mecca it is for the Maghreb and African region, products are going to those markets, because Walton has a big market footprint now in the Gulf (UAE) electronics wholesaler community.
More recently - Walton is concentrating in wealthier markets, in the EU for Smart TV's, Fridges and Aircons, having obtained local CE, DIN and other relevant environmental certs (e.g. ISO standards) for EU countries.
Walton supplied compressors to both Turkey and Greece a few years ago (to fridge assemblers there), as well as to Eastern EU appliance makers.
It did ship some smart TV's to Germany, with full German menu support. They make smart TV's which can run with voice commands in any language, especially Bengali, in local market. Some of their Android TV's are Google Assistant enabled, some can be Alexa enabled as well.
In one of the commercial product fairs in Dhaka, Walton pioneered an 8K TV as a research experimental item. They of course sell 4K HDR TVs routinely.
The most recent addition to their export drive is the competitive US market and they set up shop there recently, concentrating on UL and Canadian approvals before offering OEM product offers. They already supplied US Market with their cellphones and Tablets for an undisclosed US brand name.
Star Business Report Mon Jan 10, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Mon Jan 10, 2022 02:30 PM Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd, a giant in the local consumer electronics sector, is all set to enter the North American market through a shipment of home appliances sometime in the middle of 2022. The...
defence.pk
Godrej had all the makings of an appliance juggernaut in India (especially fridges - because they're an almirah maker) and could have made the same measly investments Walton made (~350 crore Taka) to make their fridges world class export items, but AFAIK they gave up and only concentrated on selling tiny back-dated dorm-room refrigerators with low profit margins and low features in high volume. Some appliance companies in India aren't really into exporting much, unless I am wrong, steering clear of risks.
The fact that Walton have been successful at this should be encouraging to other aspiring companies in South Asia (e,g, Godrej in India and Dawlance in Pakistan). What we lack in South Asia (unlike China in SE Asia) is a product ecosystem where machinery, raw materials and labor expertise moves freely between countries (e.g. like ASEAN region) in order to make products competitive/cheaper and make the whole region prosperous.
Instead we are bickering in useless fashion about how to ban head-coverings for students in an Indian college, rather than how to put food on our tables. Polarizing our electorate so we get more votes.
Our govts. are too protectionist (India being big brother - more so, unfortunately) without realizing that Indian customs taking money from Indian banyas and "protecting Indian market" actually robs Indian market capability from being more consumer focused - driving down prices and enabling more people to afford more products. IMHO, opening up Indian economy was the best thing Manmohan Singh every dreamt up, but his policies have not been followed through well.
Prices in the Indian market are almost the equal of US and EU markets (for appliances and electronics), which is a shame, and a price the Indian consumer pays for their Govt. becoming protectionist. The days of protectionist license Raj philosophy has come and gone but Indian Banyas are too lazy to change and evolve.
People in Indian govt. do not see this protectionist shortsightedness for what it is, a cause of falling even farther and farther behind China.